We’re introducing Mike Warren as our Lead Dad of the Week.
Mike and his wife Kim, a senior executive at @Apple, moved from Westport, CT, to Saratoga, Calif., in the middle of the pandemic, with their son Ray, nanny Gisella, and her daughter Isabella, who is growing up in their “integrated family.”
”It’s been awesome out here, but the only weird thing is they don’t have school buses where we live.” Upside to that is Mike has become part of Argo Dads, a group of Lead Dads formed around their children’s school (@saratogausd).
While Mike said he misses meeting up with friends for a quick round of golf at Brooklawn Country Club (#brooklawncountryclub) in Fairfield, CT, he’s easily made new Dad friends – and gets invited to Dad and Kid parties that he couldn’t imagine happening back in Connecticut.
“It’s easier here from my perspective,” he said. “The first time I got invited to Ray’s Dad group I didn’t know what to expect. There were 4 to 5 dads hanging out, no wives, having beers, barbecuing, networking. That would never happen on the East Coast, not in a million years. In Westport there were no dads hanging out, unless you counted coaching a sport. It’s a total mom community. On the east coast it’s so taboo for a Dad to say, I’m going to pick up my kid at school.”
As an entrepreneur, Mike said the move has been great for his career, but it’s been even better for his wife. “She used to have a 93 mile commute to @Verizon and would leave at 5am,” he said of their east coast life. “Now it’s 10 minutes to Apple. It’s been so cool that Kim has the opportunity to participate.”
“My dilemma now is whether to donate my suits,” he said. “This is the coolest transition we’ve ever had.”
