The Company of Dads Podcast

Highlights from Kirstin Shockley, Jamie Ladge, Kenneth Braswell, Dana Suskind, Jay Lauf & Jeff ForteHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANWelcome to The Company of Dads year-end review. The majority of our podcasts focused on Lead Dads and their stories. But we also sought out experts on all sorts of things that relate to men as fathers, husbands, earners, and people. There were academics who studied pandemic parenting and men at work. There were advocates for fathers and experts on the social forces that influence dads navigating The Next Normal. Listen to quick tips from a selection of them.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Highlights from Mike McKee, Tony Maws, JR Havlan, Tino Ricci and Max RiveraHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANWelcome to The Company of Dads Christmas highlights from five podcasts this year – Mike McGee, husband of famous golfer Annika Sorenstam; Tony Maws, award-winning Boston chef; JR Havlan, Emmy Award winning comedy writer; Tino Ricci, my childhood best friend and a long-timne Home Depot employee; and Max Rivera, a New York City Firefighter. Listen to some funny, interesting and useful insights from each one.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with David Newson / Chief Marketing Officer, Working Parent AdvocateHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANDavid Newson has risen to the upper echelons of the marketing world. He’s a leader in his field. As a husband and a father, he does something so simple but important for other Lead Dads in the corporate world. He blocks out two hours each morning to get his son ready for school – and he keeps it sacrosanct. It’s not hard yet it’s impactful. As a partner and member of the management committee of his firm, doing this sets an example that allows other parents to be honest at work, to not lie about being a worker, a parent, a human. Listen to him talk about how he decided to be open about parenting as part of work, and what challenges he’s had to confront. ---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Michael Beacham / Co-Founder of Money Savvy GenerationHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANInflation may be tough on the family budget but it’s a remarkable time to talk to your kids about money. Take the grocery bill and show your kids how much basic necessities cost today versus last year, says Michael Beacham, president of Money Savvy Generation – a financial education firm for children founded by his wife Susan. He and his wife are the creators of the popular and pragmatic Money Savvy Pig – a porcine savings bank divided into four compartments: Save, Spend, Invest and Donate. Listen for tips on good money values for children and ways to raise financially literate and independent adults. Added benefit – the caps on the hooves are hard to open so they make impulse withdrawals tough.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Eric Arthrell / Researcher on The Changing Desires for Fathers At WorkHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANEric Arthrell, a long-time management consultant, was the lead author on Deloitte’s “The Design of Everyday Men Report” – a look at how top-performing fathers want to work differently and what the best companies have done to retain and support them. Key finding: inclusive work cultures do better in terms of both financial performance and innovation. But he also found that without senior managers modeling this behavior men were unlikely to be open at work about their role as fathers. Listen to Arthrell talk about how companies can enable men to be better fathers at work and relieve some of the burden on working mothers, and what lines working Dads need to draw for themselves.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Mark Tamhane / International broadcast Journalist with Kids 4 to 24HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANMark Tamhane is a father of six in Melbourne, Australia. His children are 24, 21, 18, 7, 5, and 4. Australia had one the world's strictest lockdown policies during Covid and that time taught him perspective. Trained as a journalist, Mark worked in radio, tv and print, in Australia and in London, for 33 years. He has written about his experiences Lead Dadding for the Australian Broadcasting Company. He’s also found a different perspective the second time around. Listen to his thoughts on "familying" as a way to improve family time.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Ian Dinwiddy / Corporate Coach and Founder of Inspiring DadsHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANBusinesses are starting to emphasize parental leave for fathers as well as mothers. No complaints there – as long as the corporate culture makes men feel that taking leave won’t be a penalty. But what many companies are not doing is helping fathers (and mothers) reenter the workforce and thrive in a world that’s different from what it was before kids. It’s something Ian Dinwiddy knows well. He was a management consultant until he had children. His wife, a senior lawyer in London, had less flexibility than he did, so Ian became the Lead Dad. But as the years went on, he realized his skills as a consultant could be used to work with companies and their new fathers to adjust to a new mix of life and work. Listen to Ian talk about how he helps Dads be their best at home and work.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Marvin Avilez who Spent 7 Years Securing Fatherhood RightsHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANMarvin Avilez’s story to be a father to his daughter continues. The former counter-intel Marine turned technologist became a father in 2015 in New York City – when the mother of his child was in the United Kingdom. After talking his way into the country in 2020, he was fortunate to have an attorney who worked at a capped rate to get him residency. He had no such luck with the legal bills to secure fatherhood rights, racking up substantial debt in his battle to secure parenting rights to see his daughter. Earlier this year, his case came before the judge who had been presiding over it for years. Listen to hear how the case was resolved and where Marvin is today.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Marvin Avilez who Spent 7 Years Securing Fatherhood RightsHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANMarvin Avilez has one of the most captivating stories about becoming a Lead Dad I’ve ever heard. A former counter-intel Marine turned technologist, Marvin became a father in 2015 in New York. His daughter's mother, who lived in London at that point, wanted to control all aspects of his involvement in his daughter's life. He refused to be erased, and so began a seven-year odyssey traveling between New York and London to secure his rights as a father. In this first episode, Marvin talks about educating himself, crafting a plan and making strides – until he was struck with Covid-19 in the earliest days of the pandemic. It ends with Marvin selling everything he had and emigrating to London as soon as flying restrictions were lifted in 2020. He was at least near his daughter but his fight was nowhere close to being over. Listen now.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Dan Kadlec / Early Remote Worker and 1990s Lead DadHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANDan Kadlec was a Lead Dad when silence about his role was the way to maintain his ability to work remotely and parent his children as his wife’s career became more demanding. That was the 1990s when working from home was a euphemism for slacking off. But after discussions with his wife, they realized his job as a magazine columnist was more portable, so he raised his hand to be the Lead Dad for their three school-aged children. “At some point that may have hurt my career, but it also opened up some doors that I wanted to pursue,” he said. As for being the go-to parent for the kids, it was worth every trade-off, particularly with his teenage daughter: “I heard stuff I’d never have heard if I wasn’t driving them. They just thought I was the chauffeur and talked like I wasn’t there.” Listen to Dan’s 7 tips for Lead Dads adjusting to a role that is rewarding if still not always understood and accepted.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/