STUART WATSON
Author, Podcaster, Investigative Reporter, Expert Listener
Stuart founded ManListening as a media company dedicated to hearing women share their remarkable stories of resilience. He produces the weekly ManListening podcast with a fresh conversation every Thursday. His memoir, “What She Said & What I Heard: How One Man Shut Up and Started Listening,” is due out in late 2020.
Stuart spent his first career talking in TV news. He did it well, as a three-time Peabody award-winning investigative reporter. Other national honors included the Nieman Fellowship in Journalism at Harvard.
Now he’s shifted to focus on listening — especially to women. Stuart made the change when his own wife told him he was a terrible listener and dismissive of women.
Stuart’s media credits range from NPR’s “Morning Edition” to a profile in his hometown newspaper, The Charlotte Observer, about how he’s working hard to become a changed man.
ON PODCASTS AND IN MEDIA INTERVIEWS, STUART SPEAKS ABOUT:
Learning to listen to women. On the journey to develop ManListening, Stuart shifted from speaking and “getting your point across” to listening carefully with an openness to what is NOT being said in words. We all do better when under-represented voices are heard. Stuart discovered the hard way it’s in the best interest of men to learn to listen to women.
Surviving being fired and loss of identity. During COVID-19, job loss is growing. Suicide rates are especially high among white men. The opioid epidemic is another side of the same issue. Stuart talks about how he survived a company taking away his identity and how he got his sense of self back. He also talks about the toxic effects of rage and the healing power of forgiveness.
Asking the right questions to uncover family + other secrets. Stuart was placed in foster care the day he was born and adopted four months later. He expertly used his investigative skills to find his family of origin and reunite with his birth mother and his full blood brother and sister. Stuart reveals investigative techniques in a simple way so anyone can unearth important stories.
Storytelling to heal from trauma and addiction. Telling his own story helps Stuart heal. Storytelling can help others heal, too, and Stuart can explain how. Stuart’s biological father died of alcohol addiction. His full blood brother and sister suffered from addiction as well. After drinking alcoholically himself, Stuart has more than a quarter-century of continuous sobriety thanks to the support of a vibrant recovery community.
Being a son to parents with dementia in hospice. It isn’t easy. Stuart talks about what he got right and wrong in managing the emotional challenges and logistical responsibilities that so many families face.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT STUART:
“We bloom when we are heard. Stuart gets it.”
– Anne Heffron
– Author, YOU DON’T LOOK ADOPTED
“I could talk to Stuart all day.”
– Sheri Lynch
– Syndicated radio host, “THE BOB AND SHERI SHOW”
“Stuart is an incredible listener. ManListening is a real thing! Honey? Are you here? Can you listen to Stuart?”
– Colleen Odegaard
– Host, “Good Morning Charlotte!” WCNC-TV NBC Charlotte
“When Stuart talks about his experiences, it’s raw, relatable and exactly what our families go through.”
– Pam Sharts Isaacs, Director of Marketing and PR – Hospice of Cleveland County, NC
CONTACT STUART AT: 866-707-6607
@ManListening