George Arison is the CEO of Grindr and the former co-founder and CEO of Shift. George grew up in Republic of Georgia when it was still part of the former Soviet Union and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. George knew he always wanted to be a Dad and he got that wish about 4 years ago. He's a husband and father of two kids.
In this episode we discuss:
* Growing up (and leaving) Georgia
* The surrogacy process
* The birth of his twins (or twiblings) and what *is* a twibling
* The difficulties gay men face when becoming parents
* His husband as the rule enforcer in the house
* His family's love of books and some of his *favorites*
* His parenting philosophies and the values central to raising his kids
* How to prepare your kids to understand different family structures and questions they might get
* The growing acceptance and supportive communities he's experienced
Listen, watch and subscribe: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Overcast and Google.
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Where to find George Arison:
- Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/georgearison
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgearison/
Where to find Adam Fishman
- Newsletter: http://startupdadpod.substack.com
- Newsletter: http://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/
- Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/
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In this episode, we cover:
[1:37] Welcome
[2:25] George's Background
[4:27] Childhood in the U.S. vs. Republic of Georgia
[7:28] How he met his partner
[10:33] Their decision to start a family/surrogacy
[15:10] Surrogacy challenges
[18:41] Discrimination
[21:04] Surrogacy blockers
[21:51] His earliest memory of being a Dad + raising financing while his son was born!
[24:47] Most surprising part of becoming a dad
[26:38] Conversation w/ kids about same sex partners and more
[30:51] Household of books
[35:39] Where doesn't he always align with his partner?
[37:38] Challenges as same sex parents
[42:38] Husband/default parent
[45:47] Mistake as a dad?
[46:33] Play and work
[49:07] Rapid fire round
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Show references:
Do Say Gay - George's notes on the most meaningful books for his family: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-say-gay-fathers-day-george-arison/
Julia Donaldson (Author) - https://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/
The Gruffalo - https://www.gruffalo.com/
The Pip and Posy Collection - https://www.goodreads.com/series/81031-pip-and-posy
Axel Scheffler - https://axelscheffler.com/
The Grumpy Monkey Book Series - https://www.goodreads.com/series/265196-grumpy-monkey
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Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at
http://www.armaziproductions.com/
Episode art designed by Matt Sutherland at https://www.mspnw.com/
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
startupdadpod.substack.com
