âAre you contractually obligated to mention the team?â
I was on Tank Sinatraâs podcast. Iâm not gonna link it because it was my single worst podcast âperformanceâ ever. Tank was lovely. I was terrible. No reason in particular. It just happens sometimes.
He asked questions about The Dad, its creation, what we were doing⊠And I kept saying âWell, you know, The Dad is a whole team; itâs not just me. Theyâre the real talent andâŠâ I reckon I overdid it.
Tank: âRight but Iâm talking to you right now. Youâre the guy. Youâre the leader.â
I get self conscious about The Dad and coming across in interviews or posts that it was all me or that I created all the content. (Incredibly far from the truth.) Especially when we always had so many talented creators on the team... Very few actual salaried employees, many were freelancers, and many of them were folks who wouldâve loved a salaried position. As well as the insanely talented video team.
I always wanted to make sure the team got the credit they deserved.
Especially because as The Dad grew, I found myself doing more and more business stuff, and less and less fun content stuff.
In the earliest days I was the only employee. I was in search of a deputy editor, someone to partner with on anything and everything. Meanwhile we had a stable of amazing freelancers.
At the end of the last The Dad Story update, I mentioned that Ally Probst and I were creating ALL of The Dadâs branded pitches together, in addition to all the other things we had going on.
I still remember exactly where I was when I got the call. The Scary Mommy branded team wanted to hire Ally as a full time employee. I was stunned. Here we were, struggling to get by, desperate to hire people, and Scary Mommy wanted to scoop up The Dad teamâs MVP.
In hindsight, they were doing what should be done, trying to hire the best people and be proactive. I was in the wrong for not pushing for what I needed more aggressively.
When I heard that I immediately called my boss, Paul, and told him that this was a big issue. If anyone should hire Ally, it should be The Dad, and she should be our Deputy Editor.
The following week I was scheduled to fly to NYC. I was traveling there every other week at this point. Every trip I went on, I had a list of 5-10 bullets of things I needed to accomplish, usually tough conversations with leadership to get support for the brand. (Also in hindsight, I think The Dad wouldâve been even more successful had I not worked remotely.)
At the end of the trip, I called Ally from my hotel room and told her the news, sheâd be getting a full-time offer. She was giddy and so was I. It would be the start of a beautiful partnership.
Ally Probst, Godmother of The Dad
So The Dadâs FIRST hire was Ally Probst, Deputy Editor, first of her name, Godmother of The Dad, and Queen of the Memes.
The Dad wouldnât be what it is without Ally.
Here are some slides from the February 2018 Town Hall, when I announced her hire to the company.
Ally is an incredible creative force, and she made the job more fun and more fulfilling.
And we still get to work together!
A book we wrote together during The Dad years is being traditionally published by Chronicle Books. Itâs up for pre-order now, and comes out next month. Itâs the easiest and best dad gift of all time so pick up a bunch of copies and youâll be all finished with Fatherâs Day shopping with one click.
(Soon I will tell the backstory of how The Dad Law came to be.)
No, I was never contractually obligated to mention the whole team.
But morally obligated? For sure. Could you imagine The Dad brand if it were just me?
It would just be me making crap like this over and over and wondering why brands didnât want to pay for sponsored content.
Teamwork makes the memes work.