ABOUT BRANDON BALKCOM
Brandon Balkcom grew up on the west side of Chicago and carries that city the way people carry places that made them, not as an identity to perform, but as a foundation to build from.
A former Division One defensive tackle at Kansas State University, Brandon earned a full scholarship after two standout years at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, graduated a semester early, and made the Big Twelve Academic Honor Roll; a remarkable achievement for a kid the school system once placed in a learning disability classroom.
He holds a degree in Social Science and has spent his career working in youth psychiatric care, ministry, and community service, showing up for young people the way certain men showed up for him when it mattered most.
He is the son of John Balkcom Junior and Patricia Troope Balkcom, the grandson of Rev. James K. Lyles and Mother Frankie May Lyles, and the founder of Koinonia Developmental Children Center; a place built on the belief that every child carries something worth developing, and that the fire inside a young person, when given direction, does not destroy. It builds.
He lives in Dallas, Texas, where he is finishing the work his father started. He is just like his dog gone daddy. And he would not have it any other way.
ABOUT BRANDON BALKCOM
Brandon Balkcom grew up on the west side of Chicago and carries that city the way people carry places that made them, not as an identity to perform, but as a foundation to build from.
A former Division One defensive tackle at Kansas State University, Brandon earned a full scholarship after two standout years at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, graduated a semester early, and made the Big Twelve Academic Honor Roll; a remarkable achievement for a kid the school system once placed in a learning disability classroom.
He holds a degree in Social Science and has spent his career working in youth psychiatric care, ministry, and community service, showing up for young people the way certain men showed up for him when it mattered most.
He is the son of John Balkcom Junior and Patricia Troope Balkcom, the grandson of Rev. James K. Lyles and Mother Frankie May Lyles, and the founder of Koinonia Developmental Children Center; a place built on the belief that every child carries something worth developing, and that the fire inside a young person, when given direction, does not destroy. It builds.
He lives in Dallas, Texas, where he is finishing the work his father started. He is just like his dog gone daddy. And he would not have it any other way.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Just Like My Dog Gone Daddy: A Memoir of Pain, Redemption, and the Power of Breaking the Cycle
Just Like My Dog Gone Daddy: A Memoir of Pain, Redemption, and the Power of Breaking the Cycle
Seven words. A wound that produced a cycle in a child's life for decades.
"You're just like your 'dog gone' daddy."
If you grew up without your father's voice, you already know what those words cost. You know the silence where his presence was supposed to be. You know the anger with no clean address. You know what it is to spend years searching for something you cannot name: in the wrong women, the wrong habits, and the wrong version of yourself.
Brandon Balkcom refused to let a sentence become his sentence.
In this raw and redemptive memoir, Balkcom traces his journey from a Chicago apartment the morning his father's bags were packed, through the football fields of the Big Twelve, devastating personal loss, and the long, necessary work of becoming a man when no one handed him the blueprint.
This is not a book about having a perfect father. It is a book about what happens when an imperfect one shows up anyway, and what a son does with everything that gets left behind.
What You Will Discover:
● How a father's absence doesn't just take; it shapes, wounds, and quietly wires a child for decades of searching
● What it looks like when a father finally shows up, imperfectly and incompletely, and what it means to receive what is being given rather than resent what came late
● How identity built on performance, achievement, and the roar of a crowd collapses, and what has to be rebuilt in its place
● The difference between running from a cycle and actually breaking it
● How faith, loss, fire, and community forge the man that comfort never could
● That the cycle ends with someone, and that someone can be you
"You are not alone, and you are going to be alright."
ABOUT THE BOOK
Just Like My Dog Gone Daddy: A Memoir of Pain, Redemption, and the Power of Breaking the Cycle
Just Like My Dog Gone Daddy: A Memoir of Pain, Redemption, and the Power of Breaking the Cycle
Seven words. A wound that produced a cycle in a child's life for decades.
"You're just like your 'dog gone' daddy."
If you grew up without your father's voice, you already know what those words cost. You know the silence where his presence was supposed to be. You know the anger with no clean address. You know what it is to spend years searching for something you cannot name: in the wrong women, the wrong habits, and the wrong version of yourself.
Brandon Balkcom refused to let a sentence become his sentence.
In this raw and redemptive memoir, Balkcom traces his journey from a Chicago apartment the morning his father's bags were packed, through the football fields of the Big Twelve, devastating personal loss, and the long, necessary work of becoming a man when no one handed him the blueprint.
This is not a book about having a perfect father. It is a book about what happens when an imperfect one shows up anyway, and what a son does with everything that gets left behind.
What You Will Discover:
● How a father's absence doesn't just take, it shapes, wounds, and quietly wires a child for decades of searching
● What it looks like when a father finally shows up, imperfectly and incompletely, and what it means to receive what is being given rather than resent what came late
● How identity built on performance, achievement, and the roar of a crowd collapses, and what has to be rebuilt in its place
● The difference between running from a cycle and actually breaking it
● How faith, loss, fire, and community forge the man that comfort never could
● That the cycle ends with someone, and that someone can be you
"You are not alone, and you are going to be alright."
ABOUT THE COMPANION WORKBOOK
Just Like My Dog Gone Daddy: A Companion Workbook
The book tells the story. The workbook makes it yours.
This companion workbook is designed for the man who doesn't just want to read Brandon's story — he wants to use it as a mirror. Built chapter by chapter alongside the memoir, the workbook takes you deeper into your own history, your own patterns, and your own power to break what was handed down to you.
A chapter overview and summary of key themes
Comprehension questions to confirm engagement with the material
Personal reflection questions that connect Brandon's story to your own
Group discussion questions for small groups, mentorship, or men's ministry
A deeper dive exercise or personal inventory
Scripture and spiritual connection for each theme
A self-assessment checklist
Action steps to complete between sessions
Who It's Built For:
The workbook is designed to work in multiple settings, as a private personal study, in a small group or men's ministry, in a one-on-one mentorship or discipleship context, in fatherhood initiatives, recovery programs, or church communities.
ABOUT THE COMPANION WORKBOOK
Just Like My Dog Gone Daddy: A Companion Workbook
The book tells the story. The workbook makes it yours.
This companion workbook is designed for the man who doesn't just want to read Brandon's story; he wants to use it as a mirror. Built chapter by chapter alongside the memoir, the workbook takes you deeper into your own history, your own patterns, and your own power to break what was handed down to you.
A chapter overview and summary of key themes
Comprehension questions to confirm engagement with the material
Personal reflection questions that connect Brandon's story to your own
Group discussion questions for small groups, mentorship, or men's ministry
A deeper dive exercise or personal inventory
Scripture and spiritual connection for each theme
A self-assessment checklist
Action steps to complete between sessions
Who It's Built For:
The workbook is designed to work in multiple settings, as a private personal study, in a small group or men's ministry, in a one-on-one mentorship or discipleship context, in fatherhood initiatives, recovery programs, or church communities.
GET YOUR COPY TODAY!
GET YOUR COPY TODAY!
What You Will Walk Away With:
You will gain a clear understanding of the verdicts that have been running in the background of your life and practical tools to challenge and overcome them.
You will gain clarity on the cycles you may have inherited from your family history and a practical path to breaking them.
You will learn how to identify inherited lies that have shaped your beliefs and begin replacing them with truth.
You will discover a framework for understanding anger, identity, and the lifelong search for a father’s voice and affirmation.
You will engage honestly with what manhood truly requires, not the performance of manhood, but the daily pursuit and practice of it.
You will become part of a community committed to honesty, authenticity, and growth rather than image management and appearances.
You will find the courage to declare, “The cycle ends with me,” and take intentional steps toward a different future.
"Brandon caught up with his story before his story caught up with him.
This workbook is designed to help you do the same."
What You Will
Walk Away With:
You will gain a clear understanding of the verdicts that have been running in the background of your life and practical tools to challenge and overcome them.
You will gain clarity on the cycles you may have inherited from your family history and a practical path to breaking them.
You will learn how to identify inherited lies that have shaped your beliefs and begin replacing them with truth.
You will discover a framework for understanding anger, identity, and the lifelong search for a father’s voice and affirmation.
You will engage honestly with what manhood truly requires, not the performance of manhood, but the daily pursuit and practice of it.
You will become part of a community committed to honesty, authenticity, and growth rather than image management and appearances.
You will find the courage to declare, “The cycle ends with me,” and take intentional steps toward a different future.
"Brandon caught up with his story before his story caught up with him.
This workbook is designed to help you do the same."
Email : [email protected]
Phone : +1 (214) 869-1440
Address : Koinania DCC and 106 North Denton TAP Road Ste 210 Coppell Tx 75019