Our 634th Dad in the Limelight is Mark Timm. I want to thank Mark Timm for being a part of this series. It has been great getting connected with him and now sharing Mark Timm with all of you.
1) Tell me about yourself, (as well as how you are in the limelight for my readers knowledge)
I am the CEO of the most valuable business in the world – My Family. For years, I have been experimenting with innovative ways to leverage my business success to win at home. It all fell into place a few years ago when I incorporated my family into a business and began thinking of my family as the most valuable business in the world. Since that point the results have been nothing less than staggering for me and for my family. I share this journey with others at www.marktimm.com. There you can sign up to receive a free ebook for anyone who wants to understand more of how they can implement this proven strategy with their family. I also share on FB, twitter, Instagram.
When not helping other dads I am the President and CEO of the company I co-founded 15 years ago, Cottage Garden, Inc. We are the #1 supplier of musical gift products in North America.
If you want to hear more about what I have done with my family, incorporating it as a business and the positive impact that this made, you can listen to my Dad Spotlight Podcast interview too!
2) Tell me about your family
I have one amazing partner in this business of family: my wife, Ann. We are the parents of six of the coolest kids on the planet — three boys (Markus, Kavyn, Zachary) and three girls (Mary, Cassandra & Grace).
Our mission is to empower our family to, “Love God, Live Right and Lead All Out.” All six kids are equal share holders of our family business and participate actively in growing the bottom line and equity value of our family.
3) What has been the largest challenge you have had in being a father?
I spent years challenged by integrating my business life and family life. There were days that I would make more than 100 decisions in my business with confidence and clarity but I would struggle to make the first three decisions that hit me as I walked into the door of my own home.
I also struggled with my leadership role at home. At work there was a clear structure and chain of command, but at home the structure was fuzzy and the chain of command was anything but clear.
Thankfully, that chaos ended for my wife and me when I discovered a way to bring these two worlds together.
4) What advice would you give to other fathers?
The advice I would give to other fathers is to remind them they were put on this earth to lead their families. And the catch here is if they are not – then someone or something else is. You see your family is always being led now it may be being led by television, or video games, or friends/family but mark my words your family is being led. Once you embrace that it makes it much easier to step up and lead in the way we were called to lead. The great fallicy as a father is that you can just survive and that is the definition of success but we all know that to really success as a family we need to thrive!
5) How have you come to balance parenthood and outside life?
This is a tough one because the older I get the more wisdom I acquire I do not balance nearly as many things. You see the older I get the fewer times I say YES to anything that is not work or family related! I used to feel obligated or even guilty if I said “no” to something that I could do or should do. Now I have learned to say “no” to so many more things because my YES at home is so clear. I have 5 teenagers at home who all need their dad – so it had better be in the urgent and critical column for me to put it on the balance scale. Indeed there are many things I would like to do and I am at peace with knowing I will have the back half of my life for them to enjoy them all with my wife when my kids have moved on from our home.
6) What have you learned from the fathers that you have interacted with?
In talking with other dads I have learned that we all need to help and encourage each other more. It is the greatest lie that to ask for help as a dad is a sign of weakness. I think weakness is not asking for help. We are in this together. I am so thankful to see more and more blogging dads who are putting themselves out there to share their success and failures for other fathers to learn from.
7) What else would you share regarding your experiences as a father thus far?
When I was a young father I had so many things that I wanted to impart and ensure my kids learned. The irony is that the older I get the shorter my list gets because I am learning that success in life does not have to be so complicated. I remember back to my own father as I graduated from HS and left his home – by that point all he wanted to make sure I knew was 1) the value of a dollar 2) how to work hard and 3) that I was responsible and would take full responsibility for my actions. For years, I thought success in life could never really be that simple. And here I am, with an 18 year old and my list is not much different from his and gets shorter each year. So what I have learned is we tend to make things so much more complicated today then they need to be. Our fathers and grandfathers may have just had it right with what I shared above!! We need more of all of these 3 things today in our kids.
8) What have been the most memorable experiences that you have had thus far as a parent?
I have top memories at each stage of my kiddoss lives from birth to now. However, I would say one of my top recent memories was a chat with my 18 year son just before I put him on a plane to spend 6 months in China learning Mandarin and Kungfu. Just before he left we spent the day together just hanging out and talking and at one point he looked me in the eye and said thank you dad for never giving up on me. I was not always the easiest kid and I often questioned your wisdom. But you never quit teaching me and loving me and I and so thankful you did not! That moment made so many tough moments worth it and gave me the fuel I needed to do the hard work with the rest of his siblings. AND since they are all teenagers it is HARD WORK!!
If you have any questions for Mark Timm, please leave a comment here and I will make sure that he gets them so that he may be able to respond!
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The post Dads in the Limelight – Mark Timm appeared first on Dad of Divas.