The Girl Dad Network with Madeline Anderson

You can love your daughter more than anything and still feel like you’re speaking different languages. That’s the tension we dig into with Madeline Anderson, founder of Girl Dad Network and author of Girl Dad, as we get honest about what actually builds a strong father daughter relationship and why so many families drift into distance without meaning to.

We talk about how Madeline went from a UCLA business economics track and a finance career into a purpose-driven mission after realizing something was missing and stress was piling up. From there, we unpack what she noticed in college: a lot of young women carry real pain around their dads, often fueled by disconnects more than bad intent. Her key idea is powerful: it’s rarely a “dad problem” or a “daughter problem” so much as a communication translation issue, and translation can be learned.

Then we get practical. We cover how distractions and phones create an attention gap, why “including your daughter in your world” can be a game-changer, and how even a simple invitation to join you for football, golf, music, or errands rewrites the story she tells herself about her worth. We also break down a topic every dad of a teenage daughter should understand: hormonal cycles, mood shifts, and how to respond with grace without walking on eggshells.

If you want parenting tips that improve connection, reduce conflict, and help you become the steady North Star your daughter can trust, you’ll get a lot from this conversation. Subscribe, share this with a fellow dad, and leave a review with the one insight you’re taking into your home.

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Welcome to The Brad Weisman Show, where we dive into the world of real people, real life, and everything in between with your host, Brad Weisman! 🎙️ Join us for candid conversations, laughter, and a fresh take on the real world. Get ready to explore the ups and downs of life with a side of humor. From property to personality, we've got it all covered. Tune in, laugh along, and let's get real! 🏡🌟 #TheBradWeismanShow #RealPeopleRealLife 

Credits - The music for my podcast was written and performed by Jeff Miller. 

Transcript

Show Open And Guest Tease

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This is gonna be a good one, Hugo. The Brad Wiseman Show. Real people, real life, and everything in between. So, what do your kids think of this?

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Oh, they are so embarrassed.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

In order to be unstoppable, you simply don't give up. You get knocked down, you get back up again. Where curiosity opens the door to genuine connection. And really struggle with their emotions. They really struggle with even understanding what's going on. Unfiltered conversations with the people shaping our world. What kind of show is this? And there's red quilted leather all over the walls. There's a swing hanging from the ceiling. I mean, I don't sweat you. And now your host, Brad Wiseman. All right. Another week. Another guest. That's trying to another story.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Ah, you like that? You look pretty good off the cuff there, right? Yeah, you're like California. I'm on fire.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

That was a while ago. That was a while ago. And hope it's not too soon that they can they can take that, right? Yeah. That's true. But no, we got an awesome guest. Uh, you know, we had the dad nation guy, Mitch Mitchell Osman, right? And I was going through Instagram, and I think this is how I found her, going through there, and and I see something that looked

Meet Madeline And Her Mission

SPEAKER_02 1:14

like that. It's called the Girl Dad Network. And I was like, wait a minute. There's a lot of dad stuff going on, right? And I'm a dad, and I also have a daughter. So it was very intriguing to me. So I looked up this, this, this girl, and I was like, what is this about? And it's all about daughters and dads and the relationship between the two of them and how you make that function better and and just all this different stuff. So looked her up, was excited about it. I reached out to her, and guess what? She agreed to have a streaming show with us. Isn't that amazing? Yeah. So Madeline Anderson is with us today. She is thegirldadnetwork.com. All right. All right. And there she is. Look at that. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Hello. I'm doing great. How are you?

SPEAKER_02 1:57

I'm doing fantastic. I I, you know, if I was doing any better, I don't know. I'd probably blow up. I don't know. So yes, so you really intrigued me because of all the stuff you have going on Instagram and YouTube, and you've got a podcast, and you know, you've got a website and you do coaching, I think, for for this also. And you just got to let me know. I I don't even have this in my notes, but where did it come from? Because what was interesting, I I saw that you did, you went to to college, UCLA, for business economics. And and and you're not really doing that, I don't think, from what I can tell. And but you love what you're doing. How did you go from business economics to being the girl dad network?

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Yes. Okay. So I went to UCLA for BusyCon, like you said, I had this vision of working in finance and getting the internship and then getting the full-time gig. And I did that. And so I worked in finance for two and a half years. I liked it, but I liked the people and the social element and my team and the company. But something was always missing. And I had this sense, I'm very intuitive, and

From Finance To Writing Girl Dad

SPEAKER_00 3:11

I had a very strong sense that there's something big around the corner. I didn't know what it was, but I knew something was missing. And when I was driving one day in Santa Monica, I had this thought pop into my head that said, You should write a book called Girl Dad.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Are you kidding me? And you actually just had the thought that's the and you came up with a name right away.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yes, which is very rare for authors. I'm sure you know.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

That's not intuitive. That is that is like wild.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Psychic.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Psychic, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

I mean, some people get the whispers. We talked about this with I think Sam Demmo. We talked about that. And we talk about the whispers. I call them whispers, and you should listen to those voices. Yours was yelling at you.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Mine was yelling.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Yeah. Very aggressive. So go ahead. So you come up with the name right away.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Right. Which is so for typical, typically for authors, you know, you have this idea for a book, you write the book, and then you kind of base the name off of whatever themes come up or the way that the book goes. But for this, it was like very clear to me. No, this is the tail, this is the title of your book. And the next thought I had was call dad. And so I called my dad and I said, Hey, I just had this random thought. You know, I wasn't even thinking about work or what I should do with my life or anything like that. And I said, I had thought I should write a book called Girl Dad. What do you think? And he was like, Oh my gosh, you know, you gotta do it. You should talk about this story and talk about this and put in this.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

And he was all fired up. And so I just started writing the next day. And it was just a fun passion project as I was working in finance. And after COVID hit and I was running analyses in my bedroom, I was like, this is not for me. I actually got shingles. I was 22 years old and I was so stressed and so out of alignment with like my values. And I just needed a change. And so I had already been writing this book for a while, and it just kind of was the perfect time to shift careers and go a more creative route. And it's been the biggest blessing. I feel so much more in my flow state, and it's just it's been wonderful. And so that's kind of the story of switching from finance to author and and now having a podcast, Girl Dad the Podcast, which was another just kind of natural transition there. But the story of you know, why I maybe was even called to this in the first place was I have a wonderful dad. And I have two younger sisters, so he is a you know, three girl dad.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

And uh and you're the oldest, right? You're the oldest, yeah. I read that today because I was thinking maybe you were the baby, you know, because I because I could see like the the baby would be like, oh, really the girl dad. You know what I mean? I mean, because usually the youngest is the one that gets a little bit more attention. And I'm the youngest out of two boys, just me and my brother. So I, you know, the youngest typically get

Noticing The Need At College

SPEAKER_02 5:52

gets more little attention, but usually the actually the attention a lot of times from the mom on the youngest. So maybe, maybe it makes sense. The older, the older daughter got is close with the dad. But are they all close? Are you guys all close with your dad?

SPEAKER_00 6:02

We're all close, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

That's amazing, actually.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

And we're all really close with each other. It it is. I'm super, super lucky. And I think that was another theme. I didn't know how lucky I was when I was growing up. I just kind of figured this is a family, you know, like dad does these things, and that's normal for dad. But I went when I went to college, that's kind of when I realized just how dysfunctional everybody else is. I mean, yeah, it's it was sad. It is, it is warm, isn't it, isn't the healthy family? So I've made it my mission to support father-daughter relationships, and yes, it did kind of come through a little bit of you know, intuitive/slash psychic, if you want to call it that, um, direction. But I just feel like it's my purpose to support dads with their relationship with their daughters.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Did you hear at college girls that were having that had issues with the relationship with their father? I mean, there's there, you know, there has to be in anything that you do in life, you're you you see a need. You see it, you see something going on, and you're like, you know, because you're not gonna write a book about something if there's no problem with it, right? You know what I mean? It typically we write or we do something because we see a need. It doesn't have to be something that's terrible, but you must have seen stories or heard stories of of girls that were not close with their fathers and there was a disconnect or there was something going on. Is that what happened? And then that's when you started feeling, wow, I have something here that's a gift. And if I dissect this gift and I can figure out why it works so well, maybe others can can get that to work.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Yeah, that's exactly right. I saw a lot of girls who were talking, you know, poorly about their relationship with their dad and blaming him for things. And and it's a lot of times it's not even what the dad intends at all, you know, but there's disconnects and we can get into all kinds of things, you know, related to that. But, you know, my dad came the first day, helped me move in, helped with the setup and everything. And even right off the bat, there were girls saying, Wow, like your dad's awesome. Like my dad would never do that for me.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

And and then, you know, if my dad was in town, luckily I grew up only an hour from UCLA, so I would see my family relatively often. And if he was, you know, in LA for work or something, we would go grab lunch or dinner. And then I've, you know, heard comments like, Oh, you actually like your dad, like you would go do that with him. And so yeah, it was it was totally sad because I'm like thinking, I can't even imagine that life, you know, and and so, yes, part of me was always thinking that in the back of my mind, like, A, I'm so grateful, and B, like this is so sad. Yeah, but again, I never had a plan to make that my career. It just kind of became what it is, and it's been the most fulfilling career with so much impact felt, and it makes me feel so good when I hear from dads about the impact that I have on them and their family. But yeah, that was never it was never in my my cards or my life plan.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

So yeah, but it's cool. And here's my thing do you find that you're more effective in helping the girl or the dad or both at the same time? You know what I'm saying? Like, is it is it is it a dad problem or is it is it a daughter? Not a problem. Is it a dad issue? Issue, yeah, thank you. Issue, or is it is it a is it a daughter thing? You know, that's that's what I'm curious about.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Yeah, I mean, I think it's dynamic, it's both, it ha it has to be, right? It's a relationship takes two. So what I I don't think it's a dad problem or a daughter problem. I think it's a translation issue. Oh I think it's really a male, female different language, almost like a different language. Yeah, yeah. And it's a requirement for dads to understand their daughters.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Yeah, I I get that. I it it it's tough, you know. And boy, we're gonna we're gonna be gone here for a while because I I we haven't even hit anything yet. I didn't even say the first quote that I wanted

Translating Between Dads And Daughters

SPEAKER_02 10:03

to say in here, but because it's and I had this feeling because I have a daughter and she's gonna be 14 you know this week. And it it there it's tough. It it's a little easier. I'm from two boys. My dad's from four boys, okay. Now my mom obviously had like a sister and brother, but she wasn't real close. Well, she's close with her family now, but it's just different. And and I think what it is is we didn't have girls around. I just didn't. It wasn't, you know, my brother had two boys, you know. So I was the first one to have a girl. So we're all sitting there going, what do you do with this thing? You know what I mean? It's like, whoa, this is, you know, and but it it's great, but I love it. I truly love it. There's nothing like the the sweet heart of a of a daughter, you know. I mean, I call her pumpkin head. That's my that's my um her my word for her. I don't know where that came from. It just started and it's the way it's always been. But yeah, so I actually you know, I kind of struggle too. And how do you get close? How do you, how do you, you know, how do you have the same relationship that maybe you have with with a a son or something like that? It's it's it's not easy.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Yeah, I think for a lot of men it's it's not intuitive because a lot of men and women treat the opposite gender the way that they would like to be treated or what they value. And we have different values and we have different core needs and we have different methods of communication. And that's the biggest one, really, between fathers and daughters is kind of how we communicate. And I that's why when you ask the question, am I helping the dads or the daughters? I mean, I'm helping the dads understand their daughters so that they can communicate and connect better with them. And so therefore I am helping the daughters because it's her relationship too. But I go through the dads and really I like to be that kind of translator between dads and daughters, and that's why, yeah, I I'm not a dad. I'm not branding myself as a dad.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

No, but well, that's good, but that's to be a whole different show. Very interesting show, of course. Um Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

But I'm I'm providing kind of that daughter perspective and the woman perspective and help helping men understand the way that our brains work because it's complicated. Yeah, it is not easy, and we can, yeah, we can get into the hormones and stuff too, but it's very different from men. And so I think that's the biggest.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

But that's also the cool part.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

That's the cool part. You know, to me, you know, that's what I like. You know, like I said, I love my son, I love both my kids. I mean, so let's I just want to get that out because I know they're gonna listen to me list gonna be listening to this and going, Oh, you said this or you said that. You know, I love both of them. They're they're amazing kids, but it is it's it's just a different relationship with both. It really is. It's it, but it's great. So let's go in. One of the things that the quote here, I want to say this quote because I just thought it was really cool. And this is how what what I it kind of hit me right away was I want every girl to have a dad who is their North Star. And I want every dad to know the kind of beautiful relationship that comes from with earning that title. That is awesome. And it kind of it kind of puts it all together of when I read that, I was like, wow. And that's what I aspire to be for both my kids. You know, it's just instead of just saying girl or dad or or or boy, you know, being a dad and being a mom is not easy. You know, so now you throw the gender thing into it. So you can't just be, I can't be the same exact dad to my son as I am to my daughter. It's it is it because they're they're there, and it's it's the same way. Actually, if you had two daughters or three daughters, I'm sure your dad will tell you he has to be different with all three of you because you're each have a different personality. So there's not only just the it's the personality, then there's the gender, and then there's the age, the ages changes things a little bit dynamic because my son's 11 and my daughter's 14, so we're at different stages there. So it, you know, it's dissecting all of that. It it it becomes complicated. And I do you what if somebody says to you, well, I have if they say I have three daughters, and the and what if they get along with two of them, but not one of them?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Yeah, I I think that's actually really common, you know. Every every child is different. It's not just, oh, here's what works for every daughter.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

That's why I really love exploring that kind of male-female dynamic that's pretty true across the board.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Because I think that's the foundation for the relationship. And then you get into more of like hobbies and interests and personality. And those are those are all really different depending on each person.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

But starting with that foundational understanding of how to communicate with the daughter so that she hears you and doesn't spiral or storytell into something without you even recognizing. I think that's those are some of the most important things to start with.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Yeah. It's it's and and then also now what do the moms say about this?

SPEAKER_00 14:50

I talk to a lot of moms about this topic. I think, I mean, for the most part, they love it. I have great conversations because a lot of them, you know, are married, have husbands, and they see this kind of disconnect between their husband and their daughter. And they're like, Yeah, he they just he doesn't know how what to say or what to do. And I'm on a tennis team with a bunch of moms, and so I have these conversations often. And one of them was just texting me, telling me that her daughter just got her period for the first time.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

Oh boy, that's always that's always interesting. I remember that, I remember that day or week.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Yeah, right. Yeah, and it was just funny to hear he's like, I don't understand this, like what's happening, you know, and yeah, anyways, I yeah, I think it's well received with the moms because at the end of the day, it's improving the family dynamic too.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

And also most of what I teach that's you know, male and female goes for husband and wife too, and brother and sister.

Earning The North Star Role

SPEAKER_00 15:48

And so the more that the dad can uh understand women and understand how to connect with them, you know, it it improves relationships across the board.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Yeah, I and I agree with it. And it's funny, Mitch. That's why I said you gotta talk to Mitchell Osman because there's a lot of your stuff is very there's like a connection between the two. And he talks about his his topics more about being a better, better husband. And then and in return, you will you will be a better dad because whatever you're modeling to, whatever you're showing how to treat your wife, your kids will model that and they'll understand what what love is, they'll understand what respect is, and that will make them better finding relationships and being around people, you know, things like that. So he he gets into that, which is really interesting. So betting, you know, being a better husband. It's the same thing with you're saying if you're if your daughter, if your father-daughter relationship is is lacking, there's a good possibility your husband-wife relationship is probably dealing with the same things, it's just that it's on an adult level, so we're able to push it under the carpet.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Mm-hmm. So true.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Yeah. So do you see that? I would think.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I I talk about that all the time because, you know, uh when dads are worried about their daughter's dating or, you know, setting their daughter up for success in her adulthood, the biggest way to avoid that, you know, that daunting feeling is setting an example. So it's it's both it's your relationship with your partner and the way that you treat your daughter because you're creating her reality. She doesn't know anything besides what you create and what you teach her. And so if you are always giving her attention when she's asking, like, hey dad, look at this, you know, and you make her feel valued and you make her feel heard and important and loved, then if she grows up and some guys are kind of giving her interest, but they're not giving her that same attention and love and value, it's like that she doesn't know any different than feeling that love. So she doesn't accept that. She doesn't want that. It's not, it's foreign to her, right? And if if the opposite is true and she's not really feeling loved or heard or valued, then that's when she does look for attention, right? Because she she wants it so bad that we are wired to want attention and approval and love. And if we're not getting it in our home, that's you know, we look elsewhere and and we want those feelings. And so if a dad can support his daughter by loving her and providing that value and and making her feel heard and important, then I mean that's one of the greatest gifts you can ever give to your daughter.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

Absolutely. Greatest gift you can give to anybody, actually. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, as a whole, that's all we want. We want to be understood. We want to be loved. We want to uh there's something I was listening to recently, and it said, you know, more than more than saying you love your child, tell them that you believe in them. Because we throw the word love around pretty, pretty easily, I think today, and it's good. There's nothing wrong with that. I say to our we say to our kids all the time, we love them, and it's you know, it's just the way we are, it's the way we feel, but also saying that you believe in them because believing in somebody is different. You can love somebody and not believing in them, in them. Yeah. So it's just an interesting topic there with that. But let's go into some other things here. So I have down here do you do you do you feel that this is something new? Or is it is this something that has become more of a challenge in in our lives because we're not sitting around maybe the dinner table every night. We're not we're in our devices, we are on the go, we are busy, we're not maybe paying attention to our kids as much as we should be. And I think it's interesting too, is we we as adults, we gripe and complain and bitch about how our kids

Devices And The Attention Gap

SPEAKER_02 19:36

are in our their devices. And I'm just as guilty as they are. There's many times where I'm sitting there going, oh my God, I'm doing it, you know, where I'm not paying attention or I'm not involved and or I'm not listening when I should be. So once again, we're they're gonna mirror whatever we are doing, you know. Uh, but do you find that? Is that the biggest challenge? Like, what is the thing that you're that the dads are saying, you know what, I I I'm not able to connect because of this?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Yeah, well, your first part of the question about, you know, is this new? I think it's just different because if I think about like my grandpa and kind of like that era of dynamics, I think it was way more traditional with like father is works, mother, you know, maybe cooks and cleans and takes care of the kids, and you eat as a family together at the dinner table, but the connection, yeah, it it wasn't really emphasized as much. So I feel like fathers and daughters didn't connect as much, didn't have as strong, as strong of a bond as people are really making an effort to create now. But then there's also more distractions now. And so it is, it's just different, you know. Like you said, the the phones are a huge distraction and attention killer and a wall that gets put in between fathers and daughters and it comes from both sides. But I think like one of the challenges of today's society, but also something that's really easy to fix, is just including your daughter in your world. And so this is one of my biggest tips for what does that look like? Yeah, so let's say you like to golf. This is what this is actually very true for my relationship with my dad. So he has always liked to golf when I was a little girl. He could have, you know, spent hours on the golf course away from home, away from me. And instead, he just brought me with him. So he would go golfing with his friends, but I'm now riding in the cart. And I would at first just be there for you know the wildlife, like at seeing some bunnies and like running around

Simple Ways To Include Her

SPEAKER_00 21:38

on the grass and just being a little kid. And then as I got older, he bought me a little Snoopy set. So I had a driver, a putter, and an iron. Yeah. And so then I would start kind of hitting some shots every now and then, but it made me feel included and important and valued. And then, you know, fast forward to high school, I was on the high school team. I was a catch. And yeah, and then now. That's cool. I play golf with my dad all the time.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

All three of us do.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

I think there's pictures. I've seen pictures or whatever, whether they're actually you guys or not, but it's I saw pictures of you guys somebody golf course, the two of you, or something like that. Yeah. I do remember that now. Yeah. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

That's one example, but I there's so many, and it really just depends on how you're spending time. So, like if you like football, do you like football?

SPEAKER_02 22:21

I'm not a real sports guy. I watch football more now than I ever did because my son's into it, you know. Okay, there you go. I was a musician. I was an actor, musician, did all that kind of stuff. Creating, creative stuff. More of musician than anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Yeah. Well, there's ways to include your daughter in the street. Oh, she's a singer.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

So it's it's been this has been my it's my dream come true. I mean, both of my kids can sing. Carson doesn't like to sing as much, but he can sing. He's got pitch. But my daughter has definitely taken that by the by the horns, and she's acting, singing, dancing. She's yeah, she's really doing a good job of that.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

That's amazing. I you do not want to hear me sing. I'll tell you what.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Well, you could if you want to. You mean you could audition right now for she's like, no.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Nobody wants this.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

You will lose his friends. The show, the show will end at that moment, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Yeah, but but like a lot of dads like to watch football on Sundays, for example. And this is actually a good example of a male-female disconnect as well. So if you're a dad and you're watching football and you're in the zone and you're really loving it, and your daughter comes and she wants, you know, your attention for something, but you're like, hold on, you know, like this is important. The stories that she tells herself is often like, I don't matter as much as the TV. You know, my dad doesn't have time for me, I am not worthy of his attempt and attention.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

But the minute that you include your daughter in your world, that shatters all those narratives. So if football Sunday, you know, every morning you ask your daughter, hey, you want to watch football with me today? Even if she says no, yeah, now this story of her not being wanted, now she's included.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

Right. Because she can't keep staying, she can't say that story or tell that story in her head if you were invited.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Even if you don't want to do it, you're yeah, exactly. That makes sense. Makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

And if you buy her a football jersey, you know, with your favorite team or something, and you like ask her to sit on the couch with you and hang out, and you're you get to watch football, but now she feels like, oh, dad wants me here. Yeah, you know, I'm I'm wanted, I'm included. The all those feelings of disconnect and I'm not worthy, they go away. So that's just a simple example of how to include your daughter in your world and still make times for the things that you love because that's a really important thing. You know, I I think dads need to be happy, should be happy. I want them to be happy, and it sets the tone for the family. I think everyone in the family should be happy.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Well, somebody's miserable, it's not it's not like you want to be around them anyway.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

You know, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

Everybody needs it's amazing. I love it. I love it. So it was as I was saying here, it was just me and my brother when I said growing up before, and he used to beat the crap out of me. My brother did. We beat the crap out of each other. Now, do you find that that it's different with like your with your sisters? Like, there wasn't that going on, right? You didn't have that. Dad didn't have to break up fights and things, right? No, it was probably stealing stealing facial products or something from each other. You know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Oh yeah, wearing wearing your your clothes and showing up at school and yeah, it's like my jacket. I'm like, hey.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Yes, that's what I would think it would be. Yeah, very different, very different. So let's I was gonna say, what so what I want to have in here was what part do you play in having a good relationship with your dad? Like what what where are like what part do you play? Like how I mean, uh do you actually still work on on that part being a the the daughter that you think your dad wants you to be?

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yeah, I I think that I kind of open the floor for discussions and whether he likes it or not, I'm very communicative around like needs and just things that could be better, you know? And so I feel like I do my part by not being silent and getting, you know, upset about things or whatever, and there's really not much to even get upset about. But rather than letting things that would bother me sit with me and stay in me, I speak about things and I call him. So it's like it's a two-way relationship, I think, in general. But yeah, there's really there's not much to like work on in terms of, you know, it's but I'm just saying I I definitely am vocal about so communication, it's being open, communication, transparency, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

I mean, I think nothing well the thing about anything, whenever you're transparent, nobody can make up the story for you.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

So whenever you whenever you're an open book, it it's really hard for people to make things up because you're stating what what what is happening in your mind and what's going on. So I think that's the always a good thing for for relationships. Let's see how thing that I want to talk to you about was this is the funny one that I that you had on a on a on a podcast somewhere or something, and it says, and I even put down wait, what? That's what I wrote down here. Wait, what? Men have a 24-hour hormonal cycle. Women have a 28-day cycle. And I just wrote down that's messed up. I mean, like, like what you know, what what explain that? Like, I've never heard that before. I mean, I knew about the girls' cycle. Like, go into that a little bit, you know, and then we're gonna go into a couple other things and we'll wrap it up. But I just go into that. I want I want to hear about this because I I heard it on another thing that you did.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

Yeah, no, I think this is another

Hormones And Teenage Mood Swings

SPEAKER_00 27:47

important male versus female understanding because once you learn this, you can understand why maybe your daughter is acting different every day, or your your wife or your sister, right? So, okay, so starting with men, you have a 24-hour hormonal cycle. Testosterone peaks in the morning and then throughout the day it lowers, right? And then at night it rises back up. So your graph of your hormonal cycle looks like a perfectly oscillating graph, and it's pretty standard. So that means like today at 2 p.m., you feel roughly the same as you did yesterday at 2 p.m.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

For girls, it's 28 days on average. So that means today I feel roughly the same as I did 28 days ago.

unknown 28:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Just to paint a picture.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

And there's yeah, and there's four different stages of the hormonal cycle. So the first stage is menstruation, and this is the day you get your period. And so that lasts approximately a week. And that that's a time where it's lower energy, a little bit of moodiness, but it's more just like uncomfortable feelings, maybe cramps, sadness, and just yeah, low energy. And then you move into the follicular phase, and this is about a week as well, and this is the best time of the month. That's the good week.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

That's the good week, right? Yes. I knew there was a week in there somewhere that you said there was good. So that's the week that you guys should announce.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 29:16

That you should announce that week. That would be great.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Yes, exactly. And during this time, estrogen is rising, progesterone is low, and basically a woman's body is preparing to release an egg. And so she's feeling way more energized, she's feeling more confident, productive. Like this is a good time for women in general, but to your point, it's one week.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Oh my gosh, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

And that's one week, right? That's right. One week. Yeah, so that's unfortunate. And then the the next phase is ovulation, and that's only one day. And so that's where the egg is actually released. It's still a good time for women, but again, it's one day, so it's almost just part of that week.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

I think I learned this in ninth grade, actually. If I remember correctly, maybe, yeah, during like health classes, and then that's then they just say forget about this because you're not a woman. So yeah, so so that so then what goes on after that? There's another, is there another phase yet?

SPEAKER_00 30:09

Yes. So then after you release the egg, so that's ovulation, assuming it's not fertilized, then that's a whole different world, then. Yeah, that's a whole other world, but the hormones will be different. But progesterone rises, and this is the luteal phase, and it lasts about two weeks. The luteal phase is the worst time for women, and a lot like it's it kind of depends on the woman, but there'll be a really bad time, either like a week before she gets her period or a few days before, and that's that's PMS. So it's pre-menstrual syndrome. So that's when she's acting kind of crazy, or like it just you're like, whoa, relax.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

It's it's really just a major drop in hormones, and so it shifts the mood completely. And this is why, like, you can, you know, say a joke to your wife like one day and it's super funny. And if you say the same joke, it's like totally funny.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Not funny, yeah, not funny, and it's very personal. And why do you talk to me like that?

SPEAKER_00 31:05

And yeah, yes, yeah. So that's it's probably you're saying it in the follicular phase, and then you're saying it in the luteal phase. So the luteal is is the worst. And yeah, so that's it lasts two weeks, and then the cycle starts over when you get your period. So that's a 28-day cycle in a gist, but and we're going like this every every day.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

We're we're kind of we're doing this, so we're just hopping all over the place in our own little world while you guys are going through this whole cycle.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

Yes, craziness. It is, yeah, it's very interesting.

SPEAKER_02 31:37

It is very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

It's hopeful, I think, because you know, especially how is that hopeful? So helpful for dads to understand.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

It's hopeful. I'm like, how is that hopeful? It's hopeful because for dads understand that everything got it. So now, yeah, I get it.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Yeah, it's well, especially for teenage daughters, because I think, you know, a lot of dads like, what happened? Like, she was this girl and she was so so chill and everything. And it's like, and now she's acting all crazy or whatever. And it's because she's going through this cycle for the first time in her life. She's seeing these waves of emotions that she doesn't even understand. Like, I've as an I'm 28 years old now, and so I'm finally starting to like really tune into that cycle, and I can warn my husband, like, hey, yeah, this is gonna be I'm not gonna be nice tomorrow. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Yeah, I got it.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Exactly. But but for a young girl who's just experiencing this, and when you're just kind of starting out too, the hormones can be a little bit more wacky, and sometimes it's a 32-day cycle, sometimes it's 38, you know, it's just it's kind of all over the place, and your body is adjusting. And so I think it just helps dads give some grace and some patience too. And so they know, you know, maybe this isn't an attack on me. This is just my daughter in her luteal phase. And then it also allows them to not, you know, pour gasoline on the fire. It's like pause and realize, hey, this is actually this has nothing to do with me. This is her and her body and her hormones. And the best thing I can do right now is just support her and let her, you know, feel the feelings and she'll be over it and it's gonna be okay.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

That's that's really cool. Yeah, because what happens, you take it personal and then you get mad and then you lash out because you think it's about you and it's really not about you, it's about them and how they feel. And yeah, then it's this whole vicious cycle, which gets kind of crazy after that. But uh, let's let's jump into your podcast. Let's talk about the things that you're doing and how you're getting out there because I want people to know that so that they don't they don't leave the podcast today not knowing how to find you, and we definitely make sure they can find you. So let's talk about the different things you have. You have uh you have a podcast, and let's talk about that for just a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Yeah, I have a podcast, Girl Dad the Podcast. It's available on any major podcasting platform, Apple, Spotify. On YouTube, it's Girl Dad Network. But yeah, I love my podcasts. I have on incredible guests,

Podcast Website Coaching And Rebrand

SPEAKER_00 33:50

and they're not just fathers and daughters. No, it was good.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

It was a good, it's a good variety of well, you did mental health, you're doing, you're doing a lot of things that obviously it's in that realm, but it can help anybody.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Exactly. And it's really, I do it with my audience in mind who are fathers of daughters. But it's like, for example, I had on an eating disorder expert, and she talked about, you know, how dads can watch for signs, how they can support daughters during that time, and how to have a healthy or inspire healthy body image. And so it's not, you know, it's it's for girl dads, but it has it's a different topic. Or like recently I had on Brian Blazer from Test My Home, who he looks for hidden toxins in the house. And so it's to help dads help their family and their daughters, but it's there's adjacent kind of conversations. And yeah, I I'm loving being a host, I'm loving the world. It's so fun, it's fun, right? Yeah, obviously, you can relate.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Yeah, it's a lot of fun. We we love it. We we have a lot of fun with it. And then talk about you have a website also, thegirldadnetwork.com, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:54

Yes, girldadnetwork.com. You can find when I'm on coaching there, you can find more information about me and the inspiration behind what I do. I just recently did a rebrand and I'm really proud of it because I wanted to feel this feeling of authentic relationships and kind of that like time before technology. Um, so it has kind of a retro theme. But yeah, that's where you can find me and how to contact me as well.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

And then what about you do have YouTube also? I saw you you have YouTube out there too. What's that? What is that? Do you know the handle on that?

SPEAKER_00 35:28

At girl dadnetwork. Everything's there. We do.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

So basically the girl dad, if you put in girl dad network, you're gonna, you're gonna get her stuff everywhere. She was not hard to find, let's put it that way. Once I found you on Instagram, I looked you up, you were everywhere, which is exactly what you want because you're trying to get your name out there and everything, and that's what we're gonna help you do also. There was one other quote that I wanted to say that you had on one of your one of your socials somewhere, and then we're gonna we're gonna wrap it up. It was my goal is to help someone every single day and ensure that the positive impact of Girl Dad Network is felt for generations. I love that. And that's really cool. And I think you're doing that. I think you are making an impact. I think your passion, you're uh how authentic you are with it, you know, you're real, you're open, you're transparent about it. It's not like you have an agenda or anything like that. And that's really cool. And I and I I I want to thank you for coming on the show. We always love having great guests like you on here, and I wish you the very best uh with your whatever you're doing here. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

Oh, thank you so much, Brad. That really means a lot.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

You're very welcome. Thank you for coming on the show.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 36:30

All right, there we go. All right, everybody, Madeline Anderson, girldadnetwork.com. You will find her pretty much everywhere if you look up her name. If you have, you know, here's something too. It doesn't have to be that you have a

Closing Thoughts On Getting Better

SPEAKER_02 36:44

terrible relationship with your daughter, or your daughter has a terrible relationship with you. It could be just like taking it from seven to ten or five to ten. It doesn't mean nurturing. Yeah, it's nurturing and getting better. I think sometimes when we think we need to work on things, we we it makes it seem like that we're terrible at it. That's not what it is, it's getting better at it. So that's what I think it's about, and that's how you can find out with Madeline Anderson. Check her out. Also, her book, Girl Dad. All right, that's about it. Thanks for coming here every Thursday at 7 p.m. We'll see you next week.