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★Home of the Honest Reviews

Hi, I'mJust A Dad.

My real name is Everett Thomas Shelton, but I've gone by Tom my whole life. I've been married to my wife Susan since 1995, I'm a dog dad to Fiona, and as of July 2022, I'm a full-time YouTuber.

Susan and I have two grown kids who have built their own careers, and we're proud of both of them. This is the story of how a kid from Witt, Illinois ended up testing over 200 robot vacuums out of a dedicated studio in Litchfield.

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Tom Shelton
Just A Dad Approved Seal
★ BY THE NUMBERS

What this operation looks like.

307K+
YouTube Subscribers
169M+
Lifetime Views
10,600+
Published Videos
200+
Robot Vacuums Tested
48M+
Views On A Single Video
680+
Years Of Watch Time*
13+
Years On YouTube
$0
Sponsorships Accepted
*Cumulative watch time across all viewers since 2017. Last updated: April 2026
THE TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

I worked on things that have to actually work.

I graduated high school in Witt, Illinois in 1990 and joined the Air National Guard that same year — one weekend a month for six years, through 1996. While serving, I went to Southern Illinois University Carbondale and earned my Aviation Maintenance A&P Certificate. That certificate opened the door to what became a 28-year career working on things that have to actually work — because when an airplane part fails, people don't get a second chance.

From 1994 to 2006, I worked as a corporate aircraft mechanic. In 2006 I spent a year as a railroad electrician at the Norfolk Southern engine repair shop, then landed at the Federal Aviation Administration as an electronics technician from 2007 to July 2022. Fifteen years with the FAA. That's the background that makes me look at a robot vacuum and actually care whether the brushless motor is sealed properly or whether the sensor array can handle a dog-hair environment at three in the morning.

“
I spent 15 years making sure FAA aviation equipment worked correctly. Now I apply that same standard to the stuff in your house.
HOW JUST A DAD STARTED

It started with a white chocolate mocha.

I started my main YouTube channel in October 2012, but I didn't really use it for anything at first. In September 2017, I made my first public video — a tutorial explaining how to make a Starbucks white chocolate mocha using a Mr. Coffee espresso machine. I posted it because my friends kept asking me how I did it. It got way more views than I expected, and I realized I could help a lot more people than just the folks in my kitchen.

The early years of the channel were a mix of everything — product how-tos, my kids' baseball and basketball games, my son's dirt bike racing. It was a family YouTube channel before it was a review channel. I made videos part-time from 2017 to 2020, then got serious about it in 2020.

By 2021 I was an Amazon Influencer, and when Amazon opened up on-site video uploads that same year, it changed everything — I could help people make buying decisions right where they were already shopping.

Coffee With Dad Podcast

Conversations over coffee about the stuff I cover on the channels, dad life, and what's actually worth your money.

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In July 2022, I walked away from my FAA job and went full-time. It was the biggest jump of my career and the best decision I've made since marrying Susan.

In 2025, I rebranded the main channel from "Just A Dad" to Just A Dad Approved — same channel, same history, same testing standards since 2017. The rebrand reflects what the channel had become: a place where products earn a seal, not just a mention.

This never started as a “content business.” It started because people kept asking for help.

THE WEBSITE

Why justadadapproved.com exists.

I launched justadadapproved.com in June 2025 because YouTube alone wasn't enough. When someone spends $800 on a robot vacuum, they deserve a written, searchable review with real photos, real testing notes, and real data — not just a video they have to scrub through. This site is where my reviews live for the long haul.

FROM KITCHEN COUNTER TO JAD STUDIOS

Three chapters. One studio.

The studio side of this operation has gone through three chapters, and I'm proud of all of them.

In the beginning — from that very first white chocolate mocha video in 2017 through 2022 — my "studio" was my kitchen. I'd set up lights, stage the product, shoot the video, then tear everything down when it was time for Susan and me to make dinner. Every video on this channel during those years was filmed between meals, on my own kitchen counter.

In 2023, I built a proper studio space in my basement. It was dedicated, always set up, and it meant I could shoot a video without negotiating with the rest of the house. That basement studio served me well for about a year — but by 2024, the volume of products coming through the door had outgrown it.

So in 2024, I bought an old chiropractor's building in Litchfield, Illinois and refurbished it into what is now JAD Studios — a dedicated facility for YouTube, Amazon, and social media video production. The address is 201 N Jackson St, Litchfield, IL, and it's a registered business on Google Maps with a 5-star rating. This is where the testing, filming, editing, and shipping all happen now. Going from a kitchen counter to a dedicated commercial building in seven years is something I never thought I'd be able to say about my own life.

HOW I TEST

Bought with my own money. Tested in my own home.

Every product I review is purchased with my own money. No brand pays me for a review. Every robot vacuum gets a minimum 90-day test in my home with my wife, my dog, and the real mess of real life. Fiona has been with us since 2018 and she's been part of the testing crew for most of it. Before her, my late dogs Lilly and Rosie were part of the earliest years of my YouTube channel — they're the reason I started caring about how well a robot vacuum handles pet hair in the first place.

Real home testing

90-day minimum test in my actual house with my wife, my dog, and real-life mess. Not a lab.

Bought, not sent

Every product is purchased with my own money. Brands don't pay me, and I don't accept review samples.

Earned, not given

If a product earns the Just A Dad Approved seal, it survived three months of honest use. Nothing more, nothing less.

When it comes to pet-related questions, I also get to lean on family expertise: my daughter is a practicing veterinarian who owns her own clinic, and when I have a question about whether a cleaning product or a filtration system is actually safe around animals, I ask her before I write about it.

If a product earns the Just A Dad Approved seal, it means it survived three months of honest use in a house that includes a dog, a wife with standards, and zero patience for gimmicks. These are the products I recommend to my own friends and family — nothing more, nothing less.

JM
Content & Operations Manager

Jenna Michaels

Jenna helps keep the whole operation running. She joined me part-time in 2024 and came on full-time in January 2026. Jenna handles converting reviews from video to written articles, managing the site, and keeping all the affiliate links and disclosures compliant.

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No spam.

I email when a robot vacuum I actually recommend goes on sale, when a new review is up, or when I find something genuinely worth your money.

That's it. No daily blasts. No clickbait. No selling your email.

You can unsubscribe anytime. I email maybe 2-3 times a month — only when there's something worth saying.