Thank you for checking out my podcast. I'm Matthew Krekeler, proud father of two daughters. Caley is two and a half, and she just started Preschool. And Nora was born in June and loves learning from her big sister.
My wife and I have been happily married for 6 years, and we're journeying through the challenges and many joys of raising our family, while we both work full time.
My wife, Becca, has a Masters in Social Work, along with her LCSW and she works with survivors who have experienced sexual assault or domestic violence... and I'll also mention she had an unmedicated delivery with our second child... so yeah... she's pretty amazing.
And I went to Film School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and have been working in video production for over 10 years.
I love what I do, and have many hobbies from designing board games, to hockey, to creating escape rooms, but my greatest love is being a dad. So I started this podcast as a passion project to connect with other dads, share stories, and hopefully inspire a generation of great fathers.
The name of this podcast was inspired by a phrase made popular by Kobe Bryant.
In an interview, Kobe Bryant was asked how he would react if he had another girl after already having three daughters, and without hesitation he said, "I would have 5 more girls if I could. I'm a 'girl dad.'" This podcast is not to exclude or devalue fathers of sons, but to reverse the stigma of raising girls.
For all of the girl dads, if you have ever been asked when you'll "try for a son." Or felt pressure to "pass on the family name." Or had someone assume you'd be disappointed by not having a boy. Then you know what I'm talking about. I hope to speak to all fathers, but especially to acknowledge those fathers raising daughters because we are given a special calling. As girl dads, we are challenged to navigate a world of girls that we are not naturally familiar with, but it is worth the effort.
Fatherhood is so important. How we raise our kids directly effects the future. It impacts our wellbeing, our families, and our communities. We have a tremendous responsibility to the future men, and women of our society. In many ways we have let them down. We let them down when we prioritize our careers over our families. Or we pass on our anger, fears, or prejudices to those who look up to us. And still in our culture, there is a societal preference for sons over daughters.
Now is the time for positive change! To empower our daughters. To build strong fathers, strong families, and a strong NATION.
And it starts with US.