Take that store-bought bunch of flowers and make it look you picked them out of a meadow this morning.
Josue Julio is an LA based model. His daughter, Elin, is 6.
I am 29 years old and was born in Panama. I moved to Southern California when I was 6 and I've called LA home ever since. Growing up I was a sponsored skater that had dreams of becoming a pro but I fell ill and had a near death experience. After recovering, I had Elin (the babe) but then I quickly realized that her mom wanted me out of the picture. So I battled for time in court and won.
Being a single dad is tough. During the early years I was fortunate enough to have an awesome family and community, which supported me. But one day, while 1studying at a coffee shop I met the girl of my dreams, Bailey, who is now my fiancée!
Every father has his story. This is a small glimpse into Josue's.
Goodnight Moon and The Giving Tree were heavy favorites growing up. Now she usually picks some random book followed by a bible story.
grateful, because I get to pursue and love my little babe!
Thank you so much for letting us feature you, Josue! Check out his super inspiring Instagram account.
Thomas is a soldier currently stationed at Ft. Mead.
Every father has his story. This is a small glimpse into Thomas's.
1. Sometimes, the connection to fatherhood is not immediate. Was it for you? And if not, was there a moment that you really felt, "Woah. I'm a dad."
a sense of purpose and responsibility.
Thanks for letting us into your adventure through fatherhood, Thomas! Check out his Instagram to follow along with his journey.
Thomas is a soldier currently stationed at Ft. Mead.
Every father has his story. This is a small glimpse into Thomas's.
1. Sometimes, the connection to fatherhood is not immediate. Was it for you? And if not, was there a moment that you really felt, "Woah. I'm a dad."
a sense of purpose and responsibility.
Thanks for letting us into your adventure through fatherhood, Thomas! Check out his Instagram to follow along with his journey.
Rodrigo is a soccer player and coach who lives in Australia.
I am 37 years old, born and bred in Australia from Chilean heritage. Happily married 6 years to my beautiful wife Yvette. Previous professional soccer player in Australia who still plays and works at a high school running a soccer program. The most important thing to me is family and I love being a dad to Luella and one on the way.
Every father has his story. This is a small glimpse into Rodrigo's.
1. Sometimes, the connection to fatherhood is not immediate. Was it for you? And if not, was there a moment that you really felt, "Woah. I'm a dad."
special. It is the greatest privilege and responsibility I could ever have asked for. I had always dreamed of being a dad and now that I am, I can say with certainty that nothing I have ever done in my life compares.
Thanks for letting us into your adventure through fatherhood, Rodrigo! Check out his Instagram to follow along with his journey.
Nate Gunn is a producer/director from Salt Lake City.
Dad to Remy and Husband to Tayler. Born and raised in Southern California. Grew up spending most of my time surfing, camping, filming, picture taking, enjoying the outdoors.
Currently my family and I live in a little home near the foot of the mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah. I have a production company working as a commercial producer/director. My wife and I have a couple fun ventures and own a baby wearing Co called WildBird.
Every father has his story. This is a small glimpse into Nate's.
1. Sometimes, the connection to fatherhood is not immediate. Was it for you? And if not, was there a moment that you really felt, "Woah. I'm a dad."
I think what I was feeling is really an unspoken topic. I'd say a lot of new Dads feel the same. When Tayler was pregnant I didn't feel a super strong connection to Remy. I was beyond excited, nervous and I had this idea in my head of what life was going to be like, but I for sure didn't feel that same amount of love that Tayler was feeling. Women are so much more connected with their unborn babies in a physical way.
I think there was a few moments right after Remy was born but I had that real "Woah. I'm a dad" moment like 2 days after Remy had arrived. We had just got home from the hospital that day and Tay was tired and so I had Remy on my chest and he was sleeping. Out of nowhere I just felt this overwhelming sense of love and I seriously broke down. We started laughing because it was so random but in that moment, being home, it just all became so real and I had never really been happier.I'm excited to surf with my boys. We were 4 brothers growing up and cruising down to Mexico or wherever and surfing with my Dad are for sure some of my favorite memories.
I hope to influence a tradition of hard work and living a life doing things they're truly passionate about.
purpose and meaning.
Huge thank you to Nate for being so open. Please check out his inspiring work on Vimeo and and his amazing Instagram account. His partner Tayler is also super talented and inspiring as well!
Brandon Elder is blogger from Chicago.
If you told me 5-10 years ago that I would be married and be a father, I would have thought you were crazy. Not because I disliked the idea, I just never really thought about it. I spent the last 15 years traveling the world, living overseas, and working for social justice movements so I guess that I didn’t ever feel settled enough to think about having a family of my own. I ended up moving to Chicago where I met Michelle (the other & better half of MA + PA) and everything changed. I wanted to put down roots and start a family. We got married and then exactly one year later, on our anniversary, we had our darling daughter, Emerson. Next up, a big move to Durham, NC, so wish us luck!
Every father has his story. This is a small glimpse into Brandon's.
Being a new parent isn’t ever easy with the many adjustments you make to your once childless lifestyle. Probably one the most difficult things, which wasn’t particularly unexpected, has been adjusting to the lack of sleep, at least during those weeks and months where Emerson had trouble with it. Luckily we seem to be past that now, and she normally sleeps through the night with no issues. Still, the struggle to stay focused, to feel balanced and to keep stress levels down while trying to juggle work life with everyday responsibilities, all while trying to give Emerson the attention she needs, has not always been easy.
A few favorite books of mine that come to mind are The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, any of the Moomin stories (Moomin being a popular Finnish/Swedish character written by Tove Jansson), and Where the Wild Things Are which is an obvious classic. Emerson loves her books and while I’m not sure that she has any one particular favorite (we read books with her A LOT), she seems to enjoy Baby Likes To Boogie more than some of the others. Also the Spot A Lot books and Time For Bed by Jane Dyer is a nighttime favorite of hers.
A deep kind of love that I never knew existed.
Thanks for letting us profile you, Brandon! Please check out his blog, MA + PA. He and his wife, Michelle, are posting from both mom and dad's perspective. Really good stuff!
Zach McDuffie is an world-traveling photograher and entrepreneur.
I moved to Costa Rica straight out of college with $3000 and a dream, which grew to become the School of the World, a surf/yoga/Spanish/ photography school for travelers + boutique hotel. I went on to become a travel expert in learning vacations and a photographer/ videographer, traveling and learning new things all over the world. I met my wife while working on a pilot for a travel show and we've been inseparable from that first moment. The birth of our daughter inspired my latest project, Sherpapa, which will be a brand that celebrates fatherhood and family adventures.
Every father has his story. This is a small glimpse into Zach's.
complete! I thought life was good before my daughter was born, but I had no idea how much better it would get with her in it.
Thank you for the feature you, Zach. Check out his work on ZplusN, visit him at the School of the World and be sure to follow Sherpapa.
Jeremy Roberts is an entrepreneur and designer in Portland.
I'm from Brazoria, Texas - a small town an hour south of Houston. I grew up playing sports, and I'm very close with my family. At the same time, I knew I wanted to leave - so I joined the Coast Guard when I was 17 and was stationed first in Bayonne, then Petaluma. At this point I started paying closer attention to tailored clothing and design. After spending time in San Francisco throwing parties, I moved to NYC and enrolled in FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology) then Parsons. I studied strategic design and management, and also started apprenticing in tailor shops. A little while later I met Mihal, my wife now, who also circled in the fashion industry - as a writer. We lived together in NYC for a few years and knew, pretty soon into it, that we wanted to have a baby. We even decided on the name: Elle if it was a girl, El if it was a boy. We eventually moved to Oregon where she's from, got married, and soon after had a baby boy - El Shane Roberts. 2 months after he was born I quit my 9-5 to start Roberts an American-made luxury suiting brand. I'm the CEO and design director, Mihal is the co-founder and CCO. Up until now I've been a stay at home dad during the day - and Mihal works at Intel - and we both do work for Roberts in the evening (I go well into the night). El is awesome. He flaps his arms when he runs, he blows kisses, and starts baby school in April.
Every father has his story. This is a small glimpse into Jeremy's.
like life has purpose.
Thank you for letting us feature you, Jeremy! Please check out his new venture Roberts. Unsolicited Tosan tip: Every man should have a well-fitting suit. Trust us.