Front Row Dads - The Show For Dads Who Want To Level Up Their Dad Game

Do you own your business or does your business own you? Far too often, entrepreneurs lose the point of why they started a company in the first place. Their net worth continues to rise, but in the process, every other area of life takes a hit. And I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve been there! I kept telling myself, “I’m doing it for my family.” But it turns out, it was at the expense of my family. I was building a life around my business, instead of the other way around, and knew I needed to make a shift. This is ultimately what led to starting Front Row Dads.  I realized that wealth wasn’t the destination, it’s simply the vehicle to get you there. The purpose of building a business is to fund your perfect life. That’s what today’s episode is all about. As a lead up to the Business Evolution Online Summit, I’m talking with Kyle Reedstrom. Kyle is the Co-Founder of Passive 25K Group—a company that believes in putting lifestyle before work by building up passive income sources and finding financial freedom. He’s

Stress and frustration… These are emotions that every parent is very familiar with. But where exactly does stress come from and why are some parents better or worse when it comes to dealing with it? If you’ve been listening to the pod for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about moments where I’ve unintentionally lost my shit at my wife or kids. I get that nobody’s perfect, and we’re all susceptible to losing control, but still, these aren’t proud moments for me. Typically, the more stress I feel, the more challenging it is to keep my emotions in check. That’s what I’m excited for today’s conversation. I’m talking to Stephen Christopher. In addition to being the Founder of a multi-million dollar marketing agency, Wit Digital, Stephen is a long-time friend, epic human being, and an Intuitive Life Coach who inspires people to become more than they ever thought possible. This conversation was another opportunity to better understand what causes anger, stress, a lack of acceptance, an unhealthy ego, emotional

Gentlemen, I am thrilled to share this conversation with you today. If you've been following the podcast, a question that comes up fairly often in various forms is: How do we stay emotionally centered and live our purpose while being so intensely focused on achievement? If we're unable to answer this question, we won't be able to show up at full capacity for ourselves, our children, and our spouses. Today's guest is Jairek Robbins, who believes work should support our life, not the other way around. Jairek found success in life through trial and error. Ultimately, he envisioned his dream life and wasn't afraid to give everything to see it become a reality. During his journey to becoming one of the top performance coaches in the world, and a loving father and husband, he had to wrestle with the doubts and insecurities that tried to pull him back. He also had the pressure of following in his father's footsteps, one of the legends in the field of personal growth, Tony Robbins. In this episode, we dig into Jairek

Gents, one of the proudest moments we’ll have as dads are when we see our kids all grown up and excited that they’re our children. But we also want our children to grow into people who treat others well and understand how to give and show empathy. It’s why I’m excited to talk to today’s guest, Ken Harvey. Ken is a former NFL superstar turned into a true renaissance man. After retiring from professional football, Ken went through a difficult period, but he used that turmoil to grow in every sense. He’s now a published author, health advocate, and philanthropist on a mission to help young people become compassionate and philanthropic leaders. Even though he’s an accomplished entrepreneur, I love that Ken admits that he still feels lonely sometimes. He doesn’t run away from these emotions; he accepts them as part of who he is. He never stops learning about himself, making him a perfect role model for others. In this episode, he shares how he bounced back from depression after retiring from the NFL, the importanc

As an entrepreneur, one of the hardest things to do is to walk away from your business. Coincidentally, it’s one of the best moves you can make to allow it to grow. Sure, you can run a business around the clock, but at what cost? Today’s guest, Mike Michalowicz, is an author and entrepreneur who  regularly takes four-week vacations even though he runs multimillion-dollar businesses. Many of us would shiver at the thought of doing that. Mike found that to be the best decision he had ever made.  By doing that, Mike was awarded the greatest gift of them all: Time he can now spend with his family and friends. He’s been able to travel with his wife more, go on long road trips, and bond with his children. His business didn’t skip a beat and even grew beyond expectations. In this episode, we dig into the steps for creating a business that runs itself, hiring A-players that will have each other’s back, lessons he learned from distancing himself from work, and so much more. Mike Michalowicz Podcast Highlights Find ou

Fellas, isn’t it fair to say that most of us create stories for ourselves during childhood that we often perpetuate into adulthood? If left unchecked, those stories may hurt us or our relationships. Personally, I’m aware of a few narratives that are still making me question myself as a dad and husband. But here’s the good news: we can rewrite those stories and create more empowering ones. We do this by first digging deep into our psyche. In today’s episode, I’m excited to be joined by bestselling author and Enneagram pioneer Ian Morgan Cron. Ian is someone I hold high respect for. In fact, his work has been instrumental in my own life. He helped me overcome my struggles with alcohol, made me face the uncomfortable emotions buried inside of me, and made a huge difference in my marriage and my ability to be a great dad. In this episode, Ian shares why the Enneagram is not just a powerful tool for personal growth, but also a fantastic resource for transforming our personal and professional relationships. Ian Cro

Gentlemen, raise your hand if you’re working towards creating a better life for you and your family. Now keep it there if you can honestly say that you regularly take the time to look back with gratitude and appreciate your successes. I say we can always do a better job in that department. And today's guest, Grant Baldwin, is a living embodiment of that practice. He's super clear on his goals and runs a highly successful company. But he doesn't stretch out to a point where he can't show up 100% for his family. Grant is a keynote speaker and founder of The Speaker Lab, a company that teaches speakers how to find and book gigs. During his 10+ years of experience, he's coached more than 2,000 other people to become better speakers. One mind-blowing fact he shared is that in the past year, zero people left his company. Yes, zero! That's pretty incredible. Naturally, Grant is someone from whom I learn a lot. He really opened my mind to what's possible when building a business, and I'm glad I can share our discussi

Gentlemen, when’s the last time you dove deep into your insecurities, faced them head-on, and talked about them openly? Society doesn’t encourage us to do that as men. Instead, it encourages us to achieve more and do more.  So, how can we be better Dads and husbands if we’re unwilling to conquer our inner pain? If we choose to ignore it, we’re giving it the power to resurface in our relationships when we least expect it. I’m so thankful to be sharing this conversation with Stefanos Sifandos. He’s a behavioral scientist, relationships expert, trained educator, and the co-founder of Elementum Coaching Institute and the MPowered Brotherhood. Stefanos is someone who went through great pain and trauma that drove his relationships to the ground. One day, he stopped running from himself and explored his psyche. That journey made him more present, more loving, and not afraid to share his insecurities with his loved ones. I love that Stefanos admits that even with all his training and experience, he still has flaws, j

Protection is not always about using force and we want to do everything to avoid violence. However, to get to that place you have to be confident in handling violent situations. But even discussing ‌using violence is discouraged in our society. That’s what makes it only available to predators. Violence is a tool, and if we don’t have the information on how to use it then we can’t protect our families and those we love. If you listened to part 1 of our conversation, you’d know that Tim Larkin has that information, and we need to listen. In Part 2, we dig into specific examples of what to do when your only resort is violence and how taking care of the basics, and having routines like checking that the doors are locked goes a long way. If you want to learn more about how to protect yourself, and how to protect your family, Tim is the man and I know you’ll be glad you listened to what he has to say. Tim Larkin Podcast Highlights - Part 2 Learning to swim is a life skill, and so is learning to protect ourselves.

In today's society, we don't teach men to protect themselves and protect their families. But part of being a better Dad and a better husband is being able to take care of your loved ones in every way possible. If you find yourself in a situation where their lives were in danger, would you be able to respond? Let's face it, we're making ourselves easy targets by ignoring violence's role in our lives. Like it or not, it's out there. Understanding it and knowing when and how to use it can make the difference in life-threatening scenarios. Today's guest, Tim Larkin, encourages us to shift our mindset around violence. Tim is the founder of Target Focus Training and has coached over 10,000 people from over 52 countries on using their brains and bodies to prevent, prepare for, and survive unthinkable events. In the first of our two-part conversation, we discuss why hope won't save you in life-threatening situations, the little things you can do today to improve your family's safety, and why understanding violence al

As men, it’s in our nature to want to fix things. And I’m not just talking about doing repairs around the house. I’m talking about how we deal with feelings, ours and those of our spouses. And I’ve definitely been that guy, trying to “fix” my wife’s feelings.  But when’s the last time that you paused for a moment and tried to really understand what she’s going through?  Society expects women to be the perfect mothers right out of the gate. But, so many of them struggle with anxiety and depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period. So let’s leave our egos at the doorstep here, fellas. The truth is, no one is born with the tools to be the perfect parent. Shocker, I know!  And no one knows this better than today’s guest, Suzanne Aslam. Suzanne is a former actress and Miss Arab USA turned writer. She wrote Postpardon Me, a book about her spiral into postpartum depression and how she got out of it. Now, she helps other women experiencing postpartum depression feel more understood. In our conversation, we

All right, fellas. Today we're replaying the webinar I co-hosted with my good friend Hal Elrod last week. For those that missed it, here's your chance to get all the great insights that were shared to help you level up your Dad game and be the best husband and businessman that you can be. The reality is, most parents struggle to communicate meaningfully with their kids, and it's one of the biggest reasons why they feel like they're being shut out of their kids' lives. This community is made up of amazing human beings who are crushing it at work and want to crush it at home with their family. By leveling up our Dad game, we'll spend more time with our kids and build stronger relationships so that they'll come to us when it really matters. During the webinar, Hal and I share some of our real-life challenges that are happening right now. We talked about how we can be fully present at home, identify our blind spots, best ways to grow as a Dad, handling the screen time issue with our kids, and much more. If you re

Gentlemen, I’m thrilled to share this epic conversation with Greg Denning, whose life truly deserves its own movie. Imagine traveling around the world with not one, not two, but seven kids. After my summer road trip last year, I tip my hat to this guy! They’ve done everything from taking martial arts classes in Morocco, to road-tripping for 7 months through South America, and now they’re getting ready to gear up with their teens to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Greg and his wife also plan a yearly trip without the kids to nurture their marriage, and they’re about to head out to the south of Portugal to enjoy the beaches and adventure out on the cliffs. For those that don’t know, Greg Denning is a high-performance coach and mentor that gives others the tools and inspiration to transform their lives. He hosts the Extraordinary Family Life podcast with his wife Rachel and hosts a second podcast called Be The Man. In our conversation, Greg shares the secrets of traveling long-term with his family, how he finds the ene

Today, we’re shaking things up a bit because today’s guest is one of my best friends, Hal Elrod. There’s probably no need for me to get into a big introduction as I know most of you already know who Hal is. Simply put, Hal is a legend. He’s sold millions of copies of the Miracle Morning book series, he has an incredible movie about it, and he’s the host of the very successful Achieve Your Goals podcast. Every year we get together around Father’s Day and talk about all the things that are working for us in the Front Row Dad community. On June 15th, we are hosting a FREE webinar that you can sign up for at FrontRowDads.com/Hal. At this event, we’ll be sharing some of the best strategies that we’ve witnessed and experienced over the past year. We’ll be talking about how to invest the right amount of time with your family and how to make them the focus whenever you’re with them. We’ll also dig into our mindset, making sure we’re fully engaged not only as a parent but as a great partners in our marriages. The conv

Gentlemen. Today’s guest is none other than Ryan Levesque. Not only did Ryan bring the heat, but he also delivered the goods with a special offer ONLY for the Front Row Dads brotherhood (we’ll give the details towards the end of the show).  In this conversation, we’re talking about how we can identify our #1 blindspots as fathers and start focusing our time with our families in meaningful ways. A little bit about Ryan before we get into it. Ryan Levesque founded The ASK Method® Company, a 3x Inc. 5000 company recently named one of the fastest-growing companies in Austin, Texas. The ASK Method® Company is a worldwide leader in digital marketing and training. They help build high-converting online funnels and drive quality traffic to your products and services by asking website visitors important questions to create tailored customer journeys. Breaking News: I’ve teamed up with Ryan to bring his award-winning methodology to you here at Front Row Dads. Check it out and take The Dad Quiz. You’ll also hear about h

We rely on Google for many things, but if you’re looking for ways on how to be a great dad, you might have a hard time finding helpful answers. “Dad jokes” and “Dad bods” – that’s mainly what you get as a search result, and it drives me crazy. The modern dad is so much more than this. The sad reality is that it isn’t how society sees us yet, and a part of that has to do with how Dads are invited into parenthood. That’s what my guest Ned Schaut is trying to change with his book, Rebel and Create. He’s on a mission to change the way guys navigate becoming a dad: from the time they get the news that they have a child on the way to taking full control and responsibility of the impact they can have on their children (and the world) as fathers. We’re also talking about a guy's role as a parent and how society naturally favors giving women much more information and attention when transitioning into parenthood. When was the last time you saw a dude get a gift for becoming a father? We’re talking about being vulnerabl

All right fellas. I’m talking with Rich Christiansen, who for context, has founded 49 businesses, of which 16 have become multimillion-dollar successes. What’s most impressive however, is how he shows up for his family. Rich is the perfect example of what Intentional Parenting is all about. But it wasn’t always this way… In his early career, Rich was on the fast-track to becoming the CEO of an Inc 500 company, when he got the wake up call of his life. While he was crushing it at work, he realized he completely lost sight of what mattered most—his family. He decided to quit the corporate world to double down on life at home, which he describes as the most meaningful decision of his life.  All 5 of his kids are fully grown now, but the framework Rich and his wife developed for building a family legacy and raising strong, confident, happy kids is unlike anything I’ve seen. This is just a quick glimpse, but here’s a few interesting facts about his 5 sons… Every one of them had created a million dollar business b

There are few things in life that can test a dad's patience more than putting the kids to bed with a screaming baby in your arms while their rambunctious siblings are doing everything but trying to go to sleep. Everyone has their breaking point and the urge to yell at your kids can be overwhelming. On a good day, you realize that you don't want to become the scary monster in their bedroom before unloading on them. So what do you do when you're at your wit's end during the bedtime routine? Today, we're talking about what happens when we get angry with our kids, being rejected when asking for forgiveness, and what to do when "I'm sorry" isn't enough. My guest today is Curt Storring. Curt is a husband, father, entrepreneur, and a successful men's group facilitator. After struggling with anger issues and depression in his first few years of fatherhood, he knew that something had to change if he wanted to become a better father to his kids and a better human being. This led him to create his Dad.Work group and pod

I feel like I’ve failed more than won when it comes to celebrating Mother’s Day.  Today’s show is devoted to sourcing great ideas that help you love on the Mom’s in your life.  I’m endlessly curious about the question… How do we “win” on Mother’s Day by helping them feel love, appreciated and celebrated? Honestly, there isn’t a silver bullet, sure-fire win, but there are clues, and you can increase your odds of knocking this out of the park.  Rather than tell you what I think, or interview another guy on what he thinks, I asked three amazing women (Front Row Moms Angie, Tjitske & Monica) if they’d have a conversation and talk about what makes their Mother’s Day great.  Think about this episode as a Mother’s Day cheat sheet for husbands. The ladies shared fantastic ideas for things you can do for; including meals out, entertaining the kids, no mom duties, time for self-care, and much more. To make it even better, they give us great tips on how to figure out which “gift” your wife would like the most, such

Gentlemen, I hope you're ready to rock today. This episode goes out to all the music lovers out there. Is there a better gift that we can share with our kids than the gift of music? It's such a great connector and the source of so many great conversations and memories. Have you ever been in the car, just belting out a song with your kids at the top of your lungs? When we talk about being present and playful with our kids, this is my jam. Today's guest is literally rocking life as a husband, father, and music teacher. His name is Tim Woosley, and he teaches people how to play guitar for a living. But more importantly, he uses music to teach his kids about discipline and confidence so that they can do the hard things. Intentional parenting is one of our pillars, and I couldn't help but notice that Tim used the word intentional several times. Being intentional when introducing new music to his kids, or by spending time with them or his wife when he catches himself working too long. I loved hearing about how he w