Greetings and salutations!
We’re Kim and Jason Kotecki: best friends, husband and wife, homeschooling parents of three kids, entrepreneurs, authors, retro t-shirt wearers, and partners in crime on a crusade to annihilate Adultitis!
We are also artists, with paint the medium of choice forJason and photography for Kim. She is a former kindergarten teacher and noodle junkie, while Jason is a professional speaker and cereal aficionado.
Believe it or not, this all begin with a sappy love story and a humble comic strip. (But more on that in a bit.)
The Discovery of Adultitis
After falling in love, graduating from college, and getting married, we entered the “real world” and quickly noticed a few things. Like the fact that a shocking number of grown-ups are afflicted with a disease we identified as Adultitis. This is the reason so many people “lead lives of quiet desperation,” as Thoreau astutely observed.
We lack adventure when we blindly adhere to rules that don’t exist.
We lack meaning when we settle for the status quo.
We lack joy when we take ourselves too seriously.
This discovery led us to found The Cure Adultitis Institute and create Escape Adulthood to help people rediscover the secrets of childhood in order to build better lives, businesses, and teams.
Escape Adulthood?
Escape Adulthood is a rallying cry. It’s not about escaping responsibilities or reality. Nor is it about paying your bills with Monopoly money, eating a strict diet of chicken nuggets, or putzing around with Play-Doh all day long (although we do love that smell!).
Rather, the “Adulthood” we recommend you escape from is the cynical, joyless, unadventurous version with all the stupid rules, the one that insists we always play it safe, and take ourselves way too seriously. We believe the crazy notion that there is more to life than the busyness, stress and melancholy that is typical of most modern lives.
We started this movement because it’s hard to defeat Adultitis alone, and there is power in numbers. In community, we can borrow courage, affirmation, and inspiration from one another.
On a Mission
We consider ourselves to be “professional reminderers.” The concepts we talk about are not rocket surgery, but these important principles are easy to forget amidst the hectic deluge of daily life. We ALL need reminders from time to time.
Our desire is to use our talents to share God’s love and impact lives by inspiring, entertaining, and encouraging people to rekindle their childlike spirit and create the life they were made for.
This is where we live online. We want to help you eradicate Adultitis by offering real-world strategies, practical ideas, and permission to create a life filled with adventure, meaning, and joy.
On this site, you can…
- Browse Jason’s incredible portfolio and the inspiring stories behind each piece of art.
- Complete the free Adultitis Intake to assess your condition and receive a diagnosis.
- Learn more about booking Jason to speak at your next event to help your people prevent burnout, drive innovation, and thrive during seasons of change.
- Connect with other positive, encouraging people in the Escape Adulthood League who are dreamers, adventurers, and seekers of joy.
- Browse The Lemonade Stand for art, books, apparel, and other gifts to help incorporate this mindset into your life and share it with others. (We pledge 5% of all gross merchandise sales to help improve the lives of kids all over the world.)
The Sappy Love Story
Now before it was a movement, this all began as a simple love story. Jason first drew his lovable characters for his girlfriend Kim sometime before the turn of the century. They shared a kindred childlike spirit, and Jason used the drawings, which represented the couple as children, on many homemade (aka cheap) gifts designed to win Kim’s heart.
Luckily for him, this downright sappy ploy helped him to not only win her heart, but also her hand in marriage. The characters took on lives of their own and became stars in a comic strip. In 2000, we decided to build a company to share the comic strip and its inspiring message. The strip was officially retired in 2007, but the wild ride to rid the world of Adultitis has continued on at full speed.
Don’t Settle for a Paint-By-Number Life
We’ve spent our lives together doing unconventional things. We moved to Madison without either of us having a job, then moved to Sheboygan during a pandemic. We unschool our kids. Our oldest daughter was on 34 flights during her first year of life. We’ve done book tours at zoos and ice cream parlors.
We hope to spark intentional thinking that leads you to become who you are uniquely created to be and have as few “I wish I woulda’s” as possible.
Escape Adulthood is the antidote to Adultitis and the cure for the common life.
We’re so glad you’re here.
Your friends,
P.S. Make Your Escape!
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