DADICATED.COM - empowering Dads

“We have a critical role as parents to create memories for children, and put them in situations and environments where they’re creating memorable experiences.” Brett Rustand on DADicated

Brett Rustand is a 45-year-old military veteran and father of five who lives in Tuscon, Arizona. He and his wife both come from large families and have put a lot of effort into melding their individual experiences into their own unified family culture.

Brett’s military career completely changed direction upon the birth of his first son in Korea. He decided that, from that moment on, he would dedicate every day of his life to raising his children, and currently works in an industry helping veterans to get jobs.

In this session, we discuss working as a team within your family and our role as parents in deliberately creating situations that will form lasting memories for our children. He draws insightful parallels between functioning as a military unit and as a family and emphasizes the importance of showing vulnerability and giving children space to reconcile their own emotions.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

- When children see themselves as part of a team with their own responsibilities, it helps them formulate their own identity and feel comfortable within their individual roles as part of a coordinated family unit.

- Constant communication routines are essential in maintaining strong and functional relationships both between spouses and as a family.

- It’s so easy to forget to take a step back and enjoy how wonderful an experience it is to help a little person develop and become a full-fledged human being. Realizing this and taking the time to do so is essential for our own perspective and parenting experience.

Thanks for listening, I hope you’ll enjoy this session!

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“The best advice I can give myself as a dad is to believe in your impossibles.” Ben Richter on DADicated

Ben Richter is an amazing man, dad and entrepreneur. He is a father of seven from two marriages who has learned to navigate the complexities of blending different family cultures with multiple children of different ages.

Ben has built one of the premier airport logistics companies and has managed to develop effective habits for balancing his work and family life. He emphasizes the importance of being fully present for your children by minimizing phone and work time when you’re together.

In this session, we discuss various valuable principles of fatherhood. Ben shares how he implemented “checkmark” systems from a relatively young age to teach children to consciously reflect on their behavior in a tangible and quantifiable way.

He explains how building positive communicative habits into our own and in our children’s everyday lives yield extraordinary results - and that difficulties are inevitable, but learning how to respond to them is what really counts.

Ben is truly inspirational in terms of his outlook on life and what he has achieved as a father and businessman and I thoroughly enjoyed our session together!

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

- Teaching children to exercise gratitude is a powerful way to influence their ability to respond to and to evaluate their daily lives.

- Focusing on incremental improvement on your performance as a parent is hugely rewarding, rather than focusing on missteps or regretting mistakes. Immediately focus on being the best version of yourself as soon as you walk in the door to be with your children.

- Daily and weekly recaps with a quantifiable checkmark system can engrain lasting positive behaviors in children.

I was on the fence about checkmarks for a long time but have to say that Ben’s perspectives made a lot of sense to me and have implemented a few of his ideas at home. So far this works really well.

If you find these concepts interesting I recommend you read “The Entitlement Trap: How to Rescue Your Child with a New Family System of Choosing, Earning, and Ownership” by Linda Eyre and Richard Eyre. It goes well together with this podcast and the concepts described are complementary and valuable.

Thanks for listening, I hope you’ll enjoy this session!

GUEST SOCIAL MEDIA

“Growing up, people always asked where’s my dad, I would say in prison. But I always knew that that wasn’t the complete story. I wish I could say more to that when they asked me that, because they say your dad’s in prison people make assumptions. Yes, he was in prison, but he played a major part in my life.” - Darryl Woods Jnr on DADicated

Darryl Woods Sr. is 49 years old. He spent his 28 years and 11 months as a dad in prison. His son, Darryl Woods Jr., was born one year before his father was incarcerated. Their unique story and relationship they have today despite their difficult situation is nothing but amazing and inspirational.

Darryl Sr. grew up in one of the roughest parts of Detroit and was flung into a life of drugs and crime from a very early age. He was incarcerated at 18 years of age and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He refused to succumb to a victim mentality and went above and beyond to be a present and a positive role model in his son’s life.

In this session, we discuss overcoming the difficulties of being a father figure from within prison, turning a hopeless situation into something positive for yourself and others, Darryl shares his experiences on the power of mental persistence and faith in overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

I am absolutely amazed at both their strength and perseverance, and the wonderful relationship they have built as father and son.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

- Even under the most impossible circumstances, mental strength and a positive approach can prevail and yield astounding results in parenting.

- We can choose victimhood or the opposite for ourselves.

- Being there for your children takes many forms and this might not always just be physical.

To book my remote keynote on how we can empower dads in an effort to help facilitate family success please reach out via dadicated.com or simply use my LinkedIn (below).

Thanks for listening, if you like this one, please share the session.

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“The best advice I can give myself as a dad is that love is the baseline. The kids will always have my love. They need to know that. They need to feel that. I can be upset, sad, embarrassed, furious, all those things. But there will always be that base love. Of course I’ll always love them no matter what. But the key is that they know and feel that, always.” Tom Cullen on DADicated

Tom Cullen is a single dad and entrepreneur who lives with his two daughters who are six and eight in a small, rural town in New York.

Tom shares an episode where he had to literally pack up and leave the family home with his two kids within a couple of hours. He has never returned to that home, became a single father and dramatically shifted his approach to both his business and parenting thereafter.

We spoke together about how to establish family values, how to run family retreats and family meetings, the importance of constant re-evaluation of our own approach to parenting, goal setting for kids and how to show emotion to our children whilst shielding them from the unnecessary baggage we might be experiencing as adults.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

- It’s very possible to turn devastation into empowerment and strength by conscious acts.

- Teaching my kids how a new toy works is an incredible opportunity to connect, teach and bond.

- Being a good dad is cool. Make it positive and engaging.

- Teach goal setting in a playful way early on.

To book my remote keynote on how we can empower dads in an effort to help facilitate family success please reach out via dadicated.com or simply use my LinkedIn (below).

Thanks for listening, if you like this one, please share the session.

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“The best advice I can give myself as a dad is being a dad is a journey, not a destination. It’s about progress, not perfection. Be present, and when present, be present." Dave Galbenski on DADicated.com

Dave Galbenski is an amazing entrepreneur and thought leader in the field of law from Michigan. He is happily married and has one daughter who is just about to graduate from college.

Dave has won numerous awards for his business endeavors, he served as the chairman of the Entrepreneur’s Organization and founded the EO Leadership academy. He himself has learned a lot about the value of education and hard work from his father, who was the first in his family to graduate from college and has played a huge role in Dave’s life.

In this session, Dave shares his views on how we are both teaching and learning throughout our parenting journeys and that we can never do everything perfect but we can always try to do our best. Dave emphasizes the importance of creating moments in our children’s lives and acting with intention, but also just being there for them when they need us most.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

- Moments Matter. Moments are the molecules of our lives and our lives are merely a cumulative outcome of many moments.

- Being a parent must be my number one priority. Figuring out how to make everything else fall into place comes second.

- When you do your best you don’t have to be perfect.

- Turn technology off wherever you can.

“It’s our job to do this, this is what we’re here to do. And we won’t know anything, we won’t know everything, we’re gonna do some things that are gonna be imperfect, but we’re gonna give it our best and we’re gonna be intentional about it and we’ll keep learning along the way.”

Thanks for listening, if you like this one, please share the session.

To book my remote keynote on how we can empower dads in an effort to help facilitate family success please reach out via dadicated.com or simply use my LinkedIn (below).

GUEST SOCIAL MEDIA

“I think we make the business of parenting disproportionally difficult - if we assume that everything is within our control.” Rory Sutherland on DADicated.com

Rory Sutherland is one of the most influential men in the advertising world, a charismatic speaker and Dad of twins. He’s the former Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, has served as Chair of the Judges in Cannes and is a best-selling author. He is very intelligent, fun and will get your brain and heart to fire up. Do yourself a favour and listen to this lighthearted discussion around the sheer disruption that parenting brings to an otherwise tidy, domesticated life.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. It’s important in a multi-child household to keep the rules the same for everyone
2. That there are some things that parenting cannot change so there is really no upside in getting too upset about that.
3. Our job as parents is to prevent catastrophe. Simply: keep them from worst-case scenarios
   

“You may have a shorter life with your child but you still have a life with your child and some of this will be happy.” Daniel DeFabio on DADicated.com

Daniel DeFabio is married and a father of two boys, Alex and Lucas. Sadly Lucas quite recently passed away at the age of 11.5 due to Menkes Syndrome, a rare disease he had been diagnosed with at the age of 1.

Daniel shares how he adjusted his expectations of what raising a child might look like at the point of the diagnosis, his views and experiences as a rare dad, how he dealt with the loss, how the Lucas’s condition impacted the family and what helped him and his views on fathering a child that he knew he would lose.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. Parenting advice is almost always future orientated.
2. Live in the moment, be ready to change your own expectations.
3. When dealing with rare disease parents give an extra effort to include them.

Hope you’ll like it, thanks for listening.

“The best advice I can give myself as a dad is to be present with an open heart.” Chris Jones on DADicated.com

Chris has been married to Yolanda for 22 years and they have two boys (16 & 13).

Chris shares about his son’s Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and how his condition has impacted him and the family. Chris’s insights on managing life energy (whilst being relentless) well are powerful. We talk about role clarity, family communication, being vulnerable with kids and life transitions.

Chris is a high-energy serial-entrepreneur. He led his last company into building 4 brands to #1 market share in Canada while scaling the business 7 times in revenue and transitioning to working 3 hours per month.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. My wife needs to be my number one relationship – this in turn will make me a better dad
2. If I do my best and come from a place of love it’s ok not to be perfect.
3. I need to take care of myself to truly show up for my family

“The secret of family is to love what you have got. What you have got is better for you than what you would have made up for yourself.” Steve Biddulph on DADicated.com

Steve Biddulph is one of the world's best known parent educators and best-selling parenting author. A psychologist for 30 years, he is now retired but continues to write and teach. Steve is known for his ideas of a more affectionate and connected form of parenting.

Steve Biddulph is 67 years old, married for over 40 years, 2 children and grandchildren.

Steve explains ‘the father wound’ and how men can heal their relationship with their own fathers. There are true nuggets on raising boys and girls, toddler negotiation, the impact of men’s groups on dads and various key elements to successful fatherhood.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. All learning is relational.
2. Stop telling my kids not to cry.
3. Ask myself daily: who is my child TODAY and where can we meet?
4. For my sons – I need to teach them how to drive and steer their male bodies.
5. For my daughters – I am their self-esteem department and example of male respect.

To book my remote keynote on how we can empower dads in an effort to help facilitate family success please reach out via dadicated.com or simply use my linkedIn (below).

Thanks for listening, if you like this one, please share the session.

“The secret of family is to love what you have got. What you have got is better for you than what you would have made up for yourself.” Steve Biddulph on DADicated.com

GUEST (Steve Biddulph):

“How do I become part of this child’s life, without alienating the father, but still in the sense we need to become a family?” Eric Naaman on DADicated.com

Eric Naaman, who grew up in war-torn Lebanon, is a leading entrepreneur, and loving stepdad to 12 year old Francois. He studied in the US, and is a successful entrepreneur now living in Canada.

In the session Eric shares about his upbringing in Lebanon, resilient family units, the unique role of a step-dad, and how to build a relationship with a child that’s not your own. Eric shares how he has approached discipline and influence, when to take a step back, and his relationship with Frank’s father. He has amazing insights into how to turn a difficult situation into something very positive.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. As a step-dad don’t try to replace or disparage the father; never take away glory from him
2. Be supportive of all your child’s endeavours
3. I should always be working at the relationship with my wife and kids.
4. Ask them about their dreams, share yours.

“Embrace our separate journeys. These journeys are at the root of our individuality but sharing in them is the cornerstone of life as a family.” Eric Naaman on DADicated.com

“The best advice I can give myself as a dad is to spend one-on-one quality time with each son,” Hao Lam on DADicated.com

Hao Lam’s story as a dad is powerful and super inspirational.

Hao Lam is a refugee and dad of two sons (23 AND 20) from Vietnam, now living in Seattle. He has been married to his wife Lisa, for 27 years.

As a youngster Hao spent 12 years trying to escape Vietnam, was a street kid and refused formal education from the country that held his dad as a prisoner of war. He eventually made his way to Canada, managed to graduate from High School and College and went on to create Best in Class Education Center, which is now one of the largest education franchises in the US.

In the session we discuss Hao’s journey, his upbringing and escapes from Vietnam to becoming an entrepreneur. Hao shares openly about fatherhood during hardship, his mistakes, his regrets and his learnings as a father.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. If I’m not going to die, it’s probably not such a big deal.
2. Am I treating my parents as well as I am treating my children?
3. The more you push your children, the less they will want to come.
4. Always tell your children that you love them & do make time for them.
   

“The best advice I can give myself as a dad is finding as many different reference points to emulate becoming a better dad.” Don Britton on DADicated.com

Don Britton (2 daughters, 1 & 5) is an amazing entrepreneur with a wealth of life experience who recently sold his company in a quest to spend more time with his family.

Don grew up without his dad. He shares about his mother’s sacrifices and why (pre-kids) family seemed to be a competitive disadvantage. We discuss entrepreneur-dad challenges, family-positive workplaces, family values and mentorship for dads.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. Have frank conversations with your kids about difficult topics.
2. Never leave a question unanswered.
3. Teach your children the value of work and that things in life don’t come for free.

Don is an adventurous guy with a wealth of life experience, I do hope you’ll enjoy the session! If you do, hit subscribe and share the podcast with another dad or to. Thanks for listening!

Don Britton (guest):

“Stay humble and accept the humility that comes as a parent. There is so much we want to do for our children and there is so much we try to do, and in the end, they have their lives that they will lead and there is only so much we can do.”  Mark Cronin, on DADicated.com

Mark lives in Long Island and has been married for 38 years. He has 3 boys, Patrick (29), James (26), and John (24), who has down syndrome. Mark and John are the co-founders of John’s Crazy Socks, which was John’s idea. They sell crazy socks and employ dozens of employees with special needs. Their mission? To spread happiness!

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. I truly found Mark inspiring because he is humble and real.
2. Be positive, no matter what.
3. I’ll think twice before I “soften” things for my kids who might struggle with something.
4. If your children tell you they want something, be sure they understand what it takes to achieve it

“You want to set goals that people have to reach to attain. If they’re too easy, it is uninteresting, and if it is too far out there, you're going to quit, but if they make you stretch, and get outside your comfort zone and reach for something, that is the sweet spot, for all of us and for our kids.” Mark Cronin on DADicated.com

GUEST (guest):

“The solutions will be simple, but the process is anything but.” Jeff Neufeld on DADicated.com

Jeff Neufeld lives in Calgary, Canada, with his wife and 3 children who are 8, 5 and 1.5 years of age.

Jeff once was a successful concert pianist performing in Europe and North America and now is the owner of a leading manufacturing company and an industrial racking company.

In this session, Jeff shares openly about the impact alcohol had on his life and family-life, what changes he made and the benefits gained.

Furthermore Jeff opens up about the hardest and best things he has done for himself and his family as a dad and how he allocates the 168 hours we all are gifted with every week. We discuss what it was like for him becoming a dad and how he learned to balance a blended life of work and family.

He also talks about having to challenge parenting gender roles and shares amazing insights into the importance of seeking mentorship, not only in business, but in life and parenting.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. When you are not feeling connected, look at how you are spending your time.
2. Humility makes you a better father.
3. I don’t have to have all the answers as a dad.

“I don’t have to have all the answers and be everything to my children. What has changed is I view my role with my kids to teach them respect for themselves and others and imbue in them a sense of joy and awe and marvel astonishment about the world. That’s it. If I can do that, I think they will have pretty good lives!” Jeff Neufeld on DADicated.com

GUEST (Jeff Neufeld):

“I am 100% responsible for how I choose to walk through the door at the end of a day and parent my kids.” Craig Rodney, on DADicated.com

Craig Rodney sold his agency and committed himself to being a full-time dad. He’s the primary parent to his boys (4 & 6), a situation which challenges the parenting narrative of our society.

We talk co-parenting after divorce, why it’s easier to be a dad (than a mom), dad-efficiency-hacks, picking battles and the concept of perceived “selfishness” vs “self-first”. Craig is very funny and the session was super fun, enjoy & thanks for listening!

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad were:

1. Being responsible for your children is not the same as being responsible to your children.
2. Consequences only feel like a punishment to your kids if you do not explain them upfront.
3. I’ll make sure I am in alignment with my wife around parenting issues.

GUEST (Craig Rodney):

Bruno Monteferri (37) is from Peru, married to Christel. Together they have a 2 year old daughter.

Bruno is an impressive changemaker, conservationist, lobbyist, filmmaker and environmental lawyer. Talking to Bruno was like talking to a brother. We talk about big waves, family culture in Peru, our experiences during the birth of our children, Bruno’s conservation work and stories of his own upbringing.

Bruno is an Ashoka Fellow and has a Master in Philosophy in Conservation Leadership. He has published several books and has directed over 50 short videos including the award-winning documentary “A la Mar”.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. Decide which of my acquired values I’d like to carry on with in my own family
2. Make sure my kids experience nature as much as possible
3. It is important to have a purpose and to follow your heart

Some of you know this already: I initiated a fundraiser called togetherforcapetown.com during lockdown here in South Africa. We aim to raise enough funds for 3.000.000 meals for kids in Cape Town’s townships before the year is out. If you haven’t yet, please do get involved and donate at togetherforcapetown.com. Thank you.

Alright, without any further adu, here is Bruno, please enjoy and thanks for listening!

Bruno Monteferri:

Don Lamont lost his first wife to breast cancer when his youngest daughter was four years of age. Don is an amazing serial entrepreneur and a wise family leader. He is 59 today and married to his second wife Ronda.

In the session Don tells us how he managed to deal with the pressure of losing his wife and bringing up his daughters together with truly inspirational learnings he made along the way. I learned a lot from his shares.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. Vet your kids’ friends.
2. Do not focus on your mistakes.
3. Don’t ever feel sorry for yourself.
4. Be careful with your words: Things you say will haunt you.
5. Find something you and your child both love and do that together to gain an opening into her life.
6. Have frank conversations with your girls and teach them how men think.

“By profession I am a dental surgeon by profession I am a mental surgeon.” Suhail Jouaneh on DADicated.com

Dr. Suhail Jouaneh is a leader, coach and businessman from Amman in Jordan. He is a business facilitator and executive coach having organized thousands of workshops and trained more than 20,000 people from over forty countries. Suhail is well spoken, very witty and positive and the session is fun and very interesting.

Suhail is married to his wife Abeer and has two daughters Elisabeth 21, Christina 14. Suhail is Christian in a country where 98% of the population is muslim. He spent seven years in France during his studies and so I was very interested to hear his perspective as a “Arab Dad” with a Western understanding and mindset. Suhail did not disappoint.

In the session Suhail shares his own journey as a father; we discuss his family principles and values, Suhail contrasts Western family culture and Jordanian family customs, the role of daughters in Jordan and “Arab Dads” as Suhail coins it. Suhail explains how he empowers his daughters in a country where arranged marriage still exists and sons are often preferred over daughters. He also tells us how he applies his coaching techniques to family.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. Investing in the relationship early is so important.
2. Where required, talk to your daughters in the role of a male, not just as a dad.
3. Don’t be distant or harsh, especially with your wife and daughters.
4. Always be watchful and amend mistakes instantly.
   

“Whenever our daughters lie, they admit that they lie. They don’t know how to lie.”  Suhail Jouaneh on DADicated.com

If you love this session, please share it. Thank you and enjoy this session with Suhail.

Suhail Jouaneh (guest):

“How is the most important job the one we have the least information for?” Richard Mulholland on DADicated.com

Richard Mulholland, an amazing entrepreneur, storyteller, insanely creative and of course a very interesting Dad. I love Richard. He is funny, intriguing and smart and his will to self-optimise is astonishing. I truly enjoyed listening to Richard’s perspective on being a dad.

Richard is the founder of presentation powerhouse Missing Link, as well as the co-founder of 21Tanks, HumanWrit.es and The Sales Department. He has written three books; Legacide, Boredom Slayer, and Story Seller. He was voted top 40 under 40, and top 300 South Africans to take to lunch. Mostly though he's a husband, father, son, brother, and uncle. Richard has spoken in over 30 countries on six continents and works with executives and speakers around the world, helping them deliver unforgettable presentations that activate audiences and generate income.

Richard is 45, he is married to Jess and has two children from his first marriage. His son Callum who is 17 and his daughter Bailey who is 12. Second marriage now 8 years.

In the session Richard shares his own journey and how ultimately his divorce helped him to become an involved and passionate dad, how he realised he needs to stop lying to himself and stop prioritising work over family. We discuss his time as a single dad and his family setting after he remarried. We talk about his own dad, the role of step-parents in the parenting eco-system, how we can help fathers owning being a dad and Richard’s life hacks and family systems.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. If you want the year to be successful remember this: a day becomes a week, a week becomes a month, a month becomes a year. Bingo.
2. I will start a “to-do-better-list; the one thing you could have done better yesterday.
3. Moving forward is not the same as moving toward.
4. Becoming a better dad and husband must be an intentional pursuit.
5. My children did not enter a family structure, they created it.
6. Kids don’t want more, they just want us more... in the house.

Richard Mulholland (guest):

"If you avoid pain you’re not inoculated for when hard things happen.” Rorke Denver on DADicated.com

Commander Rorke Denver is a highly decorated assault team leader with over 200 combat missions as a NAVY Seal. Rorke has run every phase of training for the U.S. Navy SEALs and led special-forces missions in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and other international hot spots. As officer in charge of BRAVO Platoon of SEAL Team THREE in Iraq, he was part of the most combat-heavy deployments of any regular SEAL team since Vietnam.

Rorke has a Master in Global Business Leadership and is the founder and CEO of EVER ONWARD, a leadership and human performance brand.

As a Dad Rorke is married and has two daughters. My feeling was that Rorke lives in a permanent state of heightened intensity and is also able to live single purposefully. The session is very interesting, fun and I found it very motivational.

We talk about self-discipline, prepping kids for hard times and how parents who are being deployed manage to transition between family life and combat situations. Rorke shares his standpoints and values as a Dad and talks about his own father and upbringing. He also also shares lessons from the battlefield and SEALS training and how those are applicable for families. We talk about general parenting principles, how to keep your relationship strong and healthy, the importance of own pursuits, goal setting, operating at your highest point of contribution and holding your kids accountable whilst still supporting them. Not surprisingly Rorke is big on tangible over digital experiences in family.

“The fact that my daughters have learned how to shoot a gun, make a fire and play rough has helped them become resilient, self-reliant people.” Rorke Denver on DADicated.com

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. Trust yourself
2. Share your failures more than your successes with your kids and why
3. Keep working towards an end-state
4. Do hard things and do not avoid suffering and pain.
5. Build resilient, confident children
6. Never leave a question unanswered.
7. Let them be kids as long as they can
8. As a father of daughters the example I set as a man is a fundamental gift for their future.

“Basics for my kids: Respect for yourself and other people. Spend very little time on electronics. No phones. I try and let them be kids as long as they can.” Rorke Denver on DADicated.com

Rorke Denver’s books, TV and film appearances

In 1994 Coley Harris went to prison to serve a 16 year sentence; he left behind his 2 year old son Ahmarr Melton. The two were separated for 14 years and have since both been working on their relationship. Today both of them work with youth from underserved communities focussing on the issue of father absence due to incarceration. The session is very powerful and important.

Coley is 47, he is married, a father and grandfather. Coley shares his story of ending up in prison after a series of bad decisions in an environment of street culture surrounding drug dealing, drug usage and violence. Coley opens up about the pain and how he dealt with the unbelievable magnitude of the situation during the 14 year long separation. We also talk about his relationship with his own Dad and his upbringing.

Ahmarr is 29, he is also married and a father of three. Ahmarr is in finance and also works in the community helping children whose parents are incarcerated finding their way. Ahmarr shares how it was for him to grow up with his Dad in prison and the impact the situation had on him in the home, in school and in his community. Ahmarr said he did not feel anger, just confusion. And he also shares how his own past has shaped him as a father today. We touch on adoption, discuss the issue of incarcerated parents and their joint journey of healing that started with “Outh of the Ashes”.

“Out of the Ashes” is a dramatic expression of the real life journey of father and son who struggled while building the relationship they never had after their separation.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. Continue to leave space for growth and dont be rigid in your own growth.
   
2. Stay engaged, even if your circumstances do not allow for much interaction with your children.
   
3. No matter how long you’ve gone as a father: take a shot. For the most part an adult child will want a relationship with a father.
   
4. Fathers have a second chance as grandfathers.
   
5. Forgiveness is key.
   

If this podcast helps you, please consider leaving a review and share if this podcast helps you in your parenting journey. It’ll take you only a few minutes but the impact for others might be huge. Thank you so much. Enjoy this session with Ahmarr and Coley!

Links from this episode:

Jason is a devout Christian, he is married and has one son. Jason is one of the best business strategists I know, he is also a successful venture capitalist, leader and entrepreneur. In business his mission is to create jobs and impact by scaling impactful firms. In the family sense his mission is to be living in the manifest presence of God so that that is palpable for his son.

Jason’s Dad left when he was ten and he grew up without a dad, raised by a single-mom with two sisters in a family with very little money. Jason and his Dad only connected two decades later and Jason opens up about his own healing journey stemming from having an absent father and thus not growing up emotionally whole.

It is powerful to hear Jason talk on how he found his Faith and how this has transformed himself, his life and his view on family in such a radical way. He shares how he has recently learnt to be a man and what being a Dad in the presence of God means for him and how this shapes his own life and his family life. When his son Elai was three he devoted a year to being a great father in terms of reading, praying and thinking. He refers to this as a faith driven revelation for him.

Jason finishes the session with powerful book recommendations on family, religion and becoming a better dad (links below).

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

1. Switch on as a Dad. You need to choose this.
   
2. An interesting concept Jason shares: Children first and foremost must feel safe with you, after that they must feel unconditionally loved, after that they must feel capable and after that they must feel responsible.
   
3. Behaviour issues can sometimes be solved by healing the gut.
   
4. Parenting with a higher purpose or energy in mind in beneficial for yourself and your children.
   
5. Spending dedicated time on learning how to become a better father is powerful.
   

If dadicated.com helps you being a better parent, please consider leaving a review. It’ll take you only a few minutes but the impact for others might be huge. Thank you so much. Enjoy this session with Jason Goldberg!