2.1 Kevin & Axel: Confidence Through Identity, Emotions as a Guy, and the Fishing Trip Disaster

In the first episode of Season 2, Kevin and Axel talk about confidence, validation, emotions, goals, and the pressure young guys feel to figure themselves out early. What starts with fishing trip stories, golf, and losing phones turns into a real conversation about identity, self-worth, and becoming a man.

Full Episode Description

Season 2 opens with Kevin and Axel catching up after the break and talking through some of the stuff most fathers and sons never really say out loud.

They get into confidence, insecurity, emotions, self-worth, and the pressure a lot of young guys feel to already have life figured out. Along the way, they tell stories about disastrous fishing trips, losing phones in ponds, golf tournaments, favorite movies, and why confidence usually has a lot more to do with identity than people think.

One of the biggest conversations in the episode centers around validation — why so many people look to other people for approval before they ever learn to be proud of themselves first.

They also talk about emotional honesty, masculinity, learning how to communicate, and why being confident doesn’t always mean being loud.

The conversation shifts naturally between funny and serious without forcing either one — which is what makes the episode feel real.

This episode is for dads raising boys, teenagers trying to build confidence, and honestly anyone still figuring themselves out a little bit.

Timestamps

0:01: Introduction to Season 2.
0:26: Excitement about the new season and lineup.
1:04: Discussion about braces and retainers.
2:06: Funny story about wearing the wrong underwear.
3:28: Recap of a fishing trip and mishaps.
4:26: Losing a phone in the pond and learning poker.
6:14: Goals for 2026 and personal growth.
7:09: Desire to learn new skills like backflipping.
8:12: Family updates and reflections on past year.
9:37: Discussion on natural gifts and confidence.
11:25: Favorite movies and TV shows.
13:13: Enjoyment of romantic comedies and reality TV.
14:31: Staying motivated and expressing emotions.
15:38: Importance of identity in achieving goals.
16:27: Upcoming interviews and plans for Season 2.
17:17: Closing remarks and reflections.

About the Podcast

Making A Man is a father-son podcast about confidence, discipline, masculinity, identity, emotions, and growing into the kind of man you actually respect. Through real conversations, stories, and lessons learned the hard way, Kevin and Axel talk through the stuff most people avoid — without pretending to have everything figured out.

Transcript

Making A Man (00:01)
Yeah, so there are recording now. yeah, the mics work. saw the mics all work. All right, we're gonna open them up here. We're gonna open up with our dog and we'll do a countdown.

I got him you do the you do the you probably should stand over there and

Alright, you just want to count me down? Stay. Three, two, one. Hello everybody, welcome back to Making a Man. Today we're kicking off season two. I'm so excited. Season two? Season two. It's insane. We even got smoke here. We got a fun dog.

We got a really fun lineup coming up for all these next podcasts. Yeah, we're still going to be doing podcasts though. Just one on one. It's going to be great. got some good interviews lined up acts that are going to come on season two. So we're going to do some different things. We're going to go out and about and try some different things and

Go outside and do some fun stuff. Today though, we're kicking off season two. Anything else you want to open up with? I got some things. I think that's good. Let's start. The one thing that's important, I think our last episode you had braces. I did have braces. braces. No braces. You got them off. No more. That's big deal. Yeah. It feels free, but now I just got to remember to keep my retainer. That's the important part. Yeah. How many retainers have you failed to retain?

Have you lost? Hold up before I say this number, we have insurance. That's how I retain our insurance. I think three, at least three sets, three and a half.

Yeah, because you lost the tops of one and you still have the bottom. Because I was like going out of church and it fell out of my pocket. loses retainers. I don't just lose retainers, I lose everything and I'm working on it. You are getting better. You are getting better. I feel a sense of change. Except you wore my underwear the other day. I did accidentally wear my dad's underwear while we were golfing. You grabbed underwear out of the...

laundry, clean laundry. We went golfing. You were in a hurry. And then we were golfing and he goes, these underwear are real baggy. don't know why. Like the, um, the little top of it. waistband was like above my belly button underneath your golf. I had a wedgie like every single swing. Yeah. Maybe that impacted your swing. If you played like the round of your life, you'd just have to always wear big underwear. Yeah.

Cause it would be like your good luck charm. So I wanted to lead off with braces. Your braces are off. Whoa, wait, hold up, hold up. Yeah. I went to get my physical or something like that. I got two shots. Yeah. You know about that, but can I tell you my height right now? What's your height? You're five three. Is that good? Yeah. I'd say it's good. He says, I don't, I hope I'm just above five 11. You're probably going to be like foot. Six foot. I hope.

Yeah, that's what you want. Yeah. All right. There's always hope. Yeah. Anyway, sorry to interrupt. No, that's good. to clarify. You're 5'3 and the goal is to get to like 6'1 potentially. You might shoot up. You just turned what? You're 13. You're going to be 14 here soon. And I think I grew probably most in 14 to 15. So yeah, you got some six foot potential in you. I'd say. Yeah.

So many things have happened since we took a break. took a long break. I'm excited to be back. am too. This is good. So a lot of things I want to talk about that happened. went on. So Axe and I went on a kind of a man trip, a fishing trip.

Right towards the end of last season when we rented like an Airbnb Airbnb was really good. like the cabin was great. It out in the middle of and but they advertised it as having this fully stocked pond like every cast is like every six pound bass.

Only one of us caught. We caught one fish the whole trip. I don't know how you call one because you barely go fishing. I got a fish. Yeah, it was a rock bass. Yeah, it was a rock bass. Yeah, well, had tiny. Yeah. And I was thinking about that trip. And here's what happened on that trip. First off. We get there.

Axel drops his phone into the pond loses his whole phone goes to the bottom. It's still down there Yeah, you know if you want a free phone just go there I guess but oh you were FaceTiming your face. Yeah, I was FaceTiming my grandma and I was just like we were just about to get on the phone I was like, love you and the bench had like a little crack in it like at least like a you're out on a set like yeah and

It was like kind of like ledged up against it at an angle and I don't know how it just slipped right through. So when we get there, we couldn't get into the cabin. Remember when it dark? We had to do like one of these like secret missions. We finally, I don't remember how we got in, but that that weekend you learn how to play poker.

yes. That was your play with salami and Doritos. I was getting so sick. Salami pieces were like 100. We only had junk food is so much fun until like I was getting sick of the junk food. Yeah. And then we had to get out of there. I think we left early because we weren't catching fish. ran out of food. Yeah.

And then on our way home, almost hit a deer and then we saw a truck. hold up. A truck wreck. This fricking guy on the highway. Yeah. We like, we're just chilling there talking about like, I don't know, like, oh my gosh, we almost just hit that deer right there. That was crazy. And I look up and I see this guy swerving. I'm like, dang, is he okay? And he just goes straight into the grass. a hill, up into the grass. Up a hill. I swear I saw some air. Yeah, he got some hang time.

Yeah, and he came back down on the highway and then sped like 60 miles an hour or way more than that, like straight down. So we're kind of in into twenty twenty six right now. And by the time this goes out, it's probably going to be summer. But what are.

Anything that you have planned for 2026? Like you have any thing that you've thought about as your goals? feel like this is like the only year that I haven't had like a New Year's resolution. Yeah. But I think I needed it. I think I need to do that. Like you need to have a year off. I think I should a year off. You've

I think like last year you did good. said, I'm going to make the basketball team. did that this year. Then you were like, I'm going to make the golf team. You did that. And one of the things that I'm going to stop doing and you know, lot of times I say, I'm proud of you and all my kids. I'm super proud of them, but I'm going to stop doing that. Cause at some point you

You need to be proud of yourself. Yeah. And what's so now you notice I'm starting to say I hope you're proud of yourself. I'm saying that a lot more because I really believe if you have to be proud of yourself or else you're going to look for.

other people to validate how proud they are of you. And all that matters is that if you're proud of yourself, that's really all that matters. It's just what you think about yourself. That's good. That's good. No, so I'm trying to get better at that. Are there any other skills that you want to develop here in the next nine to 12 months that you don't have now or that you have, but you want to refine? It's going to sound really funny or like silly out of the blue. I want to learn how to backflip.

Like just stand there and backflip? Yeah. So like if I like do something crazy, I don't know, just hit a backflip, then it's like two times more is crazy. What if you're in a golf tournament and you, you like nail like a 30 foot putt and then you just do a backflip?

I'm only doing a backflip if I get a hole in one. That's why I need a learning one. I don't know why. feel like I'm going to be You think you're close? Close? What? If I get new clubs? You need to set mattresses down or something and then practice it so that when you land on your head it doesn't hurt. Yeah. Or like...

I don't know, maybe we can like get someone to help me. But who knows? You could probably find someone to help you. Yeah. Like, hey, come here and teach me how to do backflip. That's a weird job if you're teaching people how to do backflips. Unless you're like a gymnast coach, I guess. Yeah. I think it was the last 12 months have been really good. Like all of our like our oldest Vivian knows where she's going to college now. Kind of.

She's starting her little like CNA thing, right? Is that what it's gonna be? Dang, nailed that. And Sylvie's definitely more confident. Like everyone's doing well. Amelia's been playing a lot of basketball. Yeah, I'm just gonna... And then season one with you. Yeah, season one ended. We're starting season two. I think for me, I went to Scotland with my boys. Like that was a fun trip. Wait, was that after the fishing trip? No, that was, that was. It was. Yeah. Yeah, it was after, I think. That was...

That was good. I saw the pictures. There was like sideways rain. was insane. Yeah, it was 50 mile power wind. How was the food there? Awful. Really? Well, lots of fish and chips. Oh, yeah. That's it. That was the only good thing. And after a while, you're like, I can't eat any more fish and chips. It's kind of how it was on the fishing trip. I was like, I cannot eat any more of these Doritos and salami. We had combos, Doritos and salami. Yeah.

Those were our poker chips. Combos is poker chips. I've been thinking about this. What do you think you're naturally good at? Like everyone has a gift. Is there something that you're just naturally gifted with? Dang, that's a good question. I think I know, but I want to see what you think. I want to see what you think just so can compare what I had. I think you have a lot of gifts, but one of them is.

More even since you were super little like a little fat baby. You've always been very confident in front of adults Yes, that's what it was in my head. I promise you that was in my head. You know what I mean? Like you're not afraid to up to street. Yeah to anyone I'm like hey go ask this guy to be on our podcast. yeah, it was no there was this one time Right after we were golfing we were dad was hanging out with his friends. I was just sitting there kind of

getting in the conversation. And then I overheard him talking about some football player named Sam Howell, right? Is that what his name? Yeah. Yeah. You texted him. You got his number. We're still Sam. If you're out there listening, we're still waiting for you to come back. We really want you on the show. Yeah. So I promise you by the time you reply, we'll be, we'll be on the right course. think. Yeah, exactly. So is there any other skills that you think you're pretty good at?

Public speaking, I'd say. I feel like that's kind of on the line. confidence, right? Like you're pretty confident in front of a group of people, which that's good skill. Cause I think a lot of people don't have that. And you just have always been that way. Even though, you know, you lose a lot of stuff and you misplace and forget stuff, you're pretty confident in front of people, which is good. I have a question for you. What was...

Top three best movies you've watched when you were a kid. When I was a kid? Yeah, like my age. Top three. Top three movies. Mm-hmm. Well, I grew up, you know, was a...

early 80s. Yeah. When I was your age. wasn't a lot of movies. But yeah, there was like, I mean, there was, liked old movies like Kuhan Luke to this day is my favorite movie. I've seen that. I love it Paul Newman. flick. Yeah. Kuhan Luke has to, I don't normally watch a movie more than once, but I bet I've watched Kuhan Luke like a dozen times. I'm a guy who likes to watch movies a lot. Like once I kind of forget, start to forget the plot, then that's when I know like it's going to be. Yeah. Huh?

And then, you know, Rockies and Rambos. Yeah. You watch those together. I really like Fury is my favorite, though. Yeah, that's what's so furious. You're one furious. My one see. Sue's second. See, Sue's gory. Well, Fury's kind of gory, but Ceci really gory. They're both war movies. You like like war history. Yeah. Or like, honestly, the notebook. What?

Hold up, hold That's a total. Okay, I know that's that's that's kind of gay. No, it's kind of like a girls watch. Yeah, but

Now that I feel like the notebook in books that like sissies watch. Yeah, they definitely helps with talking to girls at my school. Wow. Different. I'm impressed with that game. But I know this like only watch them like once a month. I walk in the theater or in the living room or something you and your sisters are watching some love story. You'll be like, they're just standing like you come in the room to get something then you just

You get caught in the scene and I'm like, what are you watching? I was like, oh, no, no, no. I'm not watching anything. You like rom coms? Wait, no. Romantic comedies. Anyways, what was I going to say? Oh, friends. Friends is really good. I like friends. You watch like every season of Friends? I'm on track. I'd say I'm halfway point. And then Modern Family.

I don't know why that's a really good show. Modern Family? I never got into either of those, They're really good. I kind of like reality TV too. When I was a kid, the Dukes of Hazards. I've heard of that. I've never seen it though. Yeah, that was the Dukes of Hazards. There was a series like The Incredible Hulk. Yeah. Was on. I remember watching that when I was probably younger than you. These seats are so far back. Yeah, these seats are different than the ones we used to. I like them though, because they can swivel. They do swivel, but they're,

I'm gonna get scoliosis by then. They're not the most comfortable. Anyways, sorry. No, that's good. What other questions you got? Anything? No. You got anything else? Yeah, I got some things I wrote down. All right, let's see. I wanted to know like, what do you think if...

If you had a younger person come and say, well, how do you stay motivated when things get tough? Do you have a secret to do that? First off, I don't think any young person would say that, but yeah, I think some I think two out of 200. Yeah, maybe. But anyway, sorry. Yeah. Don't ask you that. OK. What keeps me motivated keeps you motivated. Nana. Really? Wow. Nana and mom, she would cry. Nana and mom. Nana would cry. Oh.

Well, don't say that. But I'm saying it's good that she's emotional because it helps her present her feelings. think that's very right. Yeah. And I think men should be able to present their feelings, present their feelings as well. Yeah. I feel like girls, not all of them, not all of them. But I feel like some are like, boys shouldn't cry because they're supposed to be like manly and like.

Yeah, I think we should be allowed to let out some of our emotions. I get that. think that's a fair. still got to keep like the manly standard, you know? Right. But you're allowed to show some emotion. Yeah, I think that's a good, good. Any emotion, like love,

One thing that I'm learning about is like that I think back on is everyone like writes goals down but yeah I think you can't accomplish a goal unless you're right unless you have an identity about what you want to be and what I mean is like if your goal is to be rich and you identify you need to identify as being rich you need to feel like you already are you need to like

Identity, if you want to be healthy, you need to feel healthy, even though you're not. You know what I mean? Like you need to identify that before the goal comes. I think that's something that what has been interesting to me. Like you need to see yourself in that position before you're there. And I feel like you've been, sometimes you can get down, like all of us get down on ourselves.

And I was curious how you like I can get too hard on myself. Yeah. Yeah. You, get really hard on yourself. I do too. Like that's just like everyone does. Yeah. so our next, we have some interviews coming out with some motivational speakers, some military guys. so I'm pumped up. We got some in the can already that we've done for season two.

And we're looking forward to switching it up. We're going to do some stuff outside. So really, are on a we were on a break. We were just we're loading them up. We're loading the gun. We did a couple on break that we just saved for season two. And this was just the one in the chamber. Yeah, we're doing right now. That's exactly right. So we're excited for season two. Yeah. And I think that's it. Unless you have anything else. No.

Always fun. Always a pleasure. What is this? This six seven isn't a thing anymore. Is it fading? I think it is because whenever someone does it in school, it's just cringy now. It's just so like so we need to invent the the photo in there of me like you and me like standing next to each other. And I was lining up my putter when I didn't make the golf from last year. I think that motivates me to whatever I see that picture in there.

That picture in our golf room? Yeah. You want me to go get it real quick or? No, it's good. Yeah. picture of you putting and I'm standing behind you. That's good. I like that picture too. We gotta have some snacks. I didn't know that motivated you. I was going to take that down because I it was cheesy. I used to, but now I appreciate you showing your emotions. Yeah. See? There you go. Full circle, baby. yeah. All right. Good to see everyone. Thank you. Boom. See ya. Good job.

That was actually that was fluid that that one is

you hit stop.