What is Project Rad Dad?

Sean Aiken: 00:00:01

Welcome to Project Rad Dad. I'm Sean Aiken here with Matthew Sloane. As fathers were often expected to be the strong, grounded reliable means of support to our families. In order to do this and somehow maintain our sanity, we must also be supported. Matthew curious, why is it important for you to be a part of a project like rad dads?

Matthew Sloane: 00:00:24

Yeah, thanks, Sean. I, for me, I mean, I think about there was actually one evening when we got off the call. And one of the themes that had come up was how important it is, as some dads had alluded to, in their own lives that they had to connect with their kids and their partners before they kind of started giving direction. And that really sunk in with me because I spent a lot of my life as a project manager. And now here I am faced with the challenge of connecting as a human being with my kids and with my wife, before I start giving directions, and that's actually really hard for me to do. I yeah, I've struggled with that. And because I'm in this group, I get to revisit that struggle and be authentic about like, how hard it is some of the wins some of the downsides along the way. So crucial for me, I'm not going to get it right right away. It's a journey. I know that. And it's great to have people around me who can support me in that.

Sean Aiken: 00:01:33

Awesome. Yeah, so we've been meeting for about two years now as part of the Rad Dad Collective part men's group, part mastermind. And, and now we're starting to podcast. And you know, similarly for me, Matthew, I remember coming off of one of our calls, feeling just really enlivened and recommitted to being the best that I can be. And I crawled into bed with my wife, and I just said to her, I said, Honey, I just can't wait to get her life back. And she turned, she looked at me and said, really sweetly, she said, Sean, this is my life. And it just made me realize how, how for so long and becoming a father, I had been fighting against, actually accepting the fact that I was a father, I was trying to maintain my life as it was before kids. Now and also, now that I had kids, and so, you know, if I am going to be a father for the rest of my life, which I am, it's a fact. Now I'm looking at how can I possibly be the best dad that I can be? And so you know, being a part of a community, such as Rad Dads, and creating a podcast like this, you know, my hope is that it's quite selfishly, really, and certainly other people. I want other people to benefit from our sharing struggles and learnings in the trenches of being the best dads we can be. But quite selfishly, I absolutely need this in order to have a space where I can objectively look at how am I showing up as a father, and be able to lean on other dads likely going through similar experiences that I am myself?

Matthew Sloane: 00:03:13

Beautiful. Yeah, I think when we came up with the concept for this podcast, a lot of it was a little how do we just share what we're doing in the circle openly so that people can benefit both the dads who are going to hear things and go, Oh, yeah, me too. Or go, oh, that's actually a good idea. Or even if anyone else ends up tuning in and going, like, Oh, I'm not a dad yet. This is a little taste of what the experience will be like, or the mom who goes, Oh, I didn't realize it was like this for so many dads it, you know, there's overlap with moms, and then there's distinctions. So, yeah, I'm really hopeful that this, we can help normalize like dad's work. It's, it's important work. Absolutely.

Sean Aiken: 00:03:55

You know, when it comes down to it for me, I recognize that the road of fatherhood can be lonely at times. And yet, it doesn't have to be. And so our hope in creating this podcast and the RAD dad collective community is that others can find solidarity in the struggles and the joys and to be heard and to be seen and to lean on each other. And so if you want to be the best father, you can be for yourself and for your family. We really hope that you tune in this show is for you, and we can share the burden and the gift of fatherhood together.