Meet Hearts of Men
Bill Byrnes
Founder | Facilitator
I connect leaders with themselves, each other, and the world around them through deepened presence, awareness, and vulnerability. My mission is to guide humans into personal empowerment and authenticity through intentional experiences of growth and transformation.
I experienced loneliness early in life, living with a single mother as an only child until my adolescent years. Throughout my childhood, I moved frequently, trying to fit in by being who I thought others wanted me to be, eventually abandoning my true self. This led to an early adulthood of escape, distraction, and addiction. I felt stuck in a technology sales career, addicted to the external validation and comfort it offered, yet I was completely disconnected from purpose. I lived in a constant state of dread and anxiety, often numbing myself and escaping these feelings with substance use, porn, gambling, and chasing peak experiences.
I began to own my healing journey by prioritizing personal development, working on myself to take conscious ownership of my life and face what I was running from. This lit a fire inside me, and I was motivated to direct my energy towards building a life of purpose. I launched my first company, GoodCinema, focused on community engagement and action through live film and discussion events. Closing this business two years later during the pandemic offered another opportunity for self-reflection and exploration, as I discovered my soul's calling - creating experiences of connection and transformation.
I now lead groups and individuals to reclaim their authenticity and show up in wholeness through awareness, reflection, and intention. This has become the essence of my facilitation style - cultivating brave spaces for vulnerability with grounded presence that invites people to feel more, open to the truth within, take ownership of their actions, and consciously create the lives of their dreams.
Beyond leading Hearts of Men groups and retreats, my work includes teaching yoga, guiding breathwork journeys, facilitating plant medicine ceremonies, embodiment coaching, psychedelic-assisted somatic therapy, and relational leadership training. Learn more about Bill and his work at Authenticue.
Brad Appel
Founding Member | Co-Facilitator
I am a reverse native to Colorado – my grandmother was born and raised in Denver and I moved to Colorado in 1992. As a serial entrepreneur, I have always been curious about everything. From starting a paper route at the age of 8 to working in a deli, restaurants, IT, home building and nonprofit work, I have explored many ways to grow and serve others.
Serving others led me to start Wish for Wheels, a nonprofit that Gives new bikes and helmets to 2nd graders in low income schools. Started in 2005 Wish for Wheels has grown to serving 10,000+ 2nd graders a year throughout the United States working with amazing companies who Fund, Build and Give new bikes/helmets to 2nd graders in their communities.
Following a challenging divorce and tough times after, I dove into what I call the “deep work”. While therapy and other modalities helped me uncover and bring awareness to my actions, feelings, outcomes of the why things were going the way they were – I needed to go deeper to accept my involvement in my own life. One of these modalities I explored further was to get involved in a Men’s Group that became Hearts of Men. This group continues to support and help with acceptance, accountability, perspective and practice for emotions, thought and communication.
With the positive impact Hearts of Men continues to shine in my life, I want to continue to serve others which has led me to launch HumanMen.org a nonprofit with the purpose of helping men find and join a Men’s Groups. HumanMen is dedicated to bring men into a community that strengthens, supports, and inspires them. HumanMen offers Trial Size Tuesday, a way to try out a Men’s Group and experience different groups/facilitators. HumanMen also offers a directory to find and connect with Men’s Groups and a podcast where men can meet and learn about groups. Let’s be healthy, purposeful human men.
I invite you to find your community and sink into your “deep work”, shinning awareness on truth and steeping into acceptance for your role in your life. You are not alone and there are many ways to get support and love.
Greg Greenwood
Advisor
Greg (nicknamed “Woody” since childhood) was named CEO/Executive Director of Wish for Wheels in July 2022. The role unites his genuine desire to help under-resourced children in the Denver area and beyond along with his life-long passion for biking and cycling.
Greg grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas where at the age of eight, he and his best friend began fashioning all-terrain bicycles from whatever spare bike parts they could find. Around the same time, his entrepreneurial spirit was ignited when his father encouraged him to start his first business mowing yards and selling hanging baskets and bags of kindling firewood in his neighborhood.
Greg went onto become a veteran Coloradan entrepreneur, who has founded companies in various sectors, including technology, manufacturing, distribution, motorsports, retail, services and non-profit. Most notably, in 1999, he founded comCables, a network infrastructure manufacturer and low voltage distributor, which he sold in 2013 to the Audax Group. In his recent role as CEO of Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network in Colorado he served CEO members helping them navigate their strategic growth and organizational challenges. Prior, Greenwood was the founder and interim CEO of Colorado Thought Leaders Forum, which focuses on ensuring the success of CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners.
Over the past 35+ years, Greenwood has worked directly with inner-city youth through Big Brothers Big Sisters, Sun Valley Youth Center and Here’s Life Inner City. He served as a board member of Wish for Wheels for the past five years and is currently on the board of Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network and Moab Scholarship Fund.
Greenwood is an avid adventure athlete who knows first-hand the physical and emotional benefits of biking and cycling. He also enjoys SUP surfing and kiteboarding, traveling with his wife, Brigid in their Westfalia van, and mentoring his stepson, Jack, in his first entrepreneurial endeavors.