The Map to Manhood

Growing up without a dad in the home has challenges. James learned this firsthand, having been raised by a single mother as the youngest of five kids. Many challenges are practical in nature, but the deepest challenges are emotional. James wasn't aware of how significant those challenges were until well into adulthood.While James was a teenager, there were a number of positive adult male role models that came into his life to fill the void of an absent father. One of them was Mark Gould. In many ways, Mark became a surrogate dad to James, opening his home, taking him camping, and even showing him how to ride a motorcycle and change the brakes on his mother's car.To pay Mark's kindness forward, as well as others', James started a non-profit organization, a YouTube channel, and an Instagram page to help young men growing up without their dads. James and his wife Suzanne have raised five children of their own, all of whom are now adults. Growing up in a single parent home, James has tremendous admiration and respect for those mothers who find themselves raising children by themselves. He also has deep empathy for kids growing up without a dad in their day-to-day lives.You can learn more at https://www.youtube.com/c/MyStepdad or mystepdad.org.