- Preston White is YouTube star Ryan Trahan’s creative director.
- White helps develop content for the YouTube channel, which has 13 million subscribers.
- White shared what steps he took to land his job and what the role is like.
When Preston White applied to compete in YouTube star Ryan Trahan’s new video series, he didn’t think it would lead to a major career — and life — change.
White, who grew up in Austin, Texas, worked as a project manager in engineering spending his days on field work and in sales.
But everything changed for him in 2021, after he applied on Instagram to be a contestant on Trahan’s video series “5 Strangers vs. 1 Imposter,” where 5 strangers competed to guess and vote off the “odd one out,” a paid actor who is lying to them.
White had always been interested in entertainment. He studied communications in college, and in middle school, he made YouTube videos for fun with his friends, and looked up to many YouTubers including Smosh and Ryan Higa.
White and two other contestants — including Zach Levet (who also landed a job with Trahan) — ended up as finalists in Trahan’s three-part video series. The prize: $10,000 split between the group. But for both White and Levet, the real prize was meeting Trahan, who would later become their boss, friend, and grow to be one of YouTube’s top creators with 13 million subscribers.
For the video series, the contestants spent almost a week straight with Trahan, which led to White, Levet, and Trahan keeping in touch after the competition.
Then later that year, Trahan shared again on his Instagram that he was looking for help: someone based in Austin who could assist with his YouTube channel. White immediately called Trahan, and was then thrown into a trial period as Trahan’s producer, which later lead to his full-time gig as creative director.
White’s journey to working in the creator economy is just one example of a larger industry shift. Many creators are building out in-house teams, and you no longer need to be a “creator” to be a part of the industry. There are a number of jobs that work with creators, from creative careers like video editor, script writer, and thumbnail artist to more traditional roles like financial advisor, strategist, and producer. There’s even a YouTuber job site created specifically for YouTubers to find and hire new teammates, or for professionals to apply to work with a creator.
Lessons learned working for a YouTube star
Now as creative director, White, 28, said he wears a lot of hats, and uses similar skills to the ones he learned in engineering, like managing schedules, talking to clients, and scheduling meetings. White also had previous editing and camera work experience from college.
“For the most part, it was a totally new space, and Ryan definitely guided me,” White said. “It was definitely scary because at the time, it was like a trial period. So Ryan was like, I can’t pay you what you’re making now, and I cannot guarantee that you’re going to be working with me in three months. And so it was a big scary jump, especially because my wife was expecting at the time.”
YouTube creators typically set their own schedules, and they can choose to work as much, or as little, as they want.
“It really comes down to discipline,” White said. “There’s no clocking in and clocking out.”
Before finding the right balance and routine, he said he would spend nights texting with Trahan and the team until midnight, unable to turn off his mind and rest.
But sometimes, even with a schedule, the life a YouTuber can be unpredictable and it can be hard not to fully immerse yourself in their online wold.
While White doesn’t create his own content, he has established a name for himself in the creator economy by association with Trahan, and the job sometimes keeps him away from home, traveling across the country, and even the world, for videos. This has been especially true during the creation of Trahan’s “penny series,” where the team spent 30 days in a van traveling across the US with one penny and the goal of raising money for Feeding America.
“It was hard because I was away from my family for a month, but it was also the most fun I think I’ve ever had,” White said.
Behind the scenes and his weekly schedule
The team schedule roughly includes completing a mix of the same few tasks each week.
On Mondays, they have a team meeting, where they sit down and talk through the week. They’ll also review edits, and talk over creative direction, which includes anything from the clothes worn in the video, to brand deal execution. The rest of that day is sometimes spent on the computer, planning videos, making calls, sending out emails, and figuring out travel logistics.
Tuesdays are also spent in team meetings.
“We have calls with our clothing manufacturers, and then we spend the rest of that day on a creative kick designing,” White said. “I spend a lot of time on my iPad drawing up designs and stuff on that day and then the rest of the week.”
Typically, the team films content on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, about every other week, White said.
Other weeks, they’ll spend more time making calls, and planning, which often includes making orders on Amazon, or taking trips to Walmart, he said.
“I kind of do it all,” White said. “Some weeks I’ll build a thumbnail set, others I’ll have to plan out our trips, like to a foreign country.”
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