Russell Wilson and Ciara Talk New Children’s Book On The Today Show

On the inspiration behind the book:

Wilson: “Our parents used to say to us, ‘Why not you? Why not you?’ It was the driving force question that my dad used to always ask me all the time.We would hop in the car, ‘Son, put your seatbelt on.’ He would say, ‘Why don’t you be a Super Bowl winning quarterback? Why don’t you play pro baseball? Why don’t you graduate early?’ And I think that’s a subconscious but conscious question we all have to ask ourselves, no matter how old we are, how young we are. ‘ve got to ask yourself that question – why not me?

I know when Ciara and I first, first met of one of the questions was, if you could do anything in the world, what would be some of those things? One of them was to open up a school, which we did – Why Not You Academy. And we’re also, obviously, launching this book. “

On the importance of including diversity within the book and its illustrations:

Ciara: “The Why Not You attitude is for every child in the world. Our goal is to Empower every child to have a Why Not You attitude, and we want for every child to look at this book and see themselves in it. And as you see on the front, you see a mini Russ and a mini Ci, and our kids can look at this book and see for themselves.We want inclusivity, diversity.Every kid should be able to dream big, and if you have a Why Not You attitude, the sky’s the limit. “

On the “secret” to making their marriage work:

Wilson: “I think, first of all, tons of date nights. We make sure we have a date night every Friday, and sometimes we double down on that. But also, I think communication is everything. I think we also have the same core values, and mission and visions.We love doing stuff together.We do so much together – as long as I’m not on stage dancing with Ciara, I’m good.The only stage I hope to be on is the Super Bowl stage. “