In a matter of weeks, a dad with two (adult) kids went from launching a Youtube channel to well over 2 million subscribers and over 7 million combined views on his handful of videos. Rob Kenney, who is based in the Seattle area, launched his channel to help kids who’re growing up without dads. Rob calls his videos “dadvice” and says “I will do my best to provide useful, practical content to many basic tasks that everyone should know how to do.”
Rob’s videos range anywhere from 2 to 20 minutes, where he provides step-by-step directions to practical life challenges. So far his videos touch on home repair, car maintenance, and men’s appearance tips (“How to tie a tie” was his first video).
“My goal in my life was to raise good adults, I never wanted to be wealthy. I never wanted to be necessarily successful. My goal in life was to raise good adults… not good children but good adults…because I had a fractured childhood.” – Rob Kenny
Home Repair Tips from “Dad, how do I?”
- How to fix most running toilets
- How to unclog a bathtub drain
- How to unclog a sink
- How to put up a shelf
- How to use a stud finder
Auto-maintenance Tips from “Dad, how do I?”
- How to change a tire
- How to check the air pressure in your tires
- How to check your car’s oil
- How to jump-start a car
Feedback from the Internet
With hundreds of comments on each video, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Numerous people are jumping in to thank Rob for sharing the life skills and filling a void for the missing dad-voice in their own lives. Many of the commenters are parents themselves.
I love this. My children’s father died when they were teenagers. Many dads said they would be around to help them but that never happened, they had kids of their own. Thank you for doing this for all the kids who have lost their father…either through death, divorce, or never there for them. – Nancy Pine
A few have opted to share stories of people in their lives who have stepped up in their dad’s absence.
I never really had a dad so my librarian for the school taught me how to tie a tie. Thank you for teaching others what my father couldn’t. – Paul
You can subscribe to “Dad, how do I?” on Youtube and Facebook. “Dad” says he plans to share a new “How to” video every Thursday and will talk about specifics tools to help you complete these and other tasks on “Tool Tuesday.”
