Featured Voices • Fatherhood • Healing • Mentorship • Legacy
The Men Who Showed Up
This roundtable honors men who are not speaking from theory alone. They have worked with fathers, children, families, young dads, systems, trauma, healing, and community. Their wisdom comes from lived experience, leadership, service, and the daily decision to keep showing up.
Engagement • New York City, New York
Scott Leach
Scott Leach serves with the New York City Administration for Children's Services Office of Fatherhood Engagement. He has spent years helping systems and communities understand why dads must be seen, included, and supported. In this episode, Scott sets the tone by naming presence as the defining difference between simply fathering a child and becoming a dad.
"A father creates life. A dad chooses to be present."
Connect with ScottLeadership • Trenton, New Jersey
Bryan Evans
Bryan Evans is the Chief Executive Officer of The Father Center of New Jersey. His leadership connects father engagement, workforce pathways, economic mobility, family stability, and community impact. In this episode, Bryan reminds us that being a dad is not a title. It is a choice made again and again.
"Being a dad is a daily decision that changes generations."
Learn About BryanHealing • Chandler, Arizona
Steve E. Browning, M.Ed., C.L.C.
Steve Browning is the founder of The Living Life Team LLC and a retired Arizona State University social work leader. His work has touched child welfare, domestic violence prevention, mentoring, counseling, coaching, and healing for children and families facing unimaginable trauma. Steve brings the wisdom of a practitioner, a dad, a grandfather, and a man of faith.
"Legacy is built through love, parenting, and presence."
Connect with SteveConnection • San Diego, California
Jorge Narvaez
Jorge Narvaez is an educator, artist, storyteller, fatherhood advocate, and creator whose work bridges family, culture, music, community, and fatherhood. Through Dads Corps and his public storytelling, Jorge speaks to the power of connection, lineage, healing, and helping dads see themselves as transitional characters in their families.
"It takes an entire community to raise a father."
Connect with JorgeMentorship • Portland, Oregon
Shanne Sowards
Shanne Sowards leads Squires Empowering Young Dads, supporting young fathers as they build stability, confidence, and connection with their children. In this episode, Shanne speaks honestly about becoming a dad as a teen, the power of proximity, and why reading to children can transform a dad's voice from correction to comfort.
"Love people because people matter."
Connect with ShannePurpose • Host — Phoenix, Arizona
Dr. James C. Rodríguez, MSW
Dr. James C. Rodríguez is President and Chief Executive Officer of Fathers and Families Coalition of America, author of The Purpose Within: Rise Out of the Ashes Like the Phoenix, and host of Opportunity Awaits — Lead The Way. In this episode, he weaves together fatherhood, purpose, the boxing ring, the phoenix, the lion, the shark, and the question every leader must face: memory or legacy?
"Do you want to become a memory—or do you want to become a legacy?"
Learn About Dr. RodríguezFrom the Book • The Purpose Within
Being A Dad
This episode is rooted in Dr. Rodríguez’s chapter "Being A Dad" from The Purpose Within: Rise Out of the Ashes Like the Phoenix. The chapter was written in the middle of the night after a call from his daughter. That moment became a meditation on presence, worry, love, sacrifice, and the sacred difference between having a title and being someone your child can count on.
"A dad answers the call. A dad fights for his children. A dad keeps showing up."
The conversation brings that chapter to life through men who have been dads, mentors, practitioners, advocates, and community builders. Together, they ask what it means to rise after being knocked down, to choose peace over comfort, to stand tall in silence, and to leave a legacy that outlives applause.
Move the Needle • Six Powerful Takeaways
Six Nuggets from Being A Dad – Standing Strong
These takeaways capture the heartbeat of Episode 7: presence, decision, healing, community, mentorship, and purpose. They are not slogans. They are battle-tested truths from men who have lived the work.
Presence Is Not Passive.
A dad is not defined only by biology. A dad is present emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and practically. Presence is the armor children remember.
Dadhood Is a Daily Decision.
Being a dad is not about perfection. It is choosing to stay involved when it is hard, to learn what you were never taught, and to break cycles before they reach another child.
Healing Requires Honest Questions.
Where is the hurt? Where is the anger? Where is the healing? The journey toward wholeness begins when men are safe enough to name what was missing.
Community Raises Fathers Too.
It takes a village to raise a child, and sometimes it takes a whole community to help a father become who he was called to be.
Your Voice Can Become Comfort.
When a dad reads, listens, and leans in, his voice becomes more than direction or correction. It becomes safety, tenderness, and memory.
Purpose Can Fill the Void.
Pain does not have to be the final word. When pain leaves the body, purpose can fill the void and become a gift for someone else.
Legacy • Healing • Purpose
"Do You Want to Become a Memory—or a Legacy?"
This question becomes the pulse of the episode. It challenges every listener to move beyond titles, money, reputation, and applause. Legacy is not only what we leave behind. It is what our children, families, communities, and future generations can still draw strength from when we are no longer in the room.
Fatherhood • Peace • The Messy Middle • Rising
What This Episode Is Really About
This conversation speaks to men who are trying to stand while still healing, leaders who give while feeling empty, dads who are learning in real time, and young fathers who need someone to say, "You are enough, you belong, and your story is not over."
Father vs. Dad
A father may create life. A dad becomes a daily source of presence, protection, courage, and love.
The Messy Middle
Champions are not made in the first round. The real testimony is often found in the middle rounds when quitting would be easier.
Peace Over Comfort
Comfort may disappear when storms come. Peace gives people something deeper to stand on.
Stand in Silence
The deepest leadership question may be this: who are you when nobody is clapping, nobody is watching, and you still choose to stand?
"Every Lion Has Scars."
The men in this conversation have fought for children, families, fathers, and communities. Like lions, they carry scars. Like sharks, they keep moving forward. Like the phoenix, they remind us that being burned by life does not mean the story is over.
Listen • Follow • Share • Lead The Way
Go Beyond the First Few Minutes
This episode unfolds like a real conversation among brothers. Stay with it. Let it breathe. Let the stories, pauses, laughter, wisdom, and truth reach you. Share it with a dad, a mentor, a young father, a parent, a practitioner, a leader, or someone who needs to remember that purpose can still rise from pain.
Be present. Break cycles. Heal forward. Love people because people matter. Complete, Not Compete. Lead The Way.
Follow the Conversation
Continue the movement by sharing this episode and connecting with its themes of fatherhood, dadhood, presence, healing, legacy, mentoring young fathers, community dads, leadership, resilience, and rising from the ashes.
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