LEAD DAD OF THE WEEK

If You Have Flexibility, Lean Into It

As working parents, we want our kids to be flexible. We also don’t want them to fall into traps, particularly the stereotypical and avoidable ones. It’s not always easy to model either, let alone both. But that’s what Jeff Cummins, a professor of political science at Fresno State and our Lead Dads of the Week, […]

Dogs, a Daughter and Decades of Devotion

Chris Jones put his hand up to be a full-time Lead Dad after his first daughter was born. His wife’s career was taking off. He wanted to support her. Plus he figured he’d return to the tech world after the 2000 downturn passed. But one year turned into two decades and he never looked back. […]

Soccer Is Really Life – Scott Vanderwall

“In any team sport to be successful you have different people doing different things,” said Scott Vanderwall, our Lead Dad of the Week…

When Moving Is Your Job, You Value Being Still – Michael Maberry Jr

International mobility has been Michael Maberry Jr’s career, and he’s enjoyed moving executives and their families from one locale to another. A reward has been finding ways to make their families feel comfortable when they settle in the new city. It was on a trip he took himself last year that caused Michael, our Lead […]

What Does A Taylor Swift Video, NBC Sports and Raleigh Real Estate Have in Common? Clayton Collins

Sometimes the career fits the moment in life. Or so it’s been for Clayton Collins, our Lead Dad of the Week from Raleigh, N.C. A few years ago, he and his wife Danielle decided to move to North Carolina. Her job working for Prosek, a top communications and marketing firm, and his move into commercial […]

How To Start a Company and Fatherhood At The Same Time : Andy Ogburn

If not now, when? That was Andy Ogburn’s philosophy when, shortly after his son Felix was born, he left his inhouse creative job to launch his own media production company, Party Practice. Crazy? Like a fox. His wife has a job she loves working for a recycling company and tapping into her passion for building […]

Your Kids Might Tell You What You’ve Been Thinking All Along: Jamie Hopkins

As a son Jamie Hopkins had a shock that every father fears. He went to school one day and came home to learn that his dad had died, in a construction accident. “My dad was gone at my age,” said Jamie, about to turn 40. “I think about that a lot. I think about how […]

Learning What Can Wait Until Night Time – Tony Cotrupe

Realizing what parts of your work need to be when people are awake and what parts can be done when they’re asleep is one route to being a super-involved working dad. “What I do has two parts,” said Tony Cotrupe, who once worked “8 zillion hours a week for J.P. Morgan Chase” and now runs […]

How a Life Sprinter Changed His View – Jay Acunzo

Being a life sprinter can have tremendous career benefits but the best way to get through the mud of life with kids may just be to trudge through it. That realization has allowed Jay Acunzo, who advises executives on how to be better speakers and was once the ultimate life sprinter, to change how he […]

Honesty With Yourself Goes a Long Way – Michael Iammarino

“It’s a whole mixed bowl of good, hard, sometimes poor parenting,” admits Michael Iammarino, our Lead Dad of the Week from Kansas City[…]

Clean Dad Living, Literally – Sean Busch

Why can’t cleaning products smell the way a dad would want them to smell? Resist the urge to insert a cheap joke. Think sandalwood and…

Honesty Pays – Nokware Knight

Here’s some work advice for Lead Dads: be transparent and honest with your employer – even if you’re starting a new job. That’s what Nokware Knight, our Lead Dad of the Week from Bridgeport, CT, did when he was hired to teach at a prestigious independent school in central Connecticut. He had been working as […]

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