[cold open]

I spent over a decade in IT, working my way up the corporate ladder from cubicle to office to open office arrangement… and then decided: “Nah.”

In 2017 I left my comfy, yet-sometimes-soul-crushing corporate job to start a digital media dad brand called The Dad. The success of the brand exceeded my wildest expectations. I loved everything about it. The work, the team, the content, and most of all the community.

In 2022 I decided it was time to move on.

“That feeling when…”

This substack is about memes, parenting, content, digital media, social media marketing, video games, and following your dreams.

📘 It’s a story of how The Dad came to be, and ultimately why it was time to move on.

PART 1: Before The Dad

1. 📘 That feeling when you quit your dream job

2. 📘 Prologue: Why?

3. 📘🎮 My favorite email of all time

4. 📘 The Dad Story Part 1

5. 📘 The first step to getting good is being embarrassingly bad

6. 📘🎮 The first thing I did after quitting The Dad

7. 📘🎮 The Dad Gaming appreciation post

8. 📘 An existential crisis is the mother of a dramatic career change

9. 📘 Rigid routine and... creativity?

10. 📘 It took me 3 years to get 10k followers

11. 📘 Big changes usually work out better than expected

12. 📘 Time > money (and literally everything else)

13. 📘 The year of Scary Mommy vemes

14. 📘My experience running Scary Mommy's Instagram

15. 📘 The power of a mantra

16. 📘 UNTITLED DAD BRAND CONTENT VISION

17. 📘 The naming of The Dad

18. 📘 Duck on the water

19. 📘 That feeling when some idiot dude crashes a mom writers room

20. 📘 Starting The Dad felt like retirement

21. 📘 #56 on my Bucket List: Have careers in at least 2 completely unrelated fields

PART 2: Running The Dad

1. 📘 Why I love org charts

2. 📘 In Memoriam: The Glad Stork, 2013-2017

3. 📘 Joel and the terrible, no good, very bad first impression

4. 📘 Do work that makes you want to live forever

5. 📘 My anxiety is scheduled on the 12s

6. 📘 Set a goal. Make it simple. Make it measurable. Make it a habit.

7. 📘 I try very hard to make it look like I’m not trying very hard

8. 📘 CONTENT FIRST, growth hacks second

9. 📘 4 memes that had to be removed

10. 📘 Keeping it weird - "Dead Bunny Hopping"

11. 📘 That feeling when you get a bonus for a job well done

12. 📘 The stunning accumulation of "a little bit every day"

13. 📘 Making of "Tag a dad to ruin his day"

14. 📘 The power of video

15. 📘 That feeling when you're suffering from PAR●ENT●ING

16. 📘 Fill your circle of concern with your circle of control

17. 📘 How digital media brands make money

18. 📘 4 memes BANNED from social media

19. 📘 Teamwork makes the memes work

20. 📘 A guy, a guitar, a baby, and a wholesome viral sensation

🎮 I’ll also live journal behind-the-scenes progress of my newest venture, a social network for gamers called Channel 3.

1. 📘🎮 My favorite email of all time

2. 🎮 One of these things is my next venture...

3. 🎮 UPDATE: What I'm doing next

4. 📘🎮 The first thing I did after quitting The Dad

5. 📘🎮 The Dad Gaming appreciation post

6. 🎮 I am creating a social network for gamers

7. 🎮 More about Channel 3

8. 🎮 Happy Channel 3 Season 1 Launch Day

9. 🎮 The naming of Channel 3

10. 🎮 5 ways to promote your stream on Channel 3

11. 🎮 Using problems to your advantage

12. 🎮 The doubt/confidence metronome

13. 🎮 The magic of casual competitive gaming

14. 🎮 What's happening on Channel 3

15. 🎮 Why a social platform for gamers?

16. 🎮 Channel 3 daily mini-games

(The Dad Story posts are marked with 📘. And Channel 3 posts are marked with 🎮.)

And other nonsense marked with… whatever.

• 🤫 The Silent Retreat

• Winning and losing gracefully

Please join me. It’s gonna be fun.