The Holderness Family started making content in 2013 with a Christmas video called “XMAS Jammies” that went viral. Ever since they have been creating family-friendly and relatable videos that have garnered more than two billion views and eight million followers across all social media platforms.
Kim and Penn Holderness recently joined Greg Olsen on the Youth Inc. flagship podcast and touched on everything from their shared love of the Charlotte Panthers (the Holdernesses live in Raleigh) to parenting and the life lessons learned in youth sports.
“The ages of 13-16 are the most important period for a child to have an adult role model that is not their parent,” said Penn Holderness, who is an assistant coach on his son’s basketball team. “That’s one of the main reasons I have [coached] for so many years. It’s so important for kids to have a non-parent support system.
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Key Takeaways
Follow your Passion and Expect the Unexpected
Kim and Penn left their jobs in the news media to start a production company. They did their Christmas video in 2013 and things took off. “We closed the laptop after posting it and woke up the next day and it had millions of views,” said Kim. “We didn’t even know that this could be thing. We’re still trying to figure it out every day.”
Permission to Laugh
That is the Holderness family’s internal mission statement. “When we laugh at ourselves about our mistakes, we give people permission to laugh at themselves for their mistakes,” said Kim Holderness.
‘Just Focus on the Work’
Greg, Kim and Penn spent a lot of time talking about effort and preparation and not being so focused on the result. “If things don’t go your way we can live with it if you put in the work,” said Olsen. “If you’re not doing the work, you can’t expect to do well.”
Added Kim Holderness, “It hard to be a teenager. In our family, if you’re willing to do the work we’re willing to show you endless grace.”
Lessons for Parents
- Sometimes just being around and listening is enough. Show up for your kids time and time again and they’re more likely to respond.
Lessons for Coaches
- Kids can be coached as hard as they want to be. You can’t force a kid to want it, but as Penn said, “It’s your job to try and get your kid to wherever they want to be.”
Lessons for Athletes
- Self-awareness is a skill. Be honest with yourself and what you put into things. Understand your weaknesses and work at them to improve.
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