Radio Dad with Mike Austin Mike Austin

Hondo Carpenter is an award winning sports writer and host of the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider" podcast as well as Spartannation.com. While traveling the country and covering sports for Sports Illustrated, Hondo has remained a devoted husband and DAD! Enjoy this hour long conversation as Hondo brings you stories of legendary coaches whom he knows personally and tales of his life as a dad.

In this episode of "Radio Dad with Mike Austin", I talk with Josephine Nicholas about the family business that she and her siblings run, Published Daily We chat about the dynamics of working with your family and the challenges and rewards. Josephine also describes how you can build a business that includes your family so that you are all on the same page. Hint.....keep the bigger goal in mind and sometimes you have to humble yourself.

Next, I talk with an energetic dude I was recently introduced to by a mutual friend. Imagine two, hyper, enthusiastic guys having a conversation. Tom Matt is my guest and Tom is into a lot of things. He's a personal trainer/fitness coach, a Dad (of course), an author, public speaker and host of "The Tom Matt Show" online. Tom and I talk about navigating the part of your life, as Dad, known as "The Empty Nest Years". It's important that you and your wife have something, more than the kids, that holds you together! That sounds weird to say, but, once the kids move out and begin their own life, you have to still have each other and a common goal/interest. Tom and his wife started a company!

ENJOY!

Everyone seems to be enthralled by the railroad. When it comes to dads and kids and the railroad, it's hard to beat the joy of building a model railroad! I grew up in a small, railroad town (Savanna, Illinois). The Milwaukee Road and The Burlington Northern were both very prominent in Savanna. I lived right between the 2 railroads and have always loved trains. My first guest is Michael Frezell and he is part of a model railroading club and we chat about the magic of the railroad, how to get started in the hobby of building a model railroad, the types of scale (from G to HO) and a bunch more! By the way, if you ever get to Savanna, Illinois, make sure to visit the scale model railroad of the entire town and area, at the Savanna Cultural Museum!

NEXT....

There's a teen mental health crisis in America and our own Surgeon General says that social media plays a big part is bringing on depression in our teens. Dad! This is totally in your wheelhouse! We HAVE to take control of devices and social media postings. I talk with Laine Lawson Craft, author of: "The Parent's Battle Plan- Strategies To Win Back Your Prodigal"

Do you or would you charge your adult kids, rent?  Some parents are giving their adult children 3 times as much money as they're putting into their own retirement accounts!  Helping our kids morph into the adulting world is filled with financial, moral, ethical and sometimes even spiritual landmines!  How do we help without overstepping or enabling to the point of making our adult kids incapable of making their own decisions and carving their own path?  I talk with Ed Butowsky, financial strategist and expert in wealth management.

Next, do you like your job?  While there are NO perfect jobs and, these days, everyone has some kind of side hustle...if not a full on business on the side, employee satisfaction is an all time high!  Credit sign on bonuses, paid time off, a tighter labor market and work-from-home flex to name just a few reasons.  Darin Kidd is a corporate trainer and author of "I Will Until: Unlock Your Limitless Power".  We chat about the job market, owning a business and being dad.  ENJOY!

Everybody LOVES "Tator Tots"!  The story behind the original Ore Ida "Tator Tots" is a tale of ingenuity, entrepreneurism and FAMILY!  First up today, I chat with Les Grigg, the Grand-Nephew of the guys who came up with the original Tator Tots.  We'll discover the why cows played an important role in the beginning.  Also, we will learn just what the "HOLY BOARD" is or was!

Next, I talk with Alison Bogle, from Austin Family Magazine (NO, I don't own it), about "Are We Bubble Wrapping Our Kids?"  Life is full of ups and downs and we can tend to want to protect our kids too much.  Dealing with setbacks and disappointments is part of life and sometimes those lessons are best learned "the hard way".

Do you have a bucket list, a list of things you want to do or accomplish before you die?  Laura Carney's dad was a dreamer, an idea guy and he had a secret bucket list.  After Laura's dad passed away, she found her dad's list and decided to perform and make happen, each of the things on her dad's list!  Originally at 60 things, there were 54 things on that list left to do and it ranged from difficult to seemingly, mundane.  From meeting a President to growing a watermelon.  Laura's dad, Mick, put his list together in 1978 and unfortunately, he was killed by a distracted driver in 2003 and so had never gotten to ALL of the things on his list.  It took Laura almost 6 years to finish her dad's list, but once she finished, she wrote a book about her experience and her dad.  Laura's book is called "My Father's List".  Laura told me that before she found her dad's list, she thought she was more like her mom...but as she performed his list, she came to understand him better and realized that she is very much like her dad.  ENJOY!