Front Row Dads with Jon Vroman

Erik had been told by countless therapists that he was in denial. He'd heard over and over again that his autistic son would never learn to read.

But when they found the right program, it took just six days for something to click–and his teenage son was suddenly reading.

Erik's family life has been full of little breakthroughs since he made a decision to show up for his oldest son in a big way.

You'll learn all about this, as well as his new book To The Mountain–a powerful story inspired by their relationship.

We talk about why we make sacrifices, what works (and what doesn't) when showing up for kids with conditions including autism and ADHD, and how to process anger and frustration in healthy ways.

BTW, If you'd like to receive a FREE copy of Erik's book, I'll buy you one.

Just leave an honest review of this episode at http://FrontRowDads.com/review, and email a screenshot of your review and your address (US addy's only gents) to [email protected], and we'll send you a copy of the book as a thank you!

Some of the topics I discuss with Dr. Ian Kerner:

• What autism looks like for most kids
• Why positive reinforcement made all the difference with Erik's son.
• How Erik's father instilled in him a love of reading and writing.
• What is sacrifice?
• The difference between a great dad and a terrible one.
• Why are some dads so much better at being parents when their kids are very young, or when they're teenagers, or even later in life?
• When do we take on too much responsibility?
• The common misconceptions about how to show up for and support kids with autism, ADHD, and a wide range of other conditions.
• Why do kids suffer when they grow up in sterile environments?
• Where should we focus our time, attention, and energy?

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/278

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

She called me a sex god. I laughed, but knew I may have earned it!

Gents... this show is going to get seriously personal. We're talking oral sex, bedroom routines, easing anxiety, ethical porn and more.

A few years ago, my friend Lance Salazar, author of The Miracle Morning for Couples, gave me a copy of Dr. Ian Kerner's book, She Comes First.

Long story short: six months later, my wife was telling all our friends that I'd become some sort of sex god (not kidding).

It wasn't until I was in my early 40s that I started to learn how to really light up my wife.

We cover a lot of ground on the show, including a look into the work behind his new book, So Tell Me About the Last Time You Had Sex: Laying Bare and Learning to Repair Our Love Lives.

Some of the topics I discuss with Dr. Ian Kerner:

• What does variety look like in a healthy sexual relationship?
• The $2.00 purchase that saved my sex life
• The one thing that needed to happen, for my wife to beg for sex.
• Are your routines (sex scripts) killing your love life?
• What are your core erotic themes?
• How do you create variety in a sexual relationship? Is there ethical porn and has porn become problematic?
• Do men need to manage masturbation?
• If you're kids bust you having sex, is that traumatic?
• Why our cultural norms surrounding sex leave people dysfunctional, depressed, and without sexual self-esteem.
• Why dominant cultural narratives fail to honor female sexuality.
• Why guys should be talking about sex more often.
• Why do sex scripts fall into predictable patterns or just get boring?
• The common threads of sex scripts that work.
• Why anxiety is the enemy of arousal
• When should we talk to our kids about sex and pornography?
• Is there more trauma for a child in seeing their parents have sex, or feeling that their parents lived in a sexless marriage?

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/277

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

What matters more–providing for our families, or being there for our spouses and our kids while we make incredible memories?

When I learned that entrepreneur Tyler Gunter decided to make big changes in his life and retired at the age of 30 to show up for his family first and his business second, I knew I needed to talk to him.

Tyler is the founder of Adventure Dads, a group of about a dozen dads that take trips with their children of all ages. They've gone spelunking, rode go-karts, and explored artificial biospheres, to name just a few of their activities. More importantly, they've also helped kids foster incredible friendships and forge connections within their community.

In our conversation today, Tyler and I talk about the power of influence and mentorship when it comes to our kids–and how we can be a positive presence in our kids' lives, even when they stop wanting to listen to us. We also talk about what it means to live a balanced and intentional life, and the beauty of learning to let go.

Nate Klemp's Podcast Highlights

• What is Adventure Dads and why did Tyler create it?
• Who are the people we want to be actively involved in our kids' lives?
• How can we have serious conversations about real issues with our kids?
• How do our kids' friends influence them–and how can we have an influence on our kids' friends?
• What makes going on adventures with our kids so valuable?
• The moment that taught Tyler and his wife that nothing could make up for lost time together.
• How do you know who will show up for your family if something happens to you?
• How can tragedy bring out the best in a family or a community?
• How can you reverse engineer a life of intention?
• What Tyler does when he screws up or knows he lost his cool.

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/276

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

We've all heard of the mythical 100/100 marriage before — one where both partners give 100% at all times, and everything's always great.

But let's take a step back and get real for a second: How often do you feel like you're able to give 100%? How often do you feel like you're getting 100%? If you've ever argued about who is (or isn't) giving enough, did it feel like you were going around in circles while nothing improved?

With that in mind, I'd like to ask you one more question: what if the magic number isn't 100%?

Nate Klemp — PhD, bestselling author, and founding partner at Mindful, wants you to stop thinking in terms of 100/100. In his new book, The 80/80 Marriage: A New Model for a Happier, Stronger Relationship, he and his wife Kaley pinpoint exactly what doesn't work in modern marriage. They share incredible stories from their own lives and others, as well as practical, powerful solutions designed to transform your relationship and deepen your connection.

In our conversation, Nate and I are talking about why even mindfulness junkies can get triggered, why scorekeeping and fairness suck, and how you can break out of unhealthy loops once and for all to transform your marriage for the better.

Also, as a thank you for listening, I want to gift a copy of Nate's book to you! All I ask is that you write an honest review of the podcast on Apple. Be sure to mention the Nate Klemp episode in your review, take a screenshot, and email it to [email protected] and I'll mail you a copy of the book.

Nate Klemp's Podcast Highlights

• Why do we still lose our sh*t, even after spending so much time on breathwork, meditation, exercise, and everything else that's supposed to help us stay in check?
• How do our kids show us everything that we need to be working on as parents?
• Why is it so easy to fall into fights about what is and isn't fair in relationships–especially when we have kids?
• The three core components of an 80/80 marriage.
• The contagious qualities of radical fairness and behaving out of character.
• Why doesn't 100/100 (or 50/50) work in a relationship?
• Why is it possible to lose who we are when we try to be generous?
• Why people think an 80/80 marriage is harder than it actually is–and how leveling up your relationship can take as little as 20 seconds a day.
• Is there anything we can do to make the 50/50 mindset go away?
• What couples actively living the 80/80 lifestyle are doing right now.
• How do we tap into the inherent love and generosity available to us?
• What happens when we become too calm and collected?
• How to incorporate breathwork into your daily practice.

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/275

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

Phillip Stutts, my new friend, just published The Undefeated Marketing System.

It's a book about how to grow businesses and build audiences. If you want to learn a lot about digital marketing and the tools and techniques that win presidential campaigns, he lays it all out.

But I took more from it than that. Phillip's book taught me to learn more about my kids and my wife. Most importantly, it made me ask myself, "How can I connect and deliver as a family man?"

Phillip writes about the importance of really listening to people when it comes to reaching them through marketing, yet all the lessons he teaches apply just as much to our families as they do to our companies.

In today's conversation with Phillip, we talk about the dramatic changes he's made in the last five years of his life to write a book, show up for his family, own six companies, and fight an extraordinarily rare esophageal disease. You'll learn about his remarkable transformation, the five rules of marketing that every successful campaign follows, and how to become a better listener to improve every relationship in your life.

I strongly feel like this is a book that everyone should read right now (in fact, I'm having my entire team read it right now), and as a thank you for listening, I want to gift it to you! All I ask is that you write an honest review of the podcast on Apple. Be sure to mention the Phillip Stutts episode in your review, take a screenshot, and email it to [email protected] and I'll mail you a copy of the book.

Phillip Stutts' Podcast Highlights

• Why do projects like writing books take such a toll on our families?
• How do we live a life of joy with our families–especially when our own childhoods were not happy?
• How an illness can make us better parents and entrepreneurs.
• The importance of gut health.
• Why is it so easy to become addicted to distraction–and how does this manifest in our lives?
• When we've made big changes in our lives, how can we show up to help others who we think are just a few steps behind us in their journeys–and should we help at all?
• What makes so many marketing campaigns so ineffective.
• How can you build a marketing machine that stays ahead of technology changes?
• What Phillip learned from absolutely blowing an Instagram ad campaign for what was then the biggest client he'd ever landed.
• What is both our greatest asset (and flaw) as a business owner?
• What happens when our kids and spouses really feel seen and heard?

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/274

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

My friend Johnny Kane didn't just recommend that I read Jesse Harless's book, If Not You, Then Who?–he told me that everybody should read it.

And man, was Johnny right. I was blown away by the first 50 pages. It's a raw, shockingly good, honest memoir about addiction and recovery. But it's more than that.

Instead of simply sharing his very moving story of struggles with addiction and his road to recovery, Jesse gives his readers the power to take action and change their lives–or provide someone close to them with the help they need.

After reading the book, I knew I needed to chat with Jesse, especially as we all work to unpack the collective trauma we faced as a society in 2020. In this conversation, we dig into how he became a thought leader in the world of addiction and recovery, why we're all addicts of some kind, and how to replace the patterns that don't serve us with ones that can make our lives better.

I strongly feel like this is a book that everyone should read right now, so as a thank you for listening, I want to gift it to you! All I ask is that you write an honest review of the podcast on Apple. Be sure to mention the Jesse Harless episode in your review, take a screenshot, and email it to [email protected] and I'll mail you a copy of the book.

Read it, share it, and let us know how it impacted you–I'm confident you'll love it!

Jesse Harless Podcast Highlights

• What led Jesse to become a leader in the addiction and recovery space.
• How do cold showers help us fight anxiety?
• What are people recovering from right now–especially as dads and entrepreneurs?
• The difference between a habit and an addiction.
• How do people become aware of their addictions?
• What are the biggest addictions affecting people right now?
• What percentage of 30-50 year old men have an addiction of some kind?
• How to help your kids navigate addictions, including screens and social media.
• Why the opioid crisis is being swept under the rug in our society.
• At what age are people exposed to addictive drugs? What is the FEARS model?
• What does daily recovery from all the trauma we face each day look like, and how can we talk about this with our kids, no matter how old they are?
• What does long-term recovery from addiction look like?

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/273

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

Gents, if you're reading this, you're probably the type of guy who wants to keep winning at life…

But when you think about your family, your business, your health, and the legacy you're building, are you pushing the boundaries of what's possible?

Are you intentionally creating space to design a life that gets you fired up?

My chat with Matthew Januszek is all about achieving BIG breakthroughs — not just in your business, but in all areas of life!

Matthew is a Husband, Father, Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Escape Fitness, and someone who is continuously learning and leveling up.

In our conversation, he shares lessons learned from taking a company from the startup phase to a well-known international brand, raising incredible kids, and interviewing incredible thinkers on his own podcast, fittingly called Escape Your Limits.

We talk about keeping the spark alive with your wife, co-creating dreams, winning with the kids, work/life balance, fitness, supplements, and a whole lot more!

Matthew Januszek Podcast Highlights

• What does Matthew love about his family - and what parts drive him nuts?
• How can you keep the spark alive and find attraction with someone you're doing life with every single day?
• What you can do to "dream create" with your spouse.
• What makes it so hard to tap into your strengths as a joint person and create better relationships?
• The mistakes so many couples make as they try to "grow together."
• Why Matthew believes the pandemic made him a better father.
• How can we help our kids to achieve their goals?
• The nutrition and workout routines that Matthew uses to maintain great physique–even at age 50.
• Why food matters just as much as exercise–and why this is what people struggle with most of all when it comes to feeling (and looking) good.
• How do we determine what we need to do to move the needle in life, love, and business?
• Why do we so rarely make deep connections with guys we meet in our 40s and 50s, as opposed to earlier in life?
• What does it really mean to escape your limits?

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/272

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

What would you learn if you asked 40 amazing guys to write you a letter sharing their best dad advice?

Well, Craig Kessler did exactly this — and now he's sharing everything he learned in his new book, The Dad Advice Project: Words of Wisdom From Guys Who Love Being Dad (coming out on June 1).

Dad Advice: Words of Wisdom From Men Who Love Being Dads with Craig Kessler

As you'll hear in my chat with Craig, his inspiration for the book actually stemmed from not having a great relationship with his own father.

In his search for answers, he decided to ask a handful of friends to write him a letter on "how to be a good dad."

The responses he received inspired him to compile stories from 40+ dads from all walks of life — including professional athletes, TV personalities, businessmen, civic leaders, military veterans, and more!

On our call, Craig shares some of the best insights from the book and provides actionable strategies that you can use to win as a husband and father :)

BTW, if you'd like to get a free copy of Craig's book, leave us a review on iTunes, mention this episode and Craig in the review, and take a screenshot. Send it to [email protected], and I'll buy and mail you a copy of the book!

• What life was like growing up for Craig.
• How not being able to connect with his own father led Craig to want to connect with other awesome dads about parenting.
• Why is there so little good content for dads out there that's interesting or engaging?
• What makes parenting such a sacred rite of passage?
• Why is it so hard to find the perfect balance when it comes to performing as a parent, as a husband, and at work?
• The two pieces of advice that came up time and time again in the letters Craig received.
• Why does Craig's family stand on chairs before dinner? How can we integrate our kids into our work?
• Why is it so important to leave doors unlocked when we're working?
• What makes crowdsourcing such an awesome way to learn?
• Differentiating between comparing and competition.
• How does being a high-level business leader help - and hurt - our performance as parents and husbands?
• How can we benefit as a family by taking interest in what our spouses love to do? How and why parents should fight in front of their kids.
• What should we say to our spouses and our kids after a fight?
• How do we create opportunities for people to build from scratch, rather than forcing them to fine-tune others' ideas?

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/271

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

When everyone in your life tells you to read a book, the world is telling you something.

This is exactly what happened with John Eldredge's book, Wild at Heart. It started with my friend Ryan Mickler, who'd been talking about his work for years, and soon I felt like I'd heard this recommendation from over eighty guys I trust.

When I finally read it, I was stunned by his work and his message–and today's conversation left me just as floored.

Raising Resilient Boys, Being Wild at Heart and Finding Healthy Ways to Fight with John Eldredge

In today's conversation with John, you'll learn how he unpacked his family trauma to become the man he is today and raise three sons of his own, how to nurture masculinity without being edgy for the sake of edginess, and what it means to show up with courage when you're needed the most.

And if you'd like to get a free copy of Wild at Heart, just leave us a review of this podcast on iTunes, mention this episode and John in the review, and take a screenshot. Send it to [email protected], and I'll buy and mail you (or anyone you want) a copy of the book!

John Eldredge's Podcast Highlights

• The value of communing with nature in some form every day.
• Fasting as a healing mechanism.
• The power of resetting to cut out the noise.
• Why are we in love with distractions?
• How can chasing love and validation take over our lives and burn us out, and how can we unpack the wounds it creates in childhood?
• What's new in the expanded and updated edition of Wild at Heart.
• Why men need battles, adventure, and love in their lives.
• How can men navigate the challenges of gender in the modern landscape?
• How can you embrace the warrior spirit in service of love?
• What are some rites of passage you can pass down to your children?
• What questions should men be asking to connect with their hearts?

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/270

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review

Guys, as much as we may not want to, we have to think about what will happen to our families after we're gone.

I'm not talking about money or an estate here. I'm talking about what our last words to our kids will be, and how we can share our wisdom, our advice, our love, and our memories not just while we're here on earth, but forever.

Blake Brewer realized this in the hardest way possible–he lost his father in an accident while on vacation in Hawaii. While enjoying a beautiful day of snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, Blake's father suddenly got caught in a rough spot and was struggling to stay above water. His father literally died in Blake's arms while he was trying to rescue him.

Just hours after he passed, Blake had to call his grandparents, his work, and his church to deliver the news.

As he sat with his grief, his mother appeared in the doorway. She put some papers in his hand, which started, "Dear Blake, Natalie, and Marcus…"

His father had been writing him a letter for several months, and was planning to give it to him on the trip.

On a simple sheet of paper, his father shared his thoughts, his wisdom, encouragement, and advice–and 18 years later these words continue to guide Blake through life.

Over the course of the next year, Blake saw himself develop more as a person and a leader than ever before–and learned how to live with a newfound sense of purpose.

Now, Blake has dedicated his life to helping other dads share legacy letters like the one his father wrote, leading and guiding their children for an entire lifetime.

In my conversation with Blake, you'll get to hear the defining moment that would change his life forever and how to write the legacy letter that's inside your heart waiting to be put to paper!

Blake Brewer Podcast Highlights

• Why some fathers are reluctant to reach out for help when it comes to upping their dad game.
• The most powerful (and painful) words Blake heard between the ages of five and fifteen.
• How do we teach our kids to be decisive, rather than telling them what to do and how to think?
• Why is it so important for us as dads to tell our kids what makes us proud?
• The things children need to hear from you to have a confident life and develop emotional intelligence.
• Why is it sometimes so hard for us to communicate how we feel?
• What stops guys from writing a legacy letter?
• How does writing out our values make us more confident and articulate in business, as well as at home?
• How do our phones stop us from showing up for the people we love?
• How can we show up for our families in stressful times, like when we're launching a business in startup mode?

Get the Full Show Notes

Want access to the full show notes, including links to all resources mentioned during today's conversation? Visit FrontRowDads.com/269

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you're ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood!

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU! http://FrontRowDads.com/review