
Episode #341
His 2-Year-Old Asked Him to Put His Phone Away
Three things you'll learn: The simple 5:30 to 7:30 rule Matt uses to be fully present every single day β and what it took to finally stick to it Why Matt says the partner you choose either pushes you to be your best self or doesn't β and how his high school sweetheart has been the quiet engine behind everything he's built How Matt and his wife went from communicating like teenagers to building one of the most intentional marriages he knows β and the shift that made it happen What we cover: 00:00 β Introduction Matt Campbell, Business Development Director at Advertise Purple, co-creator of Dadgood, husband, and father of two 00:00 β Finding out he was going to be a dad The honeymoon. The surprise. The pressure of providing that hit before the baby even arrived. 00:00 β The first three months Taking shifts. High anxiety. And the moment life finally started to feel normal again around month six 00:00 β From one kid to two Why going from one to two took a full six to twelve months to find a rhythm β and why two years in he's finally hitting his stride 00:00 β The 5:30 to 7:30 rule Phones away. TV off. Fully present. How Matt built the habit and why it took four years to actually get there 00:00 β The wake up call When his two-and-a-half-year-old asked him to put his phone away β and the look from his wife that followed 00:00 β Staying organized with ADHD The paper notebook. The daily priority list. Why if it's not written down it doesn't get done 00:00 β High school sweethearts Meeting at seventeen. Going to the same college. Growing up together. And why communication was the thing they had to unlearn and rebuild 00:00 β Moving from California to the Midwest Leaving his best friends behind. Building community from scratch. And what it did for his mental health to finally let new people in 00:00 β The Dadgood community Why Matt helped build a space for dads to show up authentically β and what winning at home actually means 00:00 β Letting go of relationships that don't serve you The groomsmen he doesn't talk to anymore. The bar invites that stopped coming. And why thirty hit different About Matt Campbell Matt Campbell is the Business Development Director at Advertise Purple, co-creator of the Dadgood community, Division One baseball alum, husband to his high school sweetheart, and father of a four-and-a-half-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. He lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. LinkedIn: [Matt's LinkedIn] Dadgood Community: [link] 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 β founders, executives, investors, and everyday fathers β 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. No gurus. No highlight reels. Just real talk. New episode every week Subscribe to Built During Bedtime β our weekly newsletter for working dads Join the community β Slack and Facebook group Subscribe & Connect Spotify: [link] Apple Podcasts: [link] YouTube: [link] Newsletter: [link] Slack: [link] Facebook Group: [link] LinkedIn: [link] Website: [link] 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 β 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 β 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.

