Ambitious Dads
Ambitious Dads
Podcast Description
Fatherhood cracked me open in ways I never expected — and showed me how unprepared most of us are for the emotional work it demands. After learning I couldn’t be a biological father, I wrestled early with the fear that I might screw up my kids before they even existed — a feeling every dad, in one way or another, eventually comes to know. The Ambitious Dads Podcast is where we stop winging it and start talking — about balancing endless competing priorities like work, kids, partners (sex — yeah, right!), self-care, and finances; about the emotions that hit daily — guilt, stress, fear, fatigue, love — and about the quiet doubts that keep us up at night. We’ll get vulnerable. We’ll get honest. And yes, we’ll end every episode with a ridiculous poop story, because if fatherhood teaches you anything, it’s how to laugh while cleaning up disasters.
Hosted by Jeff Hittner. Email Jeff with ideas for future episodes: [email protected]
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes related to fatherhood, mental health, work-life balance, and emotional intelligence with episodes exploring personal stories like navigating the guilt of missed opportunities, balancing professional ambitions with family responsibilities, and discussing the joys and challenges of parenthood through a light-hearted lens, like sharing amusing parenting mishaps.
Fatherhood cracked me open in ways I never expected — and showed me how unprepared most of us are for the emotional work it demands. After learning I couldn’t be a biological father, I wrestled early with the fear that I might screw up my kids before they even existed — a feeling every dad, in one way or another, eventually comes to know. The Ambitious Dads Podcast is where we stop winging it and start talking — about balancing endless competing priorities like work, kids, partners (sex — yeah, right!), self-care, and finances; about the emotions that hit daily — guilt, stress, fear, fatigue, love — and about the quiet doubts that keep us up at night. We’ll get vulnerable. We’ll get honest. And yes, we’ll end every episode with a ridiculous poop story, because if fatherhood teaches you anything, it’s how to laugh while cleaning up disasters.
Hosted by Jeff Hittner. Email Jeff with ideas for future episodes: [email protected]
Richard Resnick shares his raw and vulnerable journey as a divorced father fighting for access to his children. After years of court battles and emotional turmoil, he discovered that sometimes the best way to win is to stop fighting. This powerful conversation explores parental regret, the redefinition of providing, and how showing up consistently can rebuild even the most fractured relationships.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
[00:01:59] – The Early Years of Divorce
- Richard discusses splitting from his former wife when kids were 3 and 1 years old
- Seven years of court battles and hundreds of thousands in legal fees
- Key quote: “The child’s identity is simply sort of the summation of their judgments of their two parents. So in fighting like that, you are giving them an identity and it’s not one that they asked for.”
[00:07:30] – The Game-Changing Advice
- A court mediator’s profound counsel that shifted everything
- Learning that fighting less matters more than winning more time
- Key quote: “It matters less how much time you have with the kids. It matters more that you and your former wife just stop fighting about anything and everything.”
[00:12:16] – The Mindset Shift
- How Richard immediately embraced the counterintuitive advice
- Dealing with criticism from supporters who felt he “gave up”
- Key quote: “There is justice for these two little children. There is justice and here it is.”
[00:15:40] – Modern Parenting Anxieties
- Concerns about launching adult children in today’s uncertain economy
- The broken promise of the American middle class playbook
- Key quote: “What keeps me up is when I graduated from college in 1994, there was sort of pretty clear playbook for how to start… there’s just so much uncertainty about that playbook now.”
[00:21:04] – Managing Parental Guilt and Ego
- Compartmentalizing pain while staying committed to showing up
- Reframing the struggle as a “righteous fight” rather than victimhood
- Key quote: “I felt like I was fighting for fairness for the children to have access to their father, which I know was important.”
[00:25:54] – The Provider’s Dilemma
- Missing games and events while running a demanding company
- His son going “dark” for months in response to dad’s absence
- Key quote: “You show up dudes, you show up, you just don’t give up, you show up, you keep going, you keep asking, and we’re back.”
[00:30:07] – The Impossible Middle
- Balancing financial obligations with presence
- The psychological ease of choosing work over painful family dynamics
- Key quote: “I could spend more time with you if I chose to make less money, but I can’t. I owe all these bills for you.”
[00:32:27] – Parental Regret as Fuel
- Processing the reality that things could have been different
- Using regret constructively to improve current relationships
- Key quote: “You can walk around with that sadness, that regret, but if it helps you to do something positive… then maybe that regret is a fuel as well.”
Sign Up for the Ambitious Dads Newsletter: https://www.ambitiousdads.com
Connect with Jeff Hittner: https://jeffhittner.com
Join me on March 12 for a free, 60-minute live workshop, Winning at Work Without Losing at Home, where you’ll identify your “Default Dad” moments and learn practical tools to become more intentional and present, building the first pillar of a Fatherhood Philosophy that helps you lead at home with the same clarity you bring to work. Register here: https://www.ambitiousdads.com/registration-page
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