About DadLabs 

America is seeing a fundamental shift in the role of men in parenting. While many in the media and academia have observed this trend, no company has emerged  to meet the needs of these "New" fathers, the modern dads. Enter DadLabs, Inc., a start-up company dedicated to providing creative media content and information products to serve this new generation of "Super Dads."

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, DadLabs is an information and entertainment company that fosters the father/child relationship through media, instructional and retail products. The mission of the company is to strengthen families and benefit children by empowering today's fathers. The company provides resources to expecting, new and veteran fathers that will launch them into a more active and creative role in the lives of their children. DadLabs speaks to the corporate executive and the delivery driver with a voice that is authentic and genuinely male, with wisdom and self-deprecating humor of experience. The products and services offered are honest, informative, sometimes off-color, but always dedicated to the spirit of fatherhood. DadLabs speaks guy and presents information through guy-colored lenses.

Founded in 2004 by Troy Lanier, Clay Nichols and Brad Powell, DadLabs aims to be the voice of the new fatherhood. The company was founded on the core value that parents must be the primary movers in the lives of their children and fathers must play a leading role in this journey. The team at DadLabs is committed to assisting the busy father by providing him with accessible and digestible information and parenting ideas. DadLabs will not only inform and entertain fathers, but will also foster creative father/child activities through retail products.

The trio bring more than 30 years of teaching and hands on fatherhood experience, as well as professional film making and writing experience. Troy Lanier and Clay Nichols are accomplished authors and were named to the Austin Chronicle Best of 2005 for their book "Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling off Your Shorts." The company's first DVD, DueDads: The Man's Survival Guide to Pregnancy scheduled for release in the summer of 2006 recently won a 27th annual Bronze Telly Award.

All three founders have been long time teachers at Austin's St. Stephen's School and combined have seven small children.  

Executive and Creative Team

Brad Powell - CEO, Producer and Star - Brad Powell is one heck of a harmonica player, and a regular in music venues and recording studios in the Live Music Capitol of the World, Austin, Texas. He has taken some time off from this primary passion in recent years to serve as Business Manager of St. Stephen's Episcopal School.

At St. Stephen's, he managed an operating budget of $14.5 million, capital assets in excess of $40 million, and a $6,000,000 endowment. Powell also serves as an independent consultant to various small and mid-sized organizations in the areas of strategic financial planning, institutional growth, communications and marketing. He is an accomplished public speaker and serves on numerous community service organizations boards. During his career at the school,Powell found time out from balancing the books to teach from them in the areas of Geometry and Economics.

Brad Powell graduated from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN with a BA in Economics and holds an MBA in Management from St. Edward's University in Austin, TX. He lives in Austin with his wife and two children.

Clay Nichols - Chief Creative Director, Writer, Producer and Star - Clay Nichols is a husband, father, author, playwright, teacher, and now screenwriter and television host.  He has written over a dozen plays for both young and adult audiences that have been produced across the country, most recently in Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver and Louisville, Kentucky.  Titles include Appleseed John, The Speaker Speaks and The Nose in Exile. His plays have received awards from the Center for American History at the University of Texas, the Austin Critics' Table, The Playwrights' Center of San Francisco, and Stages Theatre of Houston, among others.  His book “Pulling Off Your Shorts: Filmmaking for Teens” co-authored with Troy Lanier, published in April 2005 by Michael Wiese Productions, has been widely praised by critics and kids alike.  A follow-up “Filmmaking for Teens: Docs and Mocs – Your Reel Life” will be released in 2007.

Nichols is a veteran of a dozen years in the high school classroom, having taught in the areas of English, Creative Writing, Drama and Filmmaking.  As a consequence he has read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn way too many times.

Nichols is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds an MFA in playwriting from the University of Texas where he was a James A. Michener Fellow at the Texas Center for Writers.  He is founder and director of the Theatre Focus program at St. Stephen's School and the Texas Arts Project.  His favorite outdoor activities are eating and drinking.  He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children ages eight, four and two.

Troy Lanier - Chief Technical Director, Producer, Director and Editor - Troy Lanier produces documentary films.  His most recent documentary, "Streets Without Cars" played in over fifteen states on PBS stations including cities such as Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Austin.  He has produced admissions DVD's for international student recruitment at St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, and teaches a filmmaking class there as well.  His book "Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling off Your Shorts" co-authored by Clay Nichols won the Best of Austin award in 2006.  Lanier also films international climbing and caving expeditions in Mexico.

Troy received the Teaching Excellence Award from St. Stephen's School in 2004 for his work as a Physics teacher. He also teaches film.  He has been a student favorite for more than a dozen years.

Lanier holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters in the History of Science and Technology from the University of Wisconsin.  He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two children.

Owen Egerton, Writer and Host – Creator of the popular DadLabs show "Daditude." Owen Egerton is also the author of a collection of short stories How to Best Avoid Dying, the novel Marshall Hollenzer is Driving, several screenplays (including the award winning Evil Twinkie) and a number of essays. His writing has been featured in Puerto del Sol, Killing the Buddha, Tiferet, Word Riot, and several other magazines and literary journals.

Owen earned a MFA in Creative Writing from Texas State University in 2005. He is also the co-creator of the hit comedy troupe The Sinus Show which performed for six years at the Alamo Drafthouse and for several years was the artistic director of Austin’s National Comedy Theatre. He is a contributing commentator for public radio, an accomplished recording artist and founder of the equal marriage rights group The Right to Marry. Owen lives in Austin, Texas with his hot wife Jodi and brilliant daughter Arden.

Music:

Alec Summers, Composer and Music Producer - Alec is a composer that has written music in many genres and for many mediums of broadcast media and live performance. He has studied composition and jazz piano performance at Northwestern University, University of Miami, University of Maryland, and the University of Pittsburgh. Alec has also performed extensively as a pianist and keyboardist in several regional rock and funk bands, as well as gigging regularly as a jazz pianist. He is "daddy" to his lovely daughter, Catie, and frequently views the DadLabs site for parenting tips, advice, and some laughs. Please visit www.alecsummers.com for more info and examples of his compositional work.

Kevin MacLeod, www.incompetech.com