Man whose dad walked out when he was 12 shares his own fatherly wisdom  ‘Dad, How Do I?’ channel

Rob Kenney’s dad left his family when he was 12. One of eight kids, Kenney went to live with his older brother when he was 14, spending his teenage and young adult years without a father to guide him.

Now a father of two grown children himself, Kenney is offering others the fatherly wisdom and skills he had to gain on his own. His YouTube channel “Dad, How Do I?” shares videos on everyday practical things most people might ask their dad like the proper way to tie a tie, how to unclog a sink and how to check the car oil. Since it was launched April 1, the channel has exploded in popularity.

In fact, a Facebook post shared by Chris Hart from this morning describing Kenney’s “Practical ‘Dadvice'” channel has gone incredibly viral, pushing Kenney even further into Internet Fame territory. Eight hours ago, when the post was shared, Kenney’s YouTube channel had 41,700 subscribers. That number has currently grown to 324,000.

Clearly, Kenney has tapped into a real need. In an interview with WICU on May 13, Kenney explained what prompted him to start “Dad, How Do I?”

“I come from a fractured home, and so my goal in life was to raise good adults and so then when I got to, you know, early 50s, I’d felt like I’d already done that. Now what? I still got a lot of life to live. So if I could pass some of what I have learned, to help people…and it’s it’s definitely resonating. I’m getting such amazing comments from people. I’m humbled by it.”

Kenney runs the channel with his daughter who calls him with questions on “adulting” all the time.

“Obviously there’s a lot more to being a dad than being able to screw in a light bulb or whatever,” he explained. “We talk about all kinds of things—finances, and what do you do with this, and what do you do with that.” He said he’s trying to figure out how to cover some of those subjects, and may branch out into doing a podcast.

Kenney has been blown away by the responses to his channel and how it’s touched people. “I was just thinking I was going to be showing people how to do stuff. But it’s resonated on such a different level,” he told WICU.

“Some of the emotional responses I’ve gotten from people who don’t have fathers, or didn’t have a relationship with their father, or have lost their father, you know, and they’ve said they watched my videos in tears, just being reminded of missing their dad. It’s amazing.”

What a beautiful way to turn something you didn’t have into a gift for so many. Well done, Dad.

At this point, Kenney releases a video a week. Here’s his first video:

How to tie a tie.

www.youtube.com

You can also check out his most recent video “How to fix most running toilets:”

How to fix most running toilets.

www.youtube.com