The Holderness Family

The Holderness Family is an American family entertainment and digital media brand created by married couple Penn and Kim Holderness. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, the family became widely known for humorous music parodies, short-form comedy, family vlogs, and topical sketches distributed through YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms. The family unit featured in the brand consists of Penn and Kim, their daughter Lola, and their son Penn Charles, although the parents are the principal public-facing creators and business operators. The brand's breakthrough came in 2013 with “XMAS Jammies,” a holiday parody created as a digital Christmas card for the family. Its homemade presentation, matching pajamas, original lyrics, and family-centered humor helped it spread rapidly online. The video accumulated approximately 18 million YouTube views during its first decade, turning the family into a recognizable example of early viral family-oriented internet entertainment. Following that success, the Holderness Family developed a repeatable format built around seasonal events, parenting, marriage, school, holidays, popular culture, and everyday domestic situations. Their subsequent work included parodies connected to Halloween, Thanksgiving, winter holidays, and other cultural moments. Examples cited in reference material include “Kin and Moose,” a Halloween-themed parody associated with Snoop Dogg's music; “All About That Baste,” a Thanksgiving parody; an adaptation centered on Eminem's “Lose Yourself”; and a parody of Dean Martin's “Baby, It's Cold Outside,” which received more than 75 million views on Facebook. The family has continued to release a new “XMAS Jammies” installment during the holiday season and has produced more than 300 additional parodies between recurring holiday releases. The brand expanded beyond music videos into scripted comedy and observational family content. Kim appeared in viral sketches on the Holderness Family Vlogs channel, including pieces about the prolonged disruption caused by COVID-19, changes to ordinary life, and the formulaic qualities of television holiday movies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the family produced topical parodies and sketches, including a Hamilton-inspired mask-wearing medley and “It's Vaccination Day,” a Frozen-related parody about obtaining a COVID-19 vaccination appointment. These works reinforced the brand's identity as accessible, topical family comedy rather than purely seasonal entertainment. The Holderness Family has also built a presence in traditional media. The family appeared on programs including The Today Show, Fox & Friends, Good Morning America, CNN, HLN, CBS This Morning, and Right This Minute. Its television projects included The Holderness Family on UPtv, The 12 Foods of Christmas on Food Network, and The Greatest Holiday Video Countdown on The CW. Penn and Kim later competed together on the thirty-third season of The Amazing Race and won the season. Their participation brought the family brand to a broader reality-television audience while also exposing personal subjects, including Penn's ADHD and Kim's anxiety, that have become relevant to their later educational and publishing work. Publishing and audio broadened the business beyond video. In 2021, Thomas Nelson, an imprint of HarperCollins, published Everybody Fights: So Why Not Get Better at It, a book by the couple about communication and conflict in marriage. The family also launched the Holderness Family Podcast in 2018; the program was later renamed Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness. The podcast discusses marriage, personal experiences, aging, family life, and lighter subjects, with episodes also distributed through YouTube. Later books addressed neurodiversity and ADHD, including ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD in 2024 and the children's title All You Can Be with ADHD in 2025. Operationally, Penn and Kim formed Holderness Family Productions in 2013 after working in journalism and at the video production company Greenroom Communications. Kim serves as chief executive officer and Penn as chief creative officer. They also work as creative consultants at Walk West, a Raleigh-based marketing and advertising firm. Their combined background in television reporting, production, writing, performance, and digital distribution has shaped a brand that combines creator-led entertainment with commercial production and publishing. The family's channels have been described as having more than five million combined subscribers and more than one billion total views across platforms, although platform totals change over time. The brand remains active in digital entertainment, with a positioning centered on upbeat, relatable, family-safe humor and practical discussion of relationships, parenting, holidays, and life with ADHD.

Penn and Kim Holderness met while working in local television news in Orlando and married in 2005. Both had experience in broadcast journalism and production before establishing their family-centered media business. Kim studied telecommunications at the University of Florida, worked as a reporter in Florida, and later worked for Inside Edition in New York. Penn studied philosophy at the University of Virginia and held broadcasting and hosting roles in Colorado, Orlando, and New York, including work connected with HGTV, CSTV, ABC, and ESPN. He later anchored evening news at WNCN-TV in North Carolina. After their journalism careers, the couple worked with Greenroom Communications, a video production company. They subsequently formed Holderness Family Productions in 2013, with Kim taking the chief executive role and Penn leading creative work. Their first major public success arrived that year with XMAS Jammies, a parody produced as a family Christmas card. The video used coordinated pajamas, original lyrics, and an intentionally personal presentation. Its rapid online circulation established the family's central creative formula: familiar music or cultural references reworked around family life and current events. The family continued producing holiday installments and expanded into a large catalog of parodies and comedy sketches. Their topics included Halloween, Thanksgiving, winter celebrations, parenting, marriage, school, and contemporary social conditions. Among the cited examples are Kin and Moose, All About That Baste, a parody related to Eminem's Lose Yourself, and a version of Baby, It's Cold Outside that achieved more than 75 million Facebook views. The family also operated the Holderness Family Vlogs channel, where Kim appeared in sketches such as When Rona Won't Leave, The New Normal, and Every Hallmark Movie Ever. The COVID-19 period increased the relevance of the family's topical format. In 2020, they created material about mask use, pandemic routines, and vaccination. A Hamilton-inspired mask medley and the Frozen-related It's Vaccination Day used recognizable musical and entertainment conventions to address public-health experiences through accessible family comedy. The family has continued to release new XMAS Jammies videos during the holiday season and has added hundreds of other parodies over time. The brand's reach extended into broadcast media. The family appeared on The Today Show, Fox & Friends, Good Morning America, CNN, HLN, CBS This Morning, and Right This Minute. It also produced or appeared in longer-form television programming, including The Holderness Family on UPtv, The 12 Foods of Christmas on Food Network, and The Greatest Holiday Video Countdown on The CW. Penn and Kim later appeared as contestants on the thirty-third season of The Amazing Race, which they won. Their television exposure reinforced the family's position as a creator-led entertainment act rather than only a social-media channel. Publishing and audio became additional parts of the brand. The Holderness Family Podcast began in 2018 and was later renamed Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness. The show covers marriage, family experiences, aging, personal challenges, and lighter everyday topics, and is also available on YouTube. In 2021, Thomas Nelson published Everybody Fights: So Why Not Get Better at It, the couple's book about communication in marriage. Later titles addressed ADHD: ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD appeared in 2024, followed by All You Can Be with ADHD, a children's book published in 2025. These projects reflect a shift from entertainment alone toward advice, conversation, and educational content based partly on the couple's public discussion of ADHD and anxiety. The family has also had a presence in popular culture through parody. Saturday Night Live aired a 2014 sketch called Christmas Sweatpants that spoofed the format and visual identity of the Holderness family's first viral holiday video. Penn and Kim additionally had small roles as news reporters in the 2013 film Iron Man 3. The brand remains active across social video, audio, publishing, television, and creative consulting, with a tone built around warmth, recognizable family situations, musical parody, and candid treatment of personal subjects.

• 2025

  All You Can Be with ADHD is published

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  A children's book presented ADHD and different ways of thinking in rhyming, affirming form.

• 2024

  ADHD Is Awesome is published

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The family expanded its publishing catalog with a guide focused on living with ADHD.

• 2021

  Everybody Fights is published

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Thomas Nelson released the couple's book about communication and conflict in marriage.

• 2020

  Pandemic-themed videos are released

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The family produced parodies and sketches about masks, altered routines, and COVID-19 vaccination.

• 2018

  The Holderness Family Podcast launches

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The couple began an audio program that was later renamed Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness.

• 2014

  Saturday Night Live parodies the family

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  A Christmas Sweatpants sketch spoofed the Holderness family's holiday-video format.

• 2013

  Holderness Family Productions is formed

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Penn and Kim established their own production company after working in journalism and video production.

• 2013

  XMAS Jammies becomes a viral breakout

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The family's holiday parody, initially intended as a digital Christmas card, brought them widespread online attention.

• 2005

  Penn and Kim Holderness marry

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The couple, who met while working in Orlando television news, married before creating their family media company.

• Penn and Kim win The Amazing Race season 33

  [1]The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The couple competed on and won the thirty-third season of the reality competition.

Relatable, upbeat family entertainment combining topical parody, domestic comedy, seasonal content, and candid conversations about marriage, parenting, anxiety, and ADHD.

• Music parody video series · 2013

  XMAS Jammies

  The family's signature holiday parody series began with a 2013 video made as a digital Christmas card. The format combines original lyrics, recognizable musical references, coordinated pajamas, and family participation. New installments have been released during subsequent holiday seasons, making the series a recurring centerpiece of the brand's seasonal identity.

• Digital video channel

  Holderness Family Vlogs

  A video outlet for family sketches, observations, and vlog-style material. It includes topical pieces about pandemic life, changing routines, family relationships, and television or holiday culture, including When Rona Won't Leave, The New Normal, and Every Hallmark Movie Ever.

• Podcast · 2018

  Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness

  A conversational podcast originally launched as the Holderness Family Podcast. Kim and Penn discuss marriage, family experiences, aging, personal issues, and lighter everyday topics, with the program also distributed through YouTube.

• Book · 2021

  Everybody Fights: So Why Not Get Better at It

  A marriage and communication book by Kim and Penn Holderness. Published by Thomas Nelson in 2021, it addresses conflict and presents the couple's perspective on improving communication in a relationship.

• Book · 2024

  ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD

  A 2024 guide focused on living with ADHD and navigating its practical and personal challenges. The book extends the family's public discussion of neurodiversity beyond short-form entertainment.

• Children's book · 2025

  All You Can Be with ADHD

  A children's title published in 2025 that uses rhyming language to present ADHD and cognitive differences in an affirming and celebratory way.

• 2020COVID-19 topical parody series

  Digital and social media

  The family created comedy about masks, pandemic routines, and vaccination, including a Hamilton-inspired mask medley and It's Vaccination Day.

  Outcome. The videos extended the brand's topical parody approach during a major public-health disruption.

  Source
• 2014Saturday Night Live Christmas Sweatpants spoof

  United States television

  Saturday Night Live created a sketch parodying the visual format of the Holderness family's holiday video.

  Outcome. The spoof reflected the family's visibility in popular culture after its viral success.

  Source
• 2013XMAS Jammies

  United States · Digital and social media

  A family Christmas-card concept became a widely shared music parody featuring the family in matching pajamas.

  Outcome. The video became the family's breakout viral success and established its recurring holiday-content strategy.

  Source

• 2024

  Develop ADHD-focused publishingProduct launch

  Background

  Penn has discussed having ADHD, and the family's content increasingly addresses personal and neurodiversity-related experiences.

  Action taken

  The family published ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD, followed by a children's title in 2025.

  Aftermath

  The publishing catalog broadened toward educational and affirming content about ADHD for adults and children.

  Source

• 2021

  Enter relationship and self-help publishingProduct launch

  Background

  The couple's public identity already centered on family life and marriage-related humor.

  Action taken

  They published Everybody Fights: So Why Not Get Better at It through Thomas Nelson.

  Aftermath

  The brand extended from entertainment into practical relationship guidance and book publishing.

  Source

• 2018

  Expand into podcastingProduct launch

  Background

  The family's audience had been established primarily through social video and parody content.

  Action taken

  Kim and Penn launched the Holderness Family Podcast, later renamed Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness.

  Aftermath

  The brand gained a longer-form conversational outlet for discussions of marriage, family, aging, and personal experiences.

  Source

• 2013

  Create a family-led digital production companyStrategy

  Background

  After careers in broadcast journalism and video production, Penn and Kim established Holderness Family Productions.

  Action taken

  They divided leadership between Kim as chief executive officer and Penn as chief creative officer, using the family as the core creative identity.

  Aftermath

  The structure supported the growth of a multi-platform entertainment brand built around parodies, vlogs, television, books, and audio.

  Source

1. 1The Holderness Familyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Holderness Family official websitetheholdernessfamily.com