The Company of Dads Podcast

Interview with Keegan Albaugh / Founder of Dad Guild, Educator, Lead Dad HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN Keegan Albaugh readily admits that his wife, a grad student and stand-up comic, pushed him into starting what became Dad Guild. But after he gathered with a handful of other new fathers in Burlington, Vermont, he realized what he was striving to do was no joke. Normalizing fathers taking care of their...

Interview with Michael Teager / Jazz saxophonist, Early Remote Worker, Lead Dad HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN Michael Teager is a renown saxophone player with multiple recordings who was gigging several times a week before his son was born. His wife, a musician and teacher, needed to return to work fairly quickly, so he stepped up to take over childcare duties. He felt he could make it all work. He stop...

Interview with Nikola Gasic / Newly minted C.F.A. Charterholder, Parent and Lead Dad HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN Nikola Gasic believed his employer when it offered him paternity leave when his son was born: take it, someone else will cover for you, your job will be here when you return. He took paternity leave to spend time with his son but he also took it because his wife’s job was more entrepreneuri...

Interview with Dr. Jamie Ladge / Expert on The Trade-Offs Parents Make and How Work is Changing HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN Jamie Ladge, an associate professor of management and organizational development at Northeastern University, comes at the work-life debate with a lot of questions. Why is it hard to be both a good parent and a good worker? Can fathers be competent dads and professionals? Will inv...

Interview with Alex McKenzie / Emperor of Ice Cream, Sobriety Advocate, Lead Dad HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN Alex McKenzie was the Emperor of Ice Cream, a life-long food lover who created an ice cream business (named for a Wallace Stevens poem) that was thriving pre-pandemic. He’d done many other things in the food world. He’s worked in the fields and in restaurants. The fish business – he’s swum in t...

Interview with Nathan Richardson / Entrepreneur, Florida transplant, Father of Twins HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN Nathan Richardson was a New Yorker, and the community in his neighborhood allowed him to be a single Lead Dad to twins, a boy and a girl, and still work at the top of his profession. He had time to volunteer and be with each of his kids alone, knowing his neighborhood network was there to h...

Interview with Tino Ricci / Husband to an ER Nurse, Home Depot Associate, Lead Dad HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN When the pandemic began, Tino Ricci’s wife was an emergency room nurse outside of Ft. Worth, Texas. She was seeing first-hand how devastating the virus could be – and worried about bringing it home to her family. Tino stepped up, shifted his schedule, and took the lead on parenting and virtua...

An Interview with Brad Klontz / Financial Psychologist, Tik Tok Influencer and Lead Dad HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN What holds some men back from becoming Lead Dads – or at least openly embracing the role? It starts with traditional perceptions of masculinity, of being the higher earner, of being the provider, of not engaging as much with parenting and family tasks. But it’s not something that’s hardw...

Interview with Dave Andrews / Air Force Officer, Commercial Pilot, Lead Dad Hosted By Paul Sullivan Flying was Dave Andrews’ dream. As an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, he flew military operations and supported humanitarian aid missions; he also flew the prime minister under the call sign, CanForce One. He went on to fly for Air Canada where he was just as likely to wake up in Hawaii as...

Interview with Steve Israel / Financial Adviser, Ex-NFL Player, Lead Dad of Four Hosted by Paul Sullivan Talking to kids about money and financial responsibility isn’t easy. What might matter more is what your kids see you doing, not what they hear you saying. “Whatever I preached, they had to see me doing it,” said Steve Israel, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams and played 10 years in the N...

Interview with Najee Goode / Super Bowl Champion, Entrepreneur and Lead Dad HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN The former linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles has sacked Tom Brady and intercepted him. He started a company, Veepio, that seeks to change the financial landscape for college athletes. Now living in Jacksonville, Florida, Najee is the lead dad to his two daughters, 5 and 4. He’s applied football...

Interview with Kristen M. Shockley / Professor, University of Georgia HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN The pandemic changed parenting and relationships overnight. Kids were forced home from school. Parents were sent into remote work or forced to juggle shifts with parenting. Into this chaos, stepped Kristen Shockley, a professor at the University of Georgia, who wanted to know what this sudden shift did to...