Raising Tomorrow: Kepler Knott on Parenting, Identity, and Preparing Kids for What Lies Ahead

Are we getting our kids ready for the world ahead of them?

That question sits at the heart of my conversation with Kepler Knott, author of Raising Tomorrow: Talks to Prepare Our Kids for What Lies Ahead. Kepler’s life has taken him through military service, teaching, global travel, fatherhood, and a long career in tech and marketing - experiences that eventually inspired him to write a book for his two daughters.​

From Pandemic Letters to a Guidebook for Families

During COVID, Kepler began writing - not for work, but for his daughters: “I began to write a series of letters to my own children on different topics… and I'm like, this is a book.”

Originally there were fifteen letters, one for each topic he felt mattered most as they grew up. But he didn’t want the tone to feel prescriptive or rigid: “It's not about telling my kids, hey, here's all the right answers, but here's some things to think about as you grow up… I wanted my kids to have a fun and flexible playbook.”

Each chapter blends stories, research, humor, and hard-earned wisdom into conversations families can actually have - on identity, relationships, values, work, money, and more.
 
Parenting in a Time of Overwhelm

Part of Kepler’s motivation comes from the emotional reality of today’s teens: “Ages 18 to 24… show the highest rates of depression. At the same time, two thirds of parents say parenting is harder than ever.”

Instead of panic, he wants parents to focus on teaching kids how to adapt, question, and navigate a world that’s both more connected and more confusing. He believes “our life's work as parents is not to clear the road for our kids. It’s to help them navigate it.”

A Father on Boys, Girls, and the Chaos of the Teenage Brain

When asked which chapter he enjoyed writing most, Kepler didn’t hesitate: the chapter on boys. As a father of daughters, he wanted them to understand the inner workings (and the bewildering parts) of teenage boys. "Plato once said of all the animals, the boys, the most unmanageable,” he jokes. 

He mixes humor with candor: “The woman's brain is multifaceted and diverse… The men had like… sports, sex, sex, food, friends… a simpler thing.”

But he also highlights the challenges boys quietly face: “Teenage boys… are four times more likely than girls to drop out of school, more likely to be placed in special education.”

It’s a chapter about empathy, not stereotypes, helping his daughters understand their peers with both awareness and compassion.
 
Identity: Who We Are, Where We Come From, and What We Share

Kepler’s own background informs the chapter on identity. He was raised white, Southern, Protestant; his wife’s family is Eastern European and Jewish. And like many multicultural households, they navigate different beliefs, practices, and histories.

But he encourages his daughters to balance individuality with connection: “Be proud of who you are and where you come from, but realize that we're all in this together.”

He includes a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “I have a dream where one day my children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

And a quote from his mother: “Finding someone who gets you is one of the best feelings or experiences you can have in life.” 
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His hope is that kids see identity not as a box, but as a lens, something they carry with them while still recognizing the humanity in others.

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What do former soldiers, teachers, global travelers, professional marketers, and devoted dads all have in common? In Kepler Knott’s case - a mission to raise thoughtful, grounded, resilient kids.

In Season 1, Episode 27, I sat down with Kepler Knott, author of Raising Tomorrow: Talks to Prepare Our Kids for What Lies Ahead, to explore important conversations that parents should have with their children about identity, values, critical thinking, service, culture, and simply growing up in a complicated world.

If you’re a parent, future parent, educator, or someone who cares about raising the next generation, this one is for you.

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Religion, Tradition, and Raising Kids With Openness

Faith is another theme he approaches with balance. With kids growing up between two traditions, blended holidays are part of family life. When asked about Christmas, Kepler joked: “I'm still lobbying for a Christmas tree… For my wife… it's not how she grew up.”

But rather than choose, the family embraces both: “We actually celebrate both of those, all the holidays… everybody's invited to everything.”

His broader philosophy on spirituality is simple and generous: “I'm not your director of religious education, I'm your director of religious exploration.”
 
Teaching Critical Thinking in the Age of Endless Information

Kepler is passionate about teaching kids how to think, not what to think. He quotes Mark Twain: “I've never let schooling interfere with my education.”

And he warns that information alone isn’t clarity: “The truth of things is not just the information tidbit, it's the context… who's saying it and why are they saying it?”

He is equally adamant about teaching practical life skills like laundry, cooking, managing money - things he sees many teens lacking: “Kids get very educated in the formal sense, but yet they can't like function.”
 
Family Boundaries, Politics, and the Art of the Olive Branch

Traditions aren’t the hardest part of blending families, he says. Politics is. And he describes family gatherings the way many listeners can relate to: “A lot of holidays go sideways… It's about what's going on in the state of the country.”

His approach is rooted in relationship, not argument: “The simplest way is to keep your tongue in your mouth… we're sitting down at dinner together… so there's a certain level of respect and accommodation.”

Someone has to extend the olive branch, and someone has to take it.

What He Hopes Parents Will Walk Away With

At the end of our conversation, Kepler returned to the real purpose of the book: “Not all the right answers, but I think there are a lot of the right questions.”

He hopes families use the book as a starting point for conversations they’ve been meaning to have but didn’t know how to begin. And he offered a line that captures his whole philosophy: “I can't control the bigger picture of the world… but I can exert some influence… over myself and my own family.”

He added with a smile: “The parts add up to the whole and one plus one equals three.” (Yes, metaphor only - we clarified the math!). In the end, his message is simple: if each of us strengthens our own families through honest conversations and intentional guidance, we create a ripple effect- one that can shape not only our children’s futures, but the future we all share.