Fresh Take: Mike de la Rocha, SACRED LESSONS

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood | Parenting Tips From Funny Moms

What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood

Kids & Family, Comedy, Parenting

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Margaret talks with visionary strategist, artist, and activist Mike de la Rocha, author of Sacred Lessons: Teaching My Father How to Love. Together, they dive into masculinity, grief, intergenerational trauma, and how breaking cycles of emotional silence can transform families. Mike shares vulnerable insights into his father’s legacy, how ritual and presence shape connection, and the power of healing in community. Whether you're parenting sons, navigating emotional communication in marriage, or seeking deeper understanding of male vulnerability, this episode offers a compassionate lens on love, fatherhood, and the courage to speak out. Margaret and Mike discuss: Emotional silence passed through generations of men The healing power of ritual, community, and storytelling Redefining masculinity and strength in today’s world Parenting boys with presence and curiosity How grief catalyzed the writing of Sacred Lessons Building deeper emotional intimacy with the men in our lives Here's where you can find Mike: sacredlessons.com Follow Mike on Instagram: @mrmikedelarocha Buy SACRED LESSONS: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9798888454152 We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: ⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/⁠⁠ mom friends, funny moms, parenting advice, parenting experts, parenting tips, mothers, families, parenting skills, parenting strategies, parenting styles, busy moms, self-help for moms, manage kid’s behavior, teenager, toddler, baby, tween, child development, family activities, family fun, parent child relationship, decluttering, kid-friendly, invisible workload, default parent, grief, loss, fatherhood, father, generational trauma, generational healing, trauma, masculinity, toxic masculinity, manhood, dad, gender roles, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Fresh Take from What Fresh Hell Laughing in the Face of Motherhood.
0:06.5	This is Margaret. And today I am talking to Mike Delarocha. He is a visionary strategist, acclaimed artist, and compelling voice for change.
0:17.1	He is the co-founder of Revolve Impact, a globally recognized creative agency that merges art,
0:23.9	activism, and storytelling to drive social change, and tapito coffee, a company dedicated to
0:31.2	providing meaningful jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals through its partnership
0:35.8	with one of my favorite organizations,
0:38.5	Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention and rehabilitation organization in the world.
0:44.9	His debut book, which we will be discussing today, is Sacred Lessons, Teaching My Father How to
0:52.1	Love. Welcome, Mike.
0:55.9	Thank you so much for having me.
1:03.2	This book starts with you approaching writing a book. As you start thinking about your father, you write, I was running away from addressing my own issues because I was spending countless
1:09.4	hours writing his story, not recognizing that his story
1:14.0	was intimately connected to my own story. So tell us about coming to this book and how that
1:21.5	revelation kind of was wrapped in the beginning of writing this book. Yeah, well, first off,
1:26.3	thank you so much for having me on this podcast.
1:28.9	The catalyst was unexpectedly losing my father.
1:31.4	He went in for a back surgery.
1:33.4	And, you know, for all intents of purposes, we thought that he would be fine after this.
1:37.5	He was in a man's pain, and he didn't survive.
1:41.2	And that quote that you read from the book was I was trying to maintain my father's
1:46.3	legacy because he did so much for the community. Right. And so I was painfully listening to
1:51.1	interviews and interviewing like his first roommate from college and everything else to get a sense
	...

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