Learning from others is a key to parenting. And that desire motivated Anthony Franzese, our Lead Dad of the Week from New York City, to start a podcast called “Successful Working Parents”.
He uses it to seek advice on parenting and to share it with others. (This week, The Company of Dads’ Paul Sullivan is a guest on Anthony’s podcast.)
A married father of one, Anthony works in healthcare sales and is the go-to parent in their family. His wife Cassandra is the principal of a charter high school in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where her hours (and vacation time) are pretty much fixed.
He thanks the workplace reset for allowing him to take on this role. “The flexibility didn’t really come into play until Covid,” he said. “Before I was going into an office but remote on Fridays. I haven’t been into an office since Covid.”
In fact, his employer doesn’t have a physical office – nor did his previous one. This, he said, lets him set his own schedule and maximize both his work and parenting time.
“I feel a drive to provide now that I’m a father and I work harder, but also, as the Lead Dad with my daughter in daycare, I sometimes feel conflicted about her being there all day when I could be with her,” he said. “So, what I do is just really grind it out in the middle of the day so I can spend time with her in the morning and in the afternoon.”
Finding time for himself has been a challenge, but his wife encourages him on the weekends to go out. “There’s no issue around it,” he said. “I feel less guilty saying I’m going to the gym for a couple of hours when I know she wants to spend time with her.”
So far, a year into parenting, Anthony said they seem to have figured things out, with a few exceptions. “The Dad Bod is real,” he said. “It’s harder to take care of yourself after you have a kid. And we’re still trying to figure out life in Manhattan with a baby.”
All in all, not bad. Welcome, Anthony, to The Company of Dads!
