Ryan Trahan Explained

Ryan Trahan
Birth Date:7 October 1998
Birth Place:Sugar Land, Texas, U.S.
Channel Direct Url:@ryan
Channel Display Name:Ryan Trahan
Years Active:2013–present
Subscribers:16.8 million
Subscriber Date:21 August 2024
Views:3.59 billion
View Date:21 August 2024
Silver Year:2018
Silver Button:no
Gold Year:2019
Diamond Year:2022

Ryan Trahan (born October 7, 1998) is an American YouTuber, vlogger, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his "penny series”, which he has done several times since 2017. Trahan has founded multiple businesses, including Neptune Bottle, clothing line Howdy Howdy and candy company Joyride.

Personal life

Trahan was born on October 7, 1998 in Sugar Land, Texas,[1] later attending Rice High School in the town of Altair.[2] While in high school and later attending Texas A&M University, Trahan was a cross country runner, placing third in the Aggieland Open competition in 2017.[3]

Trahan married YouTuber Haley Pham in 2020.[4]

YouTube career

Trahan started his YouTube channel on January 21, 2012. Originally producing content on running, Trahan now creates eclectic content, ranging from Tesla races to outdoor camping.[5] [6] Trahan reached 1,000,000 subscribers on January 29, 2019, 10,000,000 on July 4, 2022, and as of August 2024, Trahan's YouTube channel reached 16.8 million subscribers and gained a total of over 3.5 billion video views. Trahan has compiled over 18.4 million subscribers throughout all YouTube channels he manages.

Trahan was the winner of the "First Person" category at the 2023 13th Streamy Awards; he also participated in a "creator roundtable" before the ceremony and presented a portion of the event.[7]

Penny challenges

Originally inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk,[8] Trahan started a month-long series, dubbed the "Penny Challenge", in June 2022. The premise of the challenge was, starting in California with a single penny, to travel to MrBeast in North Carolina and deliver the original penny, using only funds derived from said penny. Trahan originally set a target to fundraise $100,000 for the nonprofit Feeding America, which he was able to fulfill, raising $1.38 million by the end of the month.[9]

Trahan financed the challenge through completing online surveys, mowing lawns, dog walking and selling items such as soft drinks, bottled water, and golf balls, among other methods.[10] To help garner funds for Feeding America, Trahan created incentives for donations, in particular "THE GREAT RESET", where a $50,000 donation to the fundraiser would reset his earned funds to a penny.[11] In addition to this, for $100,000 donations (of which he received three), Trahan had donator-chosen designs tattooed on himself.[12] The series was largely sponsored by PayPal Honey.[13]

Premiering on July 1, 2023, the Penny Challenge returned with a new route from Paris to New York City. The challenge retained its original rules, aiming to raise $250,000 for the nonprofit organization Water.org.[14] [15] With the support of the public, Trahan raised over $400,000 for Water.org.[16]

Business career

Trahan started a water bottle brand in 2016 with his friend Caden Wiese, named Neptune Bottle. Trahan eventually left A&M University after the National Collegiate Athletic Association ruled him ineligible due to using his YouTube channel to share running videos while advertising his company as a student athlete.[17] [18] Although Trahan sought a waiver with the association allowing him to continue running his business while remaining an athlete,[19] he dropped out of university to continue working on the business[20] [21] and his YouTube channel.[22] According to Trahan, in the first year of its existence, Neptune Bottle had earned over $50,000 in revenue.[23]

In 2023, he started a clothing line, Howdy Howdy.[24] In 2024, he joined a candy company, Joyride Sweets as co-owner and CCO.[25]

Awards and nominations

YearCeremonyCategoryResult
202212th Streamy AwardsCreator For Social Good[26]
Breakout Creatorrowspan="1"
202313th Streamy AwardsCreator of the Year[27]
First Person

References

Primary sources

Notes and References

  1. I Tested 1-Star Drive Thrus . en . 2024-04-21 . YouTube.
  2. Web site: Hale . James . 7 February 2023 . YouTube Millionaires: Ryan Trahan, Who's Gaining More Than 10K Subscribers Every Single Day, Is Ready To Make 2020 His Best Year Ever . 2023-05-10 . Tubefilter . en-US . November 22, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221122070043/https://www.tubefilter.com/2020/02/06/youtube-millionaires-ryan-trahan/ . live .
  3. Web site: Price . Shawn . 10 August 2017 . Texas A&M's Ryan Trahan earns SEC Freshman Runner of the Week honor . 2023-05-10 . KBTX . en . May 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510193043/https://www.kbtx.com/content/sports/Texas-AMs-Ryan-Trahan-earns-SEC-Freshman-Runner-of-the-Week-honor-450300143.html . live .
  4. I Proposed . 2020-05-23 . en-US . Ryan Trahan . 2023-08-07 . . July 21, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230721201824/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21BL0EdCWAE . live .
  5. Web site: Rosales . Lara . 7 February 2023 . How Ryan Trahan Really Became So Famous On YouTube . 2023-05-10 . Nicki Swift . en-US . May 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510203430/https://www.nickiswift.com/1192182/how-ryan-trahan-really-became-so-famous-on-youtube/ . live .
  6. Web site: 31 March 2023 . Revenge is usually served hot. For Ryan Trahan, it's ice cold -- and sponsored by Google. . 2023-05-10 . Tubefilter . en-US . May 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510204530/https://www.tubefilter.com/2023/03/31/ryan-trahan-sponsored-google-samsung-branded-portal-a/ . live .
  7. Web site: Hale . James . 2023-08-28 . Here are your 2023 Streamy Award winners . 2024-01-04 . Tubefilter . en-US . November 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231118132808/https://www.tubefilter.com/2023/08/28/2023-streamy-award-winners/ . live .
  8. Web site: What's Ryan Trahan's secret to going viral? . 2023-05-10 . blog.youtube . en-us . May 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510203430/https://blog.youtube/creator-and-artist-stories/ryan-trahan-thumbnail-editing-secrets-to-going-viral/ . live .
  9. Web site: Gutelle . Sam . 30 June 2022 . Ryan Trahan's 30-day journey to MrBeast got more than 190 million views and raised $1.38 million for charity . 2023-05-10 . Tubefilter . en-US . May 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510230047/https://www.tubefilter.com/2022/06/30/ryan-trahan-charity-vlog-series-views-raises-mrbeast/ . live .
  10. Web site: Rose Jr. . Paul . 2022-07-15 . Every Business Ryan Trahan Used To Survive on One Penny for 30 Days Wealth of Geeks . 2024-01-04 . wealthofgeeks.com . en-US . January 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240104200857/https://wealthofgeeks.com/ryan-trahan-penny-a-day/ . live .
  11. Web site: Green . Jonathan . 24 June 2022 . Ryan Trahan Is Flying Across America With Just A Penny - Travel Radar . 2023-05-10 . en-GB . May 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510201523/https://travelradar.aero/ryan-trahan-flying-across-america-with-just-penny/ . live .
  12. Web site: Newman . Vicki . 2022-06-10 . YouTuber Ryan Trahan has to let $100k donor Paul Dodds pick his tattoo . 2024-01-04 . HITC . en-GB . January 4, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240104200857/https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2022/06/10/paul-dodds-ryan-trahan/ . live .
  13. Web site: Gutelle . Sam . 10 October 2022 . Ryan Trahan has turned his "penny challenge" into a speedrun . 2023-05-10 . Tubefilter . en-US . May 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510204527/https://www.tubefilter.com/2022/10/10/ryan-trahan-one-penny-challenge-speedrun-new-york-city/ . live .
  14. Web site: 2023-07-07 . Ryan Trahan's latest penny challenge raised $400,000 for Water.org . 2023-07-31 . Tubefilter . en-US . July 13, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230713074838/https://www.tubefilter.com/2023/07/07/ryan-trahan-penny-challenge-international-water-org/ . live .
  15. Web site: Hale . James . 2023-06-23 . Ryan Trahan's penny series is back...and going international? . 2024-01-04 . Tubefilter . en-US . June 29, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230629140128/https://www.tubefilter.com/2023/06/23/ryan-trahan-penny-series/ . live .
  16. Web site: 1 Penny. Safe water for all. . 2023-07-31 . give.Water.org . en . July 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230731150816/https://give.water.org/f/penny/ . live .
  17. Chavez . Chris . 21 September 2017 . Texas A&M Runner Ryan Trahan Says He Was Ruled Ineligible For Popular YouTube Page . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510193042/https://www.si.com/more-sports/2017/09/21/texas-am-runner-ryan-trahan-ineligible-ncaa-ruled-ineligbile-youtube-page . May 10, 2023 . 10 May 2023 . Sports Illustrated.
  18. Web site: Nathan . Alec . September 21, 2017 . NCAA Rules Runner Ryan Trahan Can't Use Athletics to Promote His Company . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510193042/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2734504-ncaa-rules-runner-ryan-trahan-cant-use-athletics-to-promote-his-company . May 10, 2023 . May 10, 2023 . Bleacher Report . en.
  19. Web site: Huebsch . Tim . 22 September 2017 . Cross-country runner in hot water with NCAA for popular YouTube page . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510193043/https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/ryan-trahan-ncaa-eligibility/ . May 10, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . Canadian Running Magazine . en-US.
  20. Web site: 24 March 2022 . Ryan Trahan's Journey From College Dropout to 6.8 Million YouTube Subscribers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510193044/https://www.shopify.com/uk/blog/ryan-trahan . May 10, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . Shopify . en-GB.
  21. Web site: Gruenling . Jessica . 7 November 2017 . Texas A&M cross country runner leaving school to grow his business . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401041227/https://www.kbtx.com/content/news/Texas-AM-cross-country-leaving-school-to-pursue-business--455738843.html . April 1, 2023 . 2023-05-10 . KBTX . en.
  22. Web site: Weiss . Geoff . 2017-09-22 . Another Student Athlete Facing Scrutiny From NCAA For Budding YouTube Presence . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230320190011/https://www.tubefilter.com/2017/09/22/student-athlete-ncaa-scrutiny-youtube/ . March 20, 2023 . 2024-01-04 . Tubefilter . en-US.
  23. News: Payne . Marissa . 22 September 2017 . Texas A&M runner's water bottle company causes NCAA kerfuffle . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230208113607/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/09/22/texas-am-runners-water-bottle-company-causes-ncaa-kerfuffle/ . February 8, 2023 . 10 May 2023 . The Washington Post.
  24. 1574412684212191233 . RyanTrahan . NEW MERCH LIVE . Ryan Trahan . 2022-09-26 . 2022-08-07.
  25. Web site: JOYRIDE . YouTube Sensation Ryan Trahan Takes a Sweet Turn as JOYRIDE's Chief Creative Officer Launching First-of-its-Kind Sour Strips and Viral Social-First Ad Campaign . 2024-07-29 . . en.
  26. Web site: Chan . J. Clara . 5 December 2022 . YouTube Streamy Awards: MrBeast Takes Top Creator; Full List of Winners . 2023-05-10 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US . December 6, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221206005336/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/2022-youtube-streamy-awards-winners-1235274871/ . live .
  27. Web site: Lewis . Hilary . 2023-08-28 . Streamy Awards: MrBeast Wins Creator of the Year . 2024-01-04 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US . November 11, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231111223146/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/2023-streamy-awards-complete-winners-list-1235575577/ . live .