DADICATED.COM - empowering Dads

"If you avoid pain you’re not inoculated for when hard things happen.” Rorke Denver on DADicated.com

Commander Rorke Denver is a highly decorated assault team leader with over 200 combat missions as a NAVY Seal. Rorke has run every phase of training for the U.S. Navy SEALs and led special-forces missions in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and other international hot spots. As officer in charge of BRAVO Platoon of SEAL Team THREE in Iraq, he was part of the most combat-heavy deployments of any regular SEAL team since Vietnam.

Rorke has a Master in Global Business Leadership and is the founder and CEO of EVER ONWARD, a leadership and human performance brand.

As a Dad Rorke is married and has two daughters. My feeling was that Rorke lives in a permanent state of heightened intensity and is also able to live single purposefully. The session is very interesting, fun and I found it very motivational.

We talk about self-discipline, prepping kids for hard times and how parents who are being deployed manage to transition between family life and combat situations. Rorke shares his standpoints and values as a Dad and talks about his own father and upbringing. He also also shares lessons from the battlefield and SEALS training and how those are applicable for families. We talk about general parenting principles, how to keep your relationship strong and healthy, the importance of own pursuits, goal setting, operating at your highest point of contribution and holding your kids accountable whilst still supporting them. Not surprisingly Rorke is big on tangible over digital experiences in family.

“The fact that my daughters have learned how to shoot a gun, make a fire and play rough has helped them become resilient, self-reliant people.” Rorke Denver on DADicated.com

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

“Basics for my kids: Respect for yourself and other people. Spend very little time on electronics. No phones. I try and let them be kids as long as they can.” Rorke Denver on DADicated.com

Rorke Denver’s books, TV and film appearances

Rorke Denver (guest): 

Philipp Hartmann (host): 

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In 1994 Coley Harris went to prison to serve a 16 year sentence; he left behind his 2 year old son Ahmarr Melton. The two were separated for 14 years and have since both been working on their relationship. Today both of them work with youth from underserved communities focussing on the issue of father absence due to incarceration. The session is very powerful and important.

Coley is 47, he is married, a father and grandfather. Coley shares his story of ending up in prison after a series of bad decisions in an environment of street culture surrounding drug dealing, drug usage and violence. Coley opens up about the pain and how he dealt with the unbelievable magnitude of the situation during the 14 year long separation. We also talk about his relationship with his own Dad and his upbringing.

Ahmarr is 29, he is also married and a father of three. Ahmarr is in finance and also works in the community helping children whose parents are incarcerated finding their way. Ahmarr shares how it was for him to grow up with his Dad in prison and the impact the situation had on him in the home, in school and in his community. Ahmarr said he did not feel anger, just confusion. And he also shares how his own past has shaped him as a father today. We touch on adoption, discuss the issue of incarcerated parents and their joint journey of healing that started with “Outh of the Ashes”.

“Out of the Ashes” is a dramatic expression of the real life journey of father and son who struggled while building the relationship they never had after their separation.

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

If this podcast helps you, please consider leaving a review and share if this podcast helps you in your parenting journey. It’ll take you only a few minutes but the impact for others might be huge. Thank you so much. Enjoy this session with Ahmarr and Coley!

Links from this episode:

Jason is a devout Christian, he is married and has one son. Jason is one of the best business strategists I know, he is also a successful venture capitalist, leader and entrepreneur. In business his mission is to create jobs and impact by scaling impactful firms. In the family sense his mission is to be living in the manifest presence of God so that that is palpable for his son.

Jason’s Dad left when he was ten and he grew up without a dad, raised by a single-mom with two sisters in a family with very little money. Jason and his Dad only connected two decades later and Jason opens up about his own healing journey stemming from having an absent father and thus not growing up emotionally whole.

It is powerful to hear Jason talk on how he found his Faith and how this has transformed himself, his life and his view on family in such a radical way. He shares how he has recently learnt to be a man and what being a Dad in the presence of God means for him and how this shapes his own life and his family life. When his son Elai was three he devoted a year to being a great father in terms of reading, praying and thinking. He refers to this as a faith driven revelation for him.

Jason finishes the session with powerful book recommendations on family, religion and becoming a better dad (links below).

The most powerful takeaways for me as a dad where:

If dadicated.com helps you being a better parent, please consider leaving a review. It’ll take you only a few minutes but the impact for others might be huge. Thank you so much. Enjoy this session with Jason Goldberg!

The books Jason discusses in this episode (also see Jason’s parenting books airtable: https://airtable.com/shrsf8XkbHQpr3sF0):

“First I was a boy raising a baby. Then I was a man raising a boy on my own while raising and growing a business. Sometimes that overlap was great, sometimes it was quite messy.” Todd Palmer, entrepreneur, single-parent dad and now also step-dad, on dadicateddotcom. 

Todd Palmer became a single-parent at the age of 24 in a time where chances for getting custody for fathers was around 1% in his hometown Detroit, Michigan. Having brought up his son as a single dad, today, in his fifties, Todd has become a step-father to a ten year old girl. He filed for personal bankruptcy at the age of 25 as he had spent all his money on the custody court case. He started his business at 28 and went from struggling entrepreneur on the brink of bankruptcy with $600,000 debt to making the INC 5000 as one of America’s fastest-growing companies 6 times. 

Todd opens up about his journey as a single parent, a dad and step-dad, male bonding between father and son, his own experiences with divorce, bringing up a child on his own and how he was able to overcome imposter syndrome for himself. 

The session is fun and it’s meaningful on many levels. Todd’s shares are powerful and it’s interesting to hear him opening up as a father and businessman. 

The most powerful takeaways for me a a dad where: 

There’s no perfection in parenting and therefore failure doesn’t exist if we allow failure to be a learning opportunity. 

Have self-compassion and kindness for yourself. 

“ATV (authenticity, transparency, vulnerability) with spouses and children.” 

Show up and be fully present. 

Have tenacity and resilience. 

Memories over money. 

Set aside self-care time every day. 

Have genuine, authentic conversations.