School For Fathers Podcast

In this episode I connect with Rob Gorski AKA The Autism Dad Award winning blogger, Podcast host of The Autism Dad show and social media influencer. Rob has written 13,000 articles over the last decade; he's famed for documenting the real-life story of a family coping not only with autism but multiple, serious physical and emotional health issues.

Raise your hand if the phrase 'Single Dad to 3 autistic kids' makes you break out in a sweat of many questions. Which is why I had to have Rob on the show.

In our conversation we talk candidly on how Rob sees his privilege as a single dad versus single mums and walk through together how dads can raise the bar. This is one of those episodes where you'll walk away with a fire in your belly for all that fatherhood offers you.

Today I bring you one man's response to early life messages - Jay Stansfield, for decades now, has been putting a middle finger up to all those teachers that thought he couldn't do _____ (insert a host of activities). "You're not Creative, and here's Why" In fact, maybe someone planted that seed in your brain a long, long time ago too. Maybe someone keeps telling you, you can't draw. Or sing. Or organise things.

Listen into my conversation with Jay as we explore how (despite all the negative messages) he's become an illustrator, musician, songwriter and creative multimedia artist and most recently, an entrepreneurial children's author.

Jay, is a northern, 41 year-old with an 'IndyBest colouring books for creative kids' accolade in The Independent for his debut book Squibbles. Jay has also published Squibbles 2 and Meet The Squibbles and is now also a growing name in the emerging world of NFT collectibles. Check these out my friends!

Jay's simultaneously a music artist with over 25 years in the music industry who has performed two John Peel sessions with his old band Element, played support to Grandaddy, Ultrasound, Dodgy, Mike and the Mechanics and had remixes by EMF, Republica and Martin Carr from The Boo Radleys, with international radio play across the world.

He currently performs with altpunkrock group All Hail Hyena, who've been championed by Tom Robinson on BBC 6Music and John Robb via his acclaimed music blog Louder Than War and are currently promoting their new album 3 Organs Down, which they've released on a brand new format as the world's first ALBOOK™. Jay lives in Lancashire in the UK and is a proud father of two daughters.

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Working too many hours for too little money? In debt? You're not alone.

My guest, Chris Lambert-Gorwyn discovered first-hand how challenging it can be to survive in business. He was over £100,000 in debt before he realised the problem was simply he had never been trained how to run a successful business. Fast forward 12 months and Chris had grown his income over 650% and was running a six figure practice. In our conversation we talk about the BOOM or BUST [all or nothing] way of working and how this affects balance and cash flow. Plus why Discipline really does grow Freedom!

Chris, together with his wife Karene, has now personally trained over 3000 practitioners and experts how to build 6 and 7 figure businesses and regularly gets invited to speak on stages around the world. Chris manages balancing his love of entrepreneurship with a coastal life in the UK with his wife Karene, their daughter Mya and dog Goldie. His super book can be found here

Is the world you live in, how you want it?

In this episode, I bring you Dele Olafuyi, who didn't like what he found when he started reading to his small son. Instead of getting irked but doing nothing, my friend, he got up and created Kunda Kids, a publishing and creative media studio that illuminates African stories through books, songs, animations and games.

Dele sits down with me today to share the stats behind characters in kids books (grab a chair, they're shocking), the effects on this on all our children, plus his big hopes for making this world a better place. This is a man on a mission & we're cheering him on every step of the way!

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In this episode Executive and personal coach, Ken Mossman joins me - he's founder of Cirrus Leadership and Coaching, father of Cai, husband of Danielle, and calls himself a Creative Cliff-Jumper. Together we talk about how owning all parts of yourself allows for a meaningful fun life. Ken breaks down how leveraging strengths, building capacity to hold paradox and creating home for your inner child is at the heart of living an integrated life.

(And, friends, Ken doesn't just talk the talk ---- this guy truly walks the walk).

Here's a few more words about Ken: he's specialized in working with men for two decades. He encourages men to discover, embrace and express all facets of themselves – light, shadow and everything in between - as the valuable resources they are - so that they are able to lead, communicate, contribute to and engage with their families, organizations and communities in more fulfilling, sustainable and fun ways. He is a coach, speaker, curriculum designer, father, husband who has awesome skills in the kitchen and still skis wickedly fast. In addition to his executive and personal coaching and men's programs, Ken was, until recently, a senior leader and curriculum designer for CTI, the Co-Active Training Institute. His irrepressible spirit is creating new adventures, watch his space.

What's the impact of needing to HIDE your true self to survive? In this ep I'm joined by Ace Ruele; actor, mentor and coach. We discuss proving extreme masculinity, Ace's time in prison and fear. Ace and I also explore the importance of showing young men different ways of relating to themselves and others; and his performances with The Chocolate Men!

Being WHOLE can mean accepting the light and dark sides of ourselves. TED Talker and Co-Exec Director of Inside Circle, Eldra Jackson III joins me for a conversation unpacking toxic masculinity from inside the prison system as an life-sentence inmate to his work with Inside Circle. We talk power + control, gang life, remorse (or lack of) and more. Eldra's perspective on life and his humility is truly refreshing. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode - as always, you can email me on [email protected]

SPEAKing up for what's right. My guest today is motivational Speaker and Author, Rt Hon Stuart Lawrence, he is also the younger brother of Stephen Lawrence. Stuart joined me to explore how the events of his life have meant he's had to step up and speak out - and how he's taking this work forward.

About my guest, Stuart Lawrence:

Stuart is a Motivational and Public Speaker; he's also been a teacher and graphic designer. In his book, Silence Is Not An Option, he talks about what he has learned from life – the tools that have helped him live positively and kept him moving forwards when times have been tough.

Through knowledge, self-worth, determination, and unity Stuart believes our young people of today have the power to push for change within our society and make change. Stuart has now embarked on a broader mission speaking to local councils, establishments and companies, discussing privilege, conscious bias, racial inequalities and much more.

Finding a MIX that works for you. My guest this week is Hadrien Chatelet, Creative Director of The Wern, a communications consultancy for startups, entrepreneurs, and independents. We explore the gift of dyslexia, the impact of proving yourself constantly, and how to find space for downtime when you're a passionate workaholic and father to young children.

About Hadrien Chatelet: From literally being caught red-handed and commissioned on the spot to create street art for (Agnes-B) a fashion brand in France, to cutting his teeth in London as a junior designer for a wallpaper company. Hadrien has a wealth of experience across the design, art and branding world. His most recent role saw him build and manage the creative department for the European Marketing division of Endeavor. Hadrien is an advocate for shared parental leave and his desire to share the parental load is a contributing factor to him becoming a co-founder with his partner. They work from a garden office in Hackney. When not making things beautiful visually he also bends your ear with French electro/techno mixes under his DJ alter-ego Kiki With Love. As well as launching the strategic branding and design arm of The Wern, Hadrien is developing a range of FREE tools, DIY products, and one-to-one coaching.

Do SOLE fathers have it harder? I'm joined by Michael Ray, Public Speaker, Blogger, Writer - who's all about calling time on outdated gender stereotypes holding fathers back. We explore life as a solo parent, moving on from being Jack-the-Lad and empowering daughters.

Read the full show notes over on our website >> http://schoolforfathers.com/podcast/29-sole-michael-ray/