We’re In This Village Together | Lance Somerfeld

This week’s episode features father of two, husband, and City Dads co-founder Lance Somerfeld. Lance frequently contributes to the conversation about modern fatherhood and has appeared on local and national television, including CNN, Fox News, Today, and Katie. Lance talks about living in New York City as a father, how he went from public school teacher to a stay-at-home dad, the formation, growth, and purpose of City Dads and how they are single-handedly helping thousands of men become more confident and involved fathers.

Key Takeaways:

[1:50] Lance Somerfeld shares the background of how he went from public school teacher to stay-at-home dad. He and co-founder Matt Schneider started City Dads in November 2008 and it has been going strong for 10 years with 34 cities in the U.S. and nearly 11,000 members. They wanted a place for dads to go to feel welcome and able to connect with other fathers and kids in a fun and meaningful way.

[18:02] City Dads works with brands in a long-lasting personal relationship on campaigns and products crafted from the perspective on dads. They have worked with Dove on the messaging for their March Madness NCAA Tournament ad and partnered with Britax to help dads learn all about using car seats correctly.

[24:34] Lance has been married for almost 14 years, and together they have a 9-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. City Dads not only provides great opportunities for the dads but gives the kids another great group of friends outside of their school.

[34:56] As both an active parent and son, Lance found it interesting to see his dad and stepdad as modern grandfathers as they learn and adapt to the times today.

[39:11] Lance found the biggest challenge of fatherhood early on was learning to navigate a life where you had to plan and saying goodbye to a lot of spontaneity and free personal time!

[43:16] One perk of City Dads is new fathers learning from those who have already been through it and made it out of the other side.

Mentioned in This Episode:

City Dads

[email protected]

The Modern Dads Podcast

Quotes:

• “Everything I had done during the course of my life, like going to school and college, was preparing me for my career. Nothing that I had done previously ever really prepared me to be a dad.”
• “When I became a parent I couldn’t believe that I had to dictate orders to my parents on how to handle my own child.”
• “I think it’s a very exciting time to be a dad right now, on so many levels.”