EP. 74 | My Parents Never Said “I Love You" Carlos Medina. Author of The Book Across The Lawn

EP. 75 Why Love Alone Isn’t Enough: Emotional Safety in Parenting with Edward Rodarte & Reem Raouda

Most parents love their children deeply, but love alone does not always make a child feel emotionally safe. In this powerful episode of Fatherhood Voices, host Edward Rodarte sits down with Reem Raouda, a renowned conscientious parenting coach, to talk about one of the most important foundations in parenting: **emotional safety**. Reem explains the difference between loving your child and creating a home where your child feels safe enough to be seen, heard, accepted, and understood. Emotional safety is not just about physical protection. It is about helping children feel secure enough to express their emotions, speak their truth, make mistakes, and be their authentic selves without fear of shame, rejection, punishment, or emotional withdrawal. Through her work with families, Reem has seen how emotionally safe children are more likely to grow into confident, resilient adults with healthy boundaries, strong self-worth, emotional regulation, and secure relationships. She also explains how a lack of emotional safety can lead to anxiety, people-pleasing, low confidence, emotional suppression, and unhealthy relationship patterns later in life. This conversation challenges outdated ideas around discipline, obedience, control, and traditional parenting. Reem shares why forced obedience can come at a high emotional cost and why conscious parenting begins with connection, trust, presence, and repair. Edward and Reem also discuss how parents can shift from reactive parenting to mindful parenting, why play is a powerful tool for building trust, and how a parent’s reactions can become the voice a child carries into adulthood. This episode is also a reminder that healing starts with the parent. Reem explains why breaking generational patterns requires parents to look at their own wounds, regulate their own emotions, and model the emotional safety they want their children to feel. Whether you are a father, mother, co-parent, single parent, caregiver, or someone trying to repair a relationship with an adult child, this episode offers practical parenting advice and deep insight into raising emotionally healthy children. In this episode, you’ll learn: • What emotional safety in parenting really means • Why love and emotional safety are not the same thing • How to raise confident and resilient children • Why forced obedience can create emotional suppression • How conscious parenting helps build trust and connection • The role of play, presence, and repair in parenting • How your reactions shape your child’s inner voice • Why parents must heal their own wounds • How to break generational parenting patterns • How to create a safe home where children can be themselves This episode is for every parent who wants to raise emotionally healthy kids, build stronger family relationships, and create a legacy of connection instead of fear. 🎙️ Podcast: Fatherhood Voices 🎤 Host: Edward Rodarte 👤 Guest: Reem Raouda If this conversation speaks to you, please like, comment, and subscribe to Fatherhood Voices for more honest conversations about fatherhood, parenting, healing, family, emotional growth, and breaking generational cycles. Share this episode with a parent who wants to build a deeper connection with their child. #FatherhoodVoices [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/fatherhoodvoices] #EdwardRodarte [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/edwardrodarte] #ReemRaouda [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/reemraouda] #EmotionalSafety [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/emotionalsafety] #ConsciousParenting [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/consciousparenting] #ParentingTips [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/parentingtips] #ParentingAdvice [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/parentingadvice] #FatherhoodPodcast [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/fatherhoodpodcast] #GentleParenting [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/gentleparenting] #ConscientiousParenting [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/conscientiousparenting] #EmotionallyHealthyChildren [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/emotionallyhealthychildren] #ParentChildConnection [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/parentchildconnection] #HealingGenerationalTrauma [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/healinggenerationaltrauma] #EmotionalRegulation [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/emotionalregulation] #ParentingPodcast [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/parentingpodcast]

EP. 76 From Addiction to Fatherhood: Breaking Cycles with Edward Rodarte & Popeye Ray

In this powerful episode of Fatherhood Voices, Edward Rodarte sits down with Popeye Ray for a raw and honest conversation about addiction, fatherhood, gang life, faith, healing, and the lifelong work of repairing relationships with our children. Popeye Ray opens up about living through decades of addiction while trying to be a father, the pain his children experienced, the moment his wife left with the kids, and how that became the turning point that changed his life. He shares what it took to stop cold turkey, why someone has to truly want change, and why the “aftermath” of drugs is the part young people need to hear most. This episode also dives into the wounds parents leave behind, the difficulty of reconnecting with adult children, and the power of humility, apology, and writing a letter when words are hard to say face-to-face. This is not a polished conversation. It is raw, emotional, vulnerable, and real. If you are a father, a son, a daughter, or someone trying to break generational cycles, this episode is for you. In this episode, we discuss: • Addiction and the impact it has on children • Gang life, peer pressure, and the search for identity • Why “drugs are bad” is not enough of a message • The moment Popeye Ray chose his family over addiction • Repairing relationships with adult children • The power of accountability and apology • Faith, fatherhood, and breaking toxic cycles • Why the most important job a man has is fatherhood Thank you for watching Fatherhood Voices: Breaking the Toxic Cycle. Host: Edward Rodarte Guest: Popeye Ray Podcast: Fatherhood Voices #FatherhoodVoices #Fatherhood #BreakingTheToxicCycle #AddictionRecovery #PopeyeRay #EdwardRodarte #Healing #FathersAndDaughters #GenerationalHealing #RecoveryStory

EP. 74 | My Parents Never Said “I Love You" Carlos Medina. Author of The Book Across The Lawn

In this emotional episode of Fatherhood Voices with Edward Rodarte, Carlos Medina shares his powerful story of growing up in a first-generation immigrant household where emotions were hidden, vulnerability was discouraged, and love was rarely spoken aloud. Carlos opens up about: * Never hearing “I’m proud of you” * Breaking generational trauma * Fatherhood and emotional healing * Adoption and raising children differently * Entrepreneurship and sacrifice * Working as a firefighter for over 25 years * Healing from emotionally unavailable parents This conversation is raw, honest, and deeply relatable for fathers, sons, and anyone trying to become the person they never had growing up. If you’ve ever struggled with family wounds, masculinity, emotional connection, or breaking toxic cycles, this episode will resonate deeply. You can dive deeper into Carlos Medinas  story  by ordering his book on amazon Across The Lawn Book across the lawn 📘 Read my story: https://a.co/d/eAtzIQW [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqazBxMko3aUhvMUtVbUU0cU9VT0NidERWb0FBUXxBQ3Jtc0tuN1ZrVFVmV3JxS281RC1Va3huaFhBOVZ1Y0tEZDlmUlkzXzdXRG9YUlBpcFFRbm1YZHd1aW91TjhUUkZqSEN5SmpJWGtwM2cwYXlkcXRWam5UOVhVN2ZXaEZHYmtqbmY3bk5sZkFCWXloY2V0aFQ3Zw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fa.co%2Fd%2FeAtzIQW&v=A6Es2zgLs6M] available on Amazon 🎙️ Subscribe to Fatherhood Voices for real conversations about fatherhood, healing, relationships, and legacy. #Fatherhood [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/fatherhood] #FatherhoodVoices [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/fatherhoodvoices] #GenerationalTrauma [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/generationaltrauma] #Healing [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/healing] #Masculinity [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/masculinity] #Podcast [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/podcast] #MentalHealth [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/mentalhealth]

EP 73: Three Months After Nearly Dying… Here’s What I Learned

Three months ago, Edward was in surgery unsure if he would survive. Today, he’s sitting down to reflect on gratitude, healing, mindset, and what it truly means to move forward into a new year. In this first 2026 episode of Fatherhood Voices, Edward and Alyssa talk about: • Recovering physically, mentally, and emotionally after trauma • Gratitude for life, movement, and everyday moments • Setting realistic vs. unrealistic goals • How to avoid burnout in 2026 • Time management, accountability, and protecting your peace • Meditation, energy clearing, and spiritual grounding • Why not everyone is ready to “start fresh” in January • Giving yourself grace during hard seasons • Life being measured in seasons — not calendar years This episode is raw, honest, and meant for anyone who feels behind, overwhelmed, or unsure how to start again. You are not late. You are not broken. You are exactly where you need to be. 🎙 Fatherhood Voices is about breaking cycles, healing generational trauma, and having the conversations most families never have. 📘 Edward also announces his upcoming book: “F*ck Average: Life’s Real Playbook” — coming April 1st. If you’d like a free PDF copy, message us on social media or comment below.

EP 72: He Survived the Impossible: A Father’s Near-Death Story, Mindset, and the Fight to Live

This episode is one of the most powerful and emotional conversations we’ve ever shared. On October 10th, my dad was in a horrific accident that left him fighting for his life multiple surgeries, internal bleeding, intubation, sedation, and moments where we didn’t know if he would survive. For hours, he was missing. No calls. No updates. No answers. Just fear. In this raw and unfiltered episode, we sit down for the first time to talk through everything what really happened that day, what he remembers while sedated, the moment he almost gave up, and the mindset that brought him back from the edge.