The Restorative Man Podcast

What if accountability has been aimed at the wrong thing all along? This conversation explores why behavior-focused accountability often leaves men trapped in shame instead of leading them toward healing. Chris and Cody unpack what it looks like to stop keeping score and start reminding each other of the deeper story God is telling. Because maybe the question isn't, "What did you do?" but, "Who ha...

What does it take to move from having guys around you to having true brothers beside you? In this deeply personal conversation, Jake Kissack shares how growing up on a Wyoming cattle ranch shaped his longing for connection, belonging, and the kind of friendship that goes far beyond shared activities. Together, Jake and Jesse explore why story is often the missing ingredient in male relationships a...

Most men have people they spend time with, but very few have someone who actually knows them. In this episode, Cody and Jesse talk about the difference between having buddies and having brothers, and why so many men still feel lonely even when they’re constantly around others. They get honest about the risk of being known, the fear of rejection, and why surface-level friendships can only carry us...

We sat down with Trevor Olson thinking we’d talk about surfing, but the conversation took us somewhere much deeper. What started as a story about chasing waves became an honest look at how easily we start chasing control instead of connection. Trevor shared how the surfers getting the most out of the ocean aren’t the ones catching the most waves, but the ones who’ve learned to be present in it. Th...

It starts with something small, like a kid reaching for your hand, and realizing those moments don’t last forever. Somewhere along the way, good intentions quietly turn into things we never actually do. This conversation gets honest about fear, scarcity, and why it’s easier to stay in the idea phase than risk showing up. There’s also a quiet invitation here to rethink what actually matters, especi...

This part 2 of our conversation with Doug McKelvey feels like sitting with someone who kept showing up even when it felt like nothing was working. He shares what it was like to write in the middle of doubt, where faith looked less like clarity and more like staying. There is something grounding in hearing how these prayers were shaped slowly, quietly, and sometimes without any sense of momentum. Y...

This conversation drifts through the quiet places most people try to avoid, where calling feels unclear and life doesn’t follow the script you expected. Doug McKelvey shares how years that looked like failure slowly became the very soil that shaped his most meaningful work. There’s something grounding in the idea that even the smallest, most ordinary moments are not wasted but somehow tied to a mu...

What happens when the idea of God as only Father starts to feel incomplete? In this episode, Beth Bruno joins Cody for an honest conversation that is both stretching and grounding. Beth takes us on a thoughtful journey that explores the often-overlooked motherly imagery of God in Scripture, why it makes some of us tense up, and what might open up if we approach it with a posture of what if instead...

In Part 2 of our conversation with Jeff Zaugg , we move past surface-level fatherhood advice and into the deeper work of becoming present, wholehearted dads. Jeff unpacks the six core discoveries that shape a man’s journey and explains why intent alone does not transform our families. We talk honestly about how modern dads often default to provision and protection while quietly losing wonder, deli...

Jeff Zaugg joins us to talk about fatherhood, but we end up talking about something deeper first. What if the pressure you feel as a dad is coming from a scoreboard God never set up? Jeff shares the story of the clipboard, the bridge, and the moment he realized he was trying to earn a love that was already his. This conversation is honest about the whispers that say you are not enough and clear ab...

Discipline sounds simple until you realize how much of it is actually about you. In this episode, Jesse French and Cody Buriff get honest about the moments they got big, shut down, or simply forgot their kid in the hallway. They explore what is really happening underneath our anger, why something in us feels threatened, and how that spills onto our sons and daughters. This is not about perfect beh...

Ash Wednesday is almost here, and for a lot of us Lent used to mean one thing: fish sandwiches and people with ashes on their foreheads. In this episode, Cody and Jesse unpack how Lent is actually an invitation to face suffering instead of numbing it, powering through it, or pretending we are fine. They wrestle with the idea of an “all-suffering God” and what it means to follow a Christ who meets...

What if the most dangerous men are not the loud ones, but the ones who quietly stopped showing up. This episode wrestles with a different kind of threat, the man who abdicates his place in his own life, marriage, friendships, and story. Through a simple gift and an unexpected phrase, Jesse and Nic explore how passivity can wound just as deeply as aggression, and why presence is a form of courage....

In this episode, Jesse French sits down with Greg Ehlert for an unhurried conversation about noticing God’s activity in everyday life. They explore spiritual direction as the practice of holy listening and what it means to pay attention without rushing toward answers. Greg shares how contemplative practices reshaped his understanding of God from performance to presence. The conversation makes room...

Young sons have a fire within them. But how is that fire channeled and not extinguished? In this episode, Beth Bruno joins Chris for an insightful conversation about the reality of mothering sons. Beth generously shares her own experience of navigating the emotions and shifts during her son's teenage years.  She unpacks the importance of mothers adopting a posture of space and delight with their s...

One of the shaping but not well-known voices of Restoration Project is Beth Bruno. This episode tells some of the origin story of Beth's creation of the feminine categories of Fierce and Lovely. Beth shares her desire to create language that was exploratory rather than prescriptive for her own daughters and for women across the world. She graciously shared this framework with Restoration Project a...

This is part two of our conversation with Michael Krommendyk, and it goes even deeper into the places many men quietly carry. We talk about church hurt, belonging, and what it feels like when your faith still matters but the structures around it no longer fit. Michael shares what it looks like to step away without walking away from God, and how community can hold you when certainty is gone. If you...

What happens when the place that shaped your faith is also the place that wounds you? In this first part of a 2-part episode, Michael Krommendyk takes us through his journey from growing up in church to stepping into ministry and eventually stepping away from it all. He opens up about the weight of expectations, the quiet moments of doubt, and the small discoveries of grace that reshaped his story...

This episode starts with punctuation, of all things, and somehow lands on one of the most grounded ways to close out a year. Jesse and Chris talk about how many of us end December with a question mark, an exclamation point, or a long, tired comma that never gives us a real pause. What if this time you ended with a period instead. The kind that lets the year be exactly what it was and lets you name...

In this episode of the Restorative Man podcast, Jesse French and Cody Buriff engage in a deep conversation with Tim Helwege about the multifaceted nature of fitness and health. They explore personal stories of strength, the underlying motivations for pursuing fitness, and the impact of shame narratives on men's health. Tim emphasizes the importance of understanding one's 'why' behind fitness goals...

As the year winds down, Chris and Jesse invite us into a different kind of reflection by asking what it might look like to receive a report card from your kids about how they actually experience you as their dad. Instead of performance or pressure, this simple tool opens the door to honest connection, real curiosity, and conversations most families never slow down enough to have. They walk through...

This week, Chris and Jesse dive into the overrated and underrated parts of December and it is such a fun ride. They share family stories about cutting down Christmas trees, losing kids in snow wells, and why some traditions feel grounding while others just wear us out. You will hear honest reflections on Christmas music, the pressure to reflect at the end of the year, and the longing for simple mo...

Chris just got back from California, where he spent the weekend with all three of his grown kids — and came home with some fresh reflections on fatherhood. In this episode, he and Jesse talk about what it means to still be a dad when your kids are adults and don’t need you in the same way anymore. They unpack three postures of fathering — out front, behind, and next to — and what each one asks of...

Ever had a family plan that looked great on paper but fell apart somewhere around hour twenty-four? In this episode, Jesse shares a road trip story that turned from “adventure” to “are we there yet?” and back again, while Chris helps him uncover what was really going on beneath the chaos. Together they talk about how easy it is to chase efficiency and forget to set our families and ourselves up fo...

Ever notice how certain family traditions just stick, not because of what you do, but because of who you become together? In this episode, Chris and Jesse talk about why rhythms like Thanksgiving trips, Christmas tree rituals, or even peeling apples as a family can quietly shape who we are. They explore how small, repeated moments turn into anchors of identity, grounding us when life feels scatter...