A Northland dad's wholesome TikTok content has gained a major global following, with his videos garnering over 3 billion views this year.
In November, Louis Davis was named the social media platform's New Zealand content creator of the year for his snippets of family life.
"I think if you’re living in an apartment in New York or you’re living in Central America, wherever you are in the world, people are becoming more and more drawn to the simple way of life," Davis told 1News.
"I want it to be an aspirational life just to have children to love and finally to love you."
His wife Ashleigh called him "the epitome of such a great 'girl dad'".
Davis said he wanted to challenge "all the biggest stories we tell about Māori fathers" as "the warrior, the aggressor, the abuser, the wielders of harm".
"That’s not how I grew up," he said. "I grew up in love; I grew up with parents that loved me and looked after me and took me on adventures."
For Louis Davis Senior, it took "ages for us to understand" what his son did for work.
"It was foreign to us. He'd say, 'Oh, for the old people like you, Dad, I just say I'm in advertising'."
Davis said his dad was his "hero" who broke the cycle of absent fathers.
"I grew up with an absent dad and he grew up with an absent grandfather," the elder Davis said.
"I can't understand how you could not be involved in your children's life."
"Somehow, that became natural to me to just always be involved in my kids' lives."
Over the last 12 years, Davis’ job has taken him all over the world. But it’s also allowed him to be exactly where he wants to be – home with the tamariki.
"Yeah, I just longed for my kids to be able to grow up the way that I grew up – surrounded by love, surrounded by nature, and for that to be enough."
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