Photo Credit: iStock.com/Artist’s Thodoris_Tibilis.
They bring home the bacon, are role models for their kids and work their backs off to ensure their family’s welfare. But did you know that a lot of them have also found a way to balance their work with family from home? We are talking about stay at home dads or Dadpreneurs who, like Mompreneurs at Home, go above and beyond to make their kids a priority while juggling the demands of work.
Work is important, but so is family. The fathers in this list prove it by embarking in entrepreneurial ventures that spare them from the 9 to 5 grind and help them balance their work with their personal lives. And the prospect has been rewarding for them. Some of these Dads found inspiration for their ventures through their families while the rest consider the prospect of being near family to be worthwhile in itself.
With Father’s Day just around the corner, we thought it only fitting to dedicate a post to these heroes. From tech startup owners to businessmen and standup comedians, let’s see how these 10 American Dadpreneurs run successful home based businesses while parenting children under the same roof.
“My kids have changed me and they’ve changed my business,” says Pat Flynn, owner of his own online podcast, and dedicated dad of two. This stay at home father had his epiphany to success when he realized that wasting time at a job he hated became time wasted he could spend with his kids. This is what led him to quit his day job in an architectural firm and start Smart Passive Income, an online business through which he shares techniques with other would-be Dadpreneurs that are in the same situation.
Pat Flynn (@PatFlynn) | Twitter
All of the Dads in this list skipped the daily 9 to 5 grind to start their own ventures just so they could spend more time with their kids. Chris Brogan is one of them. When he is not exploring exciting hobbies and pastimes with his family, the father of three works as CEO and owner of his Owner Media Group. A highly sought after professional speaker, Chris has spoken for some of the biggest brands around such as Google, GM, Disney, Coke and many more.
Entrepreneur Dave Delaney defines himself as “a proud dad and hubby, digital marketing consultant, speaker and author.” He is also the owner of his own entrepreneurial venture Dave Delaney Dot Me, a successful blog about entrepreneurship and Futureforth, a Tennessee newspaper. As a committed father of two, Dave believes that everyone has wonderful ideas as they grow up, a belief that he instills in his kids and encourages them to follow their true passions.
Anytime his associates at Roadie have to make a decision, CEO Mark Gorlin asks them “What’s important?” But when the question asks him to choose between work and family, Gorlin always chooses the latter. His inspiration to become a serial entrepreneur came from his own father who founded several small businesses when Gorlin was a kid. This ultimately led him to find Roadie, a unique delivery network that relies on neighbors who are passing by your neighborhood. In addition, he is also the founder of Kabbage, a startup investment venture.
Jon Sumroy created ‘mifold’, The Grab-and-Go Booster Seat when he wanted to make car safety a priority for his children. The inspiration for the portable booster seat came when the father of four found out that booster seats were not available in every carpool his children were in. His dedication led to an innovation that not only helped his own kids, but also other parents who face the same dilemma.
In addition to entrepreneurship, this dedicated dad also has other credits to his name as a former senior executive at companies like Unilever, digital mentor and entrepreneur.
Marc Mawhinney is another successful entrepreneur who doesn’t let his career interfere with fatherhood. As a lifelong entrepreneur, he began his coaching business after launching several other companies. However, it is his son is what drove this single parent to start his own entrepreneurial venture; a coaching business which also teaches husbands and other fathers about the connection between fatherhood and entrepreneurship. His immensely popular podcast, Natural Born Coaches supports the worldwide coaching community and even made it into iTunes New & Noteworthy category during its first week of release.
The President of Greenrock Financial Group is no stranger to the struggles of Dadpreneur-ship. In fact, it is his devotion to his family that ultimately led him to quit working for financial institutions and start his own home based business. Kevin is a father to two children whom he wants to dedicate his whole life to. He regrets not doing as many chores as he should owing to a busy work schedule. However, he considers teaching his kids the value of money as his biggest achievement, a triumph that he talks about in his hit book “Financial Fotographs: How to Talk to your Family about Money.” Kevin’s advice to other work-at-home dads is to find the right balance between their lives and work.
His current job as VP of Operations at Aarra allows Dadpreneur Dan Fields to work from home – a perk that he is grateful for since it allows him time with his children. He has also worked in interactive design and advertising for over thirteen years. In addition to a successful career in advertising, Dan also runs a successful unscripted comedy podcast on a weekly basis. Known as “Save it for the Show”, the podcast features honest and hilarious stories from Dan’s life and home.
As a standup comedian, broadcaster, podcaster and voice actor, Justin Worsham knows the challenges of maintaining a work/life balance. However, like other Dadpreneurs, he has an honest take on the realities of parenting and takes it in stride. He explains how working at home was something that he is comfortable doing which is why he didn’t have a problem adjusting once kids came in the picture. He credits his wife to be his best supporter and always ensures that both of them have flexible timings so that someone can be with their children. One of his advice to home office dads is to keep within fixed schedules since it can help them keep their priorities in order and prevent them from missing out.
When it came to a career in an established firm and family, Joshua Latimer chose the latter. While his wife was pregnant with their first child, Joshua left a secure job as a banker for JP Morgan and started his own local cleaning business at the age of 25. The purpose of creating his own business was so he could spend more time with his family. He only worked for 5 hours a week during the last few years he owned the company after which he sold it and moved to Costa Rica. There he runs two online businesses with professionals from all over the world.
These are just a few Dadpreneurs who are making their mark in the world from home while juggling with the responsibilities of parenthood. In a world where fathers struggle to juggle both work and their personal lives, these fathers prove that it is possible to balance both.
This Father’s Day, every Dad deserves to be appreciated whether he works the daily 9 to 5 or keeps his work at home just to ensure a little extra time with the kids. To stay-at-home Dadpreneurs and working Dads everywhere, I wish a Happy Father’s Day.
Kelvin Stiles is a tech enthusiast and works as a marketing consultant at SurveyCrest – FREE online survey software and publishing tools for academic and business use. He is also an avid blogger and a comic book fanatic.
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