Celebrating Father’s Day with Thrive Market Dads

With Father’s Day just around the corner, we asked a handful of dads here at Thrive Market what fatherhood means to them. While the Father’s Day celebrations may look a bit different this year, one thing remains the same: Being a dad is one of the “most exquisite joys and the most humbling challenges,” as one of our team members put it. Ready for some feel-good messages? Here are some of the other things these dads had to say.

What’s the most meaningful thing about being a dad?

Jared Otto, Resolutions Team Lead: The most meaningful thing about being a dad to me is teaching my son and daughter to love and care for those around them: their family, friends, and others. They already have so much unconditional love, and I want to foster that.

Tim Gibbs-Zehnder, Senior Production Designer: My wife and I are blessed to be the parents of two amazing, head-strong, heart-full teenage daughters. So, as the father in this equation, I have experienced the most exquisite joys and the most humbling challenges of my entire life. How do I empower my kids to be their best selves? How do I best partner with my wife in parenting? How do the four of us best enjoy and make space for each other? How do I help raise physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy human beings? How do I best equip them to survive my most ingeniously punny dad jokes? These are the questions I face daily.

Newton Truong, Senior Engineer, Data: Being a new dad comes with a lot of changes, especially the way you live and look at life. All the sudden you see the father, mother, and child in everyone and realize how precious our lives really are.

Doug Willoughby, VP, Member Services: Teaching! Everything from how to hit a baseball, cooking eggs, and riding a bike to the important things like personal responsibility, caring for the environment, self esteem, and treating everyone with respect.

Jeff Sato, Director of Data Analytics & Engineering: Being a dad is the best thing I’ve done yet in my life, and before becoming a dad I felt like I had done a lot of amazing things. Being a dad changed my perspective on the meaning of life and my perception of how to live. The most meaningful thing about being a dad is the ability to impact and shape who your kids become, while at the same time knowing that your impact is only a very small piece of the puzzle. It’s exciting, humbling and terrifying all at the same time and alternates between these three many times every day.

James Meeks, Head of Product + UX: I love being a dad. My children are my pride and joy and they bring so much light into this world. The most meaningful thing about being a dad is getting a chance to watch my children blossom into amazing little humans. Witnessing their journey from birth to now has been the most amazing experience for me and I’m just grateful that I was chosen to be their dad.

What do you love most about being a dad?

Meeks: The thing I love most about being a dad is the bond that I’ve built with my children. We’re very close and we have so much fun together. Everyday is an adventure and the smiles we put on each other’s faces are priceless.

Truong: It brings me great sadness to see what’s happening around the world because it’s easy to forget about people’s humanity. That’s why I love my wife and baby boy so much—they have taught me a great deal of what’s truly important. For that I’m grateful.

Willoughby: Just spending time with my kids, laughing, playing, using our imaginations, and exploring the world through their eyes.

Sato: The best part of being a dad is being able to act like a kid again and to see the world through that innocent and honest lens that only an untouched child can see the world. Everything is an opportunity and the singular goal is to have fun at all costs. As a dad, you get to join in and empower your children to live their best life, whatever that means to them. You get a new and refreshing perspective on how to live life in the moment and how to take advantage of every minute of every day.

Gibbs-Zehnder: As someone who sometimes gets carried away looking at all of my options, fatherhood has afforded me simplified choices. Absolutely nothing would stop me from putting my life on the line for my family. Realizing how deep my love is for them has actually been liberating. Good days. Challenging days. Wherever the adventure leads, I’m so grateful to be all in.

What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned from your dad?

Otto: There will always be more work to do and projects to complete but in a blink of an eye your kids will be grown. Put your family and kids first and you’ll never regret it. Also, coffee is your best friend.

Gibbs-Zehnder: I lost my own vibrantly engaged, physically fit father to pancreatic cancer a decade ago, and, among many things, I took to heart that none of us know how many days we have on this earth. With the days I have left, I want to be sure my daughters know they are cherished beyond measure.