Wikipedia

Ryan Trahan

Ryan Michael Trahan[1][2] (/treɪˈhæn/ tray-HAN;[3] born October 7, 1998) is an American YouTuber, vlogger, and businessman. He is best known for his "penny series", which he has done several times since 2017, where he has a set amount of time to travel starting with only a penny. He is also known for his “50 States in 50 Days” fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital during the summer of 2025, raising more than $11 million.

Ryan Trahan
Trahan in 2018
Born
Ryan Michael Trahan

(1998-10-07) October 7, 1998 (age 27)
Sugar Land, Texas, U.S.
EducationRice High School
Alma materTexas A&M University (dropped out)
Occupations
Spouse
​
(m. 2020)​
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2013–present
Subscribers23.3 million
Views6.1 billion
Last updated: June 9, 2026
Websitetrahan.co

Early life and education

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Ryan Michael Trahan was born on October 7, 1998, in Sugar Land, Texas.[4] He attended Rice High School, where he graduated as a valedictorian in 2017.[5] While in high school and then at Texas A&M University, Trahan was a cross country runner, placing third in the Aggieland Open Competition in 2017.[6] Trahan eventually dropped out of Texas 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.[7][8][a]

Career

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Trahan started his YouTube channel on October 27, 2013. Originally producing content on running, Trahan now creates a variety of content, largely focused on visiting one-star-rated establishments around the country.[10][11]

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.[12]

Challenges & Fundraisers

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Penny challenges

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In June 2022, Trahan started a month-long series in which he attempted to travel from California to North Carolina to deliver MrBeast a single penny, using only funds from the original penny. Inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk, he had previously completed similar challenges, in which he had tried to convert a penny into a thousand dollars and convert a penny into funds to buy a house.[13] Trahan announced that the 2022 "Penny Challenge" would also serve as a fundraiser for Feeding America, and set a $100,000 goal. By the end of the challenge, he had raised $1.38 million.[14]

Trahan financed the challenge through completing online surveys, mowing lawns, dog walking, DoorDash deliveries, and selling items such as soft drinks, bottled water, and golf balls, among other methods.[15] To incentivize donations, Trahan would reset his funds to an original penny for a $50,000 donation and pledged to get a tattoo of the donor's design if someone donated $100,000.[16][17] The series was largely sponsored by PayPal Honey.[18]

The following year, Trahan announced he would be doing the challenge again, aiming to get from Paris to New York City in one week while raising $250,000 for Water.org.[19][20] With the support of the public, Trahan raised over $400,000.

"50 States in 50 Days" Challenge

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In June 2025, Trahan announced that he and his wife, Haley Pham, would visit all 50 U.S. states in 50 days, staying in a unique Airbnb in each one, with a goal of raising $1,000,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The project attracted the attention of several celebrities, YouTubers, and brands, including T-Mobile, Airbnb, Kia, Hobby Lobby, Lectric eBikes, Staple Games, MrBeast, Starbucks, Paramount, and Mark Rober.[21] To encourage donations, Trahan created a series of incentives, including a series of penalties from a mechanical device called the Wheel of Doom, which he had to spin every time a donor donated $50,000 or more. As of January 2026, the fundraiser has raised over $11.65 million.[22]

Business ventures

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Trahan started a water bottle brand in 2016 named Neptune Bottle with his friend Caden Wiese. Trahan eventually left Texas 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.[7][8][a] Although Trahan sought a waiver with the association allowing him to continue running his business while remaining an athlete,[23] he dropped out of university to continue working on the business[24][25] and his YouTube channel.[26] According to Trahan, in the first year of its existence, Neptune Bottle had earned over $50,000 in revenue.[27] In 2023, he started a clothing line, Howdy Howdy.[28]

In 2024, Trahan announced that he had become co-owner (with Tyler Merrick) and chief creative officer for Joyride Sweets,[29] which produces non-GMO, vegan, and low-carbohydrate candy products. On the day of the initial product's release, it sold out at Target.[30] Trahan established a mascot to represent Joyride by the name of Joyride Jerry.[31] On June 14, 2025, Joyride broke the Guinness World Record for "Most photos of people holding candy uploaded to Instagram in one hour" when fans uploaded 1,733 photos of themselves holding the product.[32]

Personal life

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Trahan lives in Austin, Texas. In 2020, he married fellow YouTuber Haley Pham.[33]

He is a Christian. Trahan came to the faith after initially trying to challenge his wife's beliefs while they were dating. He described himself as a "cynical atheist”. In July 2020, he started to feel unfulfilled with life despite his earnings from his YouTube career. That led him to take "a lot less cynical approach towards asking questions." Trahan has stated that around that time he "did land on Jesus. I started developing a relationship with God...Now it's my source of joy. It is my source of love. It is my source of everything."[34][35]

Awards and nominations

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Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2022 12th Streamy Awards Creator For Social Good Nominated [36]
Breakout Creator Won
2023 13th Streamy Awards Creator of the Year Nominated [37]
First Person Won

Notes

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  1. 1 2 At the time, the National Collegiate Athletic Association had restrictions on student athletes taking sponsorships from brands; these rules were altered in June 2021.[9]

References

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  1. ↑ Trahan, Ryan Michael (February 13, 2024). My last video. Archived from the original on February 17, 2024. Retrieved April 14, 2025 – via YouTube.
  2. ↑ DiGiovanni, Nicholas Channing (April 27, 2024). I Tested One Star Kitchen Gadgets. Event occurs at 8:10. Retrieved December 2, 2025 – via YouTube.
  3. ↑ Trahan, Ryan Michael (October 24, 2017). Q&A - Thanks for 20K subscribers!. Retrieved May 17, 2025 – via YouTube.
  4. ↑ I Tested 1-Star Drive Throughs. Event occurs at 11:26. Retrieved April 21, 2024 – via YouTube.
  5. ↑ Hale, James (February 7, 2023). "YouTube Millionaires: Ryan Trahan, Who's Gaining More Than 10K Subscribers Every Single Day, Is Ready To Make 2020 His Best Year Ever". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  6. ↑ Price, Shawn (August 10, 2017). "Texas A&M's Ryan Trahan earns SEC Freshman Runner of the Week honor". KBTX. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Chavez, Chris (September 21, 2017). "Texas A&M Runner Ryan Trahan Says He Was Ruled Ineligible For Popular YouTube Page". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Nathan, Alec (September 21, 2017). "NCAA Rules Runner Ryan Trahan Can't Use Athletics to Promote His Company". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  9. ↑ Salvador, Joseph (June 30, 2021). "NCAA Approves Interim NIL Policy, Change Will Take Effect Thursday". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  10. ↑ Rosales, Lara (February 7, 2023). "How Ryan Trahan Really Became So Famous On YouTube". Nicki Swift. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Revenge is usually served hot. For Ryan Trahan, it's ice cold -- and sponsored by Google". Tubefilter. March 31, 2023. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ Hale, James (August 28, 2023). "Here are your 2023 Streamy Award winners". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  13. ↑ "What's Ryan Trahan's secret to going viral?". blog.youtube. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  14. ↑ Gutelle, Sam (June 30, 2022). "Ryan Trahan's 30-day journey to MrBeast got more than 190 million views and raised $1.38 million for charity". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  15. ↑ Rose Jr., Paul (July 15, 2022). "Every Business Ryan Trahan Used To Survive on One Penny for 30 Days | Wealth of Geeks". wealthofgeeks.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  16. ↑ Green, Jonathan (June 24, 2022). "Ryan Trahan Is Flying Across America With Just A Penny - Travel Radar". Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  17. ↑ Newman, Vicki (June 10, 2022). "YouTuber Ryan Trahan has to let $100k donor Paul Dodds pick his tattoo". HITC. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  18. ↑ Gutelle, Sam (October 10, 2022). "Ryan Trahan has turned his "penny challenge" into a speedrun". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Ryan Trahan's latest penny challenge raised $400,000 for Water.org". Tubefilter. July 7, 2023. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  20. ↑ Hale, James (June 23, 2023). "Ryan Trahan's penny series is back...and going international?". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  21. ↑ "50 States in 50 Days". 50-states-in-50-days.experience.stjude.org now he has reached $1,000,000 and is now raising $2,000,000 - 3,000,000. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  22. ↑ "50 States in 50 Days". 50-states-in-50-days.experience.stjude.org. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  23. ↑ Huebsch, Tim (September 22, 2017). "Cross-country runner in hot water with NCAA for popular YouTube page". Canadian Running Magazine. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Ryan Trahan's Journey From College Dropout to 6.8 Million YouTube Subscribers". Shopify. March 24, 2022. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  25. ↑ Gruenling, Jessica (November 7, 2017). "Texas A&M cross country runner leaving school to grow his business". KBTX. Archived from the original on April 1, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  26. ↑ Weiss, Geoff (September 22, 2017). "Another Student Athlete Facing Scrutiny From NCAA For Budding YouTube Presence". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  27. ↑ Payne, Marissa (September 22, 2017). "Texas A&M runner's water bottle company causes NCAA kerfuffle". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  28. ↑ Ryan Trahan [@RyanTrahan] (September 26, 2022). "NEW MERCH LIVE 🤠" (Tweet). Retrieved August 7, 2022 – via Twitter.
  29. ↑ 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". PR Newswire (Press release). Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  30. ↑ Wescott, Adam (February 27, 2024). "Ryan Trahan Leaves Sour New Taste In Audience Mouth". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  31. ↑ mascot. Archived from the original on May 16, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025 – via www.youtube.com.
  32. ↑ "Youtuber and candy connoisseur Ryan Trahan breaks world record with help from fans". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on July 1, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  33. ↑ I Proposed. Ryan Trahan. May 23, 2020. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023 – via YouTube.
  34. ↑ SmoshAlike (August 17, 2022). How Ryan Trahan turned a penny into $1,000,000 - I spent a day with RYAN TRAHAN. Archived from the original on June 26, 2025. Retrieved June 10, 2025 – via YouTube.
  35. ↑ Berns, Christel (June 29, 2023). "Atheist YouTuber With 12 Million Subscribers Accepts Christ After Challenging His Girlfriend's Faith". Christian Learning & News. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
  36. ↑ Chan, J. Clara (December 5, 2022). "YouTube Streamy Awards: MrBeast Takes Top Creator; Full List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  37. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (August 28, 2023). "Streamy Awards: MrBeast Wins Creator of the Year". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.

Primary sources

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