Most dads will tell you the moment they found out they were going to be a father was one of the best days of their lives. For Sean, that moment came after eight years of waiting, praying, and not knowing if it would ever happen at all.
Sean and his wife experienced eight years of infertility before their twins Mason and McKenzie arrived. What followed was a rapid and beautiful expansion of their family — a three-year-old named Maddox and a ten-month-old daughter named Madeline completing a household of six. But the road to get there — and the losses along the way — shaped Sean into one of the most intentional fathers to appear on the Working Dads Podcast.
Host Johnathan Grzybowski sat down with Sean to talk about infertility, grief, faith, the decision to become a single-income household, and what eight years of waiting taught him about showing up every single day.
Infertility Reframes Everything — Including the Hard Days
When Sean describes his experience as a father today — the exhaustion, the chaos, the unpredictable energy of four kids — he always comes back to the same reference point.
“Even on the tired, exhausted days, I wake up with the reminder of those times that we desired this and couldn’t have it. That’s what keeps me going.”
This is not toxic positivity. It is earned perspective. Sean and his wife spent eight years wanting exactly what now exhausts them at 6am on a Tuesday. That context doesn’t make the hard days easy. But it makes them bearable in a way that most dads who haven’t waited that long don’t fully access.
For working dads who are struggling with the daily grind of parenting — the sleepless nights, the tantrums, the impossible logistics — Sean’s story is a useful recalibration. Not every dad has the gift of eight years of longing to pull from. But every dad can choose to zoom out and remember what they actually have standing in front of them.
A Family Crisis Can Be the Catalyst for a Better Life Decision
Sean’s pivot to a single-income household was not purely philosophical. It was prompted by a convergence of events — the birth of twins, the sudden loss of his father shortly after, a move from Seattle to Texas, and a recalibration of values that came from grief and transition happening simultaneously.
“A big part of what had gone on for us was my father had passed shortly after my first twins were born. It was a recalibration of: what are our priorities?”
The financial math was also clear. Between childcare costs and the logistics of two careers with young children, a meaningful portion of the second income would have gone to paying someone else to raise their kids. For Sean and his wife, that was the tipping point.
The decision led to something remarkable. When Sean and his wife told their extended family they were moving to Texas, they asked family members to consider joining them. His sister-in-law arrived by November of that year. His in-laws by the following March. His mother just recently made the move from California.
One hard decision triggered a generational family migration. That is the kind of outcome that only happens when you are willing to ask the hard question: what do we actually want our life to look like?
Presence Is an Active Choice, Not a Default Setting
Sean spent twelve years as a pastor before transitioning into sales. That background in ministry — in showing up for people in their hardest moments — infuses how he thinks about fatherhood.
His advice to new dads on the Working Dads Podcast is among the most direct and honest the show has produced:
“Be present as much as possible. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually. You’re not gonna get it right. You’re gonna mess up more than you get it right. But don’t stop being present.”
He goes further: “For men, the temptation is to screw up and withdraw. The mentality of: I just can’t get it right, I don’t want to be the cause of this pain. But nobody gets it right. You’re not gonna be the perfect dad. Don’t let that be an excuse to not be present. Just keep showing up.”
And then the line that every working dad needs to hear: learn to apologize to your kids when you screw up. Let them see that adults get it wrong and still come back. That is not weakness. That is one of the most important things a father can model.
What Working Dads Can Take From Sean
Sean waited eight years for what you may take for granted on your worst day. He lost his father just as he was becoming one himself. He left a career in ministry, uprooted his family from Seattle, and built a life in Texas that eventually pulled his entire extended family toward him.
Through all of it — the infertility, the grief, the career change, the chaos of four kids under seven — the through line is the same: keep showing up. Even when you’re exhausted. Even when you got it wrong yesterday. Even when you don’t have the right words.
Just show up again today.
On the Working Dads Podcast, Sean proves that the greatest generation of fathers is not the one that gets it right every time. It is the one that keeps coming back.
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.
