From their mom’s house to the White House, two West Tennesseans developed a concept to point people to things that matter.
“To be awesome, you have to treat people awesome,” said 11-year-old Robby Novak, better known as Kid President.
The project started in Henderson, Tennessee when Brad Montague wanted to use creativity to instill leadership skills in Novak, his brother-in-law and best friend.
Now the two are on tour promoting their first book, Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome. More than 500 people showed up at a local library in Washington, DC last weekend in support.
Before Kid President, Montague had experience making videos, but he said most of them failed because they were never personal.
In 2012, Novak’s mom ordered the infamous suit, and Kid President was created.
“Brad took me to the desk, and I started dancing, and we started making videos,” Novak said.
Since then, the team has worked with celebrities like Beyoncé, President Obama, Rainn Wilson and more. Fans often ask who his favorite person he has met is.
“I don’t understand that question,” he said. “They’re all awesome.”
A celebrity is someone society deems worthy of celebrating, Montague said. But Kid President wants to spread the message that everyone is worth celebrating.
Montague went on to tell the story of the time they met fellow West Tennessean and suit and tie enthusiast Justin Timberlake. Backstage at one of his concerts, they learned about folding pocket squares and “bringing awesome back.”
“He treated us like royalty,” he said. “We saw him do this with everyone—as if he weren’t famous, but everyone else was.”
Things got awkward when Timberlake started talking basketball and Novak admitted that he dislikes the Memphis Grizzlies.
“I made a note to tell Robby ‘You just told the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies that you don’t like the Memphis Grizzlies,’” Montague said.
Despite his quirky childhood, Novak is just a normal kid who likes corn dogs, math class and Fresh Prince of Bel Air reruns. He just happens to also have a New York Times Best Seller, a television show and more than 80 videos on YouTube.
Kid President began as a project for friends and family. Montague said it has restored hope for him, proving that a dark place like the Internet can still be used for good.
“It’s amazing that something that’s so joyful, that’s so full of wonder and love, could actually catch on and that 35 million people would see a video that’s about encouraging people,” he said.
Montague said that he created the pep talk video because at the time, he needed a pep talk himself. When it went viral in the true sense of online sharing, he knew that other people needed pep talks too. Ideas that are full of compassion and creativity can connect people in a special way, he said.
Instead of autographing his books traditionally, Novak brands them with an official Kid President stamp. He has a brittle bone disease called osteogenesis imperfecta, which has led to more than 70 fractures in his life. Despite this condition, he is just as lively and entertaining in person as he is in his videos.
Novak said he wants to do a lot of different things when he grows up, but running for president probably will not be one of them.
“Too much paperwork,” he said.
