Meet Jason Linton

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason Linton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jason, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I don’t know if I’m so much resilient as I am patient. I know that if I do everything that I need to do for the outcomes that I want, it will open for me at the right time. I’ve never been a person that was “lucky” or had things go my way. In a way I am built different because I’ve had a great example of how to move through disappointment while maintaining good character. My parents who immigrated here from Jamaica. I’ve not seen anyone hit more barriers and still keep going forward than my mom and dad.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a social media content creator known as Dadlifejason that makes content that tells the story of my family as we came together through foster care and adoption and continue to grow together each day. Some of our content is funny and a lot of it is thoughtful but all of it is to promote the message of togetherness and inclusion for those that may feel alone in the world. I want the sentiment that People get from my content to have is being a part of the family. I want people to remember what it feels like to not be alone and to belong to a group that loves them. I like to use music to share positivity and fun with my trusty Talkbox instrument. All in all it’s about me being a dad to my three children and a hubby to my wife and learning how to be the best version of myself that I can be each day. I’m learning everyday. Our journey is one that brings visibility to so many that are fostering or have adopted and I hope to one day write our story in detail to inspire others with a book. For now we will keep sharing who we are on social media because that’s where it all started for me. A student suggested for me to get on TikTok when I was a teacher’s aide for the special education department and I knew that I could do something special for our family story there and now it has changed all of our lives for the better and even allowed us to help others in our small Oklahoma community. A small suggestion from a pure place changed everything for us.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

For me the three qualities I can think of is being teachable, having initiative, having empathy. Being teachable for me has helped me to develop the attitude that I needed to grow not only as a creator but as a father. I have learned that my children have taught me so much more as a father than I have taught them. It’s humbling in a way that makes me a better man. Having initiative is what allowed me to see what an opportunity TikTok could be for positivity. I believed that if I put in the work to be heard that I would find my voice and make a difference. It wasn’t easy to find my voice on a platform that was made for younger creators but I was diligent and did the work to build the community that we all share. Lastly but not least, empathy. Without empathy the chase for more never ends. Without empathy, the only goal of a following is more fame. Empathy has allowed me to hear and amplify the voices of those without a platform. Namely those that have been through the system and those that have suffered a lack of care or a loss in their family structure. Empathy has helped me to find a more gracious way to respond to people in this world that have become harsh after being hurt. Sometimes a kind response can help us find our way even when we are at our worst.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

The most impactful thing that my parents did for me was apologize to me. Namely my father. I will never forget it he had accused me of doing something I didn’t do and I pleaded my case to no avail and I was punished for it. I remember him coming into my room and showing me the thing that he thought I had taken. I was already punished for it but I remember him taking out a sheet of stamps that came in the mail from publishers clearing house. He took the stamps and made my name on the wall above my bed. They weren’t peel and stick stamps. He had to use water to activate the adhesive on the back. To this day, out of all the most important things I’ve learned from my father in his lifetime, if you have wronged someone, no matter how much bigger than them you are, they deserve an apology from you. In my own life, being argumentative was like a trauma response for me and with that skill, it’s easy to deceive oneself into thinking that apologies must be earned. The truth is, there is no need for a burden of proof. Just be honest with yourself and how you affect people and you can apologize from a genuine place and allow the other person to find healing. I will always appreciate that lesson.

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