Working dads have to make family time a priority, but it can be an even bigger challenge for dads who own their own businesses. These four successful entrepreneur dads show how their families inspire them and how they make time for the most important people in their lives.
Michael Lowe of A Parent Media Co. Inc. and Kidoodle.TV
Photo credit: A Parent Media Co. Inc.
Michael Lowe is the president of A Parent Media Co. Inc. and founder of Kidoodle.TV — and he's also a dad who was inspired by his experience as a father to create something important for families. "My 3-year-old son (at the time) navigated his way from cartoons on the TV into adult content all on his own, even after I removed the adult channels from the cable box," he shares. "When I stepped into the kitchen to grab a coffee, my son was 'safely' watching a cartoon on TV. I returned to find that he had managed to get into inappropriate content in just a few short minutes. After a few more scary online encounters for my son, I knew this was a problem that needed to be solved for parents like me so I set about building a team to create the solution and Kidoodle.TV was born."
His kids continue to help shape and grow his business, and he uses them not only as springboards for new ideas, but they help him in other ways, too. "I learn a lot from my sons about how kids both view and navigate the world and what they like and this has taught me to view our Kidoodle.TV development process differently," he told us.
Lowe credits his supportive spouse and understanding family with the success of his business, but he also notes that it goes the other way, too. "I am fortunate enough to have a corporate environment that is supportive of making sure that team members can attend to family first, and team members accommodate one another," he explains. "As an example, our team understands that every morning my greatest joy is walking my oldest son to school. They make sure not to schedule meetings for that block of time. As people spend more and more time at work, it’s incumbent upon corporations to provide a supportive environment for staff and their families. You can’t get back those precious moments of your kids growing up."
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Ryan Blair of ViSalus
Photo credit: Ryan Blair
Ryan Blair is the CEO and co-founder of ViSalus and international best-selling author of Nothing To Lose, Everything To Gain. He was inspired to create and develop Project 10 Kids when he was in Jamaica. "I was in Jamaica serving malnourished and hungry children our Vi-Shape shakes when I realized we should also be donating our meals to the overweight and unhealthy children suffering from obesity," he says. "We launched Project 10 Kids and have donated over 568,000 meals to kids across the U.S., Canada and the U.K."
His son Reagan helped inspire the company's Vi Crunch cereal. "My son has autism, and it has always been difficult to get him to eat and even more difficult to get him to eat healthy meals. The foods he wanted us to prepare for him were high in sugar and low in nutrients. I wanted a cereal I could feel good serving my son," he shares. "Reagan and I taste-tested bowls and bowls of cereal together. When he gave me two thumbs up I gave our scientists the same."
As for making family a priority, Blair has mastered using modern technology to be there even when he can't physically be. "I schedule the time and use technology to make being away from my son, for sometimes weeks at a time, bearable," he explains. "I insist on daily communication including FaceTime. I also like to write my son letters, some that his mom can read to him and some that I hope he will read when he’s older to help him understand why I was away and the value that created for other families."
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Ryan Lafrenz of AXL Brand
Photo credit: Brooke Bryand Photography
Ryan Lafrenz of AXL Brand infant apparel was inspired by his little boy, Anderson — whose initials just happen to be AXL. As a dad of two, he has faced the challenges of being a working dad and also successful entrepreneur by being able to combine work and family. Inspiration began shortly after Anderson's birth. "We weren’t finding the simple, clean and modern basics that we’d prefer, so we decided to make our own," he tells us. "This also provided us with an opportunity to incorporate how we felt about materials [like] incredibly soft organic cottons and fit."
Lafrenz's two children continually inspire and help shape the direction of the company. "Overall, our kids drive my desire to build AXL Brand into a sustainable and long-term brand," he shares. "We’re proud of what we’re bringing to the marketplace and how we go about it. This is something that I started because of them and would love for them to be a part of it in some capacity as they get older. "
Finding a balance between work and family time is a challenge for Lafrenz, just like it is for any other working parent. "We’re extremely lucky to be a family-based business with the flexibility to work around the schedules of two active toddlers," he shares. "Fortunately for us, much of what we do can be accomplished at any hour of the day or night."
That flexibility has allowed Lafrenz to be there for the moments that he finds the most important — making breakfast, giving the kids a bath and tucking them into bed. He understands that it's not always possible for dads to be as flexible as he's allowed to be based on the nature of work. But being there for celebrations, games and mealtime is essential to building priceless memories.
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Tarek Tabbara of timi & leslie
Photo credit: Tarek Tabbara
Tarek Tabbara is the president and CEO of timi & leslie, which you may be familiar with for their stylish and practical diaper bags. A dad of four boys ages 4 through 10, he is a former CPA with venture capital and business turnaround background, yet limited previous consumer products or retail experience. When he was approached about running timi & leslie, he saw a wonderful experience waiting to happen. "I had 2 preschoolers, a baby and another one on the way so it seemed like a perfect opportunity for me to earn a living in something that I was having a lot of firsthand experience in," he explained.
His wife was vital in helping shape his business, as she was the mom who carried the diaper bag. "She would let me know how important it was to have an outside pocket for the bottle or a back pocket for her cell phone or that the changing pads were too small once your baby was no longer a newborn," he recalled. "It was the small things that she would point out that would really make a difference to a customer's overall experience with our bags."
He admits that having a highly-demanding entrepreneurial business is challenging when it comes to balancing work and time with his family. "My idea of balancing work and personal life is to make it home to read the boys a bedtime story and then sitting down with my wife to watch Mad Men while doing work on my laptop," he says. "I am also an avid skier and spend most weekends during the winter on the slopes with my boys, who love to ski as much as me."
Tabbara says that the key to keeping grounded both as a dad and a business owner is to appreciate all of the time that he does get to spend with his kids. "I struggle with it every day but I think it's the little things that can add up and make a difference," he shares. "Maybe I can't get home early enough on most days to coach my son's baseball team but I can make sure to be there for his Saturday games and throw the ball around when I do get home."
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