A Conversation on What Dadvocate Means to a Dadass and a CBUS Dad?

Matt Lofy, The Dadass: this podcast we started two years ago has been a wild ride thus far. We’ve published over 80 episodes and special recordings so far, and we were super psyched and humbled to be awarded “podcast of the year" at the 2021 Columbus Podcast Awards last August. 

Coming into 2022, Shaun (aka The Dude) and I started asking ourselves what’s next? How can we both grow our platform and challenge ourselves to do good in our community? How can we advocate for causes near to our hearts?

Steve Michalovich, founder, CBUS Dads: Earlier this year, Matt looped me into the conversations Shaun and him were having, and I was incredibly excited and motivated to find even small ways to drive change and make impacts in our community with our combined platform.

Matt: One major conversation we wanted to address was changing tables in men’s and gender-neutral restrooms. This idea came out of frustration on my son's second birthday at one of our favorite local places. I was out in the pouring rain changing his diaper in the back of my SUV. Kids or no kids, we've all been there where our decisions of what local business to support depends on if they're kid-friendly or not.

Steve: I’ve of course experienced this same situation countless times, as this is not an uncommon gap many restaurants and other destinations have. In fact, I was stunned to learn that only 15 states have baby changing station accommodations legislation. So we started reaching out to our networks to see what organizations around town might be interested in trying to drive dialogue on this topic and collaborate on a campaign to help get more diaper changing tables into some of our favorite spots around town.

Matt: Our outreach led us to the amazing, proudly female founders and operators of Pluie, a startup with the mission to modernize the outdated public restroom changing table experience and ensure all parents and caregivers on-the-go have access to a clean, safe and comfortable place to change their baby’s diaper. 

Steve: We were immediately blown away by their technology that is revolutionizing and disrupting a dated product. Pluie offers the world’s first and only self-sanitizing diaper changing table for public restrooms, powered by a patented UV-C light system, which is known to kill 99.9 percent of germs including influenza, e. Coli and, especially relevant today, coronavirus. 

Matt: Addie, Pulie’s founder, had a similar experience to mine involving a diaper blowout that inspired her to design and patent a better changing table. Through this kinship, we hit it off immediately!

Steve: Since we started talking to the Pluie team, they’ve appeared on Good Morning America, and coincidentally, Columbus was a market they were looking to expand to. I’m super pumped for their trajectory and getting the opportunity to collaborate with them on this campaign.

Matt: We had recently recorded with North High Brewing founder Tim Ward, and to say that I’m a fan of theirs would be an understatement. We approached Tim to see if we could install a Pluie in any of their local locations and host an event there. Him and the team of course obliged, so we will be celebrating the first Pluie installed in Columbus on Saturday, May 14 from 2-5 p.m. at their Dublin location.

Steve: As if beer and celebrating this milestone which will hopefully be a catalyst for more changing tables across central Ohio isn’t enough, we will be collecting diapers and monetary donations to benefit Bottoms Up Diaper Bank during the event. We hope to see you there, and please consider making a donation to this incredible local institution!

Matt: We envision this campaign as just the start for our Dadvocate platform, which we see representing our community impact arm of what we have created with The Dadass Podcast. Stay tuned for more ways we hope to #DadvocateForChange!