For years, mompreneurs have made headlines for their hard work balancing the challenges of being both a mother and an entrepreneur. Now moms are facing a little competition — and it may even be from their own husbands. The competition? Dadpreneurs.
As fathers to young children, dadpreneurs also face the challenges of running their own businesses.
As an expression for his love for cars, Steve Lopez began his career as a professional race car driver. However, after realizing that “(his) voice wasn’t being heard,” Lopez made the decision to take his passion to the next level.
With sustainability and automobiles as two passions in Lopez’s life, he also recognized the necessity for transportation in the Valley. With this knowledge, Lopez established Clean Air Cab.
Lopez looks at Clean Air Cab as a way to give back to the community.
“It’s not money, not a coupon, not advertising … it’s cleaning your city … and helping to grow the community alongside the company,” Lopez says.
However, Lopez’s main concern does not fall with his thriving business, but instead, with his three young children. Although he finds it tough to be a dadpreneur, Lopez makes an effort to be home each night for dinner.
“I would much rather be the father who reads my kids a book at night than be kissing their cheeks once the lights are off,” he says.
Like Lopez, Joseph Scarp, founder of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Phoenician Properties, shares similar views when it comes to being a dadpreneur.
In 2001, Scarp found himself in an office where competition overtook the healthy business atmosphere. Soon after, Scarp established Phoenician Properties, where sharing is key and the business was built upon referral.
The business quickly rose to success and partnered with Better Homes and Gardens, now giving the company the combination of names to “help it grow as a national brand,” Scarp says.
One of the upsides to balancing being a father with being an entrepreneur is having the business make a positive impact on his children.
Dr. Suneil Jain is a naturopathic physician and the owner of Rejuvena Health and Aesthetics. The practice focuses on offering services that uses natural products.
“If someone is coming in for an aesthetic procedure, we help them to go on a diet through holistic routes,” Jain says.
Not only does Jain practice healthy eating and lifestyles at his office, but he also implements them into his kids’ lives — as his “4-year-old knows the importance of eating healthy and drinking water,” Jain says.
Balancing fatherhood and running a successful business is difficult, but between the two, Scarp gives his children priority.
“There is nothing better than coming home at night and having two smiling faces … (kids) are the true meaning of unconditional love,” Scarp says. “(Also), there’s not a rulebook where it says when you have a parent-teacher conference or it’s snack day at preschool.”
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For more information about the dadpreneurs mentioned in the story:
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Phoenician Properties
5111 N. Scottsdale Rd., Ste. 155
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
(480) 663-1400
www.phoenicianproperties.com
Clean Air Cab
1600 W. Main St.
Mesa, AZ 85201
(480) 390-9003
www.cleanaircab.com
Rejuvena Health and Aesthetics
9977 N. 95th St., Ste. 101
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
(480) 540-9068
www.werejuvenate.com
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