Ryan Trahan
Birth nameRyan Michael Trahan
Birth dateOctober 7, 1998 (age 28)
Birth placeSugar Land, Texas, U.S.
EducationRice High School
OccupationYouTuber · vlogger · businessman
SpouseHaley Pham (m. 2020)
Websitetrahan.co
Youtube handle@ryan
Youtube display nameRyan Trahan
Youtube handle 2@rytrahan
Youtube display name 2ryan trahan
Youtube handle 3ryanlol
Youtube display name 3ryan lol
Youtube years active2013–present
Youtube subscribers23 million
Youtube views6 billion
Stats updateMay 13, 2026
Alma materTexas A&M University (dropped out)
Youtube handlesryan3000

Ryan Michael Trahan[1][2] (/treihæn/ 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 30 days to travel using 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.

Early life and education

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

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.[9][10]

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.[11]

Challenges & Fundraisers

Penny challenges

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.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15][16] The series was largely sponsored by PayPal Honey.[17]

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.[18][19] With the support of the public, Trahan raised over $400,000.

"50 States in 50 Days" Challenge

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, MrBeast, Starbucks, Paramount, and Mark Rober.[20] 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.[21]

"Top 10 Places in America" Challenge

In May 2026, Trahan announced that he and his wife, Haley Pham, would visit the Top 10 Places in America while completing unique goals and challenges at each destination. Sponsored by Shopify, the project is currently ongoing, with more updates expected throughout the series. So far, Ryan and Haley have visited Walt Disney World and Washington, D.C.. (Updated May 13, 2026).

Current & Past Companies

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,[22] he dropped out of university to continue working on the business[23][24] and his YouTube channel.[25] According to Trahan, in the first year of its existence, Neptune Bottle had earned over $50,000 in revenue.[26] In 2023, he started a clothing line, Howdy Howdy.[27]

In 2024, Trahan announced that he had become co-owner (with Tyler Merrick) and chief creative officer for Joyride Sweets,[28] which produces non-GMO, vegan, and low-carbohydrate candy products. On the day of the initial product's release, it sold out at Target.[29] Trahan established a mascot to represent Joyride by the name of Joyride Jerry.[30] 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.[31]

Personal life

Trahan lives in Austin, Texas. In 2020, he married fellow YouTuber Haley Pham.[32]

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."[33][34]

Awards and nominations

YearCeremonyCategoryResultRef.
202212th Streamy AwardsCreator For Social Goodrowspan="1"[35]
Breakout Creatorrowspan="1"
202313th Streamy AwardsCreator of the Yearrowspan="1"[36]
First Personrowspan="1"

Notes

  1. ^ At the time, the National Collegiate Athletic Association had restrictions on student athletes taking sponsorships from brands; these rules were altered in June 2021.[37]

References

  1. ^ Trahan, Ryan Michael (2024-02-13). My last video. Archived February 17, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-04-14. – via YouTube.
  2. ^ DiGiovanni, Nicholas Channing (2024-04-27). I Tested One Star Kitchen Gadgets. pp. 8:10. Retrieved 2025-12-02. – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Trahan, Ryan Michael (2017-10-24). Q&A - Thanks for 20K subscribers!. Retrieved 2025-05-17. – via YouTube.
  4. ^ I Tested 1-Star Drive Thrus. pp. 11:26. Retrieved 2024-04-21. – via YouTube
  5. ^ 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". Tubefilter. Archived November 22, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  6. ^ Price, Shawn (10 August 2017). "Texas A&M's Ryan Trahan earns SEC Freshman Runner of the Week honor". KBTX. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  7. ^ Chavez, Chris (21 September 2017). "Texas A&M Runner Ryan Trahan Says He Was Ruled Ineligible For Popular YouTube Page". Sports Illustrated. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  8. ^ Nathan, Alec (September 21, 2017). "NCAA Rules Runner Ryan Trahan Can't Use Athletics to Promote His Company". Bleacher Report. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  9. ^ Rosales, Lara (7 February 2023). "How Ryan Trahan Really Became So Famous On YouTube". Nicki Swift. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  10. ^ "Revenge is usually served hot. For Ryan Trahan, it's ice cold -- and sponsored by Google.". Tubefilter. 31 March 2023. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  11. ^ Hale, James (2023-08-28). "Here are your 2023 Streamy Award winners". Tubefilter. Archived November 18, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  12. ^ "What's Ryan Trahan's secret to going viral?". blog.youtube. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  13. ^ 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". Tubefilter. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  14. ^ Rose Jr., Paul (2022-07-15). "Every Business Ryan Trahan Used To Survive on One Penny for 30 Days | Wealth of Geeks". wealthofgeeks.com. Archived January 4, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  15. ^ Green, Jonathan (24 June 2022). "Ryan Trahan Is Flying Across America With Just A Penny - Travel Radar". Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  16. ^ Newman, Vicki (2022-06-10). "YouTuber Ryan Trahan has to let $100k donor Paul Dodds pick his tattoo". HITC. Archived January 4, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  17. ^ Gutelle, Sam (10 October 2022). "Ryan Trahan has turned his "penny challenge" into a speedrun". Tubefilter. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  18. ^ "Ryan Trahan's latest penny challenge raised $400,000 for Water.org". Tubefilter. 2023-07-07. Archived July 13, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  19. ^ Hale, James (2023-06-23). "Ryan Trahan's penny series is back...and going international?". Tubefilter. Archived June 29, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  20. ^ "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 2025-06-25.
  21. ^ "50 States in 50 Days". 50-states-in-50-days.experience.stjude.org. Archived June 25, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  22. ^ Huebsch, Tim (22 September 2017). "Cross-country runner in hot water with NCAA for popular YouTube page". Canadian Running Magazine. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  23. ^ "Ryan Trahan's Journey From College Dropout to 6.8 Million YouTube Subscribers". Shopify. 24 March 2022. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  24. ^ Gruenling, Jessica (7 November 2017). "Texas A&M cross country runner leaving school to grow his business". KBTX. Archived April 1, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  25. ^ Weiss, Geoff (2017-09-22). "Another Student Athlete Facing Scrutiny From NCAA For Budding YouTube Presence". Tubefilter. Archived March 20, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  26. ^ Payne, Marissa (22 September 2017). "Texas A&M runner's water bottle company causes NCAA kerfuffle". The Washington Post. Archived February 8, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  27. ^ Ryan Trahan (2022-09-26). "NEW MERCH LIVE 🤠". No. 1574412684212191233. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  28. ^ 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. Archived October 7, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  29. ^ Wescott, Adam (27 February 2024). "Ryan Trahan Leaves Sour New Taste In Audience Mouth". Forbes. Archived December 3, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  30. ^ mascot. Archived May 16, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-05-16. – via www.youtube.com.
  31. ^ "Youtuber and candy connoisseur Ryan Trahan breaks world record with help from fans". Guinness World Records. Archived July 1, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  32. ^ I Proposed. Ryan Trahan. 2020-05-23. Archived July 21, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-08-07. – via YouTube
  33. ^ SmoshAlike (2022-08-17). How Ryan Trahan turned a penny into $1,000,000 - I spent a day with RYAN TRAHAN. Archived June 26, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-06-10. – via YouTube.
  34. ^ Berns, Christel (2023-06-29). "Atheist YouTuber With 12 Million Subscribers Accepts Christ After Challenging His Girlfriend's Faith". Christian Learning & News. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  35. ^ Chan, J. Clara (5 December 2022). "YouTube Streamy Awards: MrBeast Takes Top Creator; Full List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived December 6, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  36. ^ Lewis, Hilary (2023-08-28). "Streamy Awards: MrBeast Wins Creator of the Year". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived November 11, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  37. ^ Salvador, Joseph (30 June 2021). "NCAA Approves Interim NIL Policy, Change Will Take Effect Thursday". Sports Illustrated. Archived May 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 May 2023.