“The New Parent” is a series where I interview parents that embody the idea of what I call “The New Parent.” These parents challenge the status quo and raise confident, superhero-like, charismatic kids by exposing them to their parents’ passions. You can notice these families from a mile away; they are unique and passionate about life. They teach their kids to dive head first into what life has to offer, and are raising the entrepreneurs, the artists, the musicians, the actors, the politicians, the athletes, the travelers, any job that takes charisma, creativity, confidence, and passion.


Aside from making people laugh, Brian Huskey is very much not like the arrogant Dad that he portrays in those Swagger Wagon commercials. He’s a humble family man with a three-year-old daughter.  He taught me so much about how to inspire a creative confidence into kids, and I think he’ll do the same for you.


Download the Brian Huskey (Toyota Sienna Dad) Interview (Right-click and “Save As..”)

Brian: She’s seen me perform, I did a kids’ show one time, and I was dressed like an elf, and just acted ridiculous, and she does understand now, when I say “Daddy has to go to work,” she’s like “Oh, daddy’s gonna go be silly” which I think is great.. That she can sort of equate that yes, you can be paid to go be silly. So sort of a long-winded answer, I think she’s by proxy maybe getting an idea of what I do, and what I’m really into, and she has a great sense of humor. But it’s not anything I’m dictating to her. I definitely don’t want to take her to commercial auditions, because that is a horrible road for a kid to go down.

Anthony: I agree. And I think a big thing is not necessarily pushing your child to do what you do, but more of encouraging your child to be passionate about life in any way, through the same way that you do it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be acting, or comedy, but just getting her to see how much you enjoy doing what you do, and then letting her realize that she can do something that she loves on her own.

Brian: Age three, she’s into just complete invention of worlds, and spontaneous games, and I always participate whole-heartedly because it is like improv, she has the understanding of improv, just like “We’re gonna do this,” “Yes, we’re gonna do this, and we’re gonna do it as much as we can.” So as much as I’m available to that, I’m always like, “Sure, we are both rabbits driving a bus, let’s do this.” Because I know a lot of parents probably are just like playtime, and there’s this time, and I just.. the rewards I get from being with her during during this time that you have this unfiltered creativity, you gotta go for it while it’s there. Because come age 13, she’s gonna resent us, and turn into a teenager.

Anthony: I definitely like that you’re kinda letting her use her spontaneous, creative self, and that’s something else that I really like to teach to parents. Do you have any types of specific games that you play with her, that you think help her bring out that creative side?

Brian: I let her be the leader, and I think that’s been a good thing because I think we’ve just been like, “What do you want to do?” And let her take the lead and she’s starting to do that with her friends more. She’s been like, “Let’s play this game.” She kind of opens the rules and learns about collaborating and sharing. And those are big things in improv, you should say, “Yes, and..” Whatever information or ideas someone offers up, you say, “Yes, and..” then you add something else to it. And I totally see that with her. Now talking, I guess I am sort of bringing some of my own passion because my passion for improv is ten years plus, and I’m still completely into it. And for her it’s naturally. it just gravitates towards her. It’s great. I hope that never gets squashed because I think self-conciousness or someone else saying, “No, you can’t do that,” that’s where.. someone issuing that authority of “No, we can’t do that.” If you don’t have creative confidence or excitement about it, you’re gonna be like “Oh, you’re right, we can’t.” So, hopefully she’ll have enough of that, like “No, this is a much clearer option. Let’s be two rabbits driving a bus.”

Anthony: I think you bring up a good point about.. I find a lot of times people feel obligated, it’s not really parents’ faults or anything, but it’s just kind of a social constraint of keeping with rules when we play games, just because that’s how it’s always been. For instance, if you’re telling a stotry to your kid at night, and they say “Why don’t I tell you the story?” That’s something cool that I think parents should do. It’s something that I teach. Have your child tell you a story before they go to bed.

Brian: Yeah, we totally do that. I’m quite often the baby that she tucks me in, and she’ll leave the room, and I’ll cry, and she’ll say “What’s wrong, baby?” And I’ll say, “Can you give me a kiss?” Or, “I want a story” and she’s really into.. the stories are like, “There was a bear, and he went into the house and ate a sandwich. The end.” To.. now they they really have a long arc to them. And then she’s also starting reading books to us. She’ll take her favorite book that we like to read to her and she’ll look at the pages, and tell us the story. And then, once she started doing that, she started adding stuff. She starts layering the ideas she has on top of what she already knows or what she’s imagining at that moment, which is really great. My wife was really smart that she’s like.. even though she’s learning colors and shapes and stuff.. when we’re playing, even if she says that blue is pink, blue is pink, just let it be, blue is pink. Or, for the games, we just started doing that, and then after a while she started to say, “Oh, you’re right,” And then she would correct like “No, that’s not pink, it’s blue.” And she’s been saying like she has the authority in the game, and she can say whether we’re gonna pretend like this is blue, or no, you misunderstand, this is actually blue. So that’s kind of cool.

Anthony: So who do you think is funnier, you or your daughter? Or your wife?

Brian: Oh God.. My daughter. For sure. I don’t know if she can remember lines, but if you just let her go, pretty great. She should be hocking cars instead of me, I should just sit back, relax. But then I’d turn into one of those “Stage Dads.” It’d be terrible.

Anthony: This doesn’t have to be as deep as it sounds, but already taking into account the unconditional love you and all parents have for their children, how do you think that you do differently with your daughter compared to what you see everyone else doing?

Brian: For us, it’s just very natural. It’s like, “You are so awesome, whatever you wanna do, just do it, and you’re going to.. we’re just gonna be there with that.” And for her, given what I said about her being shy and stuff, I think it’s kinda helped her to just be like, “Yeah, here I am.” Like, we started to notice that she’s sorta started posing out of nowhere, she’ll just walk into the room, and make a little pose, this triumphant thing, and then run out. And that’s pretty great that she has the impulse to come in like, “What’s up world? Here I am!” And then just be out. And I think that just comes from.. if she’s doing something, we’re always kinda blown away by it.. “That’s pretty great.” So if that’s a philosophy, it’s more just an impulsive organic reaction to how much we love her. Try to whittle that down to a sound bite!

Anthony: Well I think what you’re trying to say is, allow her to be who she wants to be.

Brian: Yeah, and I think the other thing is, maybe the other part of that is, allow yourself to be unfiltered with that. I think that’s a big part, I think a lot of parents are like, “Oh, that’s not appropriate right now in the setting to react to you.” But no, I want everybody else to see how much I love you.

Did you like this? If so, shoot me an e-mail or ‘wall’ me on Facebook with a suggestion for the next parent in our “New Parent” series. I hope you were able to take something from Brian’s words, something that you can transfer to your own child to help them become a more “CharismaticKid.”

Oh, and by the way: http://www.youtube.com/sienna

Love,

Anthony
anthony@charismatickid.com