Nick Bowman, a former private banker in Palm Beach, Florida, is our Lead Dad of the Week.
Nick, who has three children – 2, 4, and 6, recently celebrated his one-year anniversary as a Lead Dad who devotes all of his time to this family. During this time, his wife’s design business has been thriving, and he’s learned the things he thought he was doing all along he really wasn’t doing that well.
“I’d always put my own career first,” he said. “Now I look back and say I was selfish.”
He jumped into his new role with gusto, figuring he’d focus fully on his children and think about what was next for him down the road.
But soon he asked the question all parents ask: Was he doing a good job? “I thought: do I ask my wife for a performance review? How was I doing?” he said. “My wife was like, ‘I’ve got this; you’ve got them.’ I was so used to the corporate annual reviews.”
Over time he settled in and the magnitude of what he was doing sank in. “Every single day I treat now like it’s my last and my first,” he said. “The relationship I have with my kids now is 10 or even 100 times deeper. The best part is I feel like I’m really doing something for the whole family, that I’m a real team player instead of an individual contributor just thinking my paycheck was what mattered.”
There’s no question he misses his team at the bank. But he’s found a new purpose in his life. Welcome, Nick, To The Company of Dads!
