Building a company around presence doesn’t automatically make it easy to live that way. Daniel Ng knows this better than most.
Daniel lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife and their two kids, ages four and six. He’s the co-founder of No Reception Club, a brand rooted in the idea of disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with your family through travel, adventure, and shared experiences.
But as any small business owner knows, the irony is real.
When Work Brain Won’t Shut Off
The hardest part of parenting for Daniel isn’t logistics or scheduling. It’s presence.
As a founder, his mind is often racing. Ideas, problems, decisions. Even while physically with his kids, it takes real effort not to drift into work-related thoughts. That tension feels especially sharp given what his company stands for.
Presence, for him, isn’t automatic. It’s a daily practice.
The Gift of Flexibility
On the flip side, owning a small business has given Daniel something he deeply values. Freedom from the traditional 9-to-5 mold.
Being able to show up for school pick-ups, tough days, and moments when kids need support matters more than any title. Daniel believes those moments shape a child’s internal monologue as they grow up.
One recent example stuck with him. While skiing, his younger child felt scared on a difficult stretch of the mountain. Without prompting, his older child stepped in and said, “Believe in yourself. You can do anything.”
That kind of language doesn’t come out of nowhere. Daniel hopes those quiet “dad-isms” echo for years to come.
Doing the Inner Work
Looking back, Daniel wishes he had known earlier that showing up better for his kids often starts with working on himself. Therapy. Honest conversations with his partner. Strong friendships, especially with other dads. Vulnerability matters. Investing in yourself isn’t selfish. It’s part of investing in your kids.
One thing he actively works on is letting go of his own insecurities so they don’t get passed down. Parenting, he’s learned, has a way of exposing what still needs healing.
Being Dad, Not Coach
Some of the most impactful advice Daniel’s carried came from actor Jeff Daniels, who once spoke about long car rides to and from hockey games. The time spent not talking about hockey, he said, paved the way for closeness later in life.
As a coach for his six-year-old’s hockey team, Daniel thinks about this often. It’s easy to slip into feedback mode. But that’s not his job in the car.
His job is to take off the coach hat and just be dad. Safe space. Cheerleader. Biggest fan.
A Very Real Dad Day
Mornings aren’t optimized. Daniel and his wife aren’t 5am workout people, and their kids are slow risers too.
Daniel wakes the kids while his wife makes breakfast. Those wake-up moments are his favorite part of the day. One-on-one connection. Imaginative play with a favorite stuffy. Helping each child start the day on the right foot.
After drop-offs, it’s work mode. Afternoons bring activities, lessons, or intentional one-on-one dates. Dinner is always together, with a strict no-phones-at-the-table rule.
Bedtime means baths, stories, and lights out. Once the kids are asleep, Daniel and his wife often log back in for a second work shift. Founder life doesn’t always fit neatly into daylight hours.
Photo from No Reception Club
Accepting What Won’t Get Done
Juggling work, life, and family often means accepting tradeoffs. A messy house. A delayed launch. A skipped workout. Forgotten show-and-tell. Daniel’s learned that hyper-prioritization is the only way through peak seasons.
Clear, constant communication with his wife, who is also his co-founder, makes it possible. Divide and conquer only works if you’re aligned.
He’s also learned that “life” can’t be ignored for too long. Health, hobbies, friendships, and interests outside work and family are the fuel that make everything else possible.
Music as a Reset
When things feel overwhelming, Daniel turns to music. Not podcasts. Not algorithms. Music.
Putting on an album from start to finish on the drive to pick up his kids has become a reset ritual. He’s started collecting vinyl and choosing records intentionally. Listening the way artists intended feels grounding in a world of constant noise.
And yes, he’s officially retired “Beautiful Things” from his playlists.
Teaching the First Spark
Daniel hopes to be his kids’ first teacher in many things. Skiing. Biking. Swimming. Sports.
The first time is always hard. It’s scary. You’re bad at it. But pushing through that initial discomfort opens the door to lifelong joy. He hopes that one day, when his kids carry those hobbies into adulthood, they’ll remember that their dad was the one who taught them how to start.
When he’s flying solo, Daniel pushes himself physically. Running, biking, skiing, hockey. He also prioritizes dad trips. A weekend with other guys in the same season of life goes a long way.
Daniel’s story is a reminder that presence isn’t about perfection. It’s about choosing, again and again, to show up where your feet are.
