Lead Dad 101
Prepping Lead Dads To Be Ready From The Start
Keegan Albaugh readily admits that his wife, a grad student and stand-up comic, pushed him into starting what became Dad Guild. But after he gathered with a handful of other new fathers in Burlington, Vermont, he realized what he was striving to do was no joke. Normalizing…
Read more
How To Balance Two Careers Without Resentment
Michael Teager is a renown saxophone player with multiple recordings who was gigging several times a week before his son was born. His wife, a musician and teacher, needed to return to work fairly quickly, so he stepped up to take over childcare duties. He felt he could make it…
Read more
Stepping Up For Your Family Doesn’t Mean Stepping Back From Work
Nikola Gasic believed his employer when it offered him paternity leave when his son was born: take it, someone else will cover for you, your job will be here when you return. He took paternity leave to spend time with his son but he also took it because his wife’s job was more…
Read more
Will The Pandemic Change Work and Parenting?
Jamie Ladge, an associate professor of management and organizational development at Northeastern University, comes at the work-life debate with a lot of questions. Why is it hard to be both a good parent and a good worker? Can fathers be competent dads and professionals? Will…
Read more
How Do Spouses Speak When Roles Change
Alex McKenzie was the Emperor of Ice Cream, a life-long food lover who created an ice cream business (named for a Wallace Stevens poem) that was thriving pre-pandemic. He’d done many other things in the food world. He’s worked in the fields and in restaurants. The fish…
Read more
The Importance of Community for Single Lead Dads
Nathan Richardson was a New Yorker, and the community in his neighborhood allowed him to be a single Lead Dad to twins, a boy and a girl, and still work at the top of his profession. He had time to volunteer and be with each of his kids alone, knowing his neighborhood network…
Read more
Covid, Kids, and The Playground
When the pandemic began, Tino Ricci’s wife was an emergency room nurse outside of Ft. Worth, Texas. She was seeing first-hand how devastating the virus could be – and worried about bringing it home to her family. Tino stepped up, shifted his schedule, and took the lead on…
Read more
Masculinity, Money and Parenting
What holds some men back from becoming Lead Dads – or at least openly embracing the role? It starts with traditional perceptions of masculinity, of being the higher earner, of being the provider, of not engaging as much with parenting and family tasks. But it’s not something…
Read more
Want to be a Finance Whiz? Get Out the Play-Doh
Here’s an admission guaranteed to win me friends and impress my tween: I love thinking about taxes. That’s not the same as…
Read more
Why Lead Dads Don’t Panic When Stocks Slump
Stocks go up and down. The price of oil does, too. And they do so regularly for all kinds of reasons, some rational, some not so much…
Read more
Will Your Friends Understand Why You’re a Lead Dad?
Dave Andrews, the subject of this week’s Company of Dads podcast, once flew Can Force One with the Canadian prime minister on board…
Read more
Did Fatherhood Cost a Pilot His Wings?
Flying was Dave Andrews’ dream. But family caused him to rethink his work in aviation. As an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force…
Read more