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In the sea of online parenting websites, it is hard to find a resource that appeals to fathers who are also looking to maintain their personal identity along with being an awesome dad. This is the point of view that Michael Rothman, co-founder and CEO of Fatherly emulates on his site. Already a lifestyle content veteran, Rothman created the site with co-founder Simon Isaacs as a tool for parents, and specifically fathers, to utilize. It is broken down so that visitors can get advice that specified for their children’s age group. It also has humorous content, thought-provoking personal interest pieces and reviews on new dad-friendly gear.
Downtown had the pleasure of speaking with Rothman about the inception of the website, as well as fun future expansions that fans can look forward to.
What is your role within Fatherly?
Michael Rothman: I’m the co-founder and CEO of Fatherly.
What inspired the site?
M: I had been marketing to young, single guys for 7 years as a GM and one of the first employees at Thrillist and as our founding team began to age into this new lifestage, I began to wonder where we’re supposed to go for trusted information that connected with men as parents. Meanwhile my co-founder Simon Isaacs was expecting his first child and had been thinking about the same thing. We met, started prototyping the concept of Fatherly together and then officially launched in April of 2015.
How do you gather all of your helpful information?
M: We have an extremely talented full-time staff, led by an editorial director with almost 20 years of experience in men’s lifestyle, television, film and action sports. He’s also a dad to a 1.5 year old girl.
We’ve also cultivated a regular team of contributors from across the country who regularly pitch story ideas as well as personal essays, which we run on the Fatherly Forum, our platform for first-person perspectives on parenting.
We also receive several dozen pitches per day (keep them coming!), which is another way the team keeps up with new products and market trends.
Finally, we have a crack team of parenting experts and advisors who’ll also contribute content, everyone from world-renowned relationship therapist Esther Perel to the Director of the Center for Disease Control to the head of the Good Housekeeping Engineering Lab.
Who is a “Fatherly” father?
M: While Fatherly caters to both parents, we’ve found that the guys we reach are those that have recently started a family, are thinking about starting a family or perhaps have older kids, with the common denominator being that they never thought they’d enjoy reading parenting content before. Being a parent is a big part of their life and they see no worthier pursuit than raising smart, healthy, emotionally well-adjusted kids, but they’re still the same dude they were before kids, albeit now with a bit less time on their hands.
Where do you live and how has that affected your view on parenting?
M: I live in Williamsburg and I think like a lot of New Yorkers, there’s a bit of awe attached to families that raise more than two kids in the city.
Any exciting news that Fatherly fans can look forward to?
M: We’re going to be expanding our mobile video offering considerably in the next few months. We’re going to be doubling down on editorial, everything from how-tos to product reviews. Additionally, we’re going to be hosting several amazing events, from The State of America’s Fathers Summit at the Paley Center on June 14 to raging kid-parent dance parties in New York.
-by Johanna Silver