Dad to Dad Podcast

Our guest this week is Owen Marcus, of Nevada City, CA, an executive coach, founder of Whole Clinics, a Group Lead Trainer for the Mankind Project and Co-Founder of EvryMan, a global community of men who come together to challenge and assist one another with their emotional well being and personal growth. We’ll hear Owen talk and provide insights about being a man in today’s world and how to be th...

Our guest this week is Ron Janowczyk of Colleyville, TX the father of three, a wine industry veteran and owner of Special Strong of Northeast Tarrant County, a sports facility, that helps develop specialized fitness programs for people with mental, cognitive, and physical challenges. Ron and his wife, Gloria, have been married for 39 years and are the proud parents of three children; Lauren (35),...

Our guest this week is Stewart Perriliat of San Anselmo, CA, who is the father of three, a former U.S. Marine Sergeant, Founder and CEO of Perrilliat Enterprises, a general contracting and engineering firm, an author, ordained minister and founder of Man2Man Urban Youth Advocate. Stewart is father of three: Jessica (34), Stewart Jr. (18) and Destiny (15). Stewart is a man on a mission -- helping d...

Our guest this week is Michael Deleon of Pacific, WA, who has an aviation and aerospace background, is the father of four, including two impacted by Urea Cycle Disorder (UCD) and co-founder of the Connecting Families UCD Foundation. Michael and his wife, Robin, have been married for 23 years and are the proud parents of nine, including five from Robin’s first marriage, two from his first marriage...

Our guest this week is Christian Sakamoto of Ocean Shores, WA, a financial planner and father to three, including a daughter with infantile spasms. Christian and his wife, Suzy, have been married for seven years and are the proud parents of three: Miles (1), Jude (3) and Rosalie (4), who was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms, a form of Epilepsy. We'll learn about Christian's upbringing, the importan...

Our guest this week is Dr. John DeMartini of Houston, TX, a world renowned human behavior specialist, an author and a global educator. John is the founder of the De Martini Institute, a global education organization, which has over 72 courses on self-development, life mastery and leadership in its extensive curriculum. He studied over 30,000 books across all the defined academic disciplines and ha...

Our guest this week is Dr. Anju Usman Singh, a board certified family practitioner and the medical director at True Health Medical Center in Naperville, IL, providing integrative and biomedical treatments that enhance traditional medical care. Dr. Usman is director and owner of True Health Medical Center and Pure Compounding Pharmacy in Naperville, Illinois. She also is the Chief Science Officer f...

Our guests this week on the SFN Dad To Dad Podcast are Jessica & Chris Patay of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. The Patays have been married for 25 years and are proud parents of three children: Luke (21), Kate (16), and middle child Ryan (18) who was born with a rare genetic disorder known as Prader-Willi Syndrome. We'll learn about the Patay family journey, Prader-Willi Syndrome and how Jessica started...

Our guest this week is Pete Hixson of Woodstock, GA, the father of two, a pastor, certified business coach, a facilitator at Story Brand, Campus Launch Director at Shepherds College and CEO/founder of Beyond Communities. Pete and wife, Hollie, have been married for 25 years and are the proud parents of two girls: Addie (18) and Hope (20), who has Cerebral Palsy as well as seizures. We learn about...

Our guest this week is Doug Noll, of Fresno County, CA, who worked for 20 years as a corporate lawyer, is a professional mediator, recognized expert in the area of peacemaking and conflict resolution, co-founder of Prison of Peace, and author of four books, including the Best-Seller - De-Escalate: How to Calm An Angry Person in 90 Seconds or Less. Most remarkably, growing up in San Marino, CA, Dou...

Our guest this week is Sanath Kumar Ramesh of San Jose, CA, IL, the father of a son with a super rare disease, a successful tech executive and co-founder of the Open Treatment Foundation. Sanath and his wife, Ramya, have been married for 7 years and are the proud parents of Raghav, who is 3 and was diagnosed with SSMD or Sedaghatiantype Spondylo Metaphyseal Dysplasia an extremely rare progressive...

Our guest this week is Jim Mullen, a disabled Chicago Police Officer who was shot and catastrophically injured in the line of duty, leaving him a ventilator dependent quadriplegic. We’ll hear how Jim's life has changed, how his injury has affected him, his wife and his daughter (who was only 7 months old at the time), about his hobby of buying and selling vintage muscle cars, how he has started ma...

Our guests this week are Toby Brown of Colorado Springs and Jesse Hohn of Littleton, CO. Toby and his wife, Angela Bird, have been married for 15 years and are the proud parents of two children; Kavan (19) and Anabelle (17). Jesse and his wife, Felima, have been married for 23 years and are the proud parents of three children: Ethan (21), Arianna (18) and Sadie (14). Four of their five children ha...

Our guest this week is Dr. Eric Endlich, of Sonoma, CA who is an Autistic man, the father of two, a Psychologist, author and founder of Top College Consultants, an organization that serves students with Autism, ADHD and other learning differences, navigate the college admissions process. Eric and his wife, Kristina, have been married for 35 years and are the proud parents of two children; Elyse (2...

Our guest this week is Joe Lang of Sacramento, CA who is managing partner at Lang, Hansen, Giroux & Kidane, a lobbying/government relations firm, as well as the co-founder of Jordan’s Guardian Angels, a non-profit whose mission is helping to improve and bring joy to the lives of children and families in the Coachella Valley and beyond. Joe and his wife, Cynthia, have been married for 18 years and...

This week David Hirsch talks with fellow Illini Adam Bleakney, head coach of the wheelchair track program, which is part of the Division Of Disability Resources & Educational Services in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We also meet: Amanda McGrory and Brian Siemann, two University of Illinois graduates who were part of the wheelchair track...

Our guest this week is Rabbi Kalman Samuels of Jerusalem, Israel. Rabbi Samuels and his wife, Malki, have seven children, one of whom, Yossi, became deaf and blind after being administered a faulty vaccine at two. We’ll hear the remarkable story of how Yossi learned to communicate, to read, and how Kalman and Malki started Shalva, a seven story state-of-the art center on five acres in downtown Jer...

Our guest this week is Shayne Gaffney of Windham, NH, a cycling & running coach, a licensed physical therapy assistant, and father of two including a daughter with CytoMegaloVirus, or CMV. Shayne and his wife, Megan, have been married for 8 years and are the proud parents of two children: Finn (5) and Grace (3), who was diagnosed with CytoMegaloVirus or CMV, a common virus, but when a baby is born...

Our guest this week is Doug Robb of Long Valley, NJ the father of five including two with Autism, a financial advisor and co-founder of Seat At The Table Foundation, a non-profit organization. Doug and his wife, Dara, have been married for 28 years and are the proud parents of five children; Taylor (27), Dougie (25), Jackson (22), Peyton (21), and Mia (19). Dougie and Jackson are both on the Autis...

Our guest this week is Sarah Putt of Seattle, WA, the mother of young child, the founder and clinical director of Sarah Bryan Therapy, and Creator/Host of the OT 4 Lyfe Podcast, dedicated to promoting and bringing awareness to the field of occupational therapy. We’ll learn about Sarah's background with degrees in psychology from Pepperdine University and masters in occupational therapy from Univer...

Our guest this week is Chris Velona of North Los Angeles, CA. Chris and his x-wife, Teresa, are the proud parents of two boys; Gage (16) and Sebastian (18), who was diagnosed with Batten Disease CLN8, a rare neurodegenerative disorder. We’ll learn about Chris' journey, which includes his own battle with alcoholism, shouldering the Batten Disease diagnosis, and creating Project Sebastian, a non-pro...

Our guest this week is Justin DeVault of Algonquin, IL. Justin and his wife, Margaret, have been married for 17 years and are the proud parents of three; Hazel (3), Alice (5) and Henry (13). Hazel was diagnosed with Autism and Henry had a brain stroke shortly after birth, that lead to the loss of his sight and has impaired his neurological development. We’ll learn about Justin's journey, which inc...

Our guest this week is Mike Graglia of Palo Alto, CA. Mike and his wife, Ashley, are parents to two boys John (3) and Tony (8) who was diagnosed with SynGap 1, a rare genetic disorder. We’ll learn about Mike's eclectic career including being a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia, as well as working at: the World Bank, Boston Consulting Group, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Hewlett Packard Enter...

Our guest this week is Riana Milne of Del Rey Beach, FL, who is a mother of two, grandmother of six, a licensed mental health counselor with decades of experience, a global life & love coach, childhood and love trauma recovery specialist, bestselling author and fellow podcast host. Riana has a BA in Broadcasting & Speech Communications from Penn State University, and a MA in Applied Clinical & Cou...

Our guest this week is Catherine Whitchter of Milwaukee, WI a mother two daughters, one of whom has Epilepsy. Catherine is also one the country’s most well-respected experts on IEPs or Individual Education Plans. She is also a podcast host and has created the Master IEP Coach program. We’ll learn about her career as a Special Education teacher, growing up with a younger brother with Down syndrome...