Podcast appearances and mentions of lance somerfeld

Before co-founding City Dads Group, Matt Schneider and Lance Somerfeld were enrolled in extreme parenthood training as elementary school teachers in the South Bronx. Since 2008, they've built their two-person weekly meetups into a network of 20,000 dads in 41 North American cities, creating opportunities for fathers of every type to gather and share experiences. We talk about the strategies behind their brand relationships, the challenges they've faced as "flex-caregivers" during lockdown, and the weird feeling of visiting museums with your kids and feeling like an exhibit.

This week’s episode features father of two, husband, and City Dads co-founder Lance Somerfeld. Lance frequently contributes to the conversation about modern fatherhood and has appeared on local and national television, including CNN, Fox News, Today, and Katie. Lance talks about living in New York City as a father, how he went from public school teacher to a stay-at-home dad, the formation, growth, and purpose of City Dads and how they are single-handedly helping thousands of men become more confident and involved fathers.   Key Takeaways: [1:50] Lance Somerfeld shares the background of how he went from public school teacher to stay-at-home dad. He and co-founder Matt Schneider started City Dads in November 2008 and it has been going strong for 10 years with 34 cities in the U.S. and nearly 11,000 members. They wanted a place for dads to go to feel welcome and able to connect with other fathers and kids in a fun and meaningful way. [18:02] City Dads works with brands in a long-lasting personal relationship on campaigns and products crafted from the perspective on dads. They have worked with Dove on the messaging for their March Madness NCAA Tournament ad and partnered with Britax to help dads learn all about using car seats correctly. [24:34] Lance has been married for almost 14 years, and together they have a 9-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. City Dads not only provides great opportunities for the dads but gives the kids another great group of friends outside of their school. [34:56] As both an active parent and son, Lance found it interesting to see his dad and stepdad as modern grandfathers as they learn and adapt to the times today. [39:11] Lance found the biggest challenge of fatherhood early on was learning to navigate a life where you had to plan and saying goodbye to a lot of spontaneity and free personal time! [43:16] One perk of City Dads is new fathers learning from those who have already been through it and made it out of the other side.   Mentioned in This Episode: City Dads info@citydadsgroup.com The Modern Dads Podcast   Quotes: “Everything I had done during the course of my life, like going to school and college, was preparing me for my career. Nothing that I had done previously ever really prepared me to be a dad.” “When I became a parent I couldn’t believe that I had to dictate orders to my parents on how to handle my own child.” “I think it’s a very exciting time to be a dad right now, on so many levels.”

City Dads Group co-founder Matt Schneider is the featured podcast guest this week. In our conversation, Matt and I talk about how he and Lance Somerfeld started City Dads Group in New York City after finding a lack of opportunities for dads to hang out together and learn from each other. We also talk about how quickly City Dads Group has grown across the country and how to be a part of the group. Because City Dads Group was started by two stay-at-home dads, I also ask Matt about being a stay-at-home dad, about how dads can maintain their identity if they choose to stay at home and how they can continue to be encouraging to their spouses.

We tackle a conversation that is hard for us as adults, but even harder to approach with our children. Josh Kross was dealing with the loss of his father and struggling with the best way to talk about it with his three young children. He asked four of our City Dads for their advice, and recorded the response for this show. Thank you to Josh, Whit Honea, Adam Gertsacov, Lance Somerfeld, and Jason Greene for opening up about how they talked to their children about the loss of a loved one.

This week we did something special: we recorded an episode in front of a live audience from the Type-A Bootcamp (a mini-conference for bloggers), discussing the power of parents online, and how companies are getting rich off of what middle-aged women share on Facebook. We also fielded some great questions from the audience about various digital parenting issues. On the panel for this special live episode were Amy Oztan, Lance Somerfeld, Nancy Friedman, and Andrea Smith, with Rebecca Levey moderating. https://promosimple.com/ps/7c99

Lance Somerfeld, Co-Founder of the City Dads Group joins the podcast to talk about modern fatherhood, stay at home dads, and the changing image of what it means to be a dad, and the Dad 2.0 Summit (and how brands are trying to reach the new dad market.) Plus we talk about how to unplug and be more present for your kids and our bytes of the week!

On this week’s show, I talk with dad bloggers, Adam Dolgin, Kevin McKeever, and Lance Somerfeld about the changing role of fathers. Modern dads are not only more involved than our fathers were, but many (like my guests) are passionately invested in thinking about, talking about, and writing about, the importance of being a father. Don’t miss this … Read more about this episode...