Forge the Man

If Part I was about what Colin Brady built in Hollywood, this episode is about what he built at home.

We pick up with how Colin met his wife Melissa at a coffee house in Santa Clarita, and then we get into the things that never make it onto a résumé: the rocky early years of their marriage, a weekend in 2008 when the money ran out, and what it looks like to care for aging in-laws while raising seven kids. Colin is candid about the hard parts, and just as candid about why he'd choose all of it again.

If you've ever wondered whether you'll ever feel ready for marriage or fatherhood, or whether a big family is actually doable, we think you'll find a lot to chew on here. Colin has some hard-won advice for you, including a simple piece of marriage wisdom that sounds almost too easy until you try it.

About Colin

Colin Brady is a veteran Hollywood animator and director whose credits include Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and the Hulk (his full career story is in Part I). He and his wife Melissa have been married 32 years and have seven children. One daughter is married and has given them their first grandchild, and another wedding was just around the corner when we recorded. For the past decade, Melissa's parents have lived with them, and the family now cares for them full-time.

What happens when the career you've chased since you were seven years old finally pays off, and then falls apart the same weekend your life changes forever?

That's the question at the center of this conversation with animator Colin Brady. Colin has helped bring some of cinema's biggest names to life, think Toy Story, E.T., the Hulk, and worked directly with Steve Jobs and Steven Spielberg along the way.

In part I of our conversation with him, he talks about falling in love with animation as a kid in the Chicago suburbs, talking his way into CalArts, being at Pixar during its wildest early years, and a surprisingly thoughtful, pro-AI take on where his industry is headed next. Then he gets honest about the brutal, deeply personal moment his directing career took a hit at the worst possible time — and the unexpected Christian friendship that helped him find his footing again.

No time to pray? You might already have 20 minutes hiding in your day, your commute, your run, the five minutes before bed you usually spend scrolling.

In this episode, Paul makes the case that the rosary isn’t a grandma prayer, it’s a real discipline, and one of the most powerful tools you have for facing whatever’s coming your way. He shares where it actually fits into a packed schedule, a simple trick for staying focused instead of zoning out, and two stories you won’t forget: an outnumbered fleet staring down impossible odds, and a 14-year-old who faced something far worse than a bad day at work — and didn’t flinch.

What if the house, the career stability, the "right time" — none of it ever fully arrives? Would you still say yes?

That's the question at the heart of this conversation with Patrick Wilkinson, a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department who drives a hundred-foot aerial ladder truck through the streets of LA. But work isn't what lights Patrick up, it's his family. He and his wife Bianca met completely by chance at an Applebee's, and from there built a marriage and a household that now includes four kids, a fifth on the way, and a homeschool routine neither of them originally planned. Patrick gets honest about the financial sacrifices, the daily grind of sibling conflict, and the men's group that pulled him out of isolation during COVID — plus some hard-won wisdom about waiting too long to start a family that he wishes he'd heard earlier.

00:00 Introduction to Patrick and his family

01:52 How Patrick met Bianca at Applebee's

04:00 Traits that attracted Patrick to Bianca

06:10 Transition to parenthood and trusting God's plan

07:58 Financial sacrifices and home decisions

11:02 Family life, homeschooling, and faith practices

13:50 Balancing work as a firefighter with family responsibilities

18:03 Building community and supporting each other in faith

22:00 Conflict resolution and teaching children forgiveness

24:57 The importance of prioritizing faith and family

If you've ever felt like dating today is somehow harder than it used to be, this episode is for you.

Dana, a California government attorney, Harvard grad, and returning guest, is back on the show, and a lot has changed since his last appearance: he's now engaged. In this conversation, Dana and Paul get honest about the real risks of dating, where to actually meet someone worth pursuing, how to handle breakups without spiraling, and what changed for Dana when he met his fiancée. You don't want to miss Dana's insights on navigating the complexities of modern dating, the importance of virtue and community, and how to discern God's will in finding a life partner.

A perfect episode for Catholic men seeking guidance on their journey to marriage.

You don't need a full bank account or a clear plan to trust God with your future, you just need to be willing to take the next step.

That's the heart of this episode. Milton Ogdoc is an architect who moved his family, including four children with special needs, from the Philippines to California with almost nothing to his name. In this conversation, Milton talks about the years of real financial pressure, a wildfire that nearly took everything, and the daily habits of faith — Mass, the rosary, a total trust in providence — that carried him through. He also shares what he looks for looking back, in the woman he married, and what he'd tell a young man who feels like he can't start a life of his own until he has more money or more certainty.

Milton Ogdoc shares his inspiring journey from the Philippines to the United States, highlighting faith, family sacrifices, and the importance of divine providence in overcoming life's challenges. This episode offers valuable insights on marriage, faith practices, and resilience.

If you're single, still figuring out your career, or waiting for the "right time" to pursue marriage, this one's for you.

Your phone may be quietly rewiring your attention, your habits, and even your soul. Andrew Laubacher, co-founder of Humanality and creator of Illumined Wellness reveals why digital addiction is not just a productivity problem, but a human problem and what it takes to reclaim your focus, your freedom, and your life.

In this Forge the Man and Fairest Love podcast crossover, Andrew shares about why he believes “moderation” with social media is often a myth, the warning signs of phone addiction, including nomophobia and compulsive checking and how platforms are designed to exploit comparison, anxiety, lust, and dopamine loops.

Learn more here: https://www.humanality.org/

Ever made a decision you were completely sure about, brushed off someone's caution, and later wished you could take it all back?

In this solo reflection, Paul uses a simple picture, four parts of a car, to talk through the cardinal virtues: prudence, temperance, courage, and justice. It's a short, practical episode, the kind you could listen to on a drive to work and actually carry with you for the rest of the day. Paul also shares a favorite book on virtue, a surprising quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, and a simple daily habit he's kept for years that he thinks more men should try.

Have you ever had your whole life planned out — college, the girl, the wedding, the kids, right on schedule — and then felt God quietly rearrange the timeline on you?

That's exactly where our guest this week found himself. Anthony Giuntini is an electrical engineer who spends his weekdays designing power and lighting systems for buildings. Underneath the engineer's logic is a guy who once had a literal countdown to marriage running through his head at thirteen years old, and found himself, instead, called to something he never saw coming, a vocation to give his life to God as a Numerary in Opus Dei.

This is an honest conversation in a way discernment stories don't always get to be. Anthony walks us through the disorienting season when he moved cities away from his friends, the mentor who helped guide him, and a breakthrough moment in Rome that reframed everything for his very analytical mind. Along the way, there's a story about a dying man's final prayer that you'll want to hear Anthony tell it himself.

Whether you're married, discerning, or just trying to figure out what God is asking of you right now, we think you'll find something here worth sitting with.

Lieutenant Colonel Joe Groff has spent nearly 14 years in the United States Air Force as a JAG officer — an attorney handling criminal prosecution and defense within the military justice system. In this episode of Forge The Man, Joe walks Paul through his path from UCLA history major and Bush campaign field director to law school, failing the notoriously difficult California bar exam twice before finally passing, and commissioning into the Air Force in 2012.

Joe gets candid about what actually separates officers who thrive from those who struggle (hint: preparation), and the real trade-offs of raising five kids across five moves in six years. The conversation closes on a reflective note about identity, public service, and the deep, lifelong friendships forged in the "crucible" of military life — including a friend who converted to Catholicism while deployed to Afghanistan.