Work life can look perfect on paper, from the resume to the bank account. But when change is needed, it can be hard to think about your family as a team, not as something you alone run.
“The easiest part was just the recognition that I was doing the right thing for my family,” said Alex Egeler, an aerospace engineer by training who is our Lead Dad of the Week. “The hardest part was believing that. What I really struggled with was, is it okay to just be a dad? I really felt I was letting everyone down. I was born and bred to become an executive and run my own companies.”
Alex, who grew up outside of Boston, made his life in Palo Alto after graduate school at Stanford University
He had started at Northup Grumman and was doing what he thought was important work – underwater simulations for missile launches. But when he returned from parental leave and realized no one had worked on his project for the three months he was out, he began to question what he was doing. He joined Aerion Supersonic, a start-up aerospace company, and enjoyed blending his engineering background with people management for the first time.
When that company flamed out in 2021, he thought he’d take three months to be at home, with his two school-aged children and infant twins. However, some family health needs prompted Alex to rethink who should make a career shift.
“I designed airplanes for billionaires – my wife does pediatric regulatory trials for end-stage cancer trials,” he said. “I made more money, but her job had more impact.”
So, they let their nanny go and he stepped into the full-time Lead Dad role. He’s now coaching Palo Alto-area parents who are frustrated with jobs that, on paper at least, are the envy of many for their prestige and paychecks.
“The idea that dad needs to be the one to go to work and always make the money – that doesn’t have to be the case anymore.”
Welcome, Alex, to The Company of Dads.
