In a world where men’s work is either defined by hyper-masculine aggression or super-feminine sensitivity, Alex Terranova and Bob Conlin saw a void. None of the existing options matched what they knew it actually took to become a more powerful, more loving, and more well rounded man.
So often they saw men around them, men with money, careers, families who were living with a quiet sense that something was off. Men trying to figure out who they were, what they were here for, how to lead at home and at work, how to connect, how to feel without falling apart, how to be strong without being hard.
So in 2021, they built it.
And here’s where Alchemy of Men is different.
Most men’s work tells men what to be. The path, the formula, the version of “real masculinity” you’re supposed to step into. Be more like this. Less like that. Follow these rules. Live by this code.
We don’t do that.
We believe every man has his own path and that finding it isn’t something anyone else can do for him. It’s the work of going inward. Taking off the armor. Examining the stories he’s been carrying. Experimenting. Failing. Learning from other men. Soul-searching. Excavating what’s underneath the version of himself the world expects him to be.
Our job isn’t to tell you who to become. Our job is to create the structure, the brotherhood, and the space where you can actually find out.
This is not therapy. This is not woo-woo. This is not “alpha male” hype. This is real, grounded, transformational work for men who are ready to look honestly at themselves and stop letting other people define what their life is supposed to look like.
Bob is one of fewer than 2,000 Master Certified Coaches in the world. That’s the highest credential the International Coach Federation gives. It takes thousands of hours of practice, peer review, and rigorous evaluation. Most coaches will never come close.
But here’s what makes Bob different — he doesn’t lead with the credential. He leads with the story.
Bob’s father went to work one day and never came home. Bob was seven years old. The man who was supposed to teach him how to be a man simply disappeared, and Bob spent the next several decades trying to figure out what masculinity actually meant on his own — through addiction, toxic relationships, self-sabotage, and the slow, grinding pursuit of “good enough” that so many men confuse for a life.
For years, he chased everything he was told would make him happy. The stable six-figure job. The title. The cool car. The relationships. He got them. He wasn’t happy. He knew he wasn’t being the man he wanted to be — and didn’t know how to become him.
What changed everything (besides getting sober) was letting go of his addiction to living up to other people’s expectations and finding his actual purpose. He went from feeling dead inside to feeling lit up. And he committed his career to helping other men do the same.
Bob is a certified ontological life and relationship coach, the founder of Conlin Coaching, and the author of Why My Relationships Suck: How to Create Strong Relationships with Courage and Heart. His work has been featured on ABC World News Tonight, CBS, NBC, Good Morning America, Today, Tamron Hall, Fox, Yahoo, and the Good Men Project. His viral “Date Night Dad” story — where he made every Friday night a real date night with his young son — captured national attention and became a cultural moment about what intentional fatherhood actually looks like.
He’s a husband to Shona, a father to his son Forest, and lives in Chicago. He’s the kind of guy who can bench 315+ pounds in the morning and sit by a fire crying and singing with men by night. He loves drums, metal screaming, ikaros, and the kind of brotherhood that only happens when men finally stop performing for each other.
In his words: “My philosophy is that we are in relationship to everything, and through the growth of self, loving others, and bringing our full power to our careers, we can create a fulfilling and adventurous life of intention and purpose.”
Bob co-founded Alchemy of Men with Alex to build the kind of space he wishes had existed for him when he was 25, 35, and 45 — a place where men could stop performing, get real with themselves, and learn what it actually takes to become a legend in their own life.
He’s the guy who’ll tell you everything you don’t want to hear, hold you accountable to the man you want to be, and walk with you through the scary, uncomfortable, beautiful work of forging the life you actually want.
Alex is the kind of guy who’ll crush a gym workout in the morning, sit in ceremony with an indigenous elder by night, and somewhere in between get genuinely emotional about the NBA playoffs. His wife Evin calls him an enigma. He prefers paradox. Either way, what he is — fully — is a man who’s done the work he asks other men to do.
Alex helps high-performing men who are killing it on paper but quietly dying inside escape the pressure cooker of performance and build lives that feel as good as they look. He knows that pain intimately. The pressure to always be on. The drive to perform. The quiet moments when success feels hollow and you wonder where the man you used to be went.
After spending over $100,000 on his own personal growth, completing 400+ hours of coach training, and coaching more than 5,000 client hours, Alex has refined a coaching style that’s part ontology, part PSYCH-K®, part ancient ritual, part modern mindset work, part somatic integration — and entirely allergic to bullshit.
He’s a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation, a PSYCH-K® Facilitator, and a Certified Mental Performance Mastery Coach. He’s trained over 100 other coaches. He’s helped open more than 20 businesses. He’s the author of two books: Fictional Authenticity: Release Your Past, Start Living Your Real Life and How Dreams Are Built. His work has been featured in MSN, Yahoo Finance, the Good Men Project, and dozens of podcasts. Yahoo called him “The Anti-Excuses Coach.” The name stuck.
Alex co-founded Alchemy of Men with Bob to fill what they both saw as a missing piece in men’s work — something that wasn’t hyper-masculine posturing and wasn’t navel-gazing softness, but real, grounded, transformational work for men who actually want to grow. He also co-founded Inner Child Theater Camp (ICTC) with his wife Evin — a growing experience brand bringing adults back to joy, creativity, and connection through theater.
He lives in Carlsbad, California, with Evin, his wiener dog Cali, and his cat Tucker. They keep him gentle. They also keep him humble.
Alex’s tagline is “Turning pressure into purpose.” That’s exactly what he does — for the executives, founders, entrepreneurs, and family men who land in his coaching practice realizing they need more than another productivity hack. They need someone who will tell them the truth, stand for their greatness when they’ve forgotten it, and walk with them through the work it takes to actually live a life that feels as good as it looks.
The men leading Alchemy of Men have spent decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars doing this work, Not just on themselves, but for thousands of clients. Bob is one of fewer than 2,000 Master Certified Coaches in the world. Alex has logged over 5,000 client hours and trained more than 100 other coaches. Their work has been featured by major media outlets and recognized by industry organizations.
Who's holding the space matters. Here's what backs ours.
MSN – Best Men’s Retreat 2024
Good Men Project, Elephant Journal, Fortune, Thrive Global and Yahoo Finance
CBS, NBC, FOX, Good Morning America, Today/Tamron Hall, ABC World News Tonight
The MCC is the highest credentialing tier the International Coach Federation offers. Earning it requires 2,500+ documented coaching hours, 200+ hours of advanced coach training, rigorous performance evaluations, and ongoing peer review. Fewer than 2,000 coaches in the world hold this credential. When you work with Bob, you’re working with someone who has demonstrated — through thousands of hours and external evaluation — that he can hold space for the kind of work most coaches are not equipped to navigate.
The Professional Certified Coach designation is the International Coach Federation’s mid-tier credential — earned through 500+ hours of client coaching, 125+ hours of training, and formal performance evaluation. It’s the credential most serious, full-time coaches work years to achieve. Alex earned it on his way to logging 5,000+ client hours and training over 100 other coaches. The PCC ensures that the work isn’t just heartfelt — it’s grounded in proven methodology and held to professional standards.
PSYCH-K® is a methodology for rewriting the subconscious beliefs that drive most of our behavior. Research shows that 95% of our daily decisions, reactions, and patterns are run by subconscious programming — most of it installed before age seven. PSYCH-K® uses a specific protocol combining muscle testing, balanced brain states, and belief reprogramming to shift those patterns at the root, instead of just talking about them. Alex is a Certified PSYCH-K® Facilitator, which means he can guide men through belief shifts that traditional talk-based coaching often can’t reach. It’s one of the reasons men leave our retreats and coaching not just feeling different — but actually being different.
Since 2021, Alex and Bob have led over 12 immersive Alchemy of Men retreats — guiding more than 100 men through 4 days of real, structured, life-shifting work.
Over the last decade, Alex and Bob have worked with hundreds of men — in 1-on-1 coaching, group programs, men’s circles, and workshops — and trained hundreds of coaches in the methodologies they bring to every retreat. The work has been refined in real rooms, with real men, over real years. It’s not theory. It’s not borrowed. It’s lived.
Experience community and connection with a brotherhood of men who demand more—from their lives and from yours.
To the leader you know you could be. The man you know you have the potential to be. The father and partner you want to be.
This isn’t just another meaningless trip, adventure, achievement, or notch in your belt. This is real growth & change from the inside out.
You are capable of more than you realize. You are more powerful than you realize. You can have the life you want and the business and career success you want.
Discover your untapped potential. Find that missing piece.
By the end of this retreat, you won’t just feel different, you’ll be different. You’ll walk away clear, confident, and in control, with a renewed sense of purpose and the tools to create real fulfillment in every part of your life. You’ll have faced fears, expressed yourself in new ways, and gained new tools and skills. You’ll have built real accountability and support-no more going it alone. You’ll have gained the clarity you’ve been searching for—knowing exactly what’s working, what’s not, and what to do next. You’ll leave reinvigorated, resilient, connected to yourself, your purpose, and a brotherhood of powerful men.
This isn’t just a retreat. It’s the turning point!
To create a loving global legacy of bold men fully expressed in their purpose, families, and communities. By forging both masculine strength and nurturing feminine spirit, we empower men to heal, grow, and find balance, cultivating wisdom, fulfillment, and spiritual connection to leave a lasting impact of love and positive change.
Based in San Diego, retreats in San Diego, CA; Austin, TX; and Utah
© 2026 Bob Conlin | Site by m33, made from love with purpose
