Chris Yeager has been married for 22 years. His son is 21. His daughter is 20. Both are living independently. Both are building their own lives. And when Chris talks about what he’s most proud of as a father, he doesn’t point to their résumés or their GPAs.
He points to the fact that they can function on their own.
A lifelong sales professional now working in real estate, Chris sat down with Working Dads host Johnathan Grzybowski to talk about what 22 years of marriage actually looks like, why he had his kids ordering their own food at age five, and the one parenting principle he says most parents get completely wrong.
Gratitude Is the Secret Ingredient in a Long Marriage — Not Love
When Chris’s younger brother-in-law recently got married and asked him for the one key to a successful marriage, Chris’s answer surprised him.
Not communication. Not compromise. Not love — though love is required.
Gratitude.
“I really feel like I just got so lucky with my wife. She’s incredible. She’s flawed like every other human being. And she would say the same thing about me. That level of gratitude — feeling lucky to be with each other — has gotten us through a lot.”
Chris and his wife have been through good times and hard times. The gratitude didn’t eliminate the hard times. It changed how they navigated them. When you genuinely feel fortunate to have your partner, you give them grace differently. You fight differently. You come back differently.
For working dads: when was the last time you told your wife that you feel lucky to have her — and meant it specifically, not generally?
Sales Is the Best Parenting Tool Nobody Talks About
Chris spent decades in sales and sales management. And somewhere along the way, he realized that the skills he used to build relationships and close deals were the same skills his kids needed to navigate the world.
So he started training them. Not in a classroom. At the dinner table and in restaurants and on the phone.
“We make them go and talk to strangers in a controlled environment. At McDonald’s. At Subway. They’re gonna make their own order. At a restaurant, they’re gonna talk directly to the waiter.”
He started this at age five. The result: kids who could communicate with adults, make requests confidently, and handle situations independently long before their peers could.
“Sales has kind of been interwoven in what we do as a family.”
For working dads who are in sales, entrepreneurship, or any client-facing role: the skills that make you effective at work are directly transferable to raising confident, capable children. The question is whether you’re using them at home or leaving them at the office.
Stop Shielding Your Kids From Consequences
This is the hill Chris will die on. And the data supports him.
He watched other parents during his kids’ childhood intercept every consequence — defending their children to teachers, removing friction, ensuring their kids never had to feel the weight of their own choices. He and his wife made a deliberate decision to do the opposite.
“Don’t shield your children from the consequences of their behavior. They need to understand — because you can go and make excuses for your kid to the teacher, or you can let them deal with it.”
The outcome of that philosophy is standing in front of him right now. A 21-year-old son who moved six hours away by choice. A 20-year-old daughter who relocated to Raleigh and is building her life independently. Two young adults who don’t need their parents to survive.
“Knowing that if something happened to my wife and me tomorrow, my kids are going to be fine. That’s where I’m proud as a parent.”
What Working Dads Can Take From Chris Yeager
Chris Yeager is a 22-year married, lifelong sales professional who trained his kids to talk to strangers at age five, refused to shield them from consequences, and raised two adults who left the house ready for the world.
His recipe is not complicated. Stay grateful for your partner. Align on the big things and protect that alignment. Use the skills you’ve built professionally to raise capable kids. And get out of their way when consequences come.
On the Working Dads Podcast, Chris reminds us that the goal of parenting is not to keep your kids safe forever. It is to prepare them to be safe without you.
Working Dads is the podcast for fathers figuring out work, family, and everything in between. Hosted by Johnathan Grzybowski, co-founder of Penji. New episodes every week.
