Lead Dad of the Week
How To Be a Lead Dad While Running A Start-Up
What happens when a startup founder tells investors that being a great dad matters more than hustle culture? Dirk Doebler is proving that prioritizing family can actually build a better company.
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Service and Sacrifice as a Sailor and Father – Quenlan Pleasant
After 20 years in the Navy, a retired Chief Petty Officer reflects on sacrifice, divorce, and what it means to fully show up as a Lead Dad.
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What Type of Man Does A Kid Look Up To?
When the men boys are told to admire keep falling apart, where are they supposed to learn integrity? A 17-year-old athlete reflects on heroes, villains, and accountability.
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What’s a Dad Do To Change the Movie Playing In His Head? – Alex Trippier
When fatherhood doesn’t look like the picture in your head, one Lead Dad learns how partnership – not comparison – creates a better family life.
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How To Get Out of Denial as a Dad – Michael Pereira
Most things get worse when you’re in denial. For some Dads, getting out of that state requires pushing back against cultural norms, and that can be tough. Michael Pereira, our Lead Dad of the Week from Miami, wants to make it easier for dads like he was to skip – or at least speed through […]
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Why Making a Difference at Work and in Your Community Matters – Matthew Korn
Matthew Korn left and returned to his law firm in Columbia, S.C., for the same reason: He wanted more time with his children. Korn, who was born in upstate New York, went to college in Rhode Island and law school in Washington, D.C., was happy with where his move south had landed him, his wife […]
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How a Management Consultant Learned to Manage Dad Life and Work – Corey Fernandez
The life of a management consultant is on the road. Or so conventional wisdom goes. It’s what Corey Fernandez, our Lead Dad of the Week from Travers City, Mich., thought when he gave the consulting firm he’d worked for ample notice that his wife Jess was pregnant with their first child. He let them know […]
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How To Respond When Big Law Fails Working Parents – Evan Goodman
Here’s some news that will surprise few attorneys: Big Law isn’t conducive for working parents who want to be involved in their family’s everyday lives. Evan Goodman, our Lead Dad of the Week from Washington, D.C., challenged this notion but ultimately was forced to figure out a way to still practice corporate law at a […]
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How Divorce Made This Man a Better Lead Dad – Elijah Mattox
Here’s one thing Elijah Mattox, a single Lead Dad of two from Orange County, Calif. who works in business operations, has learned: He’s a better dad today for having gone through a tough divorce when his daughters were young. “I had to step up,” he said. “I was scared to take them places when they […]
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How A High-Intensity Job Set a Lead Dad Up For Success – Andrew Pettit
Being a high-achiever with a perfectionist streak might not seem like the best training for the unpredictability of being a Lead Dad, but for Andrew Pettit, our Lead Dad of the Week from Darien, Conn., that background is serving him well. An Ivy League athlete, he’s had a career – from NBC and Viacom to […]
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Recalculating What a Meaningful Working Dad Life Is – Michael Trugman
Accounting would seem to be a profession about numbers and numbers alone, but at the highest level it’s about understanding people and what they’re trying to achieve. Build a business. Save the most possible for retirement. Leave something for your children. (And yes, pay the least in taxes!) For Michael Trugman, our Lead Dad of […]
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Why Honesty About Your Lead Dad Role Pays Dividends – Jason Daniel
From the outside, being a Lead Dad who devotes all of his time to his family can seem easy. But as a man taking up this role full-time – and leaving behind the work contacts that shaped you to that point – it can mean a loss of identity. And that’s before you find yourself […]
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