fodada’s ‘Mental Fitness Five for Fathers’

To promote May’s Mental Health Awareness Month, fodada™, a Newport Beach-based casual-wear company that supports wellness and empowerment for fathers and families (see our previous interview with its founder, and local dad here) is introducing the Mental Fitness Five for Fathers, an initiative that makes being emotionally healthy as important and approachable as being physically fit.

Founded in 2012, fodada celebrates, promotes and supports dads through social awareness campaigns and programs. Through sales of its clothing line, fodada is able to brand the idea of great dads while funding free programs for dads and families, reaching fathers in 22 different countries worldwide through programs like Dad & Me, the Red Beanie Campaign, and by working with dads who are incarcerated to remain in contact with their children.

With their newly designed “noggin” t-shirt, fodada is hoping to remind the wearers (and viewers) of the importance and accessibility of mental fitness.  The Mental Fitness Five for Fathers, in line with fodada’s mission, offers clear, practical and actionable tips for dads, with the aim of helping them, their kids, spouses or partners.

So what are the “FIVE” tips, you ask.  Developed in partnership with licensed mental health experts at Advekit, they are actually rather simple . . .

1. 1. Talk with your kids – about anything, anytime, anywhere.

   2. Let them in – share with them who you are and what you go though, good and bad.

   3. Take care of yourself, first – so you can take better care of those you love.

   4. Be part of their world – encourage and engage in their likes and interests.

   5. Give yourself, and them, grace – sometimes it’s OK not to be OK.

fodada is pursuing mental health awareness in two ways: first, by introducing and promoting the Mental Fitness Five for Fathers and, second, by using parents as a conduit to reach their children and, in the process, moving all parts of the family forward – what Bobby Barzi, founder and “chief dada” at fodada calls the“sneaky spinach for parents.”  You can find out more about the Mental Fitness Five for Fathers here.

Want a shirt or two?  You can order here.  Every piece of fodada clothing or gear elevates fatherhood and helps bring about free programs for dads, kids and families.

This article was written in part from a fodada Press Release.