Episode
The Reasons Your Teenager Is Pulling Away & What to Do Before It's Too Late featuring Thomas Pfanner
- Podcast
- The Dad Edge Podcast
- Published
- Jun 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3139
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://thedadedge.com/1488
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Summary
Thomas Pfanner is a husband, father of three, combat athlete with nearly 20 years of jiu jitsu training, and a former strength coach at the University of Oregon who was part of a Pac-12 championship team and a Rose Bowl season. After seven years as a public educator watching young men arrive unprepared for the real world, he channeled that frustration into a mission: equipping fathers to become the trusted, respected leaders their kids are actually hungry for. His Amazon bestselling book Dads Who Lead launched September 26th, 2025, and it's already resonating deeply with fathers who want to lead with strength and integrity. This conversation starts where most parenting conversations are afraid to go. Thomas shares the raw story of his son Charles calling him at 14 to say he was done, the long road of rebuilding that relationship, and the specific leadership shifts that changed everything. From there, we get into the five attributes he outlines in Dads Who Lead — faith, ownership, respect, groundbreaking adventure, and expectation — and how they stack together to help dads go from being a manager to being a mentor their kids actually choose to lean into. If you've ever felt like you're losing your son or daughter and don't know what to do next, Thomas has lived that story and walked out the other side. And if your relationship with your teenager is already solid, this episode will sharpen the tools you're using and show you where the gaps might be. Whether you're trying to rebuild a relationship or strengthen one that's already good, this episode is for the dad who refuses to go to his grave wondering what went wrong. Timeline Summary [1:02] Thomas welcomes the audience and Larry teases the June offer for Dad Edge Alliance members [3:15] Thomas shares how Charles at 14…