A degree in the stuff school skipped.

"School does not prepare you for life. It gives you a degree. Employers love that. Life does not care."

Why Dadgree exists

Lance Hulsey barely remembers being eighteen — except for the part about not being ready for life. No one taught him how to handle money, read a lease, or navigate the paperwork of being an adult. He figured it out the hard way, and living on the road as a musician taught him more about real life than college ever did.

Years later, after raising twins, he overheard a group of young adults asking each other how to do what he considered basic things — and realized something: you can have a diploma and still feel completely unprepared when life comes at you fast. Plenty of people never had someone to show them the ropes. Some had great parents; some didn't; some no longer have them around at all.

So he built Dadgree — the book and this site — to be the guide he wishes he'd had. The voice of the dad who's genuinely glad you asked.

What we believe

• You're not behind. You're learning. Being new at adulthood isn't a defect — it's the normal starting point.
• A good guide doesn't shame you for being new. It assumes you're capable and hands you the next step.
• Adulthood is mostly maintenance, not magic. It's a pile of small, learnable skills.
• The goal is calm competence — knowing the next practical thing to do, and doing it.

Who it's for

High-school grads, college students, new grads, first-job-havers, first-apartment-renters, and honestly anyone who never got taught this stuff. You're all welcome here.

Keep learning, keep improving, handle the next right thing, and just be you. And smile.

← Read more in the book