Being a successful business leader is one thing, but being a great parent is a whole other challenge. In this excerpt from Entrepreneurial Trinity, Brian Sullivan reflects on how he worked to balance his business responsibilities with being a present, engaged father. Through learning from experts like Meg Meeker, Brian gained valuable wisdom on how to instill values in his children while managing a demanding career. Here’s a look into his journey and the lessons he’s learned along the way.

Meg Meeker

“In addition to absorbing as much as I could about being a better business leader, I also wanted to learn as much as I could about being a good dad and raising great kids.

I was introduced to Meg Meeker, a pediatrician turned author and parenting guru, through Dave Ramsey’s podcasts. Meg’s books were great resources for me to learn how to be the best parent I could be, but they also helped to minimize some of the guilt that the late nights at the office had on me. The first two books of Meg’s that I read were Boys Should Be Boys and Strong Fathers Strong Daughters. Both provide great practical wisdom about how to instill values into our kids, how to handle social media, attempt to ensure they develop a love of God, and how to understand and communicate with them as they mature.

Meg shares that kids often look back on quality time with their parents as being much bigger, longer lasting, and more frequent than they actually were. I never used this as an excuse to skip out on events, but it helped knowing that, hopefully, my efforts weren’t going unnoticed by them. Whether it was an evening practice after school or a weekend morning, the youth sports routine in our house was usually the same: I would race from the office to the field or gym, meet Mary Jo and the kids there, coach their youth sports teams, and then race back to the office. As I talk with our older kids now, the reality is they don’t really remember the running around in the early years; they just remember that I was there coaching, always.

Now that my schedule has adjusted to be more in line with our values, I love the time in the car with the younger kids to and from sports as much as I do the time coaching, but the point is at least I had that time coaching the older kids in the early days.

Is what you’re reading and listening to diverse enough to cover all aspects of the Entrepreneurial Trinity? Where do you need to shift your focus more: faith, family, or business?”

Balancing the demands of business and family isn’t always easy, but as Brian shares, making a conscious effort to be present for your kids can create lasting memories that matter more than the hectic pace of daily life. By learning from experts like Meg Meeker and realigning your priorities, you can nurture both your career and your family. For more insights on balancing these vital areas of life, check out Entrepreneurial Trinity.