By Justin | The Joyful CoParent
Recently, my son passed his driving test,
and everything changed. Again.
Just like every year prior.
Because that's what parenting is.
That's what life is,
and you evolve with it.
Every stage, every milestone, every version of change asks for a new version of you.
So, when the relationship ends, and you go from partner to co-parent overnight, that evolution doesn't take a break.
It gets significantly harder.
You have to show up for yourself,
you have to show up for your children,
and for someone you're no longer with,
that you probably have real beef with.
All at the same time.
It's overwhelming.
And, it's one of the hardest transitions I've ever made.
Yet, here we are 11 years later and this is the relationship I'm most proud of.
You can't build a co-parenting relationship you're proud of from a version of yourself you're not. And you can't build a version of yourself you're proud of without a plan.
People often ask us how we do it.
How we created something meaningful.
Consistent. Supportive. Collaborative.
Expansive. Friendly. Loving, even.
What I share is:
Every relationship is different.
But the fundamentals are the same.
It starts with a willingness — a genuine desire — to have a relationship with your co-parenting partner that adds value. To your lives. To your children's lives.
And…
Change on this scale needs a plan, clear action and accountability.
Knowing where you're going and what you're building toward helps in your commitment to listen and check-in so you can refine and align along the way.
On top of all of this, you will need an incredible amount of grace, forgiveness and deep self-reflection to help you discover areas you can improve.
So, what is this all about?
The Joyful CoParent is an exploration of our journey - the good, bad and ugly - through stories, tools and turning points that took us from a messy breakup to a thriving relationship.
We didn't really know what we were doing, we figured it out along the way, and after a few weeks of living in the muddy reactive mess of it all we sat down and built our relationship around a simple construct:
A 20 year vision : going on vacations together as a family
This grounded us in a meaningful objective, and along the way through the bumpy and crunchy process of figuring out who we were apart, and who we were together, it guided our decisions, behaviors and actions.
This newsletter, and all future content, is designed to help individuals and partners who have a similar aspiration for their new family, but can't quite see it or feel it right now.
Your dream is possible, but only if you are both aligned, and willing to work for it.
I'm not saying you have to love each other.
But I am saying that you can.
The reality check.
You're going to be together, in some form, for a looooong time.
While that can often feel like a burden in the first couple of years, there is a choice waiting to be made.
The reason for a break up will be different for everyone.
Your family is unique.
You are unique.
And there is no one way to co-parent or rebuild a relationship.
The objective is to identify and celebrate the great parts of the relationship and build upon them, and identity and improve or remove the not-so-great parts.
Success Arrives By Design.
A little about me
Everyday I work as a strategic partner and executive coach to business leaders and teams.
Parenting and leadership are more alike than most people expect.
The skills, the tools, the frameworks — they transfer.
I'm bringing all of it here.
A career in leadership and communication.
30 yrs of self-development.
11 yrs as a co-parent.
Combined into one place, for you.
I'm using everything I've built — as a coach, a strategist, a mentor — to help other co-parents get there, wherever that is.
The vision. The plan. The tools. The relationship.
What to expect from The Joyful CoParent.
It is important to acknowledge that this is the first time I am putting myself out into the world in this way.
I am traditionally a private person,
but as Morgan Harper Nichols once said
"Tell the story of the mountain you climbed.
Your words could become a page in someone else's survival guide"
So here I am…
excited and motivated to help co-parents (maybe you)
navigate and improve their most important relationship
with stories, tools, resources and turning points.
Much of this content will touch on personal and vulnerable moments of challenge, and the reframes that turned an experience into growth that strengthened me, and ‘us’.
It will live across three connected themes:
Co-Parenting — Building the partnership that raises your child.
Self-Development — Becoming the person who’s thriving.
Leadership — Showing up intentionally in every role you hold.
I plan to publish twice per week:
Mid-Week — A relatable story from life. Real, specific, with a reframe and resource you can use.
Weekend — Consider This. One idea. One question. An insight worth carrying into the weekend.
And support my readers to navigate the 5 stages from surviving to thriving.
Coming soon:
Individual and Group programming — workshops and coaching with a small number of people committed to creating thriving relationships and who want to accelerate their growth. (If this is interesting to you please reply to this email and we can talk more.)
There is no joy in functional relationships.
We want more.
We deserve more.
We are humans first
and it is our relationships that define us.
Let's do what we can to make them more joyful.
Thank you for reading.
I didn't become a joyful co-parent overnight — and if you're in the middle of this, you probably won't either. I share my journey to connect with others working through the same confusing transformation.
Connect with me:
If this resonated, reply directly — I'd genuinely love to hear your story.
And if it landed for you, consider passing it to someone who might need it.
It might be exactly what they need to hear.
Thank you,
Justin | The Joyful CoParent
