Dads in the Limelight – Kenyon Zitzka of the Zero Xcuses Podcast

Thanks again for this opportunity! My name is Kenyon Zitzka and I’m a husband to my lovely wife Jaimee, a father to my beautiful daughter (3.5 yo) Jaimee, Port Engineer for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Ship NANCY FOSTER (R-352), soon-to-be retired Master Chief Petty Officer Navy Reservist and host of the Zero Xcuses Podcast. 39 years old (going on 25…) and reside in Charleston, SC. My main mission is to help men (though there are women who resonate with my message…..) build rock-solid discipline so they can regain control over their time, improve their health, build wealth and forge meaning relationships.

The main ways I look to reach people is through my website:

The Zero Xcuses Podcast:

And the Zero Xcuses Facebook Group:

I met my wife Jaimee in 2007 shortly after moving Rochester, NY when I transitioned from active duty Navy to the Reserves. We married in 2009 and had our daughter Piper in 2014. I grew up just outside of Buffalo, NY and my family is the typical blue-collar, hard working family! My Mom still resides in our child-hood home but I unfortunately lost my Father to leukemia in 2000.

I’m a pretty level headed and patient guy but becoming a father has definitely test the patience part the most! What I’m realizing is that it’s just the fact that my daughter doesn’t understand the world around her as much as I do. I have to remind my self of that and use those moments as teaching points for my daughter.

Never, ever use your kids as an excuse to not stay in shape, keep your finances in order, not continue to pursue your dreams, etc.. There seems to be a misconception that those things have to go to the way side once you become a father. If you ask me becoming a father means that you have to double down on those things. There’s more at stake. I want to be around a very long time for my family, I want my family to have those precious experiences and I want my daughter to see a great example of how to live a great life.

Easy. There’s no such thing for me…they’re one and the same. Being a parent is a part of my life. If my wife or I need some ‘me time’ it’s no big deal to work that into our schedules. Boils down to communication and simply stating ‘I need to unplug for a minute’.

Quite simply that we all go through the same things. It’s very similar to my Navy career in that the leaders that we look up to went through similar challenges that we currently face. Same thing goes for being a father.

The good does indeed out weigh the bad. When it’s bad, you tend to forget this. Always remember that nothing worthwhile comes without work & effort. Kids are going to cry, get hurt, get sick, wake you up in the middle of the night when you have to be at your best the next day, etc. For those new or soon-to-be fathers, start war-gaming these situations in your mind; how can you prepare an epic response to these situations?

Just exposing my daughter to as many experiences as I can. For example, I talk a lot about when my brother and I used to drive race cars and she’d been asking to see the race cars. So one weekend me & her took a trip to Myrtle Beach Speedway. She fell asleep on the 90 minute ride up there and when I woke her when we got there she asked me how soon we could ‘drive the race cars?’ Well, when I broke the news that we were only there to watch she got upset! One of the speedway officials saw her crying (little blonde girl crying gets some attention, i guess!) and asked her why she was crying. Long story short, when the official heard why she was crying he arranged for us to ride in the pace car to start one of the feature races! Made a life-time memory for both of us! Now she wants to drive everything…boats, cars, race cars, planes, etc.

One last thing I’d like to say…..

We often underestimate what children are capable of. We have to let our kids explore, experiment, and sometimes fail to create those memorable experiences. Not all memorable experience should be “good” (those are some serious air quote I’m throwing up as I type this…..). We have to create an environment where our kids are ok with “failing” (more serious air quotes) every now and again. My big mantra is praise the effort, not the result. Then offer feedback.