Paul Sullivan and The Company of Dads Featured on ABC News’ Nightline!
“The rise of stay-at-home dads as women climb corporate ladder”
Emmy Award-Winner Juju Chang interviews Paul and his wife Laura Pollock about the role Lead Dads play at home and in the office, talks about how they help working mothers fulfill their potential.
Watch the video here. (The Company of Dads is mentioned throughout but comes into focus at the 5-minute mark.)
ABC News notes that 1 in 5 stay-at home parents are men. That’s somewhere around 2-3 million fathers.
But here’s what is less known: there’s a larger group of 25 million men – a third of all fathers in the United States – who are Lead Dads. Those are men who are the go-to parents whether they work full time, part time or devote all their time to their families (aka stay-at-home dads).
They’re in the office, around town and generally part of the communities where they live. But they’re often in more undercover roles. The Company of Dads is at the forefront of creating a community for these fathers, advocating for families in general and working with companies to create more equitable policies for all parents.
Transcript Excerpt
Juju Chang: You push back against terms like Mr. Mom or House Husband.
Paul Sullivan: Because it’s disparaging. It minimizes what you’re doing.
JC: When do you recognize a need for The Company of Dads?
PS: When I went online and I saw that there are tons of resources for moms, all the resources for parents were really aimed at moms
JC: Did you ever try to join one of the other parenting groups or the ones that were primarily female?
PS: I went to the University of Chicago for graduate school – pretty great school. I had a better shot of getting into the University of Chicago than I do getting into the Facebook Moms Group in my town.
Paul said he began prioritizing family over work in 2013 so his wife Laura could start her own asset and wealth management firm
Juju Chang: There’s this fear when you’re a working mom that you’re neglecting the kids
Laura Pollock: Because there’s this guilt, there’s a built-in guilt. But at the end of the day, if you have a good partnership and you can encourage your spouse to take on more of the second shift then it actually works for a better marriage.
JC: What’s it like being the devoted wife supporting your husband’s lead parenting career? What makes you proud of him?
LP: That he’s doing something that is not normalized yet and trying to blaze a trail for, selfishly, my girls. As women, it’s hard. I work in an industry that is really hard for women to be in. So I celebrate that.
About the Company of Dads
The Company of Dads is a community and an advocate for the Dad who is the lead parent in his family.