With prompting from his daughter, Rob Kenney launched a social media outreach during the COVID-19 outbreak. “We were all locked away,” and the idea was to offer a ‘dad video’ to encourage or entertain people coping with the pandemic. “I put up my ‘How to Tie a Tie’ video on April 2 of 2020 and about a month-and-a-half later, my channel went viral! That was scary for me, but I’m grateful that I went viral for something wholesome.”
These days, Rob is on multiple social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube as Dad, How Do I? And “On TikTok, I’m The Real Dad, How Do I? because there were people who were imitating me.” The videos show Rob demonstrating how to put air in your tires, unclogging a toilet, applying deodorant & cologne, how to shave, explaining an Allen Wrench, or making popcorn. Things a dad would share with a child.
Why is Rob committing so much time and effort to these videos? “I think that there’s definitely a need for people to understand how cool it is to be a dad. I feel like that’s a mission that God has given me to try to encourage dads to hang in there, and you’re needed and you’re valued.” It bothers him when he sees TV shows offering “stereotypes, Homer Simpson and Al Bundy…the bumbling dufus of a dad. And you know, I’ve met a lot of cool dads and a lot of very good dads. We need to encourage that behavior.”
How does Rob come up with concepts to use in his numerous videos? “A lot of it came from, I had to learn things on my own. When I was 14 – and I think this is part of why my channel is connecting with people – is, I feel like I have a certain amount of empathy with people that maybe didn’t have a dad there for them. My dad left when I was 14, and my mom couldn’t take care of me, so I went to live with my brother, who was 23 at the time, him and his newlywed wife. I learned a lot from him. He was a journeyman cabinetmaker. But I also learned how to tie a tie from my roommate when I was 19 ... I can’t remember exactly where I learned how to shave,” he smiles, “but all those little things that you learn – a lot of times it was the difficult way…I don’t have to necessarily do a ton of research, it’s just stuff I’ve learned along the way.” And Rob and his wife are parents, so “been there, done that, kinda went through the whole cycle of being a dad and learning how to do things on my own.”
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Rob gets constant ‘How do I’ requests from his fans, “some that are a little outlandish, like, ‘Dad, how do I rewire my house?,’” he laughs – saying that kind of major project should be left up to professional electricians. He respects their comprehensive skills that he doesn’t necessarily have.
With millions of views on social media, Rob gets many comments about his videos, some quite touching. “A lot of them will make you tear up because of how, I think, how needed this is, which is a little bit sad.” He finds some heartfelt comments from viewers are indicative of their personal life challenges. “I think I get a lot of engagement because people are wanting to share their stories with me about missing their dad or never having a dad…I try to be empathetic to try to encourage people to not live in the past, to take control of their own lives and move forward.”
Unlike some successful video personalities, Rob is pretty much a one-man show. He laughs, “It’s me. I’m my editor. I’m shooting the videos on my phone,” sharing valuable information “to help people navigate their lives.” He wants to avoid his videos being “overly-produced” because they might “lose a little bit of the charm.”
Rob’s heart, his faith
Living in the Seattle area, Rob admits he actually struggled some when he started seeing how popular his videos were becoming. “Yeah, it was scary, honestly, when my channel went viral, I was on my bed crying, in a fetal position, saying, ‘Lord, please make it stop. I don’t know that I can handle this.’” That’s because he is an introvert. He shares, “Several years ago I said, when I was at church, ‘If I’m ever asked to get up and speak in front of people, you’ll know that God was involved,’ because that’s like the last thing I’d want to do.” Rob did end up speaking before a church, and it went okay. “God has a sense of humor, and he has me in this position and he uses cracked pots, right?” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT)
At the end of some of his videos, Rob offers a simple “God bless you.” Other than that, his faith isn’t usually shared so much in words, but how he speaks with humility and kindness. He admits, “Not everybody is comfortable with it (the ‘God bless’), but I’ve got to be true to myself. You know, the Lord has given me this platform and if he decides that the platform needs to not be a thing anymore, I’m fine with that, too. I’ve just got to be faithful to who I am, because if you spend your life trying to please others, (he laughs) you’re just chasing your tail.”
In any interview Rob does with news media, and there have been many, he always tries to give God the full credit for what success he has seen on social media.
Here are some comments from Rob's fans on YouTube, which are typical of the two-way love in action:
"Thanks Dad!! It is so true to look at the positive! It really does make a difference!"
"thank you father, i was having a bad day and this helped me change my prospective on things"
"I lost my dad a little over two years ago,and it feels like it was just yesterday I was standing in the ICU and having to say goodbye,I thank you for doing this as I will turn 13 soon,you are truly amazing and god bless you"
"I'm grateful to have 65 days clean and sober today"
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Due to the popularity of his channel, Rob authored a book “Dad, How Do I?” which shares about important character traits for a good life, his own faith in Christ, and 58 useful ‘how-tos.’
If you are familiar with the children’s TV icon, the late Mister Rogers, it would not be off base to compare Rob Kenney to an online Mister Rogers, Spirit-wise, for many age brackets including grown-ups.
Hear Rob share his fascinating story on our complete interview podcast, just below:
