Originally from New Jersey, Warren is a Co-Founder of Toasted Life, an entertainment, lifestyle, and leisure brand that cultivates community and champions celebration through dynamic events and experiences. Since their founding in 2013, they've been the pre-eminent events brand for people of color in the Bay Area, and have since expanded globally, hosting activations across the US, as well as in Toronto, Tanzania, and Ghana. They've collaborated with the likes of Common, Terrence J, Jidenna, Wyclef Jean, T Pain, Pusha-T, Estelle, 2 Chainz, DJ Envy, and Metro Boomin just to name a few.

Some of the themes you'll hear throughout this episode include:

• Warren's journey to discover himself outside of his attachements
• Confronting the roots of his ego & insecurities
• Evolving the most impactful relationships in his life
• Creating a loving environment

For more Gentle Men Podcast content, follow us on IG & TikTok @gentlemen_podcast or on Twitter @gentlemen_pod

A native of San Jose, California, Adam is a designer in the truest sense of the word. Currently a Designer & Fellow at The Institute of Black Imagination, he merges his interests in cognitive science, sustainability, and technology to solve problems that matter. In his time as a cognitive science student at UC Berkeley, he served as a Design fellow at the 1881 Institute of Technology, an Applications Engineering Intern at Carbon, which is responsible for projects like the FutureCraft sneaker with Adidas, and as a venture capitalist at not one, but two venture capital firms.

All of these accomplishments were on top of him maintaining a rigorous course load, being President of the Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Club, being a former member of the varsity track team, and finding time to still have fun. Outside of work, Adam delves into creative passion projects, creating concepts for innovative sneaker designs and virtual fashion shows, and dabbling in photography.

Some of the themes you'll hear throughout this episode include:

• Adam's journey to accept and express his fascinations with the people he surrounds himself with
• Confronting his avoidant attachment style
• The impact of journaling in his life
• Growth from attempts to fit into relationship tropes
• Acquiring the language to investigate masculinity for himself

For more Gentle Men Podcast content, follow us on IG & TikTok @gentlemen_podcast or on Twitter @gentlemen_pod

Growing up just a few minutes West of Chicago, Quinnton is a co-founder & CEO of Retrospect Studios, a Black-owned experimental studio focused on connecting history and culture with creative and technology solutions to enhance the human experience. Based out of Brooklyn, NY, he is passionate about leading teams and developing creative talent. He specializes in building compelling and authentic brand experiences for companies and entrepreneurs.

A graduate of MIT, Quinnton's has excelled amongst the best of the best, serving as an Art Director at Digitas, Lead Creative for recently Procter & Gamble acquired Walker & Company Brands (makers of the brand Bevel), inaugural Creative Director at Blavity, and Group Creative Director & Global Lead of Computational Design at Publicis Sapient.

Outside of work, creative expression always finds its way to Quinnton's atmosphere. Whether he is creative directing photoshoots, organizing nature walks with his friends, or inspiring creativity & diversity through collectives like KOR and HellaCreative, Quinnton's impact is both broad and deep.

Our discussion includes a wide variety of topics, including:

• Developing a personal definition of what it means to be a man
• How his relationships with his siblings created elastic conceptions of identity from a young age
• Reconciling masculinity & emotional sensitivity
• Decoupling masculinity & femininity from sexuality
• Navigating affirmation vs validation
• Finding your life partner, and more

A native of New Hampshire with family roots in Trinidad and Tobego, Jonathan is a true lover of learning, growth, and personal development. A writer, speaker, entrepreneur, cultural historian, and lover of all things Dipset, Jonathan has merged his interests in culture, media, social impact, and technology to create at the highest levels.

Since graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in Political Science, Jonathan has served as program manager and editor for LinkedIn's Influencer Program, Co-Founder and Head of Corporate Brand at Blavity, the largest media and lifestyle brand for Black millennials, Editor in Chief for Red Table Talk Enterprises, External Advisory Council for Nielson, and a joint fellow at both the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where he explored frameworks to measure black cultural influence in the world.

More than these accomplishments, what impresses people the most about Jonathan is that he's as motivated to unpack the foundations of his ego and perspective throughout his journey, as he is to unpack the biggest questions that guide his work. It is truly an honor to call Jonathan a friend, and I would not be where I am without him.

Part 2 is filled with so many gems from topics including:

• How our emotional journey impacts the way we engage with partners
• Practicing intimacy with friendship
• Setting expectations around conflict
• How to create a safe haven in a relationship
• Accountability

For more Gentle Men Podcast content, follow us on IG & TikTok @gentlemen_podcast or on Twitter @gentlemen_pod

A native of New Hampshire with family roots in Trinidad and Tobego, Jonathan is a true lover of learning, growth, and personal development. A writer, speaker, entrepreneur, cultural historian, and lover of all things Dipset, Jonathan has merged his interests in culture, media, social impact, and technology to create at the highest levels.

Since graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in Political Science, Jonathan has served as program manager and editor for LinkedIn's Influencer Program, Co-Founder and Head of Corporate Brand at Blavity, the largest media and lifestyle brand for Black millennials, Editor in Chief for Red Table Talk Enterprises, External Advisory Council for Nielson, and a joint fellow at both the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where he explored frameworks to measure black cultural influence in the world.

More than these accomplishments, what impresses people the most about Jonathan is that he's as motivated to unpack the foundations of his ego and perspective throughout his journey, as he is to unpack the biggest questions that guide his work. It is truly an honor to call Jonathan a friend, and I would not be where I am without him.

Part 1 is filled with so many gems from topics including:

• His personal investigation into his relationship with intimacy
• Foregoing societal expectations about masculinity & emotionality
• Relationship between grief & growth
• Finding the courage to be vulnerable
• Affirmation vs validation

For more Gentle Men Podcast content, follow us on IG & TikTok @gentlemen_podcast or on Twitter @gentlemen_pod