The Power Duo Has Got Us in Our Feelings
If their eyes didnāt have to be fixed toward the camera during the photoshoot, they were on each other. They genuinely enjoy being together, and you can tell. Whether itās the way they look at one another, how they play off of each other during conversation or the way they joke back and forth, former NFL superstar and Hall of Fame candidateĀ Tony Gonzalez and his wife, former Co-Host on āBeat Shazam,āOctober (Tobie) Gonzalez, are enjoying being in and with every moment, place and person they come in contact with. Eleven years and four kids later, Tony and Tobie continue to stay rooted in the same things they have been since they first met in 2003: quality time with each other, family and friends, whether at home or across the world.
While spending time as a family has always been a priority and something that happened consistently even during Tonyās 17-season-long football career, the end of his playing days meant more time together, which is something they say they feel lucky and thankful for.
āWeāre in a very blessed situation where Tony only works during the football season right now and a little bit during the regular season, so unlike a lot of parents out there, we get a lot of extra time with our kids, so we take advantage of that,ā Tobie says.
āWe donāt take it for granted, because we enjoy it. We love being together and it doesnāt feel like work or like we have to make an effort because itās something we love to do. Itās just part of our routine.ā
Tony and Tobie share that they found the best way to spend time together is through traveling because of the way it enlightens and enhances a personās character and life. For Tony, he learned this at a young age during his Clark Griswold-like road trips with his father, driving to the east coast and stopping everywhere along the way. āWhat I learned along the way is how thereās a lot of character [growth] in being a foreigner. Even though Iām still in America, Iām different in somebody elseās city or town, and so I think that itās great character [growth] for children and adults.ā Tony says.
āItās great for not just me, but for the kids, too, and for their well-being.āĀ Tony and October Gonzalez
The now Fox Sports NFL Pregame Show Analyst looked to his wife, and she complimented her husbandās desires for their family and continued to talk about how much emphasis they put on how they raise their children, highlighting the importance of exposing their family to different cultures outside of their own. āIt was a huge concern for us moving from Orange County to Beverly Hills and raising our kids around so much money and privilege,ā Tobie shares. āAll of those things that our kids [are] subjected to, you want to balance that out with showing them some culture, teaching them how to respect people who come from all different walks of life,ā she says. āI think traveling has really gifted them with that knowledge and I remind them every day that it is a gift to be able to experience new things and see new places.ā
For Tony and Tobie, they know the world is a big place and that traveling can do wonders when someone gets to experience people from all different walks of life, who have different religions, practices, foods and values. āThatās the beauty of traveling and the kids get to see it,ā adds Tony.
āWeāre passionate about traveling and making that part of our experience.ā Tony and October Gonzalez
Tony recalls his favorite vacation so far, their most recent family trip to attend Mindvalley U, a yearly conference held in a different city around the world. This year, the month-long event took place in Tallinn, Estonia. During the event, they attended lectures on everything from entrepreneurship and emotional intelligence to classes on leadership and what it means to be a feminist. Tony and Tobie said they find this type of education priceless since they feel strongly about customizing their childrenās education through homeschooling and want to broaden their minds and create a love for learning.Ā Tony and October Gonzalez
āWe were out there learning something, but also, in the afternoon and at night we were all together having lunch and dinner in this beautiful medieval town and that just made it magical for me,ā Tony says.
āI just love that we were doing breakfast, lunch and dinner together, but during the day we went our own separate ways. Weāre learning something but also getting good quality time together.āĀ Tony and October Gonzalez
Naturally, his gaze fixes toward Tobie as he ends his sentence and she picks up where he left off, saying, āWhat makes it special is when youāre out of the country, you donāt have a lot of distractions like your friends or [the childrenās] friends, activities, work and all of these different things that are pulling at you. When sharing a hotel room with your kids and youāre really discussing things with the people that you love the mostāyouāre just focused on each other.ā
Even though traveling is their favorite thing to do together as a family, Tony, Tobie and the children love to spend time with each other and close friends and family while theyāre home, sometimes having people over five days out of the week. Theyāre real āpeople people,ā as Tobie says. āWe believe in community,ā Tony starts to explain.Ā
āRight,ā Tobie chimes in.
āIt takes a village, and weāve created our own village. Itās just a huge community of family and friends who are basically our family that weāre surrounded by all the time. Weāre very social people. Weāre very open door policy, very āeveryone come over to our house.āāĀ Tony and October Gonzalez
Tony and Tobieās hospitality goes far beyond their front door; it stretches through the cities of Huntington Beach, Los Angeles and beyond. Knowing how fortunate they are to spend time together as a family and have a strong hand in their childrenās education, they aspire to help those who donāt have the same opportunities.
For over four years, Tony has been involved in Scholarsā Hope, a charity focused on helping children in low-income areas where school dropout rates are high. Serving as a Scholarsā Hope Ambassadors, the Gonzalezes help the children in the program who are referred to as āflightsā as they start their educational journey in fourth grade and continue until they graduate high school. The program has a 100 percent graduation rate with a collective GPA of 3.8 with each graduate from the program going to college.Ā Tony and October Gonzalez
āTheyāre showing that it doesnāt matter where youāre from, as long as you [have] the right people in your corner,ā Tony says.Ā Tony and October Gonzalez
In Los Angeles, Tobie is an ambassador at Baby2Baby, an organization founded by Kelly Sawyer Patricof and Norah Weinstein that provides diapers, clothing and all basic necessities to low-income children 12 and under. Working with this organization, Tobie is a part of the organizationās donations to homeless and domestic shelters, foster care programs and childrenās hospitals.
āItās important to give parents an opportunity to get a leg up when it comes to supporting their families and getting a head start so that they can lead a better, healthier life,ā Tobie says.
Choosing to be a part of these charities was an easy decision for the Gonzalezes because the purpose of each organization has the same desire they have for their own children. āItās about developing good human beings,ā Tony says. āItās teaching kids how to talk for themselves, how to believe in themselves, how to get up when they get knocked down, how to read a room, how to be courteous, how to be grateful, how to conquer fears.
āA butterfly canāt see its wings, it doesnāt know how beautiful it is,ā Tony continues. āBut [these programs] teach kids to see how beautiful they really are and what theyāre capable of doing and how magnificent they are.ā
Whether itās through charities at home or traveling abroad, the Gonzalezes are all about the people around them. It can be someone they just met, a friend or a family member, and undoubtedly, they will dedicate themselves to getting to know and spend time with who theyāre with because thatās just who they are.
With their clear love for people, family and travel, thereās a certainty that theyāre not slowing down anytime soon. As a family, theyāll continue to make an effort to be outside of themselves, to think of others and, as always, to see more of the world together.Ā Tony and October Gonzalez
āThe motto I live by is āthe world is a great book and those who donāt travel only read one page,āā Tony says. āWe are reading our book. Weāre trying to read as many pages of it as we can as we travel with our family throughout the world.ā
School is in Session:Ā Having four children ages 17,10, 8 and 3, Tony and Tobie homeschool two of the four, the 10 and 8-year-old who they lovingly refer to as āthe middles.ā
Sundays Are for Dinner:Ā Tony and Tobie host āSunday Dinnersā at their house every Sunday they are in town, each with a different theme whether it be Italian, Mexican, Greekāthe list goes on! Every guest must bring a home-cooked meal to share.Ā Tony and October Gonzalez
Put a Pin in it:Ā Tony and Tobie have a travel map hung in their house and put a pin in every place theyāve been to!
Ciao!Ā Out of the 24 different countries theyāve visited, Tony and Tobie have returned to Italy five times.
Oh, the Places Youāll go!Ā So far, Tony, Tobie and the children have traveled to five countries together and they donāt plan on stopping there!Ā Tony and October Gonzalez
Photoshoot Location:
Warwick
6507 W Sunset BlvdĀ Tony and October Gonzalez
Los Angeles, CA 90028Ā Tony and October Gonzalez
323.460.6667Ā Tony and October Gonzalez
Written By: Kaitlynn Labit
Photographed By: Wil CohenĀ Tony and October Gonzalez
Styled By: Kaylee JacksonĀ Tony and October Gonzalez
Hair and Makeup By: Heather Balaam using Oribe hair productsĀ Tony and October Gonzalez
