Blog

Dadvice: Life Lessons From Our Fathers

Dads are more than just vessels for famous ”bods” or purveyors of terrible, awful jokes that make their kids cringe. They’re our very own sages, bringing helpful tidbits to the dinner table straight from the couch they were perched on while watching the Texans game.

Aside from their roles as fixers of everything, defenders of the thermostat (“WHY IS IT SO COLD IN HERE? ARE WE AIR CONDITIONING THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD?”) and bringers of A-game cookouts, dads are our way to wisdom.

Here are some solid gold pieces of DADVICE straight from FOTF (Fathers Of The Flock, for the uninitiated. *hair flip*).

Sarah Baker
Robert Baker

Robert Baker

“Always do what is right.”

Robert Baker is a man of few words. So, it’s very fitting that his advice is simple and straight to the point, yet holds a lot of truth. He wanted his children to always know the right thing to do and use that focus as a guiding light in their lives and careers. And judging by his upstanding, kind and adventurous youngsters, mission accomplished.

Jessica Craft
John Bierman

Jessica Craft and her father

“You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose—but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.”

John Bierman’s advice is a classic dad joke, but also a very important life lesson: You can’t do something for someone. You can find the right person and you, personally, can do the work correctly, but you can’t do someone else’s work for them. They’ve got to do that themselves. That kind of funny-but-profound wisdom sums him up to a tee, mixing the facts with a good measure of belly laughs. Bonus advice: It’s rude to pick someone else’s nose.

Sarah Gabbart
John Scott “Scotty” Greene

Sarah Gabbart and her father

“Do what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

Scotty Greene worked in construction. Each day, he was gone before the sun rose and home way after it tucked itself back into the horizon. He was always sunburned, thanks to days spent outside, and his boots were usually covered in fair bit of mud. This perspective on what “hard work” means helped him drill home the fact that people should look for meaning in work and enjoy every day, no matter what they did for a living. He was 10,000% right about that.

Monica Danna Garcia
Joe Danna

Monica Danna with her father

“If you love what you do, you’ll always succeed.”

Joe Danna is an entrepreneur through and through. He’s reinvented his career over and over again from a photographer in the pit of rock shows in the 70s to a film lab owner in the 80s (yes, these used to exist!). Finally, he returned to college in the 1990s to pursue his dream to be a law enforcement officer. He always extolled the virtue of following your heart, leading by example through finding the way to career enlightenment: He’s running for Constable of Precinct 1 in Houston. Vote Joe Danna!

Kelsey Goedeke
Jon Goedeke

Kelsey Goedeke and her father

“Don’t be a wallflower, Dolly. Wallflowers get stepped* on.”

*The real life version of this quote: Wallflowers get pissed on (Jon is a former Lead Special Agent for US Customs and ICE, so that’s about as sugar-coated as he gets.) Tough and straight-to-the-point with a little bit of sweetness mixed in, Jon Goedeke’s advice is as DADVICE as it gets. He wanted to teach his little girl to be tough but just couldn’t help throwing in the childhood nickname he gave her in the process. AWWWWW!

Maddie Herskind
Erik Herskind

Maddie Herskind and her father

Erik Herskind pretty much applies this “action” to any and all aspects of his life. To rock and roll means to get a move on, shake things up and just go for it already, damn it. It’s not caring what other people think and being true to your beat. His sage advice has the bonus element of helping his children understand the undeniable significance of any and all rock and roll bands.

Jo Skillman
Milt Skillman

Jo Skillman and her father

“Be better than everyone else and then ask for more money.”

An inventor like Milt Skillman knows the value of being one-of-a-kind. Easy for him to say, no one else is really doing what he’s doing, but I guess there’s a lesson there, too. His advice comes down to this: Find a spot you fit so well that no one else can fill it as seamlessly. When you’re that good, someone will pay you just to be you and to bring to the table what you bring to the table. It’s not about working endless hours or being cheaper—it’s about being so good you’re the best choice they’ve got.

 

Adam Smith
Richard Smith

Adam Smith's father

“Use the sidewalk.”

Richard Smith would get mad if his kids opted to cut through grass area (because it was the fastest way to get from point A to point B) instead of using the sidewalk. As a kid, Adam didn’t care or ask why. But time went on and it stuck with him: If a sidewalk is available you should use it! He eventually asked his dad why and was told it was out of respect for someone else’s property. Richard knew that respect for everyone is a fundamental piece of all of us sharing this world and, to him, using a sidewalk was a way to show everyone respect and treat them well. Nice DADVICE on how to be, well, nicer.

 

Aimee Woodall
Steve Woodall

Aimee Woodall with her dad

“You can do anything you put your mind to.”

Steve Woodall always encouraged his daughter to go after anything she had her sights on—but only after he asked 1,001 questions to be certain she’d thought through her plan. Throughout his career, Steve moved up through the ranks and into college engineering textbooks nationwide because of his ability to do just that—think through and execute a plan. Now retired, he spends an increased amount of time asking Aimee those questions to make sure she’s thought of every last thing that might affect her business. And while he affirms that she always has, it may very well be (definitely) because of the questions he asked her growing up.

Dads are the best, aren’t they? With wisdom like this, it’s no wonder the flock was set up to make their mark on the world.

@ShearCreativity: