Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Cosgrove.
Hi Jim, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My unlikely career started as a whim in the Spring of 1997, when a friend who worked at the new Barnes & Noble bookstore in Leawood asked me to play some songs for a children’s story time. Although I had never done anything like that, I enthusiastically agreed. I played some well-known kid songs and a few tunes of my own. The response was great. And afterwards, some parents approached me and asked if I had a CD of my music. I didn’t and hadn’t even considered it, so I decided I’d better record an album.
I have no formal music training (I taught myself to play a few chords on the guitar), and I knew nothing about arranging, recording, or promoting music. So, I asked for help from friends with expertise in those areas, and the next year I released my first album, Bop Bop Dinosaur.
A few years later, I met my future wife at that same bookstore when she hired me to perform there. A year into our marriage, we took a leap of faith when she quit her job and came to work with me as my business manager and booking agent. It’s been an amazing adventure ever since.
After my second album, Stinky Feet, was released in 1999, kids started calling me Stinky Feet. I would jokingly correct them and say, “It’s actually Mister Stinky Feet.” Because, well, it sounds more respectful, right?
In the past 27 years, I have performed more than 5,100 high-energy shows (that’s more shows than The Rolling Stones and The Who put together!) throughout North America and Europe, including twice at The White House Easter Egg Roll. I’ve recorded ten family albums that have earned a dozen national parenting awards, and my songs and videos have been streamed millions of times. I am the author of four books for children, a true-crime memoir for grown-ups, and a collection of essays from my time as a parenting columnist for The Kansas City Star. In 2024, I was voted “Best Local Author” by Kansas City Magazine and “Best Band” by the Johnson County Post.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Singing, dancing, and laughing with children and their grown-ups is as good as it gets. Although some shows have been better than others, I’ve never had a bad day doing what I love.
There were some lean months in the early years as a family with two young daughters. At times, we had to seriously tighten our fiscal belts. We sold one of our cars to pay the bills one month and managed as a one-car family of four for the next few years.
Early in my career, I had some doubts about what I was doing – typical imposter syndrome of a budding artist. Before my wife came to work with me, I traveled frequently and would be gone for a week or two at a time. One night, I was in a motel in Troutville, Virginia, missing home and wondering if I was on the right path. Before going to sleep, I set the alarm on the clock radio next to the bed, and I said, “Ok, Universe, please send me a sign about what I’m supposed to be doing.” When the alarm went off the next morning, the song “Wont Get Fooled Again” by The Who was playing. The first lyrics I heard were:
“Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again”
So, I did just that. I picked up my guitar and never looked back. That day, I committed to playing with love and positive intention, vowing never to get fooled by doubt again.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Nothing energizes me more than bringing families together through music and feeling the love flow. Each day, I set an intention to lead with love in everything I do – being present with children, writing and producing music, performing, presenting workshops, and writing books for both children and adults. Throughout my 27-year career, I have performed more than 5,100 high-energy shows in 31 U.S. states and six other countries, including two shows at the White House Easter Egg Roll and a sold-out performance with the Kansas City Symphony at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. My ten albums have earned a dozen national parenting awards, and my songs and videos have been streamed millions of times. Kansas City has been so good to me, and I was blown away last year when I was voted “Best Local Author” by Kansas City Magazine and “Best Band” by the Johnson County Post. I am so grateful to thrive artistically in a supportive and generous community. And the coolest gift I have received from my young fans is my name, “Mr. Stinky Feet.” Children started calling me that after my Stinky Feet album was released, and it stuck!
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Live like a child! Seriously, living and acting more childlike (and less childish) has helped me be more successful as an artist, business owner, parent, and husband. Young children embody the traits and spirit of real success. They are authentic, sincere, curious, trusting, loving, and honest. They have the beautiful ability to live in the joy of the present because they have little concept of the future and they have forgotten about the past. They lose themselves in the wonder of play. And they feel their emotions. When they are sad, they cry. When they are happy, they shriek. When they are frustrated or angry, they throw a temper tantrum. And usually (not always), those moments pass within minutes, and they’re on to the next adventure. I’m not always childlike, but when I remember to channel my inner kid, everything goes much more smoothly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jimcosgrove.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr.stinky.feet/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrstinkyfeet
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimcosgrove/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mrstinkyfeet
