Brett McKay was fed up.
He was looking at row after row of men’s interest magazines on a magazine rack, and he found that every “men’s interest” magazine – like Maxim and FHM Magazine – seemed to offer little more than pictures of scantily-clad women and tips on how to throw an awesome frat party. None of these magazines shared real advice on how to be a better man.
So he decided to do something about it. Brett created the Art of Manliness, a blog dedicated to showing men how to be better men, borrowing from classic values of generations past. Today, the Art of Manliness is one of the largest independent men’s interest websites on the internet. And alongside his wife Kate, Brett continues to run it much like he did when it started, with a sharp focus on producing practical, helpful content for its predominantly male readership.
I’ve been fortunate to write for Art of Manliness for the past year, and I can say I’m really proud to contribute to the site today because AoM is genuinely focused on helping men to improve themselves in every area, from fashion to fitness to relationships and financial skills.
In this interview, I talk with Brett about what led him to found the site, how it makes its money today, what relationships he relied on in growing it to where it is today, and where he sees it going in the future. Enjoy!