326 – Mastermind Group Monday with Jason Hsieh of Buckeye, AZ Jason Hsieh MMG

Transcript:

Jason Hsieh: Special needs parenting is such a lonely journey. Most of your friends and your family will never understand the struggle you went through unless they also have, kids of their own that also have special needs. So it’s a very lonely journey. So finding someone and talking to someone that has been there and done that is so valuable.

David Hirsch: Hi, I’m David Hirsch, host of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Now with more than 300 weekly episodes every Friday since 2018, we’ve been shining a bright light on the positive and uplifting aspects of raising children with disabilities and inspiring dads, stepdads, granddads and father figures to be more present physically, emotionally and spiritually. Welcome to the new Special Fathers Network Mastermind Group Monday Podcast. I’ll be interviewing Mastermind Group dads who will reflect on the positive impact the Mastermind Group experience has had on them and the well-being of their families. As a reminder, the SFN Mastermind Group experience is the most comprehensive program the 21st Century Dads foundation offers. Dads raising children with special needs meet virtually on a weekly basis and form meaningful relationships while sharing weekly wins, discussing books, and sharing heartfelt challenges. One of the highlights of the year is attending an in-person weekend retreat. We’re launching 10 new SFN mastermind groups in 2024 with 10 dads per group. That means we’re only looking for 10 like-minded dads in each community. If you’re a dad raising a child with special needs, we hope you’ll join a local SFN Mastermind group and make the investment to become the best version of yourself. For more information, please see the show notes or simply go to 21stCenturyDads.org. Happy listening.

David Hirsch: I’m thrilled to be talking today with my friend. Jason Hsieh, of Buckeye, Arizona, is the father of three, including one with autism, and you’re the founder of LakiKid.com, a startup dedicated to empower kids to have a life full of possibilities. Jason, thank you for taking the time to do a podcast interview for the Mastermind Group Monday.

Jason Hsieh: Thank you so much for having me.

David Hirsch: You and your wife Miho, have been married for 13 years and are the proud parents of three children, Moani, 5, who has speech delays, Luana, 9, who was diagnosed with leukemia, and Keanu, 12, who has autism and ADHD. You’ve been involved with the Special Fathers Network for more than three years. Your Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad podcast episode number 183 aired in January of 2022. And for the past three years, you’ve been involved with the, Wednesday night Mastermind group and have attended all three of the Mastermind Group weekend retreats. Would you please provide us with a brief overview of the Hsieh family?

Jason Hsieh: Yeah, so again, you kind of COVID it all. I guess we are, a fun fact about. So all three kids was actually born in three different countries. My son was born in Taiwan. My older daughter was born in Japan. My younger daughter was born in US. So we are your typical international family, so to speak. And, I do speak three languages myself. I speak Chinese and Japanese as well. I’m Taiwanese, my wife is Japanese, but I speak three languages, fluently. And, we have been, married for 15 years now. actually this year is our 15 years wedding anniversary and I’m actually taking my wife to Okinawa, for our 15 year wedding anniversary next month. I guess that’s kind of a few fun facts about our family.

David Hirsch: Well, you are definitely one of the most international families of all the families in the network, so thank you. So I’m sort of curious to know what attracted you to get involved with the Special Fathers Network.

Jason Hsieh: Initially, I think there’s just not enough support for fathers. If you look online, if you Google autism, parent support, special needs parent support, down syndrome, parent support support. 90% of all the resources online is designed for moms. So when I first run into the Special Father Network, it’s like, oh, whoa, finally a network that I can talk to other dad instead of like only moms. Because usually I went to a few, like, local support group before, but it’s just kind of awkward because I’m the only dad or only men in the entire room. It just is kind of awkward to share the struggle that we have as the fathers, as a breadwinner, so to speak. That’s why it really attracted me to get involved and share with my struggle as a special needs father with other dads instead of other moms.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Well, we’re thrilled to have you. What was your understanding about the Mastermind group before you got involved?

Jason Hsieh: My understanding is it’s a peer to peer support group. You can also get requests for a mentor if you want to, and also a great networking opportunity to network with other dads that have a similar live experience as you do. Because personally, I know as a business owner, I also

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Jason Hsieh: run my own business, called Laki Kid, which we design product for kids with special needs. In my line of work, with my business, I also meet a lot of other special needs family. But most of the people we engage with are usually moms. They are super active on social media. They always reply or reply to our emails, but we just don’t run into a lot of that. So when I first understand the special father group is, I feel like you, David, you have done an excellent job on creating this wonderful communities of supporting other dads and put them together so we can support each other. So thank you so much for you to do what you do.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well thanks for emphasizing that it is a peer to peer support opportunity and networking opportunity. Do you remember what it was like attending the first couple of Mastermind group meetings?

Jason Hsieh: Cool. That was a long time ago, man. That was like three years ago. So I guess when I first attend, I’m just trying to get to know the group a little bit more and I think it definitely is different once I attend the in person retreat where you actually meet other dads in person. I think the first one we had was it in Nashville. That was the first one. Also thank you so much for arranging all the speaker to come speak at an event which is also very impactful to listen to the authors of the book we’re reading and also meeting other dads in person. And I think that was the most memorable experience is to have that in person retreat that you actually get to spend some time with other special needs dad.

David Hirsch: What’s been your favorite part of the weekly Mastermind group meetings?

Jason Hsieh: Usually is the dad in the middle where the format is pretty much we’ll ask a dad or kind of put one of the dad on the spot and ask them to see, okay, what is the struggle that you want to share with the group and get feedback from other dads. And usually that is, I think the most impactful as part of the special father network experience is to able to share because a lot of the struggle we don’t want to share with our families, friends, even our wife because it’s kind of awkward to share that. For example, I think one of the struggle I had is balancing with my business, my families, my kids, my wife and a lot of the dads struggle with that and you know, finding the right work life balance and also juggling, you know, trying to help the kids on the. For my son, which is on the spectrum, there’s also a lot of things to juggle. So I feel like that is one of the most impactful experience is to able to share my struggle and get feedback on other dads that have been through that. And a lot of them like Rich is one of the member I really look up to in the group. He is like wells of knowledge every time. He always have one of the best advice, almost like a, ah, very fatherly advice. I almost treat him like one of my own dad even though we’re not connected, but feel like I can ask him questions, almost like I’m asking my own dad’s question to ask for parenting advice for myself. So that kind of environment was really, really helpful to able to ask those questions that you were never able to ask in any other setting.

David Hirsch: Good point. And there are seasoned dads in each of the groups. Lots of wisdom there. So as part of the Special Fathers Network Mastermind group experience, we read and discuss six books a year and then do a zoom call with the author. What’s been your favorite book and author?

Jason Hsieh: Oh, we read so many different book over the year. One of the favorite book I have is The View from the Top by Aaron Walkers. This is not talking about live lessons, but he also kind of share a lot of his business experience because Aaron is also like a serial entrepreneur which I can relate to so much because I also run multiple businesses. So this is one of my favorite book out of all the different book we read over the years. And also I get to met him in person in one of the retreats. So that makes it even more impactful because I met the author in person and able to get a sign from him too. I have a signed copy of his book so definitely one of my own all time favorite out of all the books that we read.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well it’s one of my favorite too. Thanks for sharing. Each fall, the 21st Century Dads foundation hosts its annual SFN Mastermind Group Weekend retreat. What’s been your favorite Mastermind Group retreat experience and why?

Jason Hsieh: I think it’s just to get to meet the other dads in person because usually we only meet once a week, virtually over zoom. Very different than meeting people in person. You realize how much taller they are than what they look like in the camera. Oh, everyone’s big but me. I feel like I’m kind of ah, I need to grow taller I guess. But definitely one of the most favorite experience is to meet the dads in person and just able to look them in the eyes and shake their hands and you know, share some story over, you know, a beer or two. Those usually are my favorite moments.

David Hirsch: Yeah, good point. So regarding the financial commitment, the Mastermind group dads invest anywhere from $50 to $200 per month according to their financial wherewithal. What would you say to that dad who’s interested in the Mastermind group but concerned about the financial commitment.

Jason Hsieh: Oh, that’s a difficult question. I think that is on the case by case. Right. David, you do try to talk to the father and try to help them with their situation. And even if they don’t want to do that investment, that’s a lot free resources. If you don’t want to spend $50 or $200 for a more intimate setting, there’s also other free resources that you and your organization provide like the webinars, the virtual retreat, the blog and all the other information you can still get for free. And I believe the peer to peer mentoring is actually free. Right. That one doesn’t cost anything. Right. So that’s a lot of free alternative. If people doesn’t want to spend that additional money to have a more intimate experience so they can start consuming the free content first. And if they want to get more involved with a group, then of course then that’s where a little bit of investment will help.

David Hirsch: Sure. So I’m thinking about advice. What advice can you share with a dad who might be on the fence about joining the Mastermind group?

Jason Hsieh: I think just schedule a meeting and talk to one of the follow dad as he’s already in the network and just you know, get their experience and maybe get some feedback. And definitely the best place to start is go to 21stCenturyDads.org and try to sign up and try to get a free mentor that is assigned to you. Because special needs parenting is such a lonely journey. Most of your friends and your family will never understand the struggle you went through unless they also have a, kids of their own that also have special needs. So it’s a very lonely journey. So finding someone and talking to someone that has been there and done that is so valuable you couldn’t even put money to it. And also able to save you so much headache and so much problem down the road. Because I remember one of the meeting we were talking about special needs trust, which I wasn’t even aware that you can do that. That was like a lot of thing you can do to make sure you set up for your kids to have a successful future. And a lot of the information, if you know, then you don’t know. So that’s why it’s so valuable to connect with other dads that already have been there and done all the research be hopefully for you as well.

David Hirsch: Yeah. Good advice. Thank you. Is there anything else you’d like to say before we wrap up?

Jason Hsieh: I would say just go check out all the different wonderful resources. The content, the mentoring program, the virtual conference, and there’s so many resources that David, your organization is already providing to the special needs father. And for those of you that want to connect with me in person, you can email me directly: jasonh@lakikid.com I’m more than willing to share my personal experience with any of the potential father that’s thinking about joining the network. I can spend 30 minutes with you and just share some of my experience.

David Hirsch: Yeah, well, thank you for your willingness to do that. I’ll be sure to include that information, maybe a link to your website as well as a link to your interview, which was episode number 183 on the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast. Jason, thank you for your time and many insights. As a reminder, Jason is just one of the dads who’s agreed to be a mentor father and who is also a Special Fathers Network Mastermind Group dad. For more information on the Special Fathers Network and the Mastermind group, please go to 21stCenturyDads.org. Additional links can also be found in the show notes. Jason, thanks again.

Jason Hsieh: Thank you so much for having me.

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