Uncommon: The DadWork Podcast

Most high-performing men are chasing a version of success they’ve never actually defined. And it’s costing them their presence, their peace, and their family. In this episode, I sat down with Mitchell Osmond—founder of DadNationCo—to talk about what happens when you measure your life by the wrong standards, and how to get back to what actually matters. We talk about: The trap of comparison and the...

This is the one I almost didn’t record. But something in me wouldn’t let it go. So I lit the fire. I hit record. And I spoke what had to be said. This episode is a raw transmission on the war against men, marriage, fatherhood, and the spiritual foundation of the family. I read a powerful article by Mallory Millett—an eyewitness to the feminist revolution’s Marxist origins—and unpack what it means...

Train With Your Kids. Be Useful. Be Uncommon. In this episode, I sat down with my brother Ben Barker (@benbarkerfitness)—the original Alpha Dad—to talk fatherhood, fitness, and what it really means to lead at home. We broke down what most men won’t admit:You don’t have a time problem. You have a priority problem. Ben shared how cutting Netflix and auditing his phone time created the space to show...

Most men have no idea why they react the way they do. Why they shut down. Why they explode. Why they feel like they’re failing—even when they’re “doing everything right.” In this solo episode, I rip the mask off the modern dad and share my own raw journey through fatherhood, anxiety, and the broken masculine blueprint I inherited. I unpack: ⚔️ Why your origin story matters—and how your childhood s...

Let’s get real for a second... If your kid has eczema, ADHD, gut issues, or chronic illness… It’s not just bad luck. And slapping some cream or meds on it isn’t going to fix what’s really going on. In this episode, I sit down with Jessica Pawlicki , founder of Well Rooted and a straight-up powerhouse in functional medicine. She’s the one we call when conventional docs say “there’s nothing we can d...

Most dads are running on fumes—racing through the day, snapping at their kids, disconnected from their wives, and wondering why the hell they feel so off. In this episode, I sit down with Todd Steinberg, co-founder of Komuso Design , to unpack a simple but powerful truth: If you want to become a better father, you have to slow down. We explore: How a literal Dunkin’ straw changed Todd’s life and l...

Which type of man are you? There are two types of men, and the one you are will have a direct impact on your kids, whether you (and they) like it or not. There is the man who faces his dragons head on and does the work to heal his wounds and end family cycles so that his kids won’t have to. And there is the man who numbs himself out to the discomfort of it all, escaping and coping, and avoiding th...

It’s one thing that no-one told me would happen as a parent. And people tell you ALL KINDS of unhelpful stories, but I wish someone had clued me on on this, because it PERPLEXED my wife and I. We just couldn’t figure out why my son would be sweet ALL DAY, and then when I got from home from work — or my wife got home, it didn’t matter — he’d go full Vegeta Super Saiyan. When your kids feel safe, lo...

A lot of men make this mistake, and it really takes a toll on their family. We assume that we simply need to do better for our kids. To give THEM the life we want for them, and we leave ourselves on the back burner. We SACRIFICE for them, and model them a life of workaholism, grinding it out, and burning ourselves out. And that’s the operating system we program into them. The truth is: to really d...

There is no purpose greater than fatherhood, but most men are drastically underprepared. Even though this generation of dads have 3xed the amount of time spent caring for their kids, 39% of dads still feel like they're not doing enough, and I imagine that's underreported. We've lost the Rites of Passage that prepared us for the responsibilities of manhood, husbandhood, and fatherhood, but Max has...

It’s something I never knew… One of the most important things we can give to our kids is the example of a strong, loving, powerful, playful marriage. After all, it’s the program that they’ll be compelled to seek out and repeat in their own lives. So why not do the uncomfortable work to give them the most powerful example of marriage that we’re capable of giving? In this chat with Stefanos Sifandos...

What makes a good education? Is it complex subjects? Highly educated teachers? Schools with the best ratings? Schools with the most prestige? or the most amount of debt incurred? We can make it extremely complex, or we can allow it to be simple. What makes a good education is what’s necessary to draw out our kids’s innate potential. After all, it’s what the word EDUCATE actually means. And it’s no...

I used to have erectile dysfunction. When I met my wife, things were fiery. Hot and heavy. But I was neglecting my health: I was burning it at both ends, working long hours, and skimping on sleep and the Pain Teacher came knocking. She wondered if it was her, but it wasn’t. Being a LITTLE knowledgable, I did some bloodwork and found out that my testosterone (and related markers) were — in clinical...

Have you had one of those moments? Sometimes we don’t know the influence we have on our own kids until someone reflects it back to us. Until their Grandma, their coach, or some stranger in public praises some quality they see in them — their competence, their perseverance, the pleasure of their presence. It’s in moments like those — witnessed through the eyes of others — when we get to see the inf...

Do you see it too? Society at large has told us that dads don’t matter. It portrays us as bumbling & incompetent or controlling & reactive. It’s easy to see a world where dads are an inconvenience, where things would be better if they weren’t in the way. But thing is — dads DO matter. We have a MASSIVE impact on our homes, and we don’t have to become the old dad stereotypes. You matter, da...

I’m going to tell you a secret. We — including me — are all just figuring this thing out. Life. Being a husband. Being a “good” dad. We’re all learning, and we’re all making mistakes. What’s important is that we OWN IT, we respond and repair, and we do the work necessary to move forward and be better next time. Because at the end of the day there are little eyes that are watching, and those little...

Few of us grow up with fathers who are fully healed, or healed in any way at all. When we live unconsciously, we pass those wounds, the trauma, and the unconscious patterns, habits, and neuroticisms down to our OWN kids, who in turn will pass it on to theirs. When we live in such a way, we can only hope that they’ll figure it all out one day. But there’s a different way. If we embrace the role of...

There is no better way to develop a strong and lasting relationship with your kids — AND your wife — than playing with them in their world. But why is that so hard for so many of us? Our bodies hurt. We’re not quite sure how to improvise, use our imagination, or explore creatively, so we just DON’T. …or we tell our kids — or expect our wife — to do THE THING the way we think it should be done, thu...

I used to be that guy that scoffed whenever my wife would bring it up. “You should really do some yoga”, she’d say. And I’d respond, “You mean that weird ladies stretching class where I feel my feelings? Nah, I’ll lift weights instead.” I struggled with the pressure of work and relationship, and hid the dangerously high blood-pressure, the anxiety, and the strange hyperventilation that would creep...

We set the example and we can either show our kids how to live a life of freedom, abundance, growth, and living life at its fullest or we can set them up for a life of dependence, addiction, comfort, and never knowing who they truly are or what they’re capable of. In today’s podcast, I chat with Stew Blackwell ( @stblackwell ) about what he learned during his time in the military, how he broke fre...

It’s the biggest lie of all time... That once you have kids, once you’ve been married, that your sex-life has to go down the tubes forever. Frankly, it’s a load of bulls**t. As parents you CAN have more sex, better sex, and a deeper connection than you did before kids — and hell, even more than when you first met. What’s better is that you’ll feel deeply fulfilled, you’ll show up as better parents...

Your family doesn't want a dad who's just physically present. They want a father who's mentally emotionally present, because they need one who is able to make memories through his ability to make deep and meaningful connections. With all the things going on in the world in 2024, it can be a real challenge to be deeply present when you're at home. Work, bills, politics, social-media, you name it --...

I get this question all the time, and I always answer it the same way. (And apologies for my audio on this one. I've fixed it.) What’s the number one piece of advice you’d give to men and dads? Two words: SLOW DOWN It’s as simple as that. And remember BE BORED. After all, you’re not a human-doing. You’re a human being. I’m a PRACTITIONER of this work, and even I caught myself the other day — I not...

We’re just not built for it. No, I’m not talking about Fatherhood. We ARE built for that. What we AREN’T built for is the running, ranting, raving, ludicrous speed, hyper-stimulating, and BUSY world that we live in. In just a few minutes, we can see more environments and have more sexual partners than our ancestors would in an entire lifetime. …and as technology advances to make our lives easier,...

Who are you really? What do you really want as a husband? As a father? As a man? Too many men are living someone else’s story, and they’re doing it without KNOWING that they’re doing it. They’re climbing the corporate ladder for the title and the money, buying the sexy car that their co-workers have, training their asses off for the six-pack, or skipping out on their son’s soccer game b/c they hav...