Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Sherman.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey started 19 years ago when I became a father. It was an unexpected turn of events in my life and once I saw my son in the hospital it changed my whole life. Fast forward a few years later, when my son was three years old I took my son mother to court to fight for custody. After I was granted custody, I raised my son from that point on as an everyday father.
Before I started the podcast, there was a blog site called Farewell, Mr. Nice Guy where I was tell the story and posting some of my other writings. Then, after a year I created a animation channel called ExitLeft Animations cause I wanted to write scripts and animate adult cartoons. I learned a lot of producing, writing, and voiceover skills just from learning how to animate. It was a tiresome activity learning from scratch. During this time, I was at a birthday party with some friends that decided they wanted to do a podcast. We called it Skip the Formalities and I managed all the social media including producing every show. It ended as quickly as it started.
One day, I was talking to my mom; she was tell me I should start my own podcast and I had the gift of gab. It was crazy to think at the time I would want to start my own without a story to tell. She calmly stated, “You have a story to tell. You been doing it for 17 years” At this moment, it hit my like a sack of bricks in a cartoon. I already tried to tell my story through my writing but I can tell it in another way on another platform. Farewell, Mr. Nice Guy was born and I started with just the equipment I had from animating. I recorded my first few videos that were audio only before moving to video a few months later. In a short time, I had people that wanted to be on the show to support my vision.
The foundation at the start was to tell my story to help other men; father and non-fathers to navigate the child support system. Then, build better relationship through the triumphs and failures that I experience. Today, our goal is still the same with a few added pieces. We talk about mental health, personal growth, and best practices for a good relationship. Our goal is to bring people together and inspire the next generation of men.
As we built the show and it started to take off, I wanted to add a clothing store called FarewellMNG to further express the ideas of being a father, personal growth, and freedom of express. If you can’t say; it wear it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. The podcast had some minor setbacks from figuring out certain platforms, scheduling, and even the occasional cancelled guests. We have had devices that had to be replaced and learning curves to overcome.
The clothing store has been open for 3 months and it’s a learning curve to manage, market, create, and organize products. Converting visits into sales and pushing word of mouth. Both of these activities can be difficult to manage on a daily between recording new videos, knowing what’s trending, and timing publishing. Even though there is ups and downs I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Currently, I work in Human Resources as a HR Generalist. Prior to this position, I worked in government for a few years.
I don’t think I’m known for anything (laughs), however, I do some other jobs on the side from consulting to hosting shows for non-profits.
I’m most proud of my accomplishments such as graduating college, being certified in my field, and raising my son to be a man. I don’t believe I would have achieved all I have in life if it wasn’t for my son being born and my great support system. Also, watching my son grow up into a young man, making decisions, and curving his own path in life.
What sets me apart from others is my resilience. There have been some bad times but I have found strength in getting back up and pushing forward.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
There is so many childhood memories I could recall but one sticks out the most is spending time with my family and friends. We playing a lot of basketball growing and those are the memories that are my favorite. I played one on one with my dad one time and was talking big stuff. He couldn’t do much at his old age but I was still talking trash but I feel like he let me win the game. It would be a interesting challenge if I could have played him when he was younger cause all the stories he tells me. He use to dominate the court.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.farewellmng.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farewellmng/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556066947588
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FarewellMNG
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@farewellmng
