Dad Spotlight - Helping You Be The Best Dad, Father and Parent You Can!

Training for a marathon or some other event? Dai Manuel re-joins the Dads Toolbox this week to share some experiences that he had on a recent trip to Jerusalem to run a half marathon as well as tips and concerns when it comes to training for such events. 

Dai Manuel was asked to go to Jerusalem on a media trip to learn about all of the health, fitness and wellness opportunities available to people. It was in conjunction with one of the largest half marathons in the country. While Dai Manuel is not a huge runner he is in good shape.

He mentioned that it was quite the journey to get to Jerusalem as he is on the West Coast of North America and it took two flights and many hours. He stated that he found that there were some great ways in which he tried to stay healthy along his trip. Some of the things that he brought for his flight included:

 

* Water bottles

* Ener-C Kits (electrolytes)

* Healthy Nuts

* Dehydrated Meats

* Protein Bars

 

Dai Manuel mentioned that he did not train for the half marathon, but that he wished that he had. While he was in good shape he still received blisters and pain in his heals and his hips. We asked Dai Manuel what he would do differently in training for the half marathon. He stated that you definitely need to log miles to prepare for a distance run like this.

When we asked him about his experience running in the country, he claimed that Jerusalem was quite the country and many of his perceptions were shattered. The country felt very safe to Dai Manuel, and he said that there is a feeling of self reliance in the people that he met. 

As a father Dai Manuel mentioned that there is a very strong feeling of family in Jerusalem. One of the experiences that he valued on his trip was a family meal that he experienced on Friday evening. At this meal, he loved how actively engaged people were at this meal and the communal living situations that so many of the people of Jerusalem live within. So many of the homes are small and there is not the sense of consumerism that you see in other places in the world. That being said though Dai Manuel mentioned that the kids were very happy with the life that they had and this allowed Dai Manuel to reassess the way in which he was raising his own daughters.

Dai Manuel shared a number of images from his run and his trip on his Facebook Page.

Dai Manuel recently wrote a great new book called the [amazon text=Whole Life Fitness Manifesto&asin=1928055079] which promotes that you take 30 minutes a day to get fit and is filled with easy to follow great exercises that you can easily incorporate into your own lifestyle!

You can also find the book as an EBOOK by clicking here!

We have partnered with SmartyPants vitamins to let you know about the quality of these vitamins. As mentioned in the show we do not enter partnerships like this lightly. We vet everyone and try things out with our own families and we stand behind what SmartyPants provides.

About SmartyPants Vitamins

SmartyPants vitamins are more than multivitamins. They’re the galaxy’s best tasting gummy vitamin that delivers at least ten essential nutrients, including vitamin D as D3, B12 as methylcobalamin, plus omega 3 EPA and DHA fish oil – all in one.  

SmartyPants includes the nutrients that seem to be the hardest for some people to get from diet alone. Each serving is also an excellent source of vitamins A, C, E, B6, B12, folate, iodine, and zinc. They use the forms of these nutrients that are easily absorbed by the body whenever ...

This week in the Dad Spotlight, Julie Kerwin, the creative superpower behind IAmElemental’s action figures for girls, joins us to talk to us about the brand as well as to talk about how they are creating a new conversation about the super powers that we all have inside of us.

 

Less hooters, more heroine. The girl are the superheros and the powers are not dumbed down and it allows kids to see powers in a new way. IAmElemental knew that kids could understand the concept that was being

 

It’s character, not characters is one of the mantras of IAmElemental.

“We’re girl targeted, bot inclusive” says Julie Kerwin. It was important that IAmElemental figures were inclusive of both genders and this is part of the mission of the company.

IAmElemental Series 2 is coming out soon and in this series the company wanted to make this series better than the first set. One of the requests was to add peg holes in the feet of the new series for collectors and they did add this in for the new series. They now know what design is capable of and thus they can accomplish a lot more with the characters in general.

Julie Kerwin sais that they started with courage as the first series to set the tone. In series two, knowledge as power is being seen as important as being physically strong.

One of the things that they are trying to do is provide “hidden mickeys” into every figure. Such as the crossbow in one of the characters which represents Artemis, Goddess of the hunt who is hunting for knowledge.

Julie Kerwin mentioned that IAmElemental characters are made for ages 4-400. At the core they were originally geared toward the child of seven. She is hoping that young child is introduced early so kids can see that all of the superpowers that they need are within themselves.

While IAmElemental is a company that started at a kitchen table, the future is wide open because there are so many messages that can be shared with these toys. They are being very targeted and safe as they move forward but they are working to grow a community of people that love the toy and the message. 

About Julie Kerwin

is a voracious researcher, writer and thinker on the topics of gendered toys, creativity in children, and the power of play. Before launching IAmElemental in 2013, she spent five years as co-owner of independent music label Club Rock Records. Club Rock began by teaching original songwriting to teenagers and grew into a full-service production company, where she advised bands including The NowhereNauts (available on iTunes) on all business and creative aspects of album creation. Julie holds a BA in English and a certification in Secondary Education from Wellesley College, as well as a JD from Fordham University School of Law. Though she is completely and totally obsessed with Rome, she lives with her family in New York City, where she is a non-profit fundraiser, a patron of the arts and sciences, and a not-so-secret pop-culture critic. Her first novel, shortgirl/deadmom(dot)com (shortgirldeadmom.com) launched as an online diary in 2014.

IAmElemental started with two friends – and moms – who were frustrated by what they saw and, more importantly, didn’t see in the toy market. Lots of dreaming, planning, brainstorming and one big courageous leap later,...

Taking great pictures is something that Adam Cohen of DadaRocks.com does well and this week we talk to Adam Cohen about taking great pictures on your cell phone today. Also, we explore some of the newest technology in cell phones which can make our picture taking even easier! 

Some of the new phones that we spoke with Adam Cohen about today included:

* [amazon text=Samsung Galaxy S7&asin=B01CJSF8IO]

* [amazon text=Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge&asin=B01CJU9BBM]

The Samsung S7 is taking what was missing in the S6 – adding in micro SD capabilities so you can get up to 256 MB of additional space added to your phone now!  Also it will provide you with a lot more water capabilities and even allow you to get the phone wet somewhat so you can get some great pictures while in a water situation. They are also going to be fixing some of the low light issues with the earlier versions too which will allow you to have a much better low light detection.

Apply has been rumoring a new phone, but everything is very tentative. Early indications say that the iPhone 7 will be coming out and the camera bubble will be fixed in the new phone and the camera will fit the same dimensions as the iPhone 6s but it will be 1 mm thinner. There are rumors about some changes to the audio jack and some rumors about the lightning cable. The challenge with Apple is that they hold things very close until they are ready to reveal them.

Nexus is also going to be having a new Google phone coming out in the near future.

Taking great pictures with your mobile phone can be easy if you follow some of Adam Cohen’s suggests:

* Don’t expect that you will be able to capture fast moving pictures on a cell phone

* Cell phones are best at taking pictures in brighter light situations

* Technology is getting better, but many phones do not work the best in low light situations

* There are many filters that you can use with your phone that will allow you to create some fun images that will really make your images pop.

 

In regards to applications that you can use for taking great pictures , Adam Cohen suggests the following applications:

Snapseed

* Android

* IOS

Camera Plus

* IOS

Over

* IOS

SquareReady (Great for Instagram)

* IOS

Facetune

* Android

* IOS

Micro LED Steady Light

We have partnered with SmartyPants vitamins to let you know about the quality of these vitamins. As mentioned in the show we do not enter partnerships like this lightly. We vet everyone and try things out with our own families and we stand behind what SmartyPants provides.

About SmartyPants Vitamins

SmartyPants vitamins are more than multivitamins. They’re the galaxy’s best tasting gummy vitamin th...

 

In this episode of the Dad Spotlight we interview Dr. Scott Behson about balancing personal and professional life. Scott Behson, PhD, is a professor of management at Fairleigh Dickinson University, a national expert in work and family issues, and was a featured speaker at the recent White House Summit on Working Families.

He’s the author of [amazon text=The Working Dad’s Survival Guide: How to Succeed at Work and at Home&asin=1628651946], the first book of its kind to provide advice and encouragement for working fathers, helping them to achieve success in their careers while also being the involved, loving dads they always wanted to be.

 

We loved speaking with Scott Behson and hearing his passion for working dads and all of the amazing things that he is working on to get the message out about fatherhood and how fathers can better balance work and family.

If you have never heard anything about this book, you have to check it out, as it was well researched, and offers practical and tips for any working dad.

Specifically, [amazon text=The Working Dad’s Survival Guide: How to Succeed at Work and at Home&asin=1628651946] will provide powerful and tangible benefits that will help busy fathers:

* Understand that most dads face the same struggles they do. Reading about other dads’ concerns and struggles will help them feel less alone and more likely to discuss their issues and seek support.

* Articulate their career and family priorities through reflection and self-assessment exercises and by reading about other dads who have chosen non-traditional paths. They can then use this information to make action plans to better align their choices with their priorities.

* Assess their current workplace’s and employer’s attitudes towards work and family. This can lead to a better understanding of ways dads can pursue work-family balance and what barriers may be in their way.

* Maintain and enhance their work productivity through better prioritization, planning and focus, as well as more efficient time management.

* Understand how to create, negotiate for, and utilize workplace flexibility.

* Protect family time from the creeping demands of work.

* Improve their focus on the most important aspects of parenting, and gain a better understanding of how wives, families and children benefit from present, involved fathers.

* Carve out “me time”—exercise and social activities—needed to de-stress, renew energy and maintain mental health.

* Build a support network of other working dads so that they can give and receive friendship, emotional support and tangible help.

Throughout the interview you will hear how passionate and invested Scott Behson is with his own son and how lately he has been working to help his son to create short movies. One of the movies that he and his son created can be viewed by clicking on the below link:

Scary Movie

Learn more about Scott Behson

* Website

* [amazon text=Working Dads Survival Guide Book&asin=1628651946]

* Blog

* Twitter

We have partnered with SmartyPants vitamins to let you know about the quality of these vitamins. As mentioned in the show we do not enter partnerships like this l...

In this episode of the Dads Toolbox we had the chance to talk with Clay Nichols of SmartyPants Vitamins about the importance of vitamins for our kids today.

Clay Nichols told us that joining the SmartyPants Vitamins company was a family story. It was his sister that started the company. She started the company because she would walk into the store and be bewildered by all of the options and not knowing what was quality and what they could trust. She decided to start a company out of her garage and soon the company started to pick up momentum and Clay Nichols’s sister knew that she needed to explore and expand marketing online which was Clay’s forte.

SmartyPants is now in over 20,000 stores across the country and in every Walgreens in the country.

In talking about Kids vitamins Clay Nichols mentioned that SmartyPants vitamins are very careful about what they put into the vitamins as they personally take the vitamins and have their kids take them too.

One of the things that SmartyPants wanted to do was acknowledge that some days we have to make sacrifices in our diet and they made a vitamin that focussed on widespread deficiencies that we tend to see. So you will see Vitamin D and Omega 3 Fish Oil in their vitamins to help supplement the vitamins that we need for our bodies.

SmartyPants Vitamins also knew that in making a vitamin that tasted great that they needed to be careful over the potential for overdose. They decided to limit Iron in their vitamin to make sure that if kids take too many that they would not be at risk.

They also have a wonderful partnership with Vitamin Angels which is a one for one grant program for malnourished kids worldwide.  They have made over 1.7 Million Vitamin Angel grants to Vitamin Angels.

We have partnered with SmartyPants vitamins to let you know about the quality of these vitamins. As mentioned in the show we do not enter partnerships like this lightly. We vet everyone and try things out with our own families and we stand behind what SmartyPants provides.

About SmartyPants Vitamins

SmartyPants vitamins are more than multivitamins. They’re the galaxy’s best tasting gummy vitamin that delivers at least ten essential nutrients, including vitamin D as D3, B12 as methylcobalamin, plus omega 3 EPA and DHA fish oil – all in one.  

SmartyPants includes the nutrients that seem to be the hardest for some people to get from diet alone. Each serving is also an excellent source of vitamins A, C, E, B6, B12, folate, iodine, and zinc. They use the forms of these nutrients that are easily absorbed by the body whenever possible. Their fish oil is eco-friendly. SmartyPants are non-GMO, contain no synthetic colors, flavors, or preservatives, and are gluten, casein, and allergen-free.  

 

They stand by what they claim on their label; they test each batch for purity and potency in an independent lab.

 

For every bottle sold, they also make a matching nutrient grant to Vitamin Angels.  

SmartyPants Vitamins – The Good Gummy: Good ingredients. Good taste. Good works.

 

GIVEAWAY

Want to win a month’s supply of Men’s, Women’s and Kid’s Complete Vitamins? To enter, please do the following:

* Follow SmartyPants Vitamins on Twitter

* Follow SmartyPants Vitamins on Instagram

*

Welcome back to The Dads Spotlight, where we share with you great information to help you be the best dad possible. This week we bring you Mark Timm who is not only the CEO of a company but even more important he is the CEO of his family. Yes, he has actually incorporated his family and doing this transformed the way that he, his wife and his kids looked at the family and it drew them all closer together.

While Mark has a number of tips that he shares in his great FREE e-book: You and Your Family Can Win at Home, this week we spent the most time talking about one of the most important parts of his five steps, which is having the family meeting.

 

About Mark Timm

Mark Timm is the CEO of the most valuable business in the world – My Family.  He is also the President and CEO of the company he co-founded 15 years ago, Cottage Garden, Inc. This company is the #1 supplier of musical gift products in North America.

For years, Mark Timm has been experimenting with innovative ways to leverage my business success to win at home.  It all fell into place a few years ago when he incorporated his family into a business and began thinking of his family as the most valuable business in the world. Since that point the results have been nothing less than staggering for him and for his family. Mark Timm shares this journey with others at www.marktimm.com.

Mark Timm took some time and told us that he incorporated his family. He told us that he was doing very well in his business, but he was finding that he was not successful at home. He felt respected at work, but not at home. He found himself in the situation that he was spending more time at work and less at home because he was struggling to find his place at home. This was not a place where he felt satisfied, he knew that he could achieve just as much at home as he was at work.

The idea of incorporating his family came from a conversation with his kids about himself being an entrepreneur. In talking to them about what he did, he connected with them and that night he went to his wife and he explained his idea about incorporating the family into a business. He took everything that he knew and put it into the context of his family and things started to change.

To get people on board one of the things that was most important was the family meeting. While Mark Timm had great intentions in starting this, he found that the first meeting was not successful because he was trying to run it like he ran it at work. To change this, he ended up bribing the kids with making the meeting fun. He did this through having a sundae bar and having the kids describe what they created and why. Soon after having this meeting the meetings started to evolve to now being something where everyone in the family takes an active role.

Mark Timm said that the idea of incorporating the family and running it like a business is not a gender specific idea. He said that there are some kids that are more entrepreneurial in general. He talked about the fact that he has one daughter that was inspired through the process of creating a family business into creating her own business: Gliding Light, a business that breeds sugar gliders.

Mark Timm said even the kids that did not connect with the initial concept of the family business, they now love the fact that they now have an equal voice in the family business.

When it comes to the family meeting Mark Timm said there are three essential things that you can do to have an effective family meeting.

* The meeting has to be fun

* The meeting needs to be consistent on a regular time and day of the week (make it part of the routine...

In this episode of the Dads Toolbox we had the chance to talk with Jennifer Jordan, author of the new book [amazon text=Dadly Wisdom&asin=1628652691] to share some of the powerful messages that she found in the stories of the fathers she interviewed.

DADLY Wisdom began as a concept back in 2000 and this came from her own relationship with her own dad, Russ Jordan. She started being referred to many dads and she would collect their stories along the way. Jennifer Jordan collected stories from dads around the world – USA, Australia, Germany, Lebanon, Kenya, Norway, Mexico, Spain, Afghanistan, Chile, Denmark, Slovakia and Poland. It took many years to be able to collect all of these stories. In 2002 she stopped collecting these to re-energize, and then came back to the book a few years back, interviewed more dads to come up with the 52 dads spotlighted within the book.

Jennifer Jordan was very targeted when it came to her Dadly Wisdom book. She not only did interviews with those people she knew, but she had fathers that represented different voices as well that she wanted to include in her book too.

Some insights that DADLY Wisdom offers:

* Refreshing positive image of dads as responsible, active competent parents

* True essence of dads as nurturing, compassionate parents

* Renewed appreciation for the valuable role dads play as parents

* Valuable parenting lessons from great dad role models

* Fatherhood is alive and well all over the world.

 

About Jennifer Jordan:

Jennifer K. Jordan is a California-based author with a passion for celebrating the spiritual in our daily lives and educating others. She has worked as a writer and teacher and holds dual Master’s Degrees in Education and School Counseling. As a huge advocate of equal parenting for dads, Jennifer spent many years searching for and interviewing the fathers of DADLY Wisdom. She now offers their powerful stories in this transformative book of love, joy and inspiration.

 

Find Out More

* Facebook – JenniferKarinJordan.com

* Twitter – JenniferKarinJordan.com

* Website – JenniferKarinJordan.com

 

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on iTunes and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with the podcast. Also, if you are on iTunes  and you are a listener, please leave us a review as this helps other people find us too!

Welcome back to The Dads Spotlight, where we share with you great information to help you be the best dad possible. This week we bring you Kevin Miller, the host of the Zig Ziglar Podcast and CEO of the Free Agent Academy among other things as he shares his experiences with Zig Ziglar and how we can not just raise great kids, but more importantly raise great adults. If you have never listened to this podcast before you will be amazed, motivated and inspired by the Zig Ziglar messages that he shares.

About Kevin Miller

Kevin D. Miller makes people hungry. Hungry to pursue their best, their true selves and their calling. He founded Free Agent Academy, an online community, where he walked with over 1,000 paying members desiring to transition from traditional employment to self employment. Today he hosts the top ranked podcast, The Ziglar Show, inspiring people to their True Performance. Kevin is also partner in a revolutionary health care practice offering Functional Medicine. He lives, works and broadcasts from 9,000′ above sea level in the Rocky Mountains, where he’s geographically closer to heaven.

Kevin Miller said that he was so impressed by Zig Ziglar because he was so passionate about everything that he believed and he lived what he preached.

Kevin Miller had the chance to interview Zig Ziglar in one of his last public interviews and one of the profound points that we took from this  was a comment that he shared that “How what you teach impacts others in a positive way”. This is something that all of us have to consider in our relationships with our own kids and with others around us.

Kevin Miller said that in working with his seven kids, he finds that he has to practice the humility that he has learned from his interactions with Zig Ziglar.

We had asked Kevin Miller about whether the messages that he is sharing with others is resonating with his kids. He gave a great example of his kids wanting to stay after unaccompanied at a book fair which is not the norm. He received an email back form the school saying that because his kids are so well behaved that they could attend the fair. It is messages liked these that make him proud to be a father.

Kevin Miller said that too often as a father he can dwell at what is not working, but when he hears these positive mentions of his kids, this is redemptive for himself. He finds that he needs to find time each day to center himself to make sure that he is well and that he is strong for his family.

When you listen to Kevin Miller you will hear the passion that he has for what he does. He says that he was bred for this from his parents. His father, Dan Miller, author of [amazon text=48 Days to the work you love&asin=1433669331] and the 48 Days Podcast, was always showing Kevin through his actions, words and deeds that you need to be doing things that you love in your life and Kevin Miller resonated with this.

Kevin Miller told us that he continues sharing the gift that his father shared with him with his own kids and his older kids share with him that they are inspired by seeing their dad being so excited about the things that he is doing.

In the end, in quoting a quote from Andy Andrews from a recent interview he did with Tom Ziglar on the Zig Ziglar podcast, he is not trying to raise great kids, he is trying to raise great adults.

Learn more about Kevin Miller

Brand Strategist & Show Host: Ziglar Inc. 

Business Designer: 

In this episode of the Dads Toolbox we had the chance to bring back Jeff Bogle of Out with the Kids  to talk about traveling with kids and great music to go along with those family adventures!

Jeff Bogle mentioned that when his family goes on road trip they make a play list as a family.

Ellis Paul – http://www.ellispaul.com/

Johnny Bregar – http://www.johnnybregar.com/

Two Thumbs Up

When it comes to your playlist, Jeff Bogle says, don’t be a dictator, allow the whole family to be a part of the decision making part. When you are pulling together music pick music that every person likes. Get the kids involved in the decision making process.

As you are traveling with your kids, you also need to allow your kids to help to select places to see, and things to do. You should do what you can to help your kids find the soul of the places that you will visit, and not just the places that all of the tourists experience says Jeff Bogle.

Jeff said that he wants to make unique memories for your family. Keep the tourist stuff on the side, not the center of the trip. Don’t leave experiencing the real location at the expense of the tourist things.  Find ways to put your own stamp on even the most tourist places. By doing this you and your family have memories that will last for a lifetime.

Jeff Bogle said his number one tip was to get lost with your family. Take a street you do not know and see things that are unexpected. Jeff Bogle explained that this has happened many times on his trips. One time was a trip without kids to Milwaukee. He also talks about some of the amazing adventures that he shared with his family in San Francisco too.

 

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on ITUNES and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with the podcast. Also, if you are on ITUNES and you are a listener, please leave us a review as this helps other people find us too!

Welcome back to The Dads Spotlight, where we share with you great information to help you be the best dad possible. Jeff Jackson from DaddyisBest.com joins the Dad Spotlight Podcast to talk about being a dad at an older age & twin parenting!

Jeff Jackson became a father for the first time at age 51. He and his wife went through a long process and eventually used invitro-fertilization to attempt to have a child. Soon after going through this process that were told that it worked and that instead of one child they would be having two children.

In our conversation with Jeff Jackson he talked to us in-depth about the journey that they went on and some of the things that they had to think about and consider when going through this process.

When their sons were born Jeff Jackson mentioned that it has been a journey of discovery. He has found that disciplining his sons is the hardest job that he has to do. However, he also mentioned that he has had to work had to remain patient with his boys, especially one of his sons that has a learning disability.

He found that showing love in all circumstances even when you have to discipline is the key to his success as a parent.

One of the quotes that he shared that was poignant that we wanted to share with all of you was one from Mark Twain:

“My father was an amazing man. The older I got, the smarter he got”

If you have not yet gotten your free guide: 15 Low Cost Ways To Engage With Your Kids – Pick it up today

As always, please swing by to visit us on iTunes and Stitcher to stay connected to the most up-to-date happenings with the podcast. Also, if you are on iTunes  and you are a listener, please leave us a review as this helps other people find us too!