Why I Started The Outdoor Dad Co

I have a good life.

Good job. Great family. A house in the Milwaukee suburbs with enough yard for my young kids to run, play and have a real childhood. We even have enough room for chickens and ducks. By most measures I've hit the milestones a young millennial dad should.

Almost four years ago my wife Mandy and I were blessed with our first son, Gavin. At that moment — like any new dad — I had a lot of ideas about how I was going to raise my kid the right way and give him the best shot at life.

That's when I started paying attention to things I never noticed before. A lot of my observations were around how other parents were raising their kids. There was one common denominator — screens.

Most parents are aware of the impact screen time has on their kids and try their best to limit it. New parents often say things like "when I become a parent, my kids will never —" and then fill in the blank. I was no different. I had a lot of big ideas about how I'd raise my kids. But reality has a way of humbling you. When push comes to shove, screens keep your kid quiet and captivated when you need it most.

I'd watch parents at restaurants hand their kid an iPad before they even had a chance to look at the menu. I saw toddlers who could navigate a tablet before they could tie their own shoes. From the doctor's office to the airplane — kids were on screens everywhere. I started thinking long and hard about how and when my kids would interact with them, knowing that eventually screens become a necessary part of life.

I grew up in an era where your parents sent you outside in the morning and you came home when the street lights came on. You knew where your friends were because that's where all the bikes were piled in the front yard. You spent all day running around with the neighborhood kids. Nobody organized it. Nobody planned it. We were just outside being kids.

I want that for my kids.

About five years ago my wife and I sold our urban bungalow downtown and bought my grandparents' home in a suburban neighborhood that feels more like the country. We live on a quiet street where the houses are spread out. Great neighbors — but they can't look out their window and see what we're having for dinner. Something shifts when you trade concrete for grass. Becoming a backyard chicken farmer was definitely not on my bingo card. But the lifestyle shift had me paying attention to different things.

Screens were something I kept paying attention to as I navigated the transition from dad of one to dad of two.

The moment this brand really started taking shape was on a very long road trip to Florida with my wife and kids. Flights were astronomical that spring break week so we made the fiscally responsible — and very questionable — decision to strap the cartop carrier on my 4Runner and make it a road trip. I can tell you one thing: there was no distance too far to escape the depths of a Wisconsin winter.

This road trip was the moment I thought I'd finally cave on my self-imposed vendetta against kids on screens. But I didn't — though I'll admit, I had that iPad locked and loaded just in case things went sideways. I spent more time building the perfect mousetrap of activities, coloring books, snacks and games to keep the kids entertained than I did packing my own bag.

And it worked.

The effort was completely worth it. And as I was putting that mission impossible plan together, I realized this mattered to me more than I thought.

That's really when The Outdoor Dad Co started taking shape.

Not just as a business or a side hustle. More as a belief that there are a lot of dads out there like me — guys who grew up outside and want that same childhood for their kids. Like me, they aren't anti-technology but are deeply pro-childhood. It was time to build something to help thread that needle.

The Outdoor Dad Co is a brand that gets it. Outdoor experiences create memories and ODC is here to make it easy. Dads also need a community of like-minded people — a brotherhood in a world full of mommy groups. Dads who choose the backyard over the couch, the campfire over the TV and an afternoon of fishing over a computer screen any day.

Stay tuned for weekly Bonfireside Chats. Explore the website and see if something speaks to you. We're on the ground level of something great. Stick with me.

That's Vol. 1.

Get outside. 🦆

Adam | Founder | The Outdoor Dad Co