Coterie, a $160 million diaper company<\/a>. <\/p>\nBefore launching Brooklyn Stroll Club, Gonzales spent years working in media and production, most recently as a senior producer on the media agency side of Hypebeast. His professional background centered on storytelling, brand building and live event production.<\/p>\n
Looking back, Gonzales says the skills that proved most valuable had less to do with traditional business training and more to do with understanding how to create experiences that resonate emotionally.<\/p>\n
\u201cProducing content taught me how to create moments that people genuinely connect with,\u201d he says. \u201cI saw so many brands talking about connection while people were feeling increasingly disconnected in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it came to feeling disconnected as a new dad, Gonzales, like so many parents, found himself navigating a landscape he had not fully anticipated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe postpartum period was beautiful, but it was also isolating in ways I wasn’t prepared for,\u201d he says. \u201cI loved being a dad more than anything, but everything about my life changed overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
While documenting his fatherhood journey on social media, Gonzales began asking a simple question: Where do dads gather? And how? <\/p>\n
\u201cMost people basically told me, \u2018I don\u2019t know, you should start it,\u2019\u201d he recalls. He took that challenge seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrooklyn Stroll Club started because I needed it myself. The more dads I spoke to, the more I realized I wasn\u2019t the only one feeling that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first Brooklyn Stroll Club meetup was intentionally simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cA handful of dads showed up at the park, and I bought donuts and waters,\u201d Gonzales says. \u201cWe had about 20 dads from all over New York talking about feeding schedules, sleep schedules, things they were excited about and things they were scared about.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conversations were immediate and honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment I realized it could become something bigger was when dads started coming back and bringing friends,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s when I knew we weren\u2019t just organizing a meetup. We were creating belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from events, content has played a significant role in Brooklyn Stroll Club\u2019s growth, but Gonzales says audience growth was never the primary objective.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal was always to document fatherhood honestly,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Rather than focusing on parenting hacks or viral humor, Gonzales centered his content around lived experiences\u2014early mornings, exhaustion, joy and the everyday realities.<\/p>\n
That authenticity helped bridge online engagement with real-world participation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe content wasn\u2019t saying, \u2018Look at me.\u2019 It was saying, \u2018You\u2019re not alone.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Turning Community Into A Sustainable Business<\/p>\n
While Brooklyn Stroll Club began as a passion project, Gonzales has personally invested tens of thousands of dollars to bootstrap its growth. Today, he remains the company\u2019s sole owner while operating with a lean team that includes his wife overseeing event logistics alongside contractors and creative partners.<\/p>\n
Revenue comes primarily through brand partnerships, event sponsorships, content creation and merchandise.<\/p>\n
One principle remains non-negotiable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve made a conscious decision to keep our events free,\u201d Gonzales says. \u201cWe believe parents shouldn\u2019t have to pay for connection and support.\u201d<\/p>\n
That philosophy shapes every partnership decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question I always ask is simple: Would this make the experience better for our dads?\u201d<\/p>\n
If the answer is no, the team walks away.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust is the most valuable asset we have,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Beyond Events<\/p>\n
Today, Brooklyn Stroll Club’s reach extends well beyond in-person gatherings. More than 2,500 fathers participate in the organization\u2019s Discord community, sharing advice, celebrating milestones and supporting one another through the challenges of parenting.<\/p>\n
For Gonzales, that ongoing engagement represents the true measure of success.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe events are often the entry point,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the real community exists in the relationships that continue afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the organization\u2019s most ambitious initiative to date was indeed its DadCon26, a multi-day fatherhood experience held across New York City featuring family gatherings, wellness programming and partnerships with brands including BabyBj\u00f6rn, Little Spoon, Fossil, Genexa, Dove Men+Care, Gerber and Nuna.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re no longer just hosting meetups,\u201d Gonzales says. \u201cWe\u2019re creating experiences around community, wellness and family connection.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Father\u2019s Day weekend shines a spotlight on modern parenting, more brands are recognizing that mothers are no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,105295,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-273500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-stroll-club","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}