Front Row Dads with Jon Vroman

The greatest gift you can give your kids has nothing to do with them.
Episode 2 of Walk With Jon. No studio, no script, no guest, no editing. Jon Vroman on a walking trail near his house, thinking out loud, this time with his dog Davy along for the walk. The audio is rough on purpose: wind, footsteps, and a dog on a leash are part of the deal.
Jon has been doing interviews for the Front Row Dads book, due out late 2026 or early 2027, and two of those conversations ended up in the same place. The first was about the tagline, family men with businesses, not businessmen with families, and where it came from. In Jon's words, it was born out of failure: first he needed the $5,000 speech to take care of his family, then how could he say no to $10,000, then $30,000, because he was doing it for his family. The question he asks now: do our kids need that extra income, or do they need dad at home?
The second was with a member whose daughter is about to leave home. Her advice to her dad: figure out who you are, and go do those things. That line is the seed of the whole walk, and where it lands is where Jon suspects the book lands too: "The greatest gift that you can give is self-love and self-respect." Not something you tell your kids. Something you model.
 
IN THIS WALK:
 
The Front Row Dads book: interviews underway, out late 2026 or early 2027
The $5,000 to $30,000 speaking fee trap, and hiding behind "I'm doing it for my family"
A member's daughter with the best advice on the walk: figure out who you are, and go do those things
James Van Der Beek, and the identity that survives when illness strips the others away
Who is Jon without Tatiana?
Why every unenforced boundary traces back to the same root: self-respect
 
Jon reads every reply. Send your thoughts to team@frontrowdads.com. And if this one hit home, share it with another brother and start the conversation.
Front Row Dads is a brotherhood of family men with businesses, not businessmen with families. To learn more, go to frontrowdads.com.

Fatherhood is a series of windows that open and close. The one you're leaving usually never opens again.
For years we've been asking guests on this show some version of the same question: what do you wish you knew before your first kid? For the last day of NEW DAD WEEK, we pulled four of the best answers and put them back to back. No commentary, just four dads who've been through it telling you what they'd want you to know.
You'll hear from Ryan Levesque, Michael Dietrich-Chastain, Farhan Rizvi, and Matt Baudro.
Free field guide for the whole week at frontrowdads.com/newdad.
 
IN THIS EPISODE:
Ryan Levesque: fatherhood is forever, and it's a series of windows that close. Remember to remember.
Michael Dietrich-Chastain: expect reactivity from everyone, don't take it as an attack, and the hard roads are temporary. Stay in the "wow."
Farhan Rizvi: have grace on yourself. Being a dad is like baseball, where a great batting average is in the .200s.
Matt Baudro: step back and figure out who your kid actually is, then come alongside them, instead of trying to raise a smaller version of yourself.
 
THE FULL NEW DAD WEEK:
Part 1: Listen, don't fix (Jason Kreidman)
Part 2: What no one tells dads about postpartum (Suzanne Yatim Aslam)
Part 3: Put your wife first (Steve Olsher)
Part 4: Sleep survival (Mollie Eastman)
Part 5: This one.

You're exhausted, so we made this one short.
Two things worth your tired attention. First, a nearly free trick for kids' bedtime that works with their biology instead of against it: no arguing, no negotiating, just light. And second, a genuinely kind word for couples who've been short with each other lately: sleep-deprived people are not their best selves, and that's not a character flaw.
This is part of NEW DAD WEEK, five short episodes for expecting dads and dads in the first year. Free field guide for the whole week at frontrowdads.com/newdad.
IN THIS EPISODE:
The light trick: dim the house an hour before bed and watch your kids drift upstairs on their own
Why light placement signals a child's body that it's time to sleep
The 90-minute wind-down: big lights off, low lamps on
Grace for the sleep-deprived marriage, and why weathering the season is the actual strategy
This one came from a longer conversation about sleep, circadian rhythms, and why sleep is a skill you can build. Hear the full episode: frontrowdads.com/431
 
This is part of NEW DAD WEEK, five short episodes for expecting dads and dads in the first year. Free field guide for the whole week at frontrowdads.com/newdad.

We asked what advice he'd give a new dad. His answer had nothing to do with the baby.
 
Steve Olsher's advice for men entering fatherhood is to prioritize your wife, above the kids. It sounds backwards, especially when there's a newborn in the house who genuinely needs everything. But his reasoning is hard to argue with: the most important relationship in a family is the one between mom and dad, and when the two of you are off, the whole house feels it. He also makes an uncomfortable case that nearly every conflict traces back to one thing.
 
This is part of NEW DAD WEEK, five short episodes for expecting dads and dads in the first year. Free field guide for the whole week at frontrowdads.com/newdad.
 
IN THIS EPISODE:
Why the strongest thing in your family is the relationship between the two of you
What happens to couples who let the whole dynamic become about the kids
The long view: one day they leave, and you're either with your best friend or a stranger
Why 99 times out of 100 the fight was your fault
How selfishness quietly runs most conflict, and what to do about it
 
Hear Steve's full conversation at frontrowdads.com/199.

Suzanne Yatim Aslam had postpartum depression after her son was born, and in this conversation she tells dads exactly what it looked like from the inside, including the part almost nobody says out loud: for a while, she blamed her baby for ruining her life. Her husband didn't know. She never asked for help. She just kept saying she was fine.
 
This is part of NEW DAD WEEK, five short episodes for expecting dads and dads in the first year. We built a free field guide to go with it: the main points from every episode plus prompts you can actually use. Grab it at frontrowdads.com/newdad.
 
IN THIS EPISODE:
"Depression is its own character in your brain, and it tells you lies"
What it feels like to blame your own child, and why that's the illness talking
Why "I'm fine" is the most dangerous sentence in your house right now
Why she needed her husband to advocate for her when she couldn't advocate for herself
What NOT to say: "enjoy it, it goes so fast" and "at least he's healthy," and why they make a drowning mom feel worse
The systems that actually helped her recover: solo days, therapy, and a daily mid-day break
Fix it or feel it: the four-word question that tells you what she actually needs
A note: this episode discusses depression and mental health honestly. If you or your partner are struggling, please talk to a doctor or a therapist. In the US, you can call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and Postpartum Support International is at 1-800-944-4773.
Hear Suzanne's full conversation at frontrowdads.com/341