Mental health, fatherhood & building with intention: An interview with Andy Dunn

Allison Whalen

Jun 26, 2025

Andy Dunn became known for building Bonobos, one of the earliest and most influential direct-to-consumer brands. After selling it to Walmart, he entered a new phase of his life: high-level corporate executive, author, husband and father.

In his memoir Burn Rate, Andy shares openly about navigating bipolar disorder while building a high-growth company. But when I interviewed him on The False Tradeoff, I didn’t want to re-hash a story he already told.

I wanted to talk about what came after the Bonobos story: rediscovering his identity, resetting his priorities, and building again - with clarity and constraint.

Here are three takeaways from our conversation.

Episode 38

The False Tradeoff

Why Andy Dunn walked away from everything but one thing

Listen to the episode

‍1. Clarity comes when you stop doing everything

After leaving Bonobos, Andy didn’t slow down. He launched a fund, started a company, wrote a book, moved cities and became a father - all at once.

“I was doing way too much,” he said. “And I had to unwind that just to be a good parent and a decent husband.”

Eventually, he adopted a new rule: one job, one mission.

That’s when he founded Pie, a new company focused on solving adult loneliness and social isolation. These days, Andy turns down almost everything - podcasts, coffee chats, board seats - not because he doesn’t care, but because he knows what matters:

“Every time I say yes to something external, I’m saying no to my son.”

2. Being a founder and being an executive are two different jobs

When Andy joined Walmart post-acquisition, he expected to succeed. Instead, he was passed over for the role as CMO, and the experience humbled him.

As he explained, being a founder trains you to be loud, fast and visible. But in a large organization, those same traits can backfire.

A friend and mentor offered this advice: “You need to get small.”

Andy realized that being a great employee meant knowing when to listen more than speak. It also meant that trust - not vision - was the most valuable currency in corporate life. It’s a lesson few founders are taught.

3. Fatherhood made him sharper, yet softer

Andy talks candidly about the tension between being a present parent and an ambitious builder. Like many founders, he admits that being fully present with his son can feel harder than running a company.

And yet, fatherhood gave him something nothing else could: clarity.

He now protects his time with more intention and runs his startup differently - more grounded, more team-oriented and far less reactive than during his Bonobos days.

“I still have the big ideas. But now I bring people along. I don’t just run with them.”

Andy’s story isn’t just about reinvention. It’s about learning to lead from a place of steadiness - at home and at work - and having the discipline to choose less in service of what matters most.

To celebrate all we’ve accomplished, our team shared what they’re most proud of since joining the team:

I'm most proud of how much we have done to improve the single hardest moment for women's careers (going on parental leave) ... one that is often shrouded in insecurity and fear. We've been able to help advocate for so many women (and men!) in a way that is empowering and truly life-changing.

Allison Whalen, CEO & Founder

What am I most proud of? Growth! Growing a category of support that didn't exist before Parentaly. Growing from a one-woman bootstrapped operation to a global team of 25+ employees and coaches. Growing our overall impact for working parents, with companies investing in our parental leave programming to support employees all over the world. And growing as humans: new babies, new friends, new life experiences... all while tackling new and exciting work challenges together.

Rich Burke, Head of Growth

When I reflect on what I am personally most proud of during my time here, it's working alongside a team where we constantly evolve and optimize everything that we do in order to deliver the best possible experience for the folks going through our programs. It sounds cheesy, but there are processes that my team and I used to do 100% manually that are now completely automated and systems in place that have become second nature to how we operate. Working with such thoughtful, smart, and creative people is incredible.

Sara Ophoff, Senior Program Manager

I’m most proud about doing work that makes parents feel confident and empowered about their careers during a time that can be overwhelming and challenging – not only for our clients and users who go through Parentaly’s programs, but also with our advocacy work on LinkedIn, through our podcast and other big campaigns that make a difference. It’s been pretty rewarding to build a brand people know and love because what we’re doing resonates with so many employees’ experiences in the workforce.

Jenna Vassallo, Head of Brand & Marketing

I am so proud of the way we've approached growth with such care and intentionality - with every adjustment we've made to our offerings, we've never lost sight of our goal to provide the most supportive and valuable experience for our users. I love looking back on the early stages of conversations and building that have led us to the experience we offer today. Personally, I am extremely proud of the work I've done to scale and automate our backend!

Rachel Andes, Program Associate

I am most proud of the work we do every single day to make a positive impact on working parents! Everyday I get to work with an amazing group of people…we work hard but we also have fun.

‍Sarah Gruber, Client Partner

I'm proud of scaling an employee experience that consistently delivers positive outcomes for new parents and their organizations. Our north star has always been the user, and we never sacrifice our high quality bar!

Mansi Kothari, VP of Product & Experience

I feel a sense of pride that I get to work behind the scenes supporting everyone. I’m proud to see all of the collaboration between the team and how Parentaly positively impacts employees.

Leo Manalo, Executive Assistant

I'm most proud of going through the Parentaly program myself! I'm so proud to work for and promote this company in a time where parental leave and supportive policies are at the forefront of a national conversation. But beyond this, I'm most proud to call myself a participant.

Emmy Carragher, Enterprise Partnerships

I’m really proud of the work I did to expand our coaching bench globally at Parentaly. It was so rewarding, not to mention insightful, to connect with talented coaches from around the globe. This expansion not only enriched our coaching offerings but also strengthened our commitment to making a meaningful impact on families all over the world.

‍Nicole Hagemann-Bex, Senior Coaching Operations Manager

I have tremendous pride in the knowledge that what I am doing will change the career landscape for new parents, particularly mothers. This will make it more likely that my daughter can have a career AND a family without worrying about the unintentional negative impact of taking parental leave. Nothing makes me prouder than that.

Mindy Himmel-Brown, Strategic Partnerships

In my short time at Parentaly, I'm proudest of the work we're doing with our clients' ERG groups to elevate the stories and advice of actual working parents. It's such an impactful way to spread the word about Parentaly as an essential resource for all people growing their families, and the managers who support them!

Alex Diskin, Enterprise Account Manager

I'm most proud about using LinkedIn to connect with others. I was recently able to share a helpful return to work doc with 50+ new people looking to make a difference at their company. Was pretty cool that people from Chewy, McDonald's, Honda, Cisco, AWS, Walmart and more want to integrate just a piece of what we have to offer. Also...I'm so proud of the way I feel as an employee at Parentaly. For the first time in my career my personal interests align with my professional interests and I've never felt more motivated.

Jenny Hurwitz, Strategic Partnerships

I'm really proud of being able to help the Experience team by handling the supportive functions so they can focus on the bigger picture. It feels great to know that I’m making things easier for them and contributing to the team’s success.

James Mango, Executive Assistant

Tagged

Working parenthood

Podcast recap