Meet the Dad Squad

Ten million dollars makes a great cold open, but it’s a terrible life compass. After Beast Games, we end up with something we didn’t expect: real friendship, a reason to keep talking, and a dad podcast built on brotherhood, mission, and legacy. We joke like idiots, but we don’t dodge the hard stuff, because fatherhood doesn’t let you stay on the surface for long.

Jordan shares how he walked away from the “safe” corporate script, built a travel driven life with his wife, and started raising kids who see the world as an option, not a limit. We get into worldschooling, helping kids become flexible, and even the practical realities of family travel like jet lag and why landing at night can save your week. If you care about parenting advice that actually works in real life, the thread is simple: routines matter, but breaking them on purpose can create the core memories your kids carry forever.

Jeff brings the heart of the episode with his story as a rare disease dad, including his son’s creatine transporter deficiency diagnosis and the daily choices that come with special needs parenting. We talk about sibling emotions, missed moments, prayer, and the kind of “wins” other families might overlook but feel massive when your baseline is uncertainty. John adds a leadership lens and a hot take that sparks debate: work life balance can be a trap, especially as AI changes what work even is. He offers a clear three step plan to start getting fluent with AI using Claude, so fear turns into curiosity and action.

If this conversation hits home, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share it with a dad who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest hot take or the small moment that meant everything to you.

Transcript

Ten Million Dollars And A New Podcast

Jeff Randall Allen 0:16

So I won ten million dollars on Beast Games, and now I ended up starting a podcast with these idiots.

Jon Wolheim 0:23

What an intro. I mean, seriously, what are we doing here? I high-fired Mr. Beast and all I got was this silly podcast.

Jeff Randall Allen 0:29

What? That is exactly what I mean, but uh we'll get into the real reasons, but there there truly is um a connection between us and it has nothing to do with money or Mr. Beast. Well, one of us here won ten million dollars, the other two of us won a thousand dollars. So I think you mean you might have won more than that. I mean, didn't you get something? Didn't you get like a hotel breakfast was fantastic? Yes, it was excellent. It was worth at least ten million dollars. You got a jersey as well.

Speaker 1 0:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2 0:54

A nice hockey jersey.

Speaker 0:55

Yeah.

Speaker 2 0:58

Yeah. Well, what what a fun time, you know, and obviously it's fun for me. I won ten million dollars. Well, I'll buy you guys dinner next time I see you.

unknown 1:05

Deal.

Speaker 2 1:06

I'll garden or something like that.

Speaker 1 1:08

But well, unlimited soup salad and breadsticks. We're good. Yeah, I mean, I I I I still love my deals. Well, Jeff, speaking of things that we won, I think we were all actually talking about this while we were there together in season one of the Beast Games. But even then, I think we all realized that the friendships and the connectivity and the like mutual craziness of being willing to do something so outlandish brought us all together. I think we all realized like the real prize was the friends we made along the way, actually. Like, no joke. And that created the dance quadcast.

Speaker 2 1:38

It's so cliche, but it's so real. You know, like again, like like John, you and I in person have probably spent five days together and um and we're good friends. You know, it's uh it's just bizarre. It's uh I I love this is you know, I kind of equate it to whether it's musical theater or these kind of really intensive kind of work retreats. Like you just get to know people super well and forge lifelong relationships. It's happy to be here on the Dad Dad Squadcast.

Brotherhood Mission And Legacy

Speaker 1 2:03

Well, with that said, how about we roll into our whys? You know, here on the Dad Squadcast, we are here for brotherhood, mission, and legacy. We're here to just hang out, have some fun, talk some trash, probably be uh pretty silly from time to time, maybe have a beer here and there, and also to share a little bit about our journey, what it's like to be a dad today, which is not always super easy, but is almost always super amazing. So that said, Jordan, do you want to share like who you are and your why?

Jordan Chooses Travel And Freedom

Speaker 2:30

Absolutely. So my name is Jordan Eggbart, live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I have two kiddos, five and two, a five-year-old boy and two-year-old girl, Lennon and Atlas. They are my pride and joy. I'm so proud of them. They're the most amazing kids in the world. And really, how my story gets started is a very typical story of someone who went through the motions of what life is supposed to look like. I went to college like I was supposed to. I graduated and got a job, a corporate job right out of college, and then got married. And all the while, I just didn't feel comfortable. I felt like I wasn't supposed to be doing that. And I was always an entrepreneur at heart. I didn't feel like college was for me. I never got the best grades. I wanted to just goof around and start a business instead, but I was too scared to because I was nervous that I was off the traditional route. And one day when I was sitting in my office, working my corporate job, making pennies on the dollar, I just I had had enough. And I called my wife Chloe and I was like, I can't do this anymore. We need to live a little, we need to have a more adventurous lifestyle.

Speaker 1 3:38

And you started selling feet picks at that time? Was that when it was?

Speaker 3:41

So the feet that's when the feet pick business started. Got it. I don't think anyone wants to see pictures of my feet. No, all good there. And so I called Chloe and I was like, hey, we need to go on a vacation and just kind of figure out what's next in life. And so we went to an island called St. Thomas in the Caribbean, and we just kind of discussed our future and what it looks like. And we ultimately came up with this game plan that we wanted to take some time, indefinitely go travel the world, see the world, what it had to offer. And we visited a bunch of countries, and from that, we realized we wanted to start posting on social media. Like people were asking us about our trips and what the best things were to do. And so we started creating social media accounts around travel and posting around that. And after about three years of that, we started making money from it. People were paying us to travel, and I was like, this is the most amazing thing ever. And so at that time, COVID hit, we had to stop traveling. We had our first son, Lennon, and realized very quickly that I wanted to help him see a different way of life. There's no one right way to live life. I wanted to show him that whatever you're passionate about, whatever you love to do, that is what you can do. It doesn't have to follow any one specific route. So we enrolled him in a world schooling program in Europe for a couple months, and we've he's been to 52 countries now. And so my why is I love following my passions, and I love helping other people see that you know, there's there's not only one way to do things, there's many ways to achieve your dreams and goals.

Speaker 2 5:17

And you can just do things. Like, like, like you hear people say it, and the last couple of years, especially for me, I I've realized that. And but in becoming friends with you and seeing your journey, it's like making a decision, having a great partner you can do it with, with Chloe, and saying, hey, we're gonna create the life. And again, I think you're gonna look back and three or five years and go, I can't believe I was doing that three years ago. Like it's gonna continue to grow. So I'm it's you're you're one of my favorite follows on Instagram. I just I love your content because it's full of family, full of travel, two things I love.

Speaker 1 5:45

Yeah, Jordan, I like your stuff before I even know it's you.

Speaker 2 5:47

Yeah, it's I've told Jordan this before, but it's one of my favorite things is to see friends like from high school or college, and I see that they're following Jordan. I'm like, yes, I know this guy.

Jeff On Rare Disease And Purpose

Speaker 5:55

You guys are too nice. It's definitely fun. It it brings life into me. I'm one of those people that needs adrenaline rushes every so often, or else I get bored. And so, you know, going to a new place, trying something new, that's right up my alley. So been a lot of fun. Well, I I I love it.

Speaker 2 6:11

And my um my why is similar but different. You know, I I have two little kids myself, my little, they're getting bigger. I have a 10-year-old and an eight-year-old, two boys, Jack and Lucas. And my um, I grew up with four sisters. So when I had a son, I was like, this is awesome. Like I get to have a buddy, I get to have a friend that you know is kind of like uh kind of like a brother. And then when I had two, I'm like, this is even better. Like they're gonna be best friends, this is gonna be sweet. Um, but kind of things, things transformed when my youngest son was diagnosed with a rare disease. We knew something was up early, um, you know, just when he was seven, eight months, and then he got diagnosed at uh a little over two years with creatine transporter deficiency, a rare brain disorder that really impacts his development, his intellectual abilities, and uh just a lot with his activities of daily living. But it's one of these things where, you know, you go through these challenges and you get to choose how you respond. And he gifted me so much. He gifted me the ability to kind of find the beauty and the blessings, the the gift of faith, you know, really helped me kind of reconnect with my faith and um kind of ultimately took me on this journey to try to find purpose and the pain. And it kind of took me on this weird, windy road that ended up at Beast Games. And, you know, I think the cool thing about Beast Games is yeah, it's everybody sees that I was one of a thousand. I ended up winning $10 million. But what a lot of people took a little bit longer for people to see that I was there for something bigger than the money. I was there to tell Lucas's story. I was there to tell the world about his rare disease and try to get people who have big hearts to to care. And whether not even just about his condition, but other rare diseases. And um, you know, when I look back and kind of go, gosh, you know, I was inspired to be on the show because my my oldest son, Jack, loves Mr. Beast, my youngest son has this rare disease. It just reminds me of this this one kind of philosopher I used to study, modern-day philosophers, like, hey, we think we're here to teach our kids things, but guess what? They're actually here to teach us things. And love that. It's just something that I it's really sat with me is that I've learned so much, I've grown so much from those two than any other teacher, mentor, coach I've ever had. And I know it's just getting started. And it's just the the absolute blessing of a lifetime to be a dad. And uh man, I am I'm I'm excited to kind of be rubbing shoulders with two awesome dads with two totally different experiences and kind of just chit-chat about the the highs and the lows. It's not all, it's not all great, but it's all beautiful for sure.

Speaker 1 8:31

I remember the first time 2000.

Speaker 2 8:34

2000. 2000, yeah. I uh I don't get into the weeds that often because then you have to explain it. But yeah, 2000, which is crazy, and that's where we met, John. It's uh yeah, Beast Games initially start with 2000. By the way, I didn't know, like I didn't know Beast Games had not started yet. I didn't know it was the YouTube channel until I got there. Like, hey, did you see Jimmy's video? We're just here to get down to a thousand. Like, what? My mom, my mom, my wife's gonna kill me.

unknown 8:55

What?

Speaker 8:55

This isn't it? Jeff, I remember the first time we met. You told me your story and your why for being on the show that you were there for Lucas and to raise awareness. And I remember thinking in my mind, this guy is a killer. This guy is going to go far because he has a purpose. Meanwhile, everyone else is just goofing around, having fun, just like, yeah, we're hanging out with Mr. Beast. I was like, that guy right there is serious, and he is going to go far in this game.

Speaker 2 9:20

Oh, well, dude, I I remember, yeah. Well, I remember the first time I met you. We were playing basketball at the hotel, and um, it was just, I'm like, okay, this guy's this guy's intense. He's good. It's just it's it's just neat to think that like we were perfect strangers. And then we then you and I became close because we were in the same bribe row in episode one. Uh and just it kind of had a lot in common. It's just, it's, it's, it's just such a good kind of metaphor to how life works, is like you're you're gonna you're gonna walk by people who you can become really close with. And it's whether or not you engage in a conversation or not determines uh you know if they stay in your life. It's just life is so bizarre when it comes to this stuff. John, talk to us.

Speaker 1 9:57

I have a similar philosophy uh when it comes to people. And having grown up in a a variety of places, most of which professionally, anyway, my world has been some form of human resources or talent acquisition leadership. I believe that no matter where you are, if you're in a room with more than one person, that there's two people that can change each other's lives. And whether or not there's a conversation that happens that reveals how that could be, is entirely up to us. And frankly, it's rare that that we do. And so it's uh pretty wonderful when it actually does happen, like with this group right here. That's uh it has a lot to do with my why. You know, I I grew up in a small town in Northern California called Paradise, which is a very small rural town, had about 20,000 people in it, most of whom were over the age of 65. So it was a strange place to be a kid, I'll tell you right now. But it kind of taught me there's some there's an art to the way things once were, and it's a little bit more organic and a little bit more connective. Um, and I I value that very highly. My dad was a trucker, so I traveled country with him. And Jordan, I don't know if I've ever actually had a chance to share that with you, but that was my my version of Lenin's amazing opportunity to connect with this whole world was traveling all the United States uh before I was 10 years old, which is pretty awesome for a trucker to be able to do that for his time.

Speaker 11:10

I didn't know that. That's really cool. You gotta see a lot of cool places as a kid.

Speaker 1 11:14

Eat a lot of good barbecue, that's for sure.

Speaker 2 11:16

Yeah, that's that's and and and what's even weird is to see it from a different vantage point. To be that high up in a truck, it it's a different perspective. You know what I mean? So like I think that's one of the cool things too about life, is just a slight change in perspective changes how you see things. And like it's like I I think what a cool way to see the world, literally.

Speaker 1 11:34

It's like if we were all six, seven like Jordan. Totally. Exactly. That's exactly what it's like. You just look down. You can see the top of everybody's heads. My why, you know, I I I have the similarly uh such a wonderful family that I get to call my own and come home to every day. I've got this amazing woman named Kelly that is my partner, my wife. Uh, she's a uh a doctor of palliative care and is just the most amazing human being who takes care of people in some of their trickiest days. Uh, she is just amazing. Um, we have one little three-year-old girl, and and I have an adopted a 24-year-old girl. Uh got a widespread. The older of those two, she is part of the special needs community. So growing up, that was not unlike Jeff, your story. There's a point at which there's forks that come in the road that sometimes you just don't see coming. And you find yourself on a new path. And it takes a minute sometimes, but boy, is it a wonderful place to be. And there's so much to learn and so much joy there. I think it's our it's the hardest parts of life that give us the most empathy. And that for me translates to how I work. I've come up through tech, I've worked for Amazon and Apple, led some of the biggest teams for those companies, largely in talent acquisition and hiring. Took a startup public in uh 2022 called Soundhound AI, and now I'm part of the fastest growing startup in Boston, which is a shocker AI, in this case scientific superintelligence. So we we are uh my wife and I are very lucky to be part of a really incredible convergence of technology and human care, and especially in a place like Boston, where there's just such an interesting set of minds that with MIT and Harvard and BU and BC and all these schools. So it's it's really cool. And I think my why is ultimately bringing amazing people together, shaking up that jar and seeing what happens with the alchemy in that setting.

Speaker 13:24

Simply put, John is the smart one among the three of us.

Speaker 2 13:27

Well, yeah, uh clearly, and uh one thing I'll add too, in addition to the smarts, very persistent and like just you know, just this idea of telling, connecting with dads and sharing dads stories. Like this is something you've been working on, John, for a bit. And you just you've been patiently persistent to make sure that this recipe works. And I just uh I commend you for how you kind of navigate life and projects at the same time. It's pretty cool.

Speaker 1 13:52

Well, I thank you very much. I I'm reminded of Toronto when I think the where the you guys are playing basketball probably in that hotel, right? Oh yeah. I'm reminded of just what a lightning rod both of you guys are. Like there's a magnetic attraction, and you can see people gathering around. And like you, Jordan, when you kind of zoomed out and said, Oh, there's somebody serious. Similarly, I was found myself more than once saying, why why are there just sort of like magnetic fields forming here around certain people? And you guys were certainly those poles.

Speaker 14:24

Yeah, I feel I feel like the three of us just had an instant connection that was like, there's something more here. We don't know what it is yet, but at some point, you know, there's going to be something. And now here we are two idiots and a $10 million winner. Yep. There it is. Who's also an idiot?

Speaker 1 14:41

He looks like my after picture on a Botox ad, frankly.

Speaker 2 14:44

Like hysterical. No, but that but that is what's so great is there were so many times where I got called John, especially in Vegas. Like, hey, John, great job leading. I'm like, oh my gosh, I didn't do anything. I was like, what are you talking about? And that's a compliment.

Speaker 14:59

You're like, yeah, I am John.

Speaker 1 15:02

I wish that they said, hey Jeff, here's your check for $10 million. And I I don't know if I would have said I'm John in that moment.

Speaker 15:09

Oh good. Thanks, guys. See you later. Yeah, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

Speaker 1 15:13

You know, boy, I tell you, if if there's ever a team version of Beast Games and the three of us are on it, woo child. Hold on now.

Speaker 2 15:20

It's it try trust me, it's uh it was just when Jordan got eliminated in episode six that I realized how hard he was playing without not how hard, but like, and by the way, Jordan, I didn't I never watched Survivor until after I participated on Survivor in season two, and then I realized, oh, Jordan was playing Survivor. And then like if you would have got past that, it might be you might be the $10 million man. No joke. I would have knocked you out. So John, like I don't take this the wrong way. You should probably take us as a compliment. But if you didn't get eliminated in episode one, you might have been the winner too. Because like you were you just were this mastermind who could see things before they happened and had developed this amazing followership without like I don't want to say trying, but without like trying to like recruit people, it was it was impressive. So thank you. Thank you guys for clearing the way and getting out while you did and letting some idiots we just got everyone else out of the way.

Low High Dad Moments This Week

Speaker 1 16:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just knocked it out. Well, speaking of big highs and and big lows, one of our segments that we all look forward to showing on a regular basis is what we call low high, which is where we share in the past week what is the low point that we had as a dad and what is the high point and a story to to come with each of those two. And so we can just roll right in. I'm happy to go first if that's uh super helpful. So our three-year-old Lexi is in her toddler bed, and now we are navigating a sleep regression that is unlike anything we've seen since the every couple hour feeding cycle when she was like single digit days old. And so there's a level of exhaustion that you forget you can survive until you're either a new dad going through a sleep regression or in season one of the Beast games. And it's uh certainly tricky, but boy, I tell you, it feels like an endurance race. And every day you get to be like, I'm surviving. Yes, I'm winning. So this morning was definitely one of those, that moment. The high point I would say is, you know, sometimes as a dad, you just get these like these moments that are basically an Instagram reel, and you're like, I'm glad nobody was filming that because nobody would believe it. I had one of those just the day before yesterday. Lexi was running around like a little chaos machine in the morning, and I was sitting and helping her get her shoes on. She did a couple laps around the kitchen while mom was finishing getting lunch ready, and uh she stops and goes, Mommy, I fell in love. And she goes, Oh, did you? With two. She said, Daddy, and then sprints around the room at full speed. And it was one of the more heartwarming moments that I think I'll ever encounter as a dad.

Speaker 2 17:44

Oh, yeah. You probably have saved that, downloaded that clip on Nest and like watch it every morning. Like, like, that's the stuff that lives on forever.

Speaker 1 17:52

I'm gonna make it my ringtone.

Speaker 17:55

It's hard to describe how special those moments are. It's like it just it hits a place of your heart that nothing else can. That's really cool.

Speaker 2 18:04

And it's um, you know, the got kind of tied in. My my my 10-year-old, I'm at this age where um he's a little bit more mature and wise than your traditional 10-year-old. He's got a he's got a brother with a rare disease and special needs. Like, so you know, still sweet, still young, but also like talks to me like I'm this like he's 16 sometimes. And this week, for me, um, you know, I was putting down my youngest son, and I I promised that I would um come into my room and and tuck my my 10-year-old, tuck him in before I he went to bed, and I I forgot. And so he kind of woke up, or like this was probably a little bit later, crying and kind of, hey dad, where are you? And I got in and he kind of, you know, he shared a lot of the stuff that are the challenges about being a brother to a rare disease. Like, I know you got to give him extra attention. I still want you to read to me, but maybe am I am I too old to be read to? Um, you know, just sharing what was kind of on his heart. And it was like, I mean, it was we're both there with tears in our eyes. We end up kind of reading a little bit, we prayed. So it was it was a low point to kind of go, gosh, you know, like, man, I kind of dropped the ball as a dad. I told him I was gonna do it, I didn't, and then it helped or kind of uh facilitated him feeling all these emotions. But then the next day, you know, it was uh, and by the way, I'm I'm solo parroting right now. My wife's uh out of the country for business. Um, and the house is kind of a mess. It's kind of it's kind of organized chaos, and I love it because I get to see all the things that my wife just does without me even knowing they get done. And it was late at night, and I'm like, oh, my son's favorite snack right now is these Takis from Trader Joe's. Like, loves them. We ran out. 7 45 at night. I'm like, hey, we're going to Trader Joe's. Usually at this time, everybody's showered and bathed. I'm like, no, no, hop in the car, Lucas, Jack, we get there. It's kind of a little hectic in tried side trader joe. So I said, get Jack, I assign him the task, take the basket, you get the snacks, I'll just all walk around with Lucas. Lucas was awesome in Side Trader Joe's. Sometimes you don't know his behaviors, how he's gonna respond. And we get back in the car after checking out, and Jack looks over at me and goes, Dad, that was so smooth. And it just uh it was just it was like this was awesome. Because again, I could have I could have negotiated with myself out of that situation. No, I'm not gonna do it. Lucas is, it's too late, the kids need to do this, or Lucas, the behavior might be too challenging, but it was perfect. And Lucas had fun. Jack got to put something in his memory bank where, hey, we can go out and do stuff with Lucas, and he can uh it can go smooth. And so it's just a this is a kind of a snapshot of our life as a rare disease family, special needs family is you know, one day we're experiencing these emotions, these challenges, and the next day you get to memory bank some little things that are seem so small to some families but are huge wins to us. And like I couldn't wait to text my wife, hey, this is what Jack said, this was awesome. Here's a picture of us and at Trader Joe's. Tooth it, two big takeaways from me is you gotta you gotta kind of roll with the punches and keep trying stuff out as a rare disease family. But two, if you haven't tried the Takis from Trader Joe's, oh my gosh, they're amazing.

Speaker 1 21:04

They're not your talkies, but they are so good. Core memory unlocked for sure, right? Like that is just forever. Both boys are gonna just remember that night at Trader Joe's and how good those Takis tasted.

Speaker 2 21:17

I I I uh Jack for sure is. I mean, it was so yeah, it's um anyway, it's the these the neat thing, I'll just leave it with this. The neat thing about our family situation is you you find beautiful things in these just everyday episodic events of normal life. They're super, super special to us because it just gives us like ev even when my family goes on a walk, like that's another thing. On my wife's birthday last week, she's like, Hey, we want to go on a family walk. We don't do that that often. It meant the world to me. So the little things mean a ton to us.

Speaker 21:50

I think that's so beautifully said because a lot of times as parents, we try and plan these extravagant things for our children, and you know, we're gonna do a massive Disneyland. Trip and there's a million logistics involved. But then it's the little things where true joy comes out, and those are the memorable moments. And that actually leads right into mine. Typically, my wife picks up Lennon from school or we coordinate a ride with a carpool for him. And this week he had a baseball game. And so I decided to end my workday early and I was going to go pick him up from school myself and take him to baseball. And he didn't know I was coming. And when I got there to pick him up, he just had this smile on his face. He and he goes, Daddy, I love it when you pick me up from school. And I was just like, gosh, like, okay, I need to do this more. Right. And it's just such a little thing. It's it's picking him up from school, but he was so excited. And I guess the cherry on top, part two, is I took him to his baseball game. He's playing coach pitch for the first time this year. Last year it was all T-ball. And he's been struggling a bit to make the adjustment, but he had two at bats and two hits in coach pitch. And that was like my proudest moment as a dad. That's that's how that's Hall of Fame numbers right there. That's a hell yeah, brother, right there. Batting a thousand, baby. And then the low, we we just got back from Paris and we we had an awesome time out there. We went to Disneyland, Paris, and jet lag is always tough as an adult. It's even tougher as a kid, right? So one of the nights I was taking calls on U.S. hours, so I was up until about one in the morning local time, and the kids and the family had gone to bed about 8 p.m. And so I go to lay down to get some sleep. And you know, I after about 15 minutes of falling asleep, Lennon, the five-year-old, wakes up. He's like, All right, I'm not tired anymore. He wakes up the two-year-old, and uh, we were all up at that point. So it was a 15-minute night of sleep.

Jet Lag Hacks For Family Travel

Speaker 2 23:46

Um, that's that's wild, but I like I I can't not take advantage of this opportunity. You are you've been to hundreds of countries and you kind of are going from time zone to time zone. What is if your one recommendation for dealing with jet lag, if you could give to all everybody, all the viewers watching?

Speaker 24:03

Always land at night if possible. So wherever you're flying to, if you can control, if there's multiple flights and there's one that lands in the morning and one that lands in the evening, always take the one that lands in the evening and then take either a melatonin or a UNISOM and try and get on that schedule as soon as possible. So I'll always do that. We try and land at night, take something to help you sleep, and then try and adjust as quickly as possible. It's the best thing I've found. Yep, never heard that, by the way. So it's so you're saying it's much easier to fall asleep than it is to try to stay awake. Exactly. And I made the mistake I didn't have flexibility on this last trip, and we landed at 8 a.m. And it was brutal. We tried our hardest to stay awake, but we all ended up falling asleep for a five-hour nap around noon and didn't get adjusted properly. So prepping a little daylight savings time, too.

Hot Dad Hot Takes Begin

Speaker 1 24:51

You got yourself a spicy gumbo, right? Yeah. Speaking of hot things, we have our next segment here, which we are calling hot dad hot takes. That's right. We're calling a hot take something that would cause a debate, maybe an argument at a barbecue. So let's go around and share our hot takes. Who wants to throw theirs first here on the grill?

Speaker 2 25:16

I want to hear Jeff's. Well, I did this this I've I've been thinking about this one because I I remember I got this little piece of advice from someone before I had kids. I'm like, no way, like this doesn't happen. Is never ever be surprised if your kids are manipulating you, even if they're six months old. I'm like, I'm like, there's I'm like, there's no way a six-month can manipulate you. And then like I realize, like, guess what? My kids, what whether Jack was six months or 10 years old, I see what you're doing. You're manipulating me. So again, I'm not saying never allow them to do it because there's times where you're gonna be a dad, oh, it's okay, I'll get you this. But never be surprised when your kids are manipulating you. And I'm telling you, a six-month-old can manipulate you. Now you might not believe me, but that's my hot take.

Speaker 1 25:59

Did Jack sell you a timeshare and Boca Ratan? Uh yes.

Speaker 26:02

It was actually West Palm Beach, but yeah, it was uh Jeff's like, what's this $8,000 charge on my credit card?

Speaker 2 26:10

It's one of these things where I got to look back and go, I see what you just did. But even I remember, like, you know, just as a young, young kid, like they know how to get what they want. So uh I'm telling you, six months olds can manipulate you. Be on the lookout.

Speaker 26:25

You gotta be aware of the girls, too. My two-year-old daughter is much more manipulating than my son, and I'll do anything for her. She could yeah, I mean, no questions asked. 100%.

unknown 26:35

Yeah.

Work Life Balance Is A Myth

Speaker 1 26:36

Captive audience. Oh, Bob, my wife and I have a bit of a code word where we have to, if I'm like, oh, there's no way I'm gonna say no to this, but someone has to. So my hot take is this I think that the whole myth of work-life balance is a trick that we play on ourselves and in a way that doesn't really benefit anybody. I think that the more we separate the idea of I am this person at work and I am this person at home, I think, especially as the world changes and what it means to work and what it means to be a present parent, what it means to be a human, especially in an era of AI, is going to evolve really rapidly here. I think we'll be less and less served by saying, I am person A when I'm not at work, and I am person B when I am at work. And instead, making sure that you're setting your life up and learning from both things to be the best version of each. Usually, when it comes to burnout, in my experience, my hot take, usually if somebody's burned out, it's because they're doing something without purpose or without meaning. I think we can we can move mountains. You know, there there was a man whose wife died of cancer in a rural area of a developing nation. And it turned out that she just couldn't get over a mountain to get to where they could have treated her. And he ended up burrowing around that mountain and tearing the whole side of that mountain off and building a road after she passed away because he had that purpose. And I guarantee you he didn't go to sleep feeling like he didn't get anything done that day. So I think connecting your human purpose with the work that you're doing, and if you can't do that at work, then it's probably time to find something else to do. That would be my hot take.

Speaker 2 28:16

I love it, and I need to ask a follow-up because it's you. I highly doubt that was just a hot take that you really haven't thought about. Where did the work-life balance trap come from? How long has this been around? Like I'm sure you researched this. Do you have any idea where this kind of sprung from?

Speaker 1 28:31

Well, there's probably two key points, and I'm sure someone in the audience will be able to link much better research than this. I think though the introduction of the weekend some hundred plus years ago, I think when we defined that two days out of the seven are the two that we're gonna rest slash go to Home Depot, I think that that was the point at which we said, hey, this this small percentage of the week is is your when you are not at work. I think when we codified that so clearly, and so many people worked in this nine to five environment, that that's where we locked into saying, I have only two days to be who I am. And so I have to make the most of that. And so I will have a switch. So I think that's probably one of the bigger parts of it. But I think these days, now that that myth probably comes more from the fact that there's there's more of a uh duality and almost a conflict between who we are and who employs us. And I think, especially in an era where layoffs are so common, I think there's a an inherent level of um transactionality that's being injected into both sides of the employee and employment equation. And I don't think that serves anybody. I I don't think that serves entities that are trying to accomplish great things. I don't think it serves people who want to be part of doing great things. And so I think it just comes back around to like net trust. Entities, companies need to find ways to to earn trust with people, with communities, with their customers, with their people. And people need to find ways to trust and be trusted with their work. And I think that'll probably make us all feel a little bit better than just I'm just here as a number kind of an energy.

Speaker 30:00

I think this is easier, John, for somebody who is passionate about what they're doing, right? It's easier to have that balance or be the same person in both situations. What about the millions of men, dads, who aren't necessarily passionate about their career, but they're providing for their family and they're making, you know, that income for their family. How does this advice apply to them?

Speaker 1 30:25

Well, if I could be so bold, we are in an era right now where even a year ago this answer could have been so different. But five years from now, something like 60 to 80% of people in the United States, we'll just speak for the United States, will be doing something different than they are now, largely because of automation and a surplus of productivity that will make many of the things that we do right now so low value, meaning there'll be automation agents or even robots that can do those things that it just doesn't behoove a human to do it. And there's a lot of that already. Like look at the way manufacturing works, many parts of logistics. If you've ever seen a video of the inside of an Amazon AR, meaning robotics facility, you'll you'll get that energy real fast because it's like a it's like a beehive full of mechanical orange bees. Anyway, I share that to say if somebody is feeling like they don't have that purpose in there, like maybe burning out at work, there has never been a time before where somebody sitting in Miami or somebody sitting in Mumbai can open up a phone, be it Android, iOS, it doesn't matter, and access Claude, what is currently Opus 4.6, and have the most amazing technology in the universe available at your fingertips, largely for free. That won't, I don't think that'll be the case forever, and it certainly has never been the case before. And what you can build, just out of curiosity right now, can connect you with opportunities that you can't even begin to imagine. And so my advice to somebody who feels that right now and thinks, well, I'm an accountant. I have to just be an accountant. That's what I do. Well, you're not going to be an accountant five years from now. You're not. So I would recommend jumping in, playing, not out of a sense of survival, but out of a sense of unprecedented opportunity to explore.

Speaker 2 32:00

John, well said. And Jordan, I think that that question is something I think about a ton because I think we're, and I'll be a little bit less data-driven than John, but like I think we're moving into a world where a lot of things that we're used to doing that keep us busy, that kind of fill that nine to five will be done for us. And so you're gonna have no excuse but to share your God-given talents and gifts and things you're interested in. Um and to John's point, like you can connect with people who desire to use what you might build or what you might share. I think we're, I think we're moving into a sweet little golden age. Not not saying it's all gonna be good, but I think it'll be mostly good. But yeah, what no better time to really kind of take a look and kind of go, what interests me? The the Jordan Chloe conversation of six six years ago. Man, I want I want something different. What is it? What interests me? This is the time to do it. So very well said, John. Great question, Jordan.

Speaker 32:52

The other side of that is that's really scary for a lot of people, right? If you have a comfortable career, you you're an accountant, for example, and your job is at risk, what can you do in that situation? And and maybe this is an additional episode where we just cover everything AI and and how to keep up with it. But for a lot of people, they are scared of AI and they don't know, they can't wrap their head around it. So what do you say to that type of person?

A Three Step Plan To Learn AI

Speaker 1 33:18

Well, this one I have a really specific recommendation for. Like, here's what I if if someone hearing this is feeling what you're describing, Jordan, here is exactly the three steps that I would take right now. Like I would pause this episode and go do this. Get on Claude. So Claude.ai. If you don't have an account, make one. It's free. You can access it from any electronic. You can even go to the library and access it from there. Go on there and prompt it and say, I want you to build me a plan for becoming fluent in AI over the course of the next three months. So there's your step two. Use that prompt. I want you to build me a plan for becoming fluent in AI in the next three months. Watch what it does. And then here's the third part. Ask, how do I prompt you better next time? And now what you've just done is you've created a thread that you've now pulled and you will unweave an unbelievable tapestry. And it turns out that it's actually just a curtain and behind it is this amazing world of opportunity. Because before you know it, you're going to be looking at what OpenClaw is and figuring out that you can be running agents and building agent clouds and doing unbelievable things while you sleep that improve whatever you are doing now. So while you might not be an accountant five years from now, you may very well have an agent, a cloud agent, a cloud of agents that is, that is doing that work on your behalf while you are out with your kids.

Speaker 34:32

I think that's perfect. That that's a very actionable step you can take right now to stay ahead of this AI wave that's already happening.

Speaker 2 34:40

I mean, I'm I'm over here taking notes. Because it's like, okay, you don't need to figure it out now, but you need to figure out the machine per se. Um, man. All right, John, I got work to do.

Speaker 1 34:51

We we could do an episode called surfing the wave, right? Like how to get on top of the wave and surf it instead of it riptide.

Speaker 2 34:58

Yeah, let's let's record it like right away. Like now you just you have you kind of get a what am I appetite? Like I just this is this this new world where we are in, the future is here, is super exciting, but also to Jordan's point, super scary.

Speaker 35:12

Yeah, and I I think we bookmarked this and we set aside an entire episode to talk about this because this is so useful right now and so necessary right now for all of the dads and everybody out there who is as we're all going through this phase together, right? Like AI is new to all of us, and there are people like John who are experts at it, and then there were a lot of people who have no idea what it is or how to use it. And so I think that could be very beneficial to help others understand.

Speaker 1 35:39

Call it dad gentic or something like that. There you go.

Kids Grow Through Discomfort

Speaker 35:43

Um let's trademark that right away. Editor's note. Well, shifting gears a little bit to my hot take and back to being a dad and parenting, I think the best way for our kids to learn and grow is by being uncomfortable. Now, to be clear, I'm excluding anyone in the special needs community from this conversation. But it's naturally counterintuitive as a parent to make our kids uncomfortable. However, getting them outside of their routines is what makes them flexible as kids. It's what helps them be resilient in every aspect of life. And so it's very easy. I'm I'm guilty of this, but it's very easy to have a strict routine and you know, say bedtime is seven o'clock every night, bath is 6:30. And as we heard Jeff's example earlier, you know, the typical night that would be bedtime. But he decided to make a quick game change and go to Trader Joe's, and it turned into a core memory for him. And so my example here is, you know, we were right now we're very comfortable in our routine where we live in Las Vegas. We have everything down to a science, and then we travel six months of the year. But we decided we wanted to get a little bit uncomfortable. And so we moved over to Europe for the summer and we enrolled Lennon in a world schooling program in Montenegro, of all places. I tell people out there, like, I don't even know where that is. And he came in as the new kid, right? He has all of his friends here in Las Vegas and he loves hanging out with them. But here he didn't know a single person. He came in shy as every kid would. He wasn't sure how to respond to it all. And the first couple weeks were tough. And over time, he built close friendships. And they one of the great blessings that came from it is that they had a local Montenegrin woman cooking all of their meals for them every single day at school. And so they were eating traditional dishes like stuffed cabbage with tomatoes and, you know, different sauces that you know kids have never tried before. And because there's no other options, that's what you have to eat. And so, not that he was a picky eater coming into it, but he's definitely still a kid, right? And so he would come home and tell us the things that he had eaten at school that day. And I was like, my mind was blown. I was like, I didn't know you were capable of eating that, you know? And so doing things like this, it doesn't have to be as extravagant as moving across the world and you know enrolling in a new new school program, but just doing little things that are outside of our norm or routine, um, taking our kids on a hike when they've never done one before, and breaking it up with little silly dance breaks every 30 minutes, or doing fun things that you know are outside of the typical routine. I feel like that's what makes our kids, it it gives them flexibility and helps them grow. And one true example to that is now at Lennon's current school in Las Vegas, a new kid enrolled and was feeling the same way that Lennon felt at his school. He was he was shy, he didn't know anybody there. And Lennon was the first one to walk up to him and be like, and you know, welcome him to the school. And I just thought that was such a special experience. That's amazing.

Breaking Mental Boxes And Building Resilience

Speaker 1 38:45

So I got a follow-up question on that one, Jordan. So both of you guys just shared amazing examples of breaking the norm, of a shift outside of the standard routine. In your case, Jordan, your entire life taking the kids of the family to the other side of the world. And then this wonderful outcome of empathy. And in Jeff, of course, they're straight or Joe's. I mean, if you guys had to use one or two words to describe the benefit of breaking the routine like that, what would you choose?

Speaker 39:14

For me, it's resilience and flexibility. I meet so many other kids who, you know, they'll only eat chicken nuggets or they'll only eat quesadillas or pancakes. And my five-year-old Lennon, he asks for salmon and rice and sushi and fish and you know, all sorts of things that other kids aren't eating. And I just love that. It's it's one of the things I'm most proud of. Like he he's just he's willing to try new things, and I think that's what is is really cool to me as a parent.

Speaker 2 39:45

You know, and I I I it's funny you bring up food because I was one of those people who didn't eat eggs until I was like 18. You know, I think I had him as a kid, and I'm like, oh, I don't like this. I was very picky. And my son, Jack, we we had ramen a couple nights ago, and I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, Jack, you know what? I never had ramen until I was 30. He goes, he goes, you didn't live life until you were in your 30s. And so he's he's really funny. He gets he gets a he's got a really good sense of humor from his reading, by the way. So much funnier than I am. But um, it's one of these things where to Jordan's point, like trying new things allows you to then be there for other people who are trying new things. And I think the fact that Lennon was there for somebody else and had the kind of the emotional intelligence to see that someone needs you to be there for him is just awesome. I think um the more kind of to wrap up Jordan's point, like the more uncomfortable you get, the more experiences you have, you put them in your memory bank, then it allows you to share those experiences in different ways with others when you need to. And um, so I have I think I think the resilience piece is I'm gonna steal it, Jordan. Like I think building resilience, letting kind of your kids fail and have their feelings, and not, I'm kind of uh and then and not always trying to overprotecting or trying to be there to catch them is uh is something that's hard to do. You have to restrict that desire to do it. But uh if you do it, that's when the kids grow.

Speaker 41:03

And we all hear that quote all the time as adults. There's no growth in the comfort zone. And I think we take that and and we live that ourselves. But how often do we pass that on to our children, right? A lot of times we want to be very protective and make sure they have the best life possible. But it is okay, as you said, Jeff, to let them fail and let them, you know, experience that misery and heartache because that's the only way to grow.

Speaker 1 41:28

Here. Kelly and I we're we're talking about it's funny, it's it's almost this like identical conversation in a lot of ways. We are talking about how critical it is to make sure that you break cycles and break routines, not all the time. Obviously, kids need to feel a sense of of normality and and that there are boundaries to the day and that they can set personal boundaries. But I do think that if you set a precedent for routines being the normal or set a comfort zone as the the limit of a kid's curiosity, I think part of the most the one of the more criminal aspects of that impact is that that's as far as they could think, as far as they can imagine, maybe is the better word. And uh boy, when when you as the as the parent, in this case, if when one of us dads says, Hey, I know this is how we usually do it, we're getting in the car, we're going to Trader Joe's, that just shows a kid like, wow, anything is possible. Anything can happen, and I can make anything happen. Look what my dad just did, right? And that's so cool. Superhero stuff. Small small mode of superhero stuff.

Speaker 42:28

There's a YouTube video of a guy who has ants on a piece of blank white paper, and he draws a circle around them with a sharpie. As soon as the circle is complete, the ant will not exit that circle at all. It doesn't know where to go, it just runs around in circles. He does one circle that's not completely closed, and the ant walks right out. And the ant sees that it walked on part of the black line. And the next time he tries to draw a circle around that ant, it walks right over it. And the lesson there is the mental block, right? As parents, we put these parameters on our kids that, or if we go back to the food analogy, it's like they won't eat X, Y, and Z. They just won't eat it. And all that's doing is reinforcing in their mind that they're they're boxed in. Whereas, you know, if we never say those types of things and we give them opportunities to try new things, well, all of a sudden they have the mental strength to break that barrier and walk right outside of it. I could listen to you two talk all day long.

Speaker 2 43:24

This is good stuff. This is uh I feel like I'm getting a free therapy session on how to be a better parent. So this is awesome stuff.

Speed Round Advice For New Dads

Speaker 1 43:32

Well, I hope the audience feels like they could listen to us talk all day long, too. Speaking of which, I think it's time to wrap it up and close up this episode of the Dad Squadcast. Next episode, it sounds like we might be talking about some AI stuff and maybe what it means to be a dad in the era of uh an agentic future. So that said, thanks for listening. Any final thoughts, gents? Okay, as we come to the end of this episode one of the Dad Squadcast, we are gonna start a new tradition, and that is a speed round of advice for a new. Dad. Let's throw to Jordan first. Jordan, what would you tell a new dad right now lighting around?

Speaker 44:05

The way you treat your spouse is exactly how your kids will treat others. So if I treat my spouse with love and respect, that is a direct representation of how my kids are going to treat others, which is one of the most important things in the world to me.

Speaker 1 44:21

So good.

Speaker 44:22

I think we should have saved that one for the last.

Speaker 1 44:24

That sounds like the cherry on top. John, what do you got? I would say similarly, that as dads, a lot of times, especially right out of the gates, you're going to feel like you're supposed to know it all. And there is no manual. I wish there was a manual. There isn't. And you're probably going to feel a lot of times like you're supposed to have the answer. And when you don't have the answer, you're going to feel bad because that's how we're socialized in many cases. That is such a prime opportunity to rewire some of that masculinity that tells us that we have to be this lone wolf. We already know the whole alpha wolf thing is a myth. It's it was bad science to start with. It's been bad, it's bad now. Take that opportunity to change the way you think about asking for help and being vulnerable because you'll never have a better opportunity to connect with your partner, you with other kids that are already in the house, other family members than right now. Because everybody knows that you're exhausted and they want to help you.

Speaker 2 45:12

Love that. From my seat, um, think I think we're here, you know, on earth to share. You know, like I think we're we're here to share. So as a father, what greater gift for you to share than the gift of life? You get to be, you get, you get to share the ultimate gift. But at the same time, those first few months are hard. The first few months of your new dad, the first few months you're like, what am I doing? Like I don't even get eye contact. All I do is change diapers and and feed bottles. I promise you, it gets better. So embrace those dark three, four, five months where you're like, Did I wake up last night? Did you feed? I can't remember. I promise you you'll look back and it'll be there'll be good memories, but you'll be laughing about it. You'll never, you might not want to go back. You'll eventually forget about them because I think your body has to, so you can have another kid. But but come month five, six, when you start making connections and you feel it, every month it gets better. Right now I'm on the 120th month for my oldest. And I'm telling you, every month it gets better. Embrace those first few months and just know that the promise of uh every month it gets better. It's hard to explain how it does, but I promise you, it does.

Speaker 46:19

And along that journey, it's okay to make mistakes. When you realize that nobody knows what they're doing, it makes everything a lot easier. Sometimes we look at other parents like, oh, they have it all figured out. Nobody does. And that's what makes it fun. Yeah.

Speaker 1 46:30

Yep. Getting messy, getting dirty. Well, with that sage-like wisdom, we will close down this episode of the Dad Squadcast. Tune in next week when we're talking about some big tech stuff. Maybe a little AI, maybe a little what it's like to be a dad in a gentic future. And uh see you in the next episode.