Transcript
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Kwame
What's up, everybody? Welcome to today's episode of Beyond Influence. I'm joined by Scott Sutton, and we have a very special guest with us today, Rome Johnson. Rome, how are you doing, brother?
Rome
I am good. It is Monday. It's sunny. No complaints today, my guy. It's all good.
Scott
Awesome. Yeah. I was going to say we have our last, last hurrah in the Pacific Northwest of sunshine here. So it's been seven days. It's been lovely.
Rome
Yeah, that's actually typical October, though. Like what people don't like. October gives us a little bit of this to where it's like that fake like, oh, we can still actually go outside and do a few things, but then one day it's just going to hit, it's going to be done.
Scott
It's so funny. We always talk about that. It's like the Pacific Northwest. You just slide into the dark and rain and it's usually like February or March. You're just like, I am so done with this. And now I'm like, I'm also I'm almost like preempting it in October. I'm like, already in February mode. I need to like, fix my mindset. I'm like, okay, let's let's be happy about fall. Some cooler leaves, changing pumpkin patches, not just going straight to February gloom and doom.
Kwame
I feel like fall is everybody's favorite season. I don't know, like everybody that I talk to, the perfect season because it's like it's not too hot, not too cold. The colors are all as vibrant as possibly can be. You could go outside in shorts and a sweater. You could go outside in a full peacoat. You can't go wrong. I gotta say, fall has got to be. Is this the season for fashion?
Rome
I think so because you could do so much. You could wear a hoodie and shorts. You could still wear the pants and the T, or you could layer it later in the evening with a jacket, you know, and everything is good. It's like if there was that one season, like you said, to show off the fit it has to be fall.
Kwame
Speaking of fashion, I mean, since we're here, why don't we talk a little bit about Rome? We're introducing a minor new segment that might take only one minute of our audience's time, but it's an important, ever-so-relevant topic. Rome, you have a pretty nice scope going on right now. You have a nice little hat going on. I'd love to know. What kicks are you rocking today?
Rome
Today? Let me tell you what kicks I was rocking before I got in the demo. Before I got in the demo, I was just wearing the black-on-black Yeezy. Five hundred. Just keep it in real light. But now I'm just in the croc slides because, like I said, for that mode, I'm in the house, I'm chillin', and I'm about to hit the grill soon. So, you know, these are kind of like my house shoes, grill shoes.
Kwame
I love it. Scott, what you got on today, man?
Scott
I don't have shoes on, so there's that. But, I think I just had, like, an old pair of golden gooses that I have around the house there already. When you buy them, they're already beat up. So I'm like, I can go out in the yard. I can go get the mail. No, no, no pressure or distress with the shades.
Kwame
Lovely. Well, today I rocked a pair of Travis Scott Jordan, one collab, medium olives, you know, got them in the mail, a couple of days ago. And I don't think I've gone a single day without wearing them, so what can you guys do? Oh, I mean, oh, you might not be able to see them over my shoulder. So I have one in the white and one in the pink because I went to the Seahawks game yesterday and it was a breast cancer awareness game. Yes, yes. So I had to throw the pink laces on. And obviously my wife donned a completely pink outfit, a pink Seahawks jersey. So I had to match a little bit of something man.
But hey, let's get this going wrong. For those who don't know who you are, do you mind just kicking us off by describing and telling us a little bit about yourself? We'd love to know.
Rome
Yeah. Again, Rome Johnson was born and raised in the Seattle area. I'm a dad of two. I'm a medical dad and caregiver to a little girl, Carly, who has a rare genetic syndrome called Fifer syndrome. So a lot of my life is dedicated to parenting and caregiving. But really, because of Carly syndrome, we're basically on this mission to show everybody, show the world. And one thing, you know, we do on social media and try to emphasize on social media is that we don't want to lay a diagnosis or a situation, define us. And so we're just continuing to live. And so that's essentially my kids my entire life. I have a son who's going to be 19 months, next week.
And he, you know, is a secondborn. He's full of energy. He's picking up so many different things from even, like a sports standpoint. Like he's just really curious in that curious stage. And he's, you know, that a lot of the times they say that, like, the boys are usually like mama's boys. He's a dad's boy. Like, he's attached to me. That's my twin. That's my guy. Like, I would love to say we do everything together and be extremely, you know, static about it. But yeah, we do everything together because he's just attached to me. And, you know, I think that becoming the version of the parent I am has always been a dream of mine.
Because my dad wasn't around growing up. And like, I used to talk about this with my high school friend, we literally said, like, one day we are going to be the dads that we never had. And I'm walking in that power today. So that's essentially my life outside of that. Me and my wife, we try to, you know, go on our little dates around the city when we can, but again, full-time parents, full-time caregivers. So, we do what we can. We have time.
Scott
I love that. So, I mean, you're in the thick of it. I just read an article in May. Think about it. There was a stat that came out. It said millennial dads spend three times more time with their kids than their fathers did. And it was super interesting to me because I think back to, you know, growing up as a millennial like my dad worked and there was no remote work, there was no, I mean, schoolteacher, 45-minute commute.
And I think about now, like, even me with the big job, like I'm seeing my kids all the time, I'm coaching soccer, I'm doing all the things. And it is interesting how that's changed. I'm curious how, you know, did you grow up like, like what was your, your kind of growth, you know, your, your childhood story and how does that have an impact on your parenting?
Rome
It was so like my mom ended up remarrying when I was probably like 8 or 9. My dad left when I was five, I believe. So like, you know, in that short period, I saw a lot of struggle. I saw my mom trying to figure it out. My grandparents have always been involved because, as I mentioned, I was born and raised in this area.
And so, like, my grandparents were around, we would stay with them a lot of times. And, you know, when they say, like, grandparents are your second parents, like, that's truly a thing. Like my grandpa had all girls, he had three girls. Then he had a boy. And then you know, then it came to me. And so like, I think at that situation or like that time in life where things were, you know, chill and his kids were grown like I was attached to my grandpa, like my son is to me.
And like, my grandfather was always, like, welcoming to me and always like, this was back when, like, you know, in the 90s when you could, like, smoke cigarettes next to kids. And it wasn't like a big deal, but like, he would sit back, like after work, you know, smoking cigars. And I'd be sitting there like, right under him and we would be watching the Mariners.
We'd be watching the Sonics on Pay-Per-View. We are like just so much. We spent so much time together. And so I think, like my definition of a slash, an example of what a father truly comes from him because my grandfather was a man of like very few words to other people. He and I just talk all the time like we're just so much alike.
But like with other people, very quiet, very stoic. But the one thing I always saw whenever somebody called on him, he didn't complain. He didn't question it. He got up and just did the job. And so I think that truly has helped me through this whole entire medical journey, because we found out when I tell you, like two weeks before my daughter's due date, that there were any medical complications and we were just, you know, basically forced to figure it out, like right there when we didn't even know, you know, her diagnosis of her syndrome.
We didn't know what life would look like. We didn't know how much training we would have to do to just bring her home. And I really just took it in stride because I'm like, he would just do it. And so I just did it. Yeah, I signed myself Nike. There you go.
Scott
That's no I mean, you know, I look at your guys' story, and one particular post that you all made highlighted a lot of things like lifestyle changes and training. You all had to do, the modifications to your home and all this just, to be able to manage like maybe walk through for people who don't understand, you know, or may not have seen your content, like, you know, just how dramatic some of those changes were for y'all.
Rome
Yeah. First and foremost, we had to train with a respiratory therapist for 25 hours. It was like 22 or 25 hours in order for them to sign off for us to bring her home. So this is both me and my wife, during the pandemic, working full time, trying to navigate my daughter living in the hospital. Let me actually take one step back.
So my daughter lived in Seattle Children's, for the first six months of her life, in that six month period, you know, Covid happened. And so you start to see where, you know, the hospital is very I wouldn't say very lenient, but like, you weren't having to do any, like, health checks to go in there. And her being in the neonatal intensive care unit, they make you like they didn't care about that stuff.
And then all of a sudden everyone has to wear a mask, and now only one parent can go at a time because you're trying to, you know, slow down. How many people are going back and forth there? And so, you know, we were navigating that. It's just like, here we are, first-time parents, daughter in the hospital, daughter in the NICU.
We have no answers because we asked. We're just like, hey, what does it look like? How long do you think she would be able or how long is she going to stay here? When can she come home? They were hesitant and reluctant to give us an answer because they just didn't know. We also didn't know the amount of surgeries that she was going to have to have.
And like I can say before I jump back to the story, like she's four and a half, going to be five in January and she's had 26 or 27 surgeries, something like that. It is a massive amount, a daunting thing. And so like a lot of those things, we had to kind of learn on the fly and, you know, again, add in Covid and add in.
We're now trying to train and get hands-on training, but it's dangerous for us to be there. And one other thing, you know, the ads are kind of another layer of this in my whole kind of fatherhood journey. I too have a well, not I too, but I have a chronic illness. I have Crohn's disease and I have a rare liver disease.
And it was something since my diseases are invisible, it's something that I tried to always manage, and I tried to appear like I was better, healthier, you know than my peers because, like, I was being judged on the same level as my peers. So it's just like it's now dangerous for me to be in the hospital around all these potential sicknesses, illnesses, and viruses.
So it took a lot of strategic planning and navigating on our part, the hospital was able to work with us and we were able to do some of the training we needed to do online or via Zoom. And then like all the hands-on stuff, we needed to do, we would pick our times to go down there and do it so we didn't have to, you know, potentially transmit any germs or, because with.
So my daughter breathes with the tracheostomy tube that's the thing you see right here, coming out of her trachea. And it's the equivalent of breathing out of, like, a coffee straw. And because, like, her airway in her skull and her nasal airway is so narrow that, like, she couldn't sustain enough air without it, which was why I typically, in the past, a lot of the five-for-syndrome kids passed away early because they didn't know that there was a certain surgery scheduled for one, but they also didn't know that they needed to give them this support to breathe.
And so, you know, with that being said, there's a hole here, you know, it's called the stoma. The stone was exposed. So bacteria can get in there easily. So it's almost like we have to take so many extra precautions. And, and I know this is a super long answer, but some of the other things, you know, we had to do is everything has to be sanitized.
Everything. We have to make sure that if we were around anybody sick, we had to, you know, kind of stay away from the hospital, let it run its course. So there were times, with my diseases, that my immune system crashed a lot, and so I got sick often. There were times when I had to stay away from the hospital for weeks at a time because it was dangerous for both of us to be in there, you know?
So those are the kinds of things that we had to deal with when in the hospital. And then at home. She came home on a ventilator. She had other medical machinery, that had motors in them. And so how the electrical system in your house is kind of setup is when it, you know, senses a motor some of the breakers just trip, it just shuts down.
And so we had to actually pay for an electrician to give her dedicated circuits in her room. Then we had to pay for an external generator because we lost power a lot out here. Like y'all know. You know, it rains a little bit and then it's windy the next day and next thing, oh, trees are everywhere. Power's out.
We couldn't afford to have the power out. And you know, her not being able to have electricity for these machines. So we had to upgrade the house with the generator. And we probably had to buy bigger cars too, because we have to now travel with her medical equipment. We had to travel with her and a nurse at all times.
So it's like literally things that people wouldn't even think about. We probably easily spent $100,000 or close to $100,000 of our own money just trying to get, yeah, just getting everything ready for her to come home. And that's not a flex either. I don't want that to, like, come off. It's not a flex to the listeners.
Kwame
Yeah. And that might honestly be a quick call out to the, you know, state's health care system. I don't know, you know what I mean? Let's plug that really quickly. But all in all, I think you mentioned a lot of things, but one thing that you haven't really brought up that I feel like is really immense to mention, is like the resilience that, you know, you have to go, you have to have to get through all of this.
You know, I think, you mentioned a few other character traits, but I want to highlight that, you know, I think it's amazing to see somebody like you and, your partner get through this and, you know, we'll get to all the business stuff when it gets there. But, you know, I'd love to sit on this a little bit more and, and get from you what that partnership has meant for you and your ability to to really make this a thriving situation.
Rome
Yeah. You know, it's funny. I mean, I joke with my wife a lot on some like you could, you wouldn't ever meet another dude like me. They can hold stuff down the way I'm holding it down. Like whenever, whenever I'm just like, hey, can you give me some, can you give me something from downstairs? And she's like, no, I'm not.
I'm tired. I'm like, you ain't ever going to find nobody else like me. They hold it down and all this stuff like that, like now, but like, we just have such a great partnership because, like, it's crazy how opposite we are and how we're able to like, really navigate things with how opposite we are. So an example of that.
She is a very like-in-the-moment kind of thinker, and I'm more of a future thinker. And so, you know, as we're navigating all this, it's easy for her to like, you know, be in the moment with everything and she can handle like what's, you know, going on like, right, this second, you know, while me on the flip side, can handle everything that's going to be either upcoming or potentially upcoming, especially, you know, with all these appointments and all these things we have to do, like literally where probably my daughter Elise has an appointment, if not every month, like every other month, you know.
And so we're trying to navigate that. And she sees so many different providers. It's really difficult to keep track of everything. But my wife is a full-time 9 to 5 employee. Now, I was a full-time 9 to 5 employee. I got laid off last August, and so now I'm a full-time stay-at-home dad.
And so it's just like it's kind of enabled us to still like from different perspectives, like push our family forward, you know, I mean, like, she's going to handle all the insurance stuff, which is very important because my daughter's nurses that she gets in a home, you know, all of that stuff is through insurance and sometimes insurance, you know, as you say, call out to the healthcare industry.
Insurance will cut something right from underneath your nose, and you won't realize it until something comes due. Or you get a call saying, oh yeah, there's no nurses that can come today because of, you know, this reason. And it's just like it happens a lot. And so it's something that you have to stay on top of. And so while she's, you know, staying on top of that, I'm, you know, assuming the role of like primary parent where I'm going to the point man.
So I'm getting ready for school by dealing with more of the day-to-day things. But we really look at it and we kind of spoke about this on our podcast that like, sometimes I have to be LeBron, sometimes she's D-Wade, and sometimes I got to be Chris Bosh, and sometimes she's LeBron, like, but we're okay.
We're doing that. You know, it's just like whoever has to assume the responsibility and the role at that moment, we'll do it. And the other person will either play the complementary role or, you know, they'll kind of copilot in the other direction.
Scott
So I love, you know, we talked about the partnership and kind of the give and take that it requires to, to manage through, you know, difficult situations and then a whole new set of expectations on, you know, that are thrust upon you. I'm curious now, as you kind of look at the social media side, like where I am, I feel like I would be so overwhelmed and just want to curl up a little bit, you know, at that moment.
I'm curious, like, what? How did you guys do? Do you have a discussion about social media? And then what was that discussion around, you know, was the strategy to cope or share with your family? I'm curious, like, what was that initial because you started around, December of 2020, with your account? I'm just curious, like what that inception, what that conversation was like.
Rome
Yeah. So my 9 to 5 for like the last ten years was in social media, was in social media there. And so like, I always had a hand in building somebody else's brand basically. And so, you know, funny, we were talking about fashion early on, like I wanted to do more fashion content at first because like, fashion to me was always in a way, like a form of therapy and literally like the way I used it was because if I wasn't feeling well that day or something like that, the days that I was my most ill, my fit was going to be more than I was because you can see in mine.
Face, like when I don't feel well, like, yeah, I just wear it terribly. And so I would always, you know, put something on to where people would be like, oh my God, that fit. And they wouldn't pay any attention to me, to, you know, how I look, like physically. And so at least in my head that was like a band-aid.
And so I wanted to build, you know, a brand or at least a profile or a page around that. And so I didn't really take it as seriously as I could have. And I think a lot of that was due to social media burnout, which is funny because like, even to this day, I still get that. But the that point in time, December 2020, when things started to take off, was because it was basically like the week between Christmas and New Year.
We actually found out on New Year's Eve that there were complications. And we have, you know, we're blessed with a lot of friends. My wife was a two-time All-American at U-dub hurdler and ran professionally for Brooks, you know, locally. And so like we we just know a lot of people in the area and a lot of people were just like, hey, like, what's going on?
We haven't heard, you know, anything about the baby while we're trying to get answers and trying to internalize like, what's going on? Again, not to air out all of their stuff, but we had an unfortunate situation where we actually weren't told the diagnosis of our daughter. We had to change hospitals to find out because a doctor had refused to tell us.
And the only reason why we knew that she had refused to tell us is that when we went to another hospital to get a second opinion, you know, we had to withdraw all of our medical records, and we saw the notes in the medical records, and it was like, that's the and there was like a lot of, like trying to cover your tracks situations.
And so the new hospital was like, hey, this is what it looks like. This is what we think it is. We can't confirm until she's born. But this is what, you know, this is a situation that we're probably going to be in there. Like, you're probably gonna spend some time at Children's Hospital after she's born, you know?
That's it. That's literally all they said. And so at the point of daughters being born, things are crazy. You know, after like a week or so, people are like, hey, what's like, what's going on? Y'all like, where's the baby? It was good. Is everything okay? And we just shared the news because we were just like, you know, people were asking, and going to social media was like a quick way to like, tell everybody.
So we didn't have to text everybody and call everybody, because we were at a point where we were, you know, it was like a gut punch like we were shocked. We didn't know how. We didn't know what we were going to do, like what we were going to do from like a, how we were going to navigate this.
And so, I think that conversation was really like, you know, we are going to share our daughter and love our daughter as if she didn't have any medical complications as she didn't have any facial differences. Because that's a big thing with her syndrome was facial difference. And so like, we were just like, no, like, we're just we're happy to be parents, whatever, whatever that looks like, you know because we, we've tried for the longest and it just didn't happen.
And so finally we have this opportunity and no, we are going to, you know, completely love and enjoy this opportunity. And things really took off from there. And I think the big reason was because we were so vulnerable. And that's different, you know, than what you saw on social media at the time. We were just like, she has this syndrome.
We don't know what life is going to look like. Here's our bundle of joy. Yes, she has a facial difference. Yes, she has a rare genetic syndrome. But no, we're not going to love her any differently. You know, we just kind of put her on the pedestal at that point, and she's been up there ever since.
Kwame
That is a deeply touching story of how you were just, you know, simply how you arrived at being more active on social media with what was going on in your life. And, you know, the navigation of everything is really important. You have to do things at the right time, you know? And I think it was interesting that people were starting to reach out.
And you thought to yourself, you know what? Instead of having to individually do this, we can make sure that we do this in an effective way and make it impactful for the greater community, and people who are going through it. You know, with that being said, I'm sure that you've encountered people along your journey who your story has touched, you know, do you have any quick stories or quick memories from the top of your mind that, you know, remind you of why you do this?
You know, any interactions? Anybody that you spoke to was really touched?
Rome
Yeah. So I mean, when you say that I, you know, again, there's one thing I actually want to quickly take time and say, like postpartum depression for men is a real thing, too. And so I have a, you know, 1 to 1 talk to any man that has gone through it, but like, just the situation I was in like I could say without, you know, an official diagnosis that that's what I was going through.
And it was more so just like, oh my God. Like, I don't have an example of how to be a dad. Can I do this? Am I built for this? Like this little girl deserves everything. Like, can I give her everything she needs? Especially with how my life is set up. And so, you know, it was at a dark time.
I started to get DMs like in the other DMs, the general. And so there were some. I didn't check them often because I think there was more bullying than anything. And so I kind of stayed away from mental health purposes. But then as I started to grow, more young men were actually hitting me up saying that they wanted to be the type of dad I was.
And that was absolutely crazy to me because they're just like, you literally are my motivation and inspiration as a father. And I'm just like, bro, what? Like me? Like, I'm just rolling the dice and trying to figure this out as I go. But like, I had a few of those and so like, my therapist was just like, save them, save those comments, and look at them when you need them.
And like Foxy Brown, DM me once telling me about how well I can't remember exactly what she said. It was something like, like you're such a good dad or something like that. Like, you know, just those kinds of things where I was just like, oh my God, like my story. Our story is like reaching people, and people are actually, like in awe of, you know, the situation.
And, you know, like you said, like I just had me realizing that I've been a caregiver my entire life. And it didn't just start when my daughter was born, because like, that gave me so much more motivation to like, help those people, you know, who were in my similar position.
Scott
I love that. I love sharing your story. I think, you know, we talked a lot about common experience and social media being a place where often underrepresented or folks who don't feel like they have people who understand them or their situation, or, can really resonate with them, they finally feel like they're able to connect to those people, and or they can consume content from people who are going through what they're going through.
And there's this like, hey, someone else out there feels the way that I do. Someone else out there is making it through what I don't think I can. And I think that that's really powerful and what that represents. And being on both sides as a creator of content and being that inspiration for others, but then also consuming content, being inspired by others.
I think that's just one of the cooler things about social media, one of the more inspirational things about social media. So I'm curious, like, as you, as you developed kind of, you know, you started creating content. You're going through, you know, this phase of life. How did you start to approach content creation?
Was it hey, we're just going to try and be informative. We're going to be funny. We, you know, do you feel like you're worried about the way people would receive different, different types of content? If, you know, if you make too much light of a situation, then it's like, oh man, who is this guy? Like, you know that that's too far.
I'm just curious. I feel like there would be a lot I'd be in my own head if I were you trying to navigate that gracefully.
Rome
Oh, I'm. I'm still in my own head today. Because, like, the hard part is, you know, I have this, this audience that we were able to cultivate. And a lot of them are there to see our daughter and see our family. And it's almost like both my wife and I like our pseudo-family pages, but like, it's still our page.
And so like, I hate having to basically like not post something that I want to post because it's just like, I know it's not going to do well because they want to see this, this certain thing. And so really like early on it was just like, okay, we're going to inform. And the one thing that I did say was I didn't want to be overly edited, overly produced, like I want it to be raw and authentic because like, you know, like the brand, I'm kind of shifting into it just like a busy parent, you know?
I mean, like, no, I don't have time to sit here for an hour and edit a video. You're going to get these seven clips and I'm going to edit them up and you know, it's going to be what you want to see. But I am going to be more intentional on storytelling and informing, because I know that, you know, with the TikTok algorithm and the YouTube algorithm and how like, everything is such about SEO now, like, that's kind of reigning king over some of like the hey, like, here's my family moment.
Here's what we did. You know, there's still a place for that, but I think I need to shift more. If I had to do something like 80, 20, 80, 20, or like entertainment, you know, kind of, fun style videos.
Kwame
When you think about the content that you put out, I mean, you think about the way that it comes together. It's funny being in a relationship, being married, having children. I feel like we as human beings and actually we go through this kind of, like, identity transformation throughout that, and you start to see it kind of late into the content that you're putting out, almost, so that it becomes your identity.
It's so funny, right? Because people always say, like, hey, when someone has a kid, like they become a parent, you know, it's like you're no longer roaming, you're no longer Scott. It's like, that's a dad, you know what I mean? So it is funny to kind of see that bring its way into your content. And I think one thing that, I thought about a little bit earlier as you were thinking about being an example, is that when you think about the way that you can change the world, I always say this, in order to change the world, you have to change the world around you.
You know, you can only be as effective as you can reach.
Rome
Yeah, you know it. There's a lot of stuff. I get this, I can tell you. That is as far as, like, you know, how they're like maturing is realizing this or whatever, you know, that's the new like trend that's going around like my like, maturing is realizing that, like, I don't like talking about a lot of my accomplishments and, and things like that.
But to your point, social media has really allowed me to sit in Governor Inslee's or stand in Governor Inslee's mansion and present to him and other Washington state representatives why the state needs to add early learning services back to the bill to be voted on, and that happens. We got a grant for it and didn't say one word about it on social media because I just felt a little weird doing it.
But like, you know, to your point, social media was really what helped us do that because it was the power of our story. Our family story touches a lot of people. And, you know, we know that we can touch more with it. And, you know, again, there are two ways to look at social media.
Yes, social media can be nasty. Social media can be negative. But if you know what you're doing and you know how to use it, there are so many powerful benefits that you can unlock with it.
Scott
I think it's so true. I love that story too, about being able to effect, you know, legislation and being able to improve other, you know, folks' situation in their families and early childhood education through your experience, through your platform, through your voice. It's amazing. I was listening to a podcast the other day. It was really interesting.
It was saying for good and for bad, the ability for someone to build a platform, and create fame, notoriety, and a following. The barrier to entry is at the lowest it's ever been, which is amazing because you don't need to then go sign a record contract and have promotion and distribution or whatever to have a voice.
You don't need to, you know, be a politician and go through all of these different layers, win over the favor of your constituents to then be able to get at a big enough platform to then go have a voice. You know, if you go out and you are so motivated, you have a compelling story and you put it out there and people resonate with it, you can very quickly gain traction.
And so I just think that's a really interesting thing. The two, the two sides, and what that has to offer, it's funny, it's something and a little less serious, but it's so funny the whole changing your identity. Yeah. I was literally sitting in my kitchen and I was reflecting. My son told me, like the corniest pun dad joke, and I was just sitting there and I was like, I think that's super funny.
And then I was like, where in my life, in this whole journey of growing up, going to school, you know, trying really hard to be taken seriously. And now being a dad, I'm like, I think like his joke about, like, dorks waking up at the crack of dawn. I literally thought it was so funny. And I'm like, why?
And my brain has shifted that. I think this is funny. I know it's funny because, like, I don't know how it is like this universal thing of dad jokes or whatever, but I'm like, man, someone should go figure out what chemically or is behamatically what is going on there.
Rome
So it's yeah, it's a whole thing in itself. Like it's a, that's a, $100 million market right there. You know, I mean, like, it's just I think it's just because it's so corny in a way, it's just like they catch you off guard and it's like, yeah, it's a corny joke that's intended to get a chuckle.
Not really a belly laugh, but like, there are pages on TikTok and stuff like that where they have like the little joke off where basically they are telling each dad jokes in like the first person the last three times. Like, you know, they're holding it. I think they like, hold water in their mouth and they spit it out, you know?
Yeah, you get a point-type thing, but it's comedy. And like, I see they get millions and millions and millions of views. It's crazy.
Scott
Yeah. There are a couple of dads who like sitting on lawn chairs, drinking coffee outdoors, or something. And then, yeah, oh my gosh, I know that. I know the other one you're talking about. I was like, it's always like going to a white backdrop. They're at the table and like, yeah, there is this one, one guy who he's just like, he doesn't even have to say anything.
Rome
Yeah.
Scott
He's just like there's some people who just have that gift of comedy where it's like, yeah, they don't have to say anything. It's just like that when they open their mouths. I had a friend growing up who was like that and you're like, no matter how funny I try to be, this, this guy just like, literally like, looks at you and it's still you can't hold it together, right?
Kwame
Oh, man. You know, from man, you're giving us a lot about your, your life. And I think the things that you're going through and, one of the, you know, stories that I saw, throughout one of your posts was about the difficulty dealing with, you know, one of the airlines that you flew because obviously, it is really important to make sure that you have everything with you and accessible.
And, you know, we don't have to, we don't have to dabble on the negative. Well, we'll make it. We'll take it to the positive side. Right. Although that was a difficult experience for y'all. Have you all had any airlines that you feel like y'all partnered with? That was actually really amazing for you. And, you know, a story that you can share about how that really made your entire journey better.
Rome
Yeah. No, Alaska is amazing. And I'm not just saying that, like Alaska. Like, yes, we partnered with them. And yes, you know, when you do a partnership, they usually will show you a little bit more than the typical behavior or whatever. But like it was, there were a few things. It's like attention to detail. So like our first flight to Cabo, one of my daughter's OG nurses was getting married in Cabo last February.
So we went down there for the wedding. So when I tell you when we travel, you know, we have to take so many things, we have to basically take her whole room, which is set up like a children's hospital. It's got machines. It's got backup machines, it's got medical supplies, it's got meds. So we're flying with all of that.
And so we provided them with the list, you know, with the fly, with an oxygen concentrator to just in case you needed oxygen on the fly. But, Alaska forwarded the basically forwarded the whole list, through the chain. So when we landed in Cabo, they came on the plane and helped us get everything off. Not only that, they walked us through, like, different customs.
Like we went through VIP customs. Like we didn't even go with everybody else. They grabbed our bags. So by the time we got off the plane, they had our stroller in our bags that we checked in there. And then, I think about the story. So we also went to San Diego, like last month, they basically hand-picked one of the people on the crew, because she has a tremendous track record of working with people with special needs and medical needs.
And so she said that she was supposed to be on a flight to DC, and then they rerouted her to our flight. And so she took down our flight. And of course, the whole time just checking on us. Is a baby girl good? Does she need anything? Do you guys need anything? They've just been super, super hands-on.
And I can say, too, like, Southwest was also great last weekend when we came back from the Bay, and we didn't, you know, have any partnership with them. They were great. The issues that I had were with certain people. Certainly, I don't one thing I don't like is gaslight. I don't like gaslighting. But I also don't appreciate or stand for, like blaming a problem that I didn't create on me, especially in front of everybody.
So it was a pretty nasty situation. But let's just say that's getting taken care of because, you know, people look out for you when you become a good person. So I'll just say that.
Kwame
We love that we, we, we love when things get taken care of, man. You know, we're getting towards an interesting segment, you know, within our conversation here. You know, we have a couple more things to touch on before we end. But I wanted to give you a quick little, you know, speed round that we go through.
So what I'm gonna do is I would just ask you what this or that, you give me an answer, and then you give me very short context. One sentence, if you can. All right? That's all right, let's make it happen. So this or that, TikTok or Instagram?
Rome
Instagram. Because we don't know if TikTok's going away yet.
Kwame
Okay. All right. Interesting answer. I can dig it. So short form or long form content.
Rome
Sorry, I got to ask for a follow-up. I got to be that person to create or to consume?
Kwame
Create. Okay, this is all from your creator's lens.
Rome
Create. Okay. Yeah. Short, because I don't get a lot of time to sit there and create a whole unformed piece of content.
Kwame
Okay, I can dig it. So in feed or in story.
Rome
I personally am in feed and I just like it more. I know the story is a little more intimate and more with people, you know, but I'm going to see the feed before I see the story.
Kwame
All right. And then the last one is going to be a short-term or long-term partnership.
Rome
I would say. Short term, we stumped them.
No. Yeah. It's more so because I'm just like, short term is I think you're going to get more for the short term than the long term because like in the long term, based on my experience, like we'll just use random numbers. Let's just say it's a ten K partnership short form. Yeah. You might only get like 6 or 7 or whatever, but like you're going to do two posts versus the long, you know, the, the long-standing partnership where you might have to do four posts and it's just like the average deal value doesn't equal out in my opinion.
Kwame
Yeah. Yeah, I agree with you on that because I'm actually going through a long-term partnership right now. And although I love the company and the amount of money it was like, you can't turn that down. And I was like, you know, flailing around excited that it happened. Now that I think about it, when I think about my last short-term partnership and what I did and what I got out of it, it's pretty close to, you know, it's and it's almost, you know, I'm doing, you know, in total six posts, right?
Obviously, there's content syndication across different platforms and things, but in total six posts for this, and for the short-term partnership, I did one post. And when you think about how much I made, like even though I'm excited about it and I'm blessed and I'm happy and I have to say that, of course. Yeah, yeah, I'm making about only about 10% more with the long-term partnership, even though it's one post against six.
Rome
You know, the short-term industry sales, you get a long-term partner, you know, I mean, as you go, for example, you go on TikTok right now, how to be an influencer, go to YouTube. How to be an influencer. It's like all you email them and then you try to get a long-term partnership. I would never, ever, ever shade anybody who's doing a long-term partnership.
Personally, for me and how my life is set up, let me do this one-off. So once it's done, like because, you know, again, I'm juggling all this and all this stuff like that little bit easier for me to do this one off, but also just in my, you know, grown-up age and this is, you know, kind of year four of doing this now.
Like I'm really starting to see my market value in a way. And you know, what people want from me because my whole thing, like any deal I'm doing right now, almost everybody's like, oh yeah, we want the family, we want the kids in it. And I'm more and more like, yeah, no, if you want the kids in it, it's going to be there's a, there's a tax for that.
Like because we know the game, we know that it's you know you we created for ads. And I understand as a partnership like you know getting paid for it and all this stuff like that. But now I'm just like my kids are starting to get older and, you know, we're starting to plan for bigger things. So we're trying to take our, you know, name, image, likeness, power back.
And we are the, you know, facilitators of how we want to move through that. And so, again, just with, with everything, it just makes more sense for me to, to kind of stay in the short-term realm for now. And again, whoever wants to do it, like try the short form first, like to be honest, try it, get your feet wet because you're not truly going to know if you're if you have a long-term partnership, in my opinion, with one brand like you might get used to doing stuff a certain way.
But brands, different brands want different things out of the content. So it's going to force you to, you know, maybe sometimes do things you haven't done. So expose yourself to that if you can, some game for you.
Scott
That's awesome. I think it's, it's really unique hearing your perspective and it makes a lot of sense. I think it's funny because I think almost every creator we've talked to before tends to favor long-term, but it definitely, on the cost trade off the variety of content, keeping it fresh, and being able to try new ideas.
There's definitely an argument. And it's funny because a lot of the same kind of concepts are in the gig economy or, you know, not being locked into a traditional salary job. Also, apply in the creator space. It's like if you're locked into these things, there is an amount of benefit, but there's also an amount of feeling stifled, feeling repetitive, feeling like you're having growth.
So, I think it's cool to get that perspective. So I'm curious, we ask this, what is one of the favorite partnerships that you all have worked with?
Rome
It's hard to be Alaska Air. I can't say, though. Second to that, the NFL courtyard was pretty fun for me personally, just because I'm a huge sports fan and, my wife and I before my daughter came into this world for 11 straight years, we traveled to a road Seahawks game. So that was kind of our thing.
And so we only actually stayed at a courtyard a few times during that whole, you know, point in time. But it brought back that while we were just having this conversation to the like when people are always like, what were you like before kids? And like, you like to sit there and think about it. And I was like, we were outside.
Like we were from Miami to New Orleans, like all go to these Seahawks games and stuff like that. And it was just fun. So I think those two partnerships, you know, which is funny because they both have to do with travel and I don't like being outside my house. But you know, I think those were the, the most, the best for me.
I would say.
Kwame
I can dig that. Now, in that same vein, if you had a choice of anyone that you could partner with, who would that be?
Rome
If I could partner with anyone, who would it be? I think at this stage in my life right now, let me tell you this, actually, one thing that I always like wanted to do, and this was like, before they started, like, coming back around, I was just like, there should like, I know, like, companies have Add shoes, but I was like, there should really be like a dad shoe that looks dope.
Not like that, I forgot what the monarchs were. Yeah. Now the monarchs. But I was just like, I wanted to work with a shoe company for, like, a dope dad shoe because, like, my whole actually, like, early dad brand was like, you know, you type in this is gonna be relevant, I promise. But like, before you would, you would type in Dad and Google and, you know, it's like the same persona.
It's like, hi, socks, and New Balance's fanny pack. You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, that doesn't represent me. And so I'm just like, what if there was a dad shoe that, like, you know, was stylish, is dope, like, everybody wears air forces, everybody wears pandas. You know, not saying that it would be like that same silhouette, but, like, what if it's.
I mean, they kind of did it with Knocked Up and Drake, but like, you know what if there was a shoe with Nike, I partnered with them. It was a dad shoe, but also accessible because, you know, with my daughter, my daughter's, another thing with her syndrome, her elbows are fuzed at 90 degrees. So she can't extend her arms.
And so, like, it's going to be, you know, hard for her to tie her shoes. She's extremely flexible. I mean, and she figures out a lot of things, but, like, you know, a dad shoe that you could kind of just slip your foot right in, and it was stylish, you know? So Nike was probably that one. And now, you know, I'm in my adult age, probably one of the kitchens, one of the kitchen brands.
I really want to partner with Ninja, actually, I think I will use the air fryer, like every day, a few times a day, like. Yeah. So probably a kitchen brand ninja.
Scott
That's awesome. Speaking of, have you seen the Nike Go fliers?
Rome
I don't think so.
Scott
So it's super cool. And for folks who have limited mobility or disabilities, it's pretty amazing. So it's a two-part shoe that has a joint in the middle with elastic. So you put your toe in and step down and they'll last the elastic crosses like the pivot point. And then it holds it on the foot. Yeah. And then if you like to rock it back it literally folds open.
And you don't need to use your hands at all. And it fits pretty well. But it's super cool for that particular reason. But it's, it's funny to talk about like easy to get on and off and some of the mobility stuff, but a lot of the stuff on the fly is they also have the kids where they actually put the Velcro on the side and it's free it's like pre lace size and then they just pull the whole thing off.
So I love what they're doing with shoe design just to make life easier for kids for kids you know for disabilities or limited mobility. I do have to say it's funny talking about dad shoes when you search on when you search on Google for like the top two, why don't you just type in dad shoes?
Kwame
The two right now, the first.
Scott
Two brands that come up with our brand deals that he's done. So come he doesn't know but he's like getting in the dad's shoes.
Rome
Yeah.
Scott
So every time Kwami thinks he's like this super stylish young guy playing soccer out there, he's just a dad in disguise.
Kwame
What? That is so funny. Oh, my gosh. I did an on-partnership, which I actually really love, And then I did, Oh, my goodness. What are the other ones? The shoes that are supposed to be really good for your heels when you travel. So yeah,, I can't remember the name, but I definitely remember the one. That is so funny, man.
Rome
Look at you. And look at you. Influence in the market.
Kwame
Yeah, I realize it. Justified. That's what it was.
Rome
Three five. Okay.
Kwame
Yeah.
Scott
Well, like anytime com I hear talking about a sneaker game or whatever. It's like once you step on social media or dad shoes.
Kwame
Oh, man. Well, you know what, Roland? We're coming up to the end of this conversation. Man. I'd love to just pass it to you really quickly to give a little bit of information about where people can find you on social media and your different handles before we close out.
Rome
Yeah, man, I appreciate it. So you can find us on Instagram. It's rome.johnson. I believe the TikTok is Romejohnson10 and our YouTube is Living with Carly. So that is basically all our content about our life and my daughter and the journeys we're on. And also our podcast, I should plug in our podcast, Brown Sound. So we do that where we bring a lot of cool guests and we talk about real-life issues and you know things like this.
So I appreciate you all for having me on.
Kwame
We appreciate you too, Rome. Thank you so much for sharing everything with us and being candid in your answers, bro. We appreciate you so much.
Rome
Yes, sir.