Nate McGhee: Student and author

Making a change: Nate McGhee, an athlete and student, wrote a book for young males and athletes about what means to be a man. McGhee’s book was inspired by his parents, previous coaches and role models, society and his own experiences.  

Sambridhi Regmi and Joelle Conway

Nate McGhee is a sophomore business entrepreneurship and innovation major at Washburn University. McGhee was a cornerback for the Ichabod football team.

McGhee recently published a book titled “#Dominate: A Playbook for Life for Young Men and Athletes.” Within the book is short stories, poems, motivational passages and a page after each chapter for readers to write notes.

He has sold about 50 copies of his book so far.

McGhee describes his book as a positive read for young men and young athletes about what it means to be a man.

“It’s a great, short book, around 60 pages. It helps to build self awareness and self esteem within you. It even gives great core values from different mentors that I have come across my life,” said McGhee.

McGhee’s mother has been an inspiration for writing his book, along with issues in society regarding masculinity.

“My mom has been the main source of inspiration for this. She has a nonprofit organization for females to help them to build self awareness and self esteem,” explained McGhee. “One day she was talking on phone about males, and I was just tired of hearing certain things about males and us getting a bad “rep” (reputation). Even just things that I’ve seen growing up and things that were going on in the media which, I have been disagreeing with. I felt like it was time for a change in the society.”

McGhee worked on writing his book for about a year before it was published in April 2019.

“There are some authors to whom I reached out and different mentors and men who have came across my life: my father, different coaches, teachers, my friends. They all have contributed a little story, say whether a short story, a poem or just something nice to say,” said McGhee.

McGhee recently spoke at the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex.

“I got great feedback from them. The younger boys really liked it and could connect with the book,” stated McGhee.

McGhee would like to keep writing books, but wants to take time to enjoy his first published piece and being a student.

“This is my first book, but I still have time to write more books in the future. I’m still young, so I have a lot to learn,” said McGhee.

McGhee is hopeful of expanding the ideas from his book into alternate versions, such as podcasting, short videos and a social media platform.

“Going along with the books, I even want to make short inspirational videos. I could even see this becoming a movement. Soon, I will partner with one of my friends back in St. Louis. He wants to put together a short film on putting guns down,” McGhee stated.

More information on “#Dominate,” visit dominatestl.com.

Edited by: Abbie Barth and Adam White