Fatherhood Is Now: Growth Insights for All Dads

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This powerful Father’s Day Special of 15 Minutes with Dad is more than a celebration — it’s a call to action for every type of father.

Whether you're a new dad, raising toddlers, navigating fatherhood in your early adulthood, grieving a heartbreaking loss, or working to rebuild trust as an absent dad, this episode meets you where you are—with grace, truth, and growth insights for your journey.

Host Lirec Williams, author of Man Up: From Our Trauma to Being Impactful Fathers, shares personal reflections and actionable wisdom through the You 2.0 lens. It's not about perfection—it's about presence, healing, and becoming a more intentional, empathetic, and connected father.

🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

• Build a lasting foundation of emotional presence as a new dad
• Strengthen connective parenting with toddlers and young kids
• Overcome shame and show up as a young or teenage father
• Grieve with grace while honoring lost children
• Rebuild relationships and co-parent with impact, even after time apart

This episode isn’t about judgment—it’s about transformation. It’s your reset. Your rise.
Because fatherhood is not just a role—it’s a legacy.

🎧 Take the first step: Listen in, reflect, and tag us @15MinutesWithDad to share how you’re choosing to show up today.
 Let’s redefine successful parenting and lead a movement of family empowerment, one moment of presence at a time.

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Thank you for joining us on this transformative journey! Together, we're breaking barriers and fostering a community of healing.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
To the man holding a newborn for the first time.
To the dad chasing toddlersthrough a living room filled
with toys.
To the young man who didn'texpect to be here this soon.
To the father who grieves insilence.
To the dad who's been distant,maybe even forgotten.
This is for you.
This Father's Day isn't justabout being celebrated.

(00:25):
It's about being called, calledto heal, called to grow, called
to show up.
Welcome to 15 Minutes with Dad.
This is U2.0 Father's Edition.
Let's get into it.
Happy Father's Day to all mylisteners, to your dads, and

(00:48):
make sure you say Happy Father'sDay to all the other dads out
there, because today we are notjust talking about celebration,
we are talking about beingcalled, and the first on the
list to be called is our newfathers, which I call the
foundation builders.
You're brand new to this.
The baby feels like a fragiledream in your arms.

(01:12):
You may be tired, unsure, maybeeven scared, guys, that's
normal.
But hear me, you are notunqualified.
You are chosen.
And every time you whisper alittle lullaby, every bottle you
prepare at 2 am, every momentyou look down and you smile,

(01:35):
you're writing the first linesof your child's emotional memory
.
They won't remember that latenight.
They won't remember any of thelate nights, but they will feel
the love long after.
Your child doesn't need asuperhero.

(01:55):
They need you Raw, real andreachable.
So I challenge you to start ajournal.
Write one life lesson each weekthat you want to pass on, not
because you know it all, butbecause you're willing to grow
into the father they'll remember.
You won't have to remember thisthroughout your entire life.

(02:19):
It will kind of come natural.
But journaling at first willgive you ideals that you want to
pour into your child.
They don't need a superhero,they just need you raw, however
you are, and if you are seekingsupport through therapy and all
these different things, they aregoing to need to feel that too.
They need to know that you'rereal and that you're reachable.

(02:42):
Know that you're real and thatyou're reachable.
Now let's move on to the dads ofthe young kids.
I call these guys the emotionalarchitects, because their kids
are now walking, they're nowtalking, they're now wanting,
and you, you're trying tobalance work relationships,

(03:06):
exhaustion and still be present.
Here's the truth.
They don't need a perfect dad,they need a present one.
So in those moments when youcome home and you're exhausted,
they just want to tell you abouttheir day.
They want you to be involved intheir little world that has

(03:28):
this finite amount ofinformation to navigate.
It's easier to be present thanit is.
Take you away from all of thestresses of the world outside
that they do not understand andhave not quite interacted with
yet, and they bring you intotheir very simple world of play

(04:07):
yourself and expose your innerchild in moments that you may
have been protecting that innerperson for so long and not
letting anybody really see orunderstand you for who you
really are.
But your child can simplify theworld in a way that allows you
to open up.
Your tone of voice, teachesthem safety.
Your reactions, teaches themhow to handle stress.

(04:29):
Your eyes oh, my goodness, yes,your eyes on them when they
look in your face, when you'retalking to them, and your every
facial expression gets carved itgets absolutely carved into
their memory banks.

(04:50):
On one, how do they, how shouldthey look when they respond to
that?
Two, how does my dad react whenhe responds to that?
And three, what does my dadmean when he looks at me that
way?
My dad mean when he looks at methat way?

(05:11):
Your eyes has to be on them andteach them that they are seen
not in a negative way but seenin a positive way.
And in my book I say this.
I put this quote in therebecause I want you to think
about this.
But we can either react fromour trauma or respond from our
growth.
Our kids will feel thedifference.

(05:31):
I'll say that one more time wecan either react from our trauma
or respond from our growth.
Our kids will feel thedifference.
And this stage is loud, it'smessy, but it's so beautiful.
And your consistency is theanchor they'll carry into their

(05:53):
adulthood.
They will tell stories aboutthese moments when they're
trying to reach their deepest,deepest, most innermost memory.
They'll come back to thesemoments and they'll know how you
made them feel.
They may remember that you'rethere.
Maybe you're not there often,but they will remember how it

(06:15):
made them feel.
So I challenge you 15 minutes aday.
Create a no distractionplaytime, no phone, no agenda,
just presence, and watch howthey open up to you.
And my child, even as ateenager, thanked me yesterday

(06:39):
at this father-daughter danceand she said I'm so glad that
you were present with me.
Like you took your phone out acouple of times to take videos,
but it wasn't the whole point ofour date, like you were really
present with me, and I realize Ihave not been that present in a
very long time because I'm soinundated with all the things

(07:04):
and these are just excuses butall the things that I put and
make important in my life, andso I urge you to create some no
distraction playtime.
If you have young kids, startnow and I have this on my vision

(07:25):
board to spend 30 minutes witheach kid in my home, each person
in my home, 30 minutes justtalking to them, being in their
world.
And I can tell you myrelationship with my family has
expanded and become so much morebeautiful and fruitful.
From my toddler, from mytwo-year-old to the

(07:47):
five-year-old, to the11-year-old, to the 16-year-old.
I have a stronger bond withthem because I made it a point
to pour into them deliberately30 minutes a day with each kid.
And you may not have that, butI urge you, just try.
To my teenage dads, my youngdads, the pathfinders you didn't

(08:14):
plan to be a dad this young andmaybe the world looks at you
like you're already behindbecause you had a kid.
But listen to me closely.
You are not behind.
You're ahead of your growthcurve.
You have the rare chance togrow up with your child, to
build your legacy while buildingtheirs.
You're not stuck, you're juststarting from a different spot,

(08:39):
and I was a pathfinder.
I have had the privilege togrow up with my daughter and
it's been.
Our relationship is such abeautiful relationship and
everything that we are.
We're literally the exact samehuman on so many different ways,

(09:00):
and I love the life that I'velived, growing to be who I am.
But it's also a challenge, andhealing starts when honesty
enters the room, even if thatroom is your own reflection.
Healing starts when honestyenters the room, even if that
room is your own reflection.
Healing starts when honestyenters the room, even if that

(09:21):
room is your own reflection.
You have to pick one goal foryour child and then one for
yourself, and make one movetoday toward each Even small
progress is sacred and know this.
You're not alone.
There's fathers out there thatare trying to navigate this

(09:47):
young parenthood, and it's notan easy feat.
But I can tell you that whenyou put your kids first and you
keep your foot moving in frontof you, you will land somewhere
where you want to be.
When my daughter was born, I wasliving at home with my mom with

(10:10):
the mother of my daughter, foodstamps, trying to find a job,
really not knowing where my lifewas going to take me.
I just dropped out of college.
I'm looking at this beautifulbaby that has done no wrong and

(10:34):
I'm trying to figure out what isit that I can do to make her
life different than mine.
And I recall crying with thefirst night we brought her home
because I was so lost and I goton my knees and I prayed and I
cried in silence and I don'tthink anyone heard me.

(10:59):
The mother of my daughter wassleeping and I just swore to
myself that I would not allowthe same circumstances to haunt
my child.
And it took me a while, at theage of 18, 19, to kind of draw

(11:23):
up the right information andknowledge to get on a strong
path.
But this is why I call thisgroup of fathers the pathfinders
.
We seek that path and as longas you seek that path, you will
find that path that you're goingon and you will become greater

(11:43):
for it, because your child is abeautiful inspiration.
Not because they're a burden,but because they are an
inspiration If you've lost achild through miscarriage,
illness, accident or even atragedy.

(12:08):
First, let me pause and honoryou.
There are no words that cancarry that pain.
But even in grief there is love.
Even in silence there arememories.
Memory speaks and in your painyou still have purpose.

(12:35):
Love doesn't end at goodbye, itevolves into purpose.
And whether you talk about themor not, whether people ask or
avoid, you are still their dad.

(12:58):
So I urge you to take a momenta time to speak their name and
tell their story when you'reready.
You keep them alive in how youcarry their memory.
You are not forgotten.

(13:21):
You are a heart bearer.
You are not broken.
You are a father still to theabsent fathers, the courageous

(13:45):
returners.
Let's be real.
Maybe you left, maybe you werehurt, addicted, young, scared,
maybe pushed away from theperson you were with.
Maybe you felt you had nothingto offer.
But now what?
Now You're hearing this.
That tells me one thing youstill care, and listen closely

(14:15):
when I say this.
It's not too late.
You may have missed chapters,but the book isn't closed.
A father doesn't earn backtrust in one day.
He earns it one choice at atime.

(14:37):
So, for those absent fathers,this is your chance for a
courageous return.
I challenge you to reach out,even if it's awkward, even if
you're afraid, send a message,write a letter, apologize.
Are afraid?

(15:03):
Send a message, write a letter,apologize.
Then show up again and again,and again and again.
The greatest comeback storystarts with one courageous
return.
Let me leave you with this.
You are not just raising achild, you are sharpening the

(15:23):
emotional legacy of generationsto come.
You don't have to be perfect,you don't have to have it all
figured out, but if you'rewilling to grow, to show up,
then you 2.0 starts now.
This is your father's day reset.
This is your moment to rise.
Let this be the year your kidssay that's when my dad came

(15:48):
alive.
Listen, if this episode movedyou, I want you to move.
Do something today.
I want you to move, dosomething today and tag me at 15
Minutes with Dad and share howyou showed up.
One step, one action, onepresent father at a time.