Meet Jason
• About K&J | Ask K&J | Kim’s Bio | Jason’s Bio | Glossary | Stuff We Like •
Jason Kotecki, known as “The Champion of Childhood,” is an artist, author and speaker, as well as the creator of the internationally known comic strip, Kim & Jason. He is widely regarded as an expert in helping people to “escape adulthood” and “return to childhood.”
His book, Escape Adulthood: 8 Secrets from Childhood for the Stressed-Out Grown-Up, outlines simple ways for adults of all ages to reconnect with the qualities that come naturally to children in order to reduce stress and live more fun and fulfilling lives.
He met his wife Kim way back in 1995. It wasn’t long before the two realized they shared a kindred childlike spirit. One day, Jason sketched himself and his girlfriend as young cartoon characters, and they began appearing on all kinds of homemade (cheap) cards and gifts designed to win her heart.
Jason’s efforts were not in vain, as the couple was married in May 2000. Since then, the characters have taken on lives and personalities of their own and the “real” Kim and Jason have built a company (JBiRD iNK, Ltd.) to promote and distribute the Kim & Jason comic and share the spirit of childhood.
[ Meeting Planners: Email Kim at kim@kimandjason.com for a bio for your specific publicity needs. ]
In His Own Words…
Hometown: Peru, Illinois
What Makes Me Tick: Long walks by the lakes here in Madison, spending hours at Barnes & Noble, watching really good movies, cooking, photography, travel, art supply stores, watching NFL football, Apple, Arby’s, live music, art museums and galleries, and sugar-laden cereal.
When I was a kid, I…adored Michael Jordan, Ryne Sandberg, Michael J. Fox and Han Solo, wanted to be George Lucas, and was afraid of the Thunder, the Lightning, and the Fire Trucks.
My inspiration is…the creativity of God.
Some Previous Jobs: Score keeping Little League games; Washing cars for a GM dealership; Assembling widgets at a nail factory; Teaching college art history; Newspaper ad layout designer.
Favorite Music: Jars of Clay, Joshua Radin, Jon Foreman, Switchfoot, Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Weepies, U2, Andrew Peterson, Good Old War, Dave Matthews, Michael W. Smith, Toby Mac, Ray Lamontagne, The Beatles.
Favorite Movies: Empire Strikes Back, Field of Dreams, The Crow, Dark Knight, and just about anything by Pixar, especially Wall-E, Monsters, Inc., and Ratatouille.
Favorite Foods: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzards from Dairy Queen, thin crust pizza, cherry pie, shrimp, crab, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and cereal, especially Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Oh’s.
My Favorite TV Shows: Seinfeld, Arrested Development, Parenthood, Ed, Good Eats, The Office, Scrubs, CSI, and anything with Gordon Ramsay.
Favorite Childhood Toys: My vast collections of Star Wars stuff and baseball cards.
Favorite Children’s Books: Where the Wild Things Are, George’s Marvelous Medicine, and anything by Shel Silverstein.
Artistic Influences: I’ve always been fond of a wide variety of artists, among them being Norman Rockwell, Drew Struzan, J.C. Leyendecker, Vermeer, Monet, and Alfonse Mucha. On the cartooning side, the top two are Charles Schulz (Peanuts) and Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes). I also have great admiration for Pat Brady (Rose Is Rose), Michael Fry and T Lewis (Over The Hedge), Michael Jantze (The Norm) and Gary Larson (Far Side). Comedians such as Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld have been key influences on me, in terms of their ability to find humor in the everyday little things. (Read some frequently asked questions about the Kim & Jason comic strip.)
What’s the craziest thing you have ever done? Started this business.
What “lesson from Mom” do you still live by? Try it, you might like it. (Although I fought this one for a long time.)
What books are you always telling people to read? The Path by Laurie Beth Jones, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller, and anything by Seth Godin.
What one event in your childhood has had the greatest effect on what you do today? When my third grade teacher, Mrs. Smith, asked me to draw Santa Claus for the school newsletter. Her saying that I could draw him better than her blew me away, and it instilled in me the confidence to pursue art.
One way I stay childlike is…by wearing fun, retro t-shirts, browse the children’s book section at Barnes & Noble, and asking lots of questions.
What’s the best part about your life right now? The 7-second commute. Getting paid to travel. And making a living doing what I love.
What I know so far: Be yourself. Be nice. Question everything. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Jason’s Bucket List Marry someone awesome •
Photograph the Northern Lights •
Keep fresh flowers on the kitchen table •
Become a Dad • Invent an ice cream flavor • Ride in a hot air balloon •
Sit at the edge of the Grand Canyon • Find a four leaf clover •
Learn how to make an omelette • Ride an elephant • Attend the Olympics •
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge • Eat fresh pasta in Italy • Ride a gondola in Venice •
See U2 in concert • See the Mona Lisa at the Louvre and Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower in France •
Swim with dolphins • Witness the launch of a spacecraft • See Great Wall of China •
Ride a San Francisco cable car • Host a living room or backyard concert • Organize a conference for K&J Nation • See the pyramids in Egypt at sunset • Visit Victoria Falls • Photograph fireworks •
Witness the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery • Learn how to make pasta from scratch •
Experience Times Square • See Stonehenge • Dive with a Great White shark • Visit the Colosseum in Rome •
See Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby perform live • Eat at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant •
Try eating alligator • Establish the Save The Day Foundation to help children all over the world • Stay in a glass bottom bungalow in Tahiti •
Have some “afternoon delight” • Have hot chocolate at the top of the Alps •
Help build a house for Habitat for Humanity • Ring in the New Year in New York City • See Dave Matthews in concert • Eat at the underwater restaurant in the Maldives • Cook 101 gourmet dishes •
Eat Key Lime Pie in Key West •
See the pandas at the San Diego Zoo • Tour Skywalker Ranch • Attend Comic Con •
Meet Seth Godin • Visit Australia and see the Sydney Opera House • Learn to speak Australian • Send my parents to Alaska (for vacation) • Go deep sea fishing with my Dad and brothers • Go whale watching •
See Niagara Falls • Attend a Super Bowl •
See the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence • Attend baseball games at
Wrigley Field, San Francisco, Camden Yards,
Fenway Park •
Go parasailing over the Gulf of Mexico • Meet Ryne Sandberg •
See the Statue of Liberty •
Eat clam chowder in Boston in the fall • Meet George W. Bush • Drive the Great Ocean Road in Australia • Write a children’s book with Kim • Own a jet black Porsche convertible • Stay at a Secrets on the Lake treehouse at Montville • Eat at a Bobby Flay restaurant • Stay at Bedarra Island Resort •
Have coffee with Phil Vischer • Go to Hawaii • Own a pontoon boat •
Eat a fresh crab in Seattle •
Meet Sam Butcher •
Eat gumbo in New Orleans •
Design my own font •
Beat Kim in a Sumo Dance off • Own a lake house with a wraparound porch surrounded by tall pines • Take a cooking class • Open a Kim & Jason themed restaurant •
Host a charity event •
See the original Wright Flyer •
See Pearl Jam in concert • Meet George Lucas •
Enjoy Mexican food at the San Antonio’s River Walk while being serenaded by a mariachi band • Book Andrew Peterson for a private concert •
Host a cartooning workshop in our own space • See the bioluminescence • Give a keynote speech at a World Domination Summit • Give a TED talk • Travel to outer space • See a tiger in the wild •
Go to Disney World with best friends •
Ride on a Harley • Visit the Holy Land •
See a T-Rex skeleton •
Meet Michael W. Smith • Stay overnight at the Ice Hotel • Eat Lobster in Maine •
Visit the Redwood forest • Explore Yosemite National Park • See the world’s biggest ball of twine • Visit the Corn Palace • Have an art studio with hardwood floors and a lake view • Visit all 50 states •
Check out the view from the Space Needle • Give a waitress a $100 tip • Own a home theater •
Visit a fortune cookie factory • Attend a silent retreat • Eat at 101 Madison (non-chain) restaurants • Donate a million dollars to each of the Big 6 • Zip line through a jungle canopy •
Eat fish tacos in San Diego • Build a private basketball court • Get a t-shirt quilt made • Publish a full color coffee table book of Kim & Jason Weekend strips • Attend a Cirque du Soleil show •
Tour Alcatraz •
Listen to live music at the Bluebird Cafe • Visit our sponsored child through Compassion •
Kiss giraffes • Visit Mount Rushmore • Have romantic mountain view dinner with Kim in Idaho • Own a home with a whirlpool hot tub • Pay for the surgery/treatment for a child I barely know • Launch a line of Kim & Jason collectible figurines •
Hire someone else to cut the grass for me • Own skyboxes at Soldier Field and Wrigley Field • Field grounders from second base at Wrigley Field • Go snorkeling in tropical waters •
See the Rocky Mountains • Own at least one original painting by Normal Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker, and Drew Struzan • Experience weightlessness • Visit the Acropolis in Greece •
Hold one of those really big checks •
Visit the Charles Schulz museum •
See the inside of the Weinermobile • Jump into water from a fairly high cliff • Skinny dip • Write 10 books (3 so far) •
Dance on the floor piano from Big • Make a pie from scratch using cherries I picked myself
Jason is a proud contributor to Dadomatic.com, an awesome site for Dads, by Dads. Check out his articles here.
