Dad Up Podcast

Dad Up Podcast is a conversation show about fatherhood. Its opening, the same in every episode, sets the stakes plainly: a dad should think about how he wants to be remembered, because legacy starts in the home. Bryan Ward hosts. He introduces himself as a coach, Marine Corps veteran, speaker and husband, and then as the thing the show is built around, a dad. The origin story explains a lot. Ward started the show when his older son was in college and his younger son was finishing high school. With an empty nest coming, he was left wondering what to do with himself after years of close involvement in their lives. Someone suggested he make a show to help other dads, and he did. That history tilts the show toward the long view. In one conversation, a father whose two sons are now grown, the younger about to marry, describes his role shifting toward guidance and counsel, with his children coming to him about adulthood. Another turns on a simple exercise: ask your children what they wish you did differently, then work on the answers. A small child might just want ice cream for dinner, Ward notes, but older kids can be surprisingly honest. Home, work and self come up as three areas a man has to keep developing, and as areas that are hard to get right. Sports come up more than once. Ward coached high school basketball, and in 'Raising Kids Beyond The Scoreboard' he describes kids' teams becoming year-round commitments, with offseason tournaments, scrimmages and practices added to the regular season. His guest argues that most young children have no way of knowing what they want from sports. In 'The Mozy Story', Ward remembers walking out of the gym past parents sitting in freezing stands at soccer games, and his guest talks about a product he developed. Faith comes up openly. One conversation describes wanting sons to have a real relationship with Jesus and calls its approach to parenting faith-based leading. Marriage gets blunt treatment as well. In 'The Warrior’s Way', a guest who has coached both women and men argues that when a man leads well, the woman in his life tends to follow, and links divorces initiated by women to men who fail to step up. It is a point of view, delivered with conviction. Guests across this stretch include Chip Leighton, Kenyada Meadows, Jeff Hamilton, Harvey Araton, Charlie Sherts and Thomas Blottenberger. Titles such as 'Dad Can You Not?', 'Leading As A Father Without Losing Yourself' and 'When Fathers Lead' show the range, and leadership is the frame that keeps coming back. The talk is loose and wanders the way real conversation does, and the tone stays earnest and encouraging. Each episode closes with a pointer to the video interview on YouTube and a reminder that being a dad is one of the most important roles a man has.