Jason Dunnigan — The Modern Dad

Episode Questions and Answers

Who is Jason Dunnigan?

Jason Dunnigan is the Utah-based creator behind The Modern Dad, a 60,000-follower Instagram platform, blog, and brand-partnership practice Jason Dunnigan has spent 13 years building around active fatherhood and creator marketing. Jason Dunnigan also consults Utah brands on influencer strategy, affiliate marketing, and social media through The Modern Dad on a three-month engagement.

What is The Modern Dad?

The Modern Dad is the Utah creator brand founded by Jason Dunnigan 13 years ago to share the experience of an active, present, hands-on father, the dad who shows up to the games, the recitals, the events, and the daily reps of fatherhood. The Modern Dad operates as an Instagram platform, blog at the-modern-dad.com, and a creator marketing consulting practice for Utah brands.

How should a Utah brand approach an influencer?

Jason Dunnigan tells Peter Anthony the structural Utah influencer outreach playbook is four steps. First, follow the creator without pitching. Second, comment authentically and consistently, the way a real person would talk in real life. Third, interact inside the comment threads of the creator's audience to show the brand is contributing to the community. Fourth, only after that, send a DM that respects the relationship. Brands that skip the first three steps and lead with a product pitch get ignored.

What does a strong affiliate deal look like?

Jason Dunnigan structures Utah affiliate deals around the brand's total margin. On a $100 product with 30% to work with, Jason Dunnigan recommends 10% as the audience discount, 10% as the creator commission, and 10% as a buffer the brand can deploy during Black Friday, birthday months, or seasonal pushes to amplify either the discount or the creator commission without breaking the math.

Why do follower counts not prove influence?

Jason Dunnigan tells Peter Anthony follower counts can be purchased, engagement can be faked, and creators who constantly stack unrelated brand deals will bury every individual brand inside the noise. Real Utah influence is measured by trust, by audience-product fit, and by the creator-brand relationship that survives the first deal, not by the number on the profile.

How do I work with Jason Dunnigan?

Jason Dunnigan offers a three-month consulting engagement through The Modern Dad covering influencer strategy, affiliate marketing structure, and social media. Utah brands can reach Jason Dunnigan at the-modern-dad.com or by DM on Instagram at @the_modern_dad.

Where is Utah Business Spotlight filmed?

Utah Business Spotlight is filmed in Draper, UT 84020. The show is produced by The INCubator AI Marketing Agency and hosted by Peter Anthony.

Episode Transcript

00:00 Starting 2026 with The Modern Dad

Peter Anthony opens the episode of Utah Business Spotlight from inside our studio in Sandy, Utah and welcomes Jason Dunnigan, the Utah-based creator behind The Modern Dad. Peter Anthony names Jason Dunnigan as a major Utah influencer with a strong Instagram following and previews the three structural threads of the conversation, passion, opportunity, and how a Utah creator turns both into a real business that supports a family.

02:16 Why The Modern Dad brand exists

Jason Dunnigan tells Peter Anthony why The Modern Dad exists. Jason Dunnigan grew up in a generation where dad went to work, came home, and his work was done, present in the house but absent from the events, the games, and the daily fatherhood reps. Jason Dunnigan made a structural decision to be a different kind of father and built The Modern Dad as the platform to document and share that version of fatherhood.

04:01 Turning active fatherhood into a platform

Peter Anthony walks Jason Dunnigan through the structural Modern Dad scoreboard. Jason Dunnigan now operates a 60,000-follower Instagram platform, a blog, and a consulting practice, all built on the original thesis that an active, present, hands-on father is a story Utah and the rest of the world had almost no creators telling 13 years ago.

05:01 From side project to creator income

Jason Dunnigan tells Peter Anthony the Modern Dad business model evolution. The Modern Dad started as a side blog and Instagram while Jason Dunnigan worked full time, grew through gifted product placements, then evolved into affiliate revenue where Jason Dunnigan earned commission on products the audience purchased through The Modern Dad, and eventually scaled into full brand partnerships that now financially support the Jason Dunnigan family.

06:05 Hairdressers, trust, and early influence

Peter Anthony names the structural truth that connects Peter Anthony's salon background to the Jason Dunnigan creator playbook. Hair salons were the first social media platform, what the hairdresser recommended, the client bought. Peter Anthony names hairdressers as the original Utah influencers, and tells Jason Dunnigan The Modern Dad is the digital evolution of the same trust-first model.

06:51 Why brands pitch influencers wrong

Jason Dunnigan tells Peter Anthony the daily Utah influencer DM pattern that disqualifies most brand outreach on first contact. A brand follows The Modern Dad and immediately messages with a product pitch, sometimes with a fake 'I've been following you forever' opener Jason Dunnigan can verify is false because Jason Dunnigan can see the follow date. Jason Dunnigan names the structural Utah brand mistake, leading with the offer instead of the relationship.

07:34 The comment strategy most brands miss

Jason Dunnigan walks Peter Anthony through the comment-layer strategy most Utah brands skip. The comment is the first real signal a brand sends. 'Cute' and 'fun' do not work, they are the kind of comments no real person makes in real life. Jason Dunnigan looks for brands that comment the way a friend would talk in person. That is the comment that gets noticed and starts to build trust.

09:37 Building trust before the offer

Jason Dunnigan tells Peter Anthony the structural creator economy truth most Utah brands never internalize. Trust takes time. Following, commenting, interacting, and DMing is not a four-day flow, it is a multi-week relationship. Jason Dunnigan names the moment trust is real, when Jason Dunnigan recognizes the brand, looks the brand up, and starts to consider whether the product even fits The Modern Dad audience.

10:12 Product fit comes before the deal

Jason Dunnigan and Peter Anthony surface the deeper Utah creator marketing principle. A brand can do everything right and still get a no if the product does not fit the creator's audience. Jason Dunnigan uses the rocket ship example, even with full trust, full familiarity, and full authenticity, a rocket ship has no place inside a fatherhood platform. Peter Anthony names the same Utah truth, most brand outreach fails because the brand never studied the fit before sending the pitch.

12:17 Follow first, pitch later

Peter Anthony breaks down the Jason Dunnigan playbook into a clean Utah brand checklist. Step one is to follow. Step two is to engage authentically, both directly on the creator's posts and inside the creator's audience comment threads. Jason Dunnigan tells Peter Anthony that interacting with the audience tells the creator more about the brand than any prepared pitch ever will.

13:00 What creators notice in the DMs

Jason Dunnigan tells Peter Anthony what The Modern Dad actually looks for inside the DMs. The DM is where no one else can see the conversation, which is exactly where most Utah brands reveal that the relationship was never real. Jason Dunnigan also warns that pending DM folders are a black hole, which is why the public-facing follow, comment, and interact steps are the only way to earn a DM that actually gets read.

14:03 Why your product needs a sales path

Peter Anthony names the structural Utah brand truth Jason Dunnigan agrees with on the spot. If a Utah brand has not figured out what makes the product special, the brand cannot outsource that to a creator. The Modern Dad will not invent the brand's positioning. Sponsored posts that exist only because the brand paid the creator will look like exactly what they are inside the content, and the audience reads that signal instantly.

16:42 How a strong affiliate deal works

Jason Dunnigan walks Peter Anthony through the structural Utah affiliate deal math. On a $100 product with 30% to work with, Jason Dunnigan splits it into 10% audience discount, 10% creator commission, and 10% buffer the brand can deploy on Black Friday, birthday months, or seasonal pushes to amplify either side without breaking the model. Jason Dunnigan names this structure as the reason both the creator and the brand stay aligned over a long-term partnership instead of burning out after one campaign.

19:04 Followers do not prove influence

Jason Dunnigan closes the conversation with Peter Anthony on the structural Utah creator economy truth most brands still ignore. Follower counts can be purchased. Engagement can be faked. A creator constantly stacking unrelated brand deals is going to bury every individual brand inside the noise. Real Utah influence is measured by trust, audience-product fit, and the relationship that survives the first deal. Reach Jason Dunnigan at the-modern-dad.com or @the_modern_dad on Instagram. Utah Business Spotlight is produced by The INCubator AI Marketing Agency and filmed in Sandy, Utah.