My name is Mike Riley. I'm an apprentice of Jesus Christ, (apprentice means- understudy, meaning I am still sinning and still learning) a husband, a dad of three, and own and operate a small construction company in Central Ohio.

But none of those titles mean much if I'm not actually showing up for the people God has entrusted to me. And it took me longer than I'd like to admit to understand that.

I Didn't Grow Up With a Clear Picture of What Family Was Supposed to Look Like…

My parents were separated, and growing up there was a lot of confusion around family and fatherhood.

My bonus mom stepped into my life and showed me something different. She showed me what steady, unconditional love looked like. When she passed away, it left a hole in my life that I didn't really know how to fill. My biological father spent a few years in prison. That created another kind of emptiness.

Looking back, I think a lot of what drove me as a young man came from trying to fill those holes. I learned to work. I learned to push. I learned to provide. I learned that there wasn’t a back-up plan – I was the back up plan. And somewhere along the way, I started believing that if I could just become successful enough, build enough, earn enough, and accomplish enough, I'd finally feel like I had made it.

I found Jesus in college, but if I'm being truthful, I didn't completely surrender my life to Him. I was a fan, not a follower. I got married. We started a family. I built a business. Then more businesses. From the outside, things looked good. I was working hard. Providing for my family. Building houses. Closing deals. Chasing the next opportunity. Carrying the weight that comes with trying to build something from nothing.I thought that's what a good husband and father was supposed to do.

• Provide.
• Protect.
• Work hard.
• Keep pushing.

Those things matter & should be done. But somewhere in all the building, I was neglecting the most important things God had already given me to build.

• My faith.
• My marriage.
• My kids.

I could be physically sitting with my family while my mind was still at work. There was always another problem to solve, another phone call, another email, another fire that needed put out. I was doing a lot of what the world calls successful. But my soul was starving.And being a great provider doesn't automatically make you a great husband or a great dad. I needed to learn that.

Then I Went to Louisiana
In May of 2025, I attended a men's retreat in West Monroe, Louisiana.
I didn't realize it at the time, but that weekend would change the trajectory of my life.
During the retreat, Pastor Waymond from Fair Park Baptist Church preached a message called "Living the Baptized Life." It shook me to my core. I had known Jesus. But knowing Jesus and surrendering your life to Jesus are two very different things. I started looking at everything differently.

• What kind of husband am I?
• What kind of father am I?
• What are my kids learning from
• watching me?

Am I leading my family toward Christ…or am I just taking them to church?
If my kids grow up and become exactly the kind of man, husband, or father, they see modeled in our home, will I be proud of what I've shown them? And maybe the hardest question: What good is building a successful business if I lose my family while doing it?

I came home from Louisiana knowing something had to change. Not just for a few weeks. Not another motivational high. My life needed to change.

That's Where Built With Dad Comes From
Built With Dad was NOT created because I figured fatherhood out. Quite the opposite. It exists because I realized how badly I needed help becoming the man God was calling me to be. I wanted practical tools that would help me…

• Pray with my kids.
• Talk to them about things that
• actually matter.
• Lead my home spiritually.
• Be more intentional with my wife.
• Put my phone down.
• Control my temper.

Teach them about faith, work, responsibility, character, grit, and honor.
And become more present before I looked up and realized their childhood was over. I couldn't find everything I was looking for. So, naturally, I started building it.

That's Built With Dad.
I'm Still In It Too I'm not writing this as some fatherhood expert who has everything figured out.
I don't. I'm raising three kids right now. Our family lives on a small farm. We're getting into raising our own cattle soon. Our calendar is packed with sports, church, hunting, fishing, work, school, and all the normal chaos that comes with raising a family.

• I still run businesses.
• I still have days where work follows
• me through the front door.
• I still get distracted.
• I still lose patience.
• I still have moments where I realize I've been staring at my phone instead of paying attention to the people sitting right in front of me.

And I still have to remind myself:
These kids don't need a perfect dad. They need a present one who is willing to keep growing. Built With Dad is part of that journey for me, too. We're not pretending we have fatherhood figured out. We're men willing to be honest about where we're falling short, take responsibility for it, and do something about it.

No gimmicks.
No fake perfection.
Just dads becoming more intentional about the way we lead our homes.

Faith. Grit. Honor.
Those three words are at the center of everything we're building.

Faith: because our families need men who are willing to follow Jesus and lead from conviction.
Grit: because marriage, fatherhood, work, and life are hard. Good men don't run when things get difficult.
Honor: because our wives, our children, our communities, and our God deserve men whose actions match what they say they believe.

I'm not interested in building another brand that just sells stuff to dads. I want to build something that matters & makes a difference here and eternally. Tools that start conversations. Challenges that change habits. Resources that bring dads and kids closer together. And eventually, a community of men who aren't afraid to hold each other accountable and say:

We can do better.
There's a Bigger Mission!

That weekend in West Monroe changed my life. I want other men to have the opportunity to experience something like it. That's why the mission of Built With Dad goes beyond products. After the costs required to operate and grow Built With Dad, our goal is to pour the profits back into retreat missions. In the beginning, one here in Ohio and one in West Monroe, Louisiana. As we grow, so will our support.
I want to help create opportunities for husbands and fathers to get away from the noise, hear the truth, encounter Jesus, and go home different. Because when you change a dad, you don't just change one man:

You change a marriage.
You change a home.
You change the way children grow up.
And, God willing, you change generations.

This Isn’t About Me Having the Answers

• I'm still learning.
• I'm still being challenged.
• I'm still trying to become a better husband, a better father, and a more faithful follower of Jesus.

Built With Dad is simply me taking the tools, lessons, conversations, failures, and victories I'm experiencing along the way and sharing them with other dads. Most of these are the tools I wish someone had handed me years ago.

So, if you're a dad who loves his family but knows you could be more present…If you're working your tail off to provide but wondering whether you're missing something along the way…If you want to lead your family spiritually but don't always know where to start…Or if you simply know you're capable of becoming a better husband and father than you were yesterday…

You're exactly who Built With Dad was created for.
You don't have to have it all figured out.
Neither do I.
We're building this together.
Faith. Grit. Honor.

With gratitude,

Mike Riley
Founder, Built With Dad