Building Confidence and Connection: Lori Sugarman Lee's Journey of Family, Fair Play, and Fatherhood

Building Stronger Bonds: Insights from Lori Sugarman Li on The Dad & Daughter Connection Podcast

If you're a dad striving to nurture a lasting, meaningful relationship with your daughter—or any parent eager to foster confidence and independence in your kids—this week's episode of The Dad and Daughter Connection is a must-listen. Dr. Christopher Lewis is joined by Lori Sugarman Li, author of Our Home: The Love, Work, and Heart of Family as well as a community activist, author, coach, and mom, whose work centers on the power and value of care within families. Through her personal stories and professional insights, Lori Sugarman Li offers a fresh, empowering perspective for families looking to grow closer and thrive together.

The Legacy of Everyday Care

Lori's reflections on her relationship with her own father are both touching and instructive. She describes her dad as an active, hands-on parent who chose to include her in all sorts of household maintenance tasks—traditionally seen as "dad things"—from working with tools to maintaining the car. What made these moments powerful were not the chores themselves, but the partnership and trust her father demonstrated by teaching her, empowering her, and viewing her as an equal. Lori's story challenges fathers to break away from gendered expectations and instead welcome their daughters into all aspects of family life, helping girls see themselves as competent, valued, and independent.

Rethinking Roles and Responsibilities

A major theme Lori champions—both in her book Our Home: The Love, Work, and Heart of Family and this conversation—is reframing household responsibilities as acts of love, not burdens or obligations. By inviting daughters (and sons!) to participate in shared tasks and explaining the "why" behind them, chores become chances for learning, teamwork, and connection. For dads, it's an opportunity to show up not just as helpers, but as owners of the emotional, physical, and mental labor that keeps a family thriving.

Modeling Healthy Partnership and Vulnerability

Lori makes a strong case for vulnerability: dads who embrace imperfection, share their struggles, and show genuine care set the stage for deeper connection. By actively engaging in the less visible aspects of home life, from scheduling appointments to planning family routines, fathers can teach daughters the true meaning of partnership, self-worth, and emotional presence.

Listen In and Level Up Your Connection

This episode is packed with actionable insights and heartfelt advice—perfect inspiration for any parent hoping to spark richer conversations, instill independence, and create joyful shared traditions at home. Ready to take that next step in your parenting journey? Listen to the episode and discover how simple, everyday moments can become the foundation for confidence, resilience, and lifelong connection.

Tune in to The Dad and Daughter Connection for more inspiring stories and expert advice to help you be the best parent you can be!

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TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:02]: Welcome to the dad and daughter connection, the podcast for dads who want to build stronger bonds and raise confident independent daughters.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:12]: If you're looking to build a stronger bond with your daughter and help her grow into a confident, independent woman, you're in the right place. I'm doctor Christopher Lewis, and the dad and daughter connection is the podcast where we dive into real stories, expert advice, and practical tips to help you navigate the incredible journey of fatherhood. In every episode, we'll bring you conversations that inspire, challenge, and equip you to show up as the dad your daughter needs. So let's get started because being a great dad isn't just about being there, it's about truly connecting. Welcome back to the dad and daughter connection, where every week we have an opportunity. You and I have an opportunity to be able to work with one another, to walk with one another as we work to build these strong connections that we want to have with our own daughters. And every day that is something that we have to challenge ourself on because we have to continue to engage, to build, and to work, to create that relationship that we want to have with our daughters. That's why this podcast exists every week.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:24]: I love being able to be on this journey with you because it is a journey. Every day is gonna look a little bit different and we have to work to be able to engage with our daughters and do those things to be able to create the pathways for them to be able to be the strong independent women that we hope that they will become as they do grow into adulthood. That's why every week I love being able to bring you different guests, different people with different experiences. I bring on dads, I bring on moms, I bring on individuals with other resources that will help you to be able to do just that. There's no one right way to father. There's no one right way to build these connections. But there are things that we can do every day to do things just a little bit better, to be able to help ourselves to be able to create even stronger bonds. This week, we got another great guest.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:02:19]: Lori Sugarman Li is with us today. And Lori is a mom, a coach, an author, a marketing strategist, a community activist, and a mother of two. And we're gonna be talking to her about her own journey as a daughter, but also we're going to talk about her brand new book called Our Home, The Love, Work, and Heart of Family. This is a lovely book and a book that definitely has some strong messages in it. And it really allows for you as a father, as a parent, to look at how you're engaging with your kids in everyday tasks that foster connection, responsibility, and joy. So, I'm really excited to have Laurie here today to talk about her own journey with her dad and about the book and to introduce her to you. Laurie, thanks so much for being here today.

Lori Sugarman Li [00:03:07]: I am so thrilled to be welcomed by you. Thank you, Doctor.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:03:10]: Lewis. It is my pleasure having you here today. And as I said, one of the things that I love doing is first talking about the relationship that you have with your father. And I guess first and foremost, why don't you tell me more about your dad? Dad?

Lori Sugarman Li [00:03:23]: Oh, I'd love to. His name was Norm. Sadly, he's been gone for over a decade now. And when I think about my relationship with my dad, which, of course, I do often, but especially through the context of the work that I'm doing now, which is really around the wellness of families and the power of care, I recognize that the majority of what I remember about my dad is obviously his contributions and and how he flowed through our home and my partnership with him in that. And he took this role really seriously and, you know, not to age myself, but this was in the eighties. And I have so many really sharp and vivid memories of him with his Black and Decker tools and, you know, running the air filters through the dishwasher and caring for the yard and looking after cars, and doing errands. And and I was always his partner in that, I think because a few reasons. He trusted me and wanted to empower me with the skills and the capabilities of of all of these tasks.

Lori Sugarman Li [00:04:34]: But also something I came to realize a little bit later was that I think my dad really benefited from having me as a bit of a sort of a shadow or, like, someone to keep him on track. I think he probably had some sort of beautiful

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:04:52]: neurodivergence that maybe kept him from staying sometimes focused on completion

Lori Sugarman Li [00:04:58]: of a task, and that was a skill of mine in which he recognized. And so he brought me in as a partner, and we spent so much time together in the home, in the community. He was very involved in charitable organizations and, you know, men's groups and whatnot, similar to a lot of your listeners. And I learned a tremendous amount from him. And it really has informed the work that I'm doing now.

Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:05:21]: And talking about what he did for you, what's one thing that your father did that made you truly feel seen, heard, and valued as a daughter?

Lori Sugarman Li [00:05:31]: Well, something really interesting about my dad, he was the dad of two girls, two daughters, and he really never gendered our upbringing. He took me to hockey games. He bought me my first toolbox and taught me how to use all the tools. I mean, aside from one really beautiful thing that he did that brings me to tears, which is whenever my sister and I had the opportunity to get dressed up for anything, he used to stand a