By Joseph Thomas
Nov. 5, 2024
Author and speaker Brad Montague, 43, was beaming as he entered the almost empty El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant in Henderson, Tennessee.
“Thanks for coming to this one,” he said.
The restaurant occupies the same building it did when Montague arrived in Henderson, Tennessee, from his hometown of Somerville, just under an hour away, to attend Freed-Hardeman University some 25 years ago. And while brighter, shinier places have opened since, he still prefers simplicity and familiarity of the original.
“No one ever wants to eat here, but I love it.”
This theme runs through much his present work—finding joy among distractions, appreciating present circumstances in a world that encourages dissatisfaction. It even let Montague and his wife, Kristi, to transform an old garage on Church Street in Henderson into the Montague Workshop, a place dedicated to positivity, simplicity and joy.
Montague’s path began most notably on July 5, 2012 when he published his first Kid President video, featuring his young brother-in-law in a suit, tie and tiny oval office, on YouTube. He easily recalled the date because he had planned on posting the video for July 4, but computer issues prevented him from doing so.
The next day, the video went live to a mild response, but it was the start of something for him. The amount of footage allowed for three separate videos, so he decided to create a sort of miniseries to post over the next month.
Kid President would prove to be the launching point. Since, Montague has developed his own TV show, become a regularly contributing cartoonist for Magnolia Magazine, authored several books with his wife Kristi including two New York Times Bestsellers, and developed into a celebrated public speaker. But at first, the videos were simply an experiment.
“I thought, ‘This will be an exercise in consistency,’” Montague said. The exercise led to a valuable discovery—that YouTube at that time desired and would promote “short-form content posted consistently.” By the third video, people began to notice, as it was featured on CNN Politics and the Comedy Central series “Tosh.0.”
The videos’ popularity resulted in an offer from several YouTube channels, including a comedy channel owned by Shaquille O’Neal, which Montague immediately recognized was not a good fit for a child.
Then he received an offer that was a bit more difficult to dismiss. It came from SoulPancake, a YouTube channel developed by one of the stars of NBC’s The Office, Rainn Wilson, and Montague happily accepted, a decision that ultimately put his work on the world stage when he posted A Pep Talk from Kid President to You on Jan. 24, 2013, which currently sits at more than 49 million views.
While he is still open to speaking invitations from various conferences, organizations, and events, his focus has narrowed over the past few years to the world of education. In September alone, he visited 25 schools in person and another 300 classrooms virtually providing encouragement and free resources which have made him and Kristi “the Alfred to (the teachers’) Batman.”
Emphasizing efforts on helping those who help children is important to Montague woh often repeats the mantra, “Be who you needed when you were younger.”
For Montague, that person was Debbie Perkins, his fourth-grade teacher at Fayette Academy in Somerville.
“She responded to my creativity not as a disruption but as something to be nurtured and celebrated,” he said. “I’d never had that.”
Perkins was a softball coach who Montague hypothesizes never intended to teach fourth grade, which may be the reason she could appreciate the drawings and general silliness of having a young Brad Montague in class.
Today, when something goes well, Montague’s inner child still feels the urge to let Mrs. Perkins know. In fact, when his first book “Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome” hit the New York Times Bestseller list, he sent his former teacher a note with a simple, four-word message:
“It’s all your fault.”
With lunch gone and the check on the table, a faculty member from the local college, Montague’s alma mater, approaches the table. He gives a nod and a, “Hey, Brad,” and walks past. It serves as a reminder that, in his favorite Mexican restaurant in Henderson, Tennessee, Montague is just a guy in the community. He also just happens to be a guy working away in his workshop plotting new ways to improve the world around him, near and far, making it a better, more joyful place for kids, grownups, and everyone in between.