Free Ideas

About Free Ideas

For dads figuring out work, family, and everything between.

Publisher

Dear Media

Category

education · education · kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Feb 2016

Latest episode

11 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 348 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   11 Oct 2026

   What This Dad Learned About Leadership and Life After Surviving Cancer

   In this episode, we sit down with a dedicated father and entrepreneur to explore his remarkable life journey. After surviving cancer three times, he shares how these life-altering experiences reshaped his perspective on fatherhood, family, and business. From navigating unexpected parenthood to building and scaling multiple successful businesses, he offers candid insights on leaning on community, effective leadership, and prioritizing what truly matters. Three things you'll learn: 1. How overcoming severe health challenges can transform your approach to parenting and personal resilience. 2. The importance of building and leaning on a strong support network in both family life and business. 3. Strategies for stepping back, delegating, and leading with empathy as an entrepreneur and a dad. What we cover: 00:00 - Introduction and Welcome 00:08 - Meet the Guest: Fatherhood Journey Begins 00:50 - Navigating Cancer Diagnosis and Unexpected Parenthood 02:55 - Overcoming Cancer Three Times and Finding Resilience 04:36 - Candid Conversations with Family During Difficult Times 06:24 - Facing Life-Threatening Illness While Raising Young Children 08:03 - Starting and Scaling a Business Amidst Personal Challenges 08:41 - The Importance of Community and Support Systems 09:44 - Leadership, Teamwork, and Delegation in Entrepreneurship 11:12 - Transitioning from the Restaurant Industry to Consulting and Tech 13:54 - Building Problem-Solving Businesses That Scale 16:38 - Separation of Emotion and Logic in Business Decisions 17:31 - Overcoming Small-Town Business Mindsets and Expanding Reach 19:09 - Balancing Entrepreneurship, Family, and Work-Life Flexibility 21:26 - Challenging Workplace Norms and Working Smarter 24:15 - ADHD, Systems, and Staying Organized in Business 26:55 - Parental Influence, Financial Wisdom, and Home Exchanges 29:00 - Passing On Life Lessons and Experiences to Children 30:35 - Key Advice for New and Existing Fathers 31:39 - Closing Thoughts and Appreciation About Alex Foulkes Alex Foulkes is the host of the Working Dads Podcast, where he engages in insightful conversations with fathers navigating the intersections of career, family, personal growth, and entrepreneurship. About Working Dads Working Dads is the podcast for fathers figuring out work, family, and everything in between. Every week host Johnathan Grzybowski sits down with working dads — founders, executives, investors, and everyday fathers — for honest conversations about the guilt, the grind, the marriage, the money, and what it actually takes to build a career and a family without dropping the ball on either. 🎙 New episode every week 📩 Subscribe to Built During Bedtime — our weekly newsletter for working dads 💬 Join the community — Slack and Facebook group Subscribe & Connect 🎧 Spotify: Working Dads 🎧 Apple Podcasts: Working Dads 📺 YouTube: @workingdadsco 👥 Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/workingdadsco/ 🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/working-dads-co/ 🌐 Website: workingdads.co For dads figuring out work, family, and everything in between. Nobody prepares you for this. Not the guilt of leaving for work when your kid is still asleep. Not the pressure of providing for a family while trying to build something that actually matters. Not the identity crisis that hits when you realize you're not just the guy who grinds anymore — you're somebody's dad. And that changes everything. I started Working Dads because I lived that. I'm co-founder of Penji, husband to Emily, and dad to a two-year-old who already has more energy than I do. I've been bootstrapping a company for over a decade and I still don't have it all figured out. But I've learned that the most dangerous thing a working dad can do is try to figure it out alone. So every week I sit down with founders, executives, investors, and everyday dads who are in the thick of it. We talk about the real stuff. The marriage conversations you keep avoiding. The financial pressure nobody admits to. The moment your kid looks up at you and you realize you've been somewhere else even though you've been standing right there. We've also got Built During Bedtime — my weekly newsletter for working dads. The one thing I write after my daughter goes to sleep. Straight to your inbox. No fluff. And we've got a community. Slack channel and Facebook group full of dads who get it. The kind of guys you can be honest with. The kind of friendships that actually go somewhere. Come find your people. Working Dads. For dads figuring out work, family, and everything in between.

2. 

   28 Sept 2026

   Divorce When His Son Was 6 Months Old. Here's What He Built Instead.

   Nick Howe sat in a room staring at his newborn son. And knew he couldn't do it anymore. Not the marriage. Not the version of himself he'd been performing for everyone else. Not the cycle he'd watched his parents and grandparents repeat for decades. So at six months old, his son Cam became the reason Nick asked for a divorce — and the reason he started rebuilding everything from the ground up. In this episode Nick — single dad, founder of Hugs, and one of the most emotionally raw guests we've had on the show — gets honest about breaking a generational cycle, the weekly ritual he started with Cam at age four that his son's teacher is now raving about, and how that same ritual became a company built to help couples do what Nick and his son figured out between them. This one is different. And it might stay with you.

3. 

   27 Sept 2026

   He Packed Up His One-Year-Old and Moved Across the Country for a Job. Here's What He Learned

   Steve and his wife were both from LA. Then he took a job in New York. Packed up his one-year-old son. Moved across the country away from every friend and family member they had. And just figured it out. New Jersey. San Francisco for fifteen years. Back to New York. Back to the Bay. San Diego. And eventually back to California where it all started. In this episode Steve — C-suite tech marketing executive, husband, and dad to a son who is now out of college — gets honest about what years of travel and relocation actually does to a marriage, why he and his wife made a conscious decision to never pressure their son in areas he didn't have a passion for, and the one thing his son said to him recently that told him everything he needed to know about how it all turned out.

Inside a recent episode

45: Matt Granados | Partner at PocketPets

Published 25 Aug 2016 · Transcript excerpt

[…] So that's the first one. Hit yourself. The second is if your mouth's moving, you're selling something. Don't fool yourself. If you're not good at sales, you will have a tough time running a business because sales is not just putting a product in someone's hand and getting a dollar. Right. We do that all the time. We put an animal in someone's hand. We collect $600 per animal. Right. This is not a cheap thing to do. The animal sells itself. It really helps because they're amazing. But to meet someone in 10 to 15 minutes, create enough value where they're willing to give up $600 in exchange for this pet is something you need to learn to do. […]

Who has been a guest on Free Ideas

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dan Martell
• Steve Hoffman
• Scott Young
• Ivana Taylor
• Clate Mask

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

124,498

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 73 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

92

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

51

Contact Free Ideas

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Free Ideas