- with Alex Greaner - Adolescence, Mentorship For Moms And Who's Raising Your Son?

Hey, y'all.

Welcome to Shock and Y'all, a podcast about our mental and physical fitness, spirituality, and your big, bold life.

I'm your host, Nicole Shaka, and I am so grateful you're here.

I train bodies for a living, but I'm even more interested in harnessing the mind and elevating your spirit.

Every week I'm speaking with exceptional humans or experts in their field or folks who genuinely have a unique and valuable insight we can all benefit from.

So get cozy or lace up your shoes or keep your eyes on the road and let's drop right in.

Alex Grainer is here and good grief.

Is this a fascinating conversation? First of all, he's the author of who's raising your son.

He's also a little bit of a viral sensation on Tik TOK and Instagram conveniently.

So because he is wise and educated and speaking the raw truth, which, you know, I love so much.

We are really talking about what's competing for your son's attention.

Who's there to help him.

grow into a healthy masculine man? Does he have discipline and purpose and service? Who are these people that are in their lives influencing them? And what can you do as a parent? It's an awesome conversation.

He's an absolute delight.

Let's drop right in.

Hey y'all, welcome back to Shocking Y'all.

Today I'm speaking with Alex Grainer.

Alex is using the internet for good and talking about a topic that every parent should lose a little sleep over, not because there's no solution, but because someone is teaching our boys what it means to be a man.

And if we're not paying attention, it might not be us.

My guest today, Alex, author of Who's Raising Your Son, a book that asks a question that stopped me in my tracks, honestly.

Because while most parents are focused on grades, sports, friendships, and screen time, there's an entirely different battle happening online.

A battle for influence, a battle for identity, a battle for the attention of young men.

And here's the scary part.

Most of it is happening without parents even realizing it.

A boy starts looking for fitness advice, confidence, dating advice, motivation, and before long, algorithms are shaping his beliefs about masculinity, women, success, relationships, status, and self-worth.

Alex's work focuses on helping parents understand the forces competing for their son's attention and giving them the tools to stay connected during the years when boys naturally begin pulling away.

Because healthy masculinity doesn't happen by accident.

It isn't inherited.

It isn't downloaded.

It's built through responsibility and strong relationships with people willing to guide boys through the difficult process of becoming men.

So today we're talking about modern masculinity, social media, the mother-son relationship during adolescence.

I'm going to need a big breakdown on that one.

The influence of online culture and what it takes to raise a strong, grounded young man in a world that's pulling them in a hundred different directions.

Please welcome my new friend, Alex Grainer.