Is Danny a bad boy

 

Don’t let Duncan’s “bad-boy” persona throw you off. He has built an empire turning one-liner jokes into multi-million dollar merch lines. In fact, before Walmart stocked Logan Paul’s Prime and before MrBeast Burger opened shop, Duncan was crashing Zumiez’ website and selling out Tillys and Spencer’s with his popular “Virginity Rocks” merchandise.

His journey to get here is as rare as his approach. “Money is great, but I like respect,” Duncan said. “I want to do it the right way.”

For Duncan, the “right way” meant saying no to millions of dollars of sponsorships that he didn’t feel were authentic to his brand. It’s meant not always following YouTube’s monetization guidelines. It’s meant using copyright music simply because he likes the song enough to include in his videos.

Raised by a single mother battling alcoholism, Duncan had no choice but to grow up fast. “I just always wanted to give my mom back everything that she tried to give us. That was pretty much the motivation, I'd say for everything. Every time I was struggling, I would always think about my mom.”

That motivation lit a fire in Duncan to make a name for himself. He started his career as a personal trainer and saw an opportunity to work with skateboarders who needed his help.

Soon enough, Duncan saved money to buy flights to Los Angeles, a central hub of the skate world, to book more clients. But he still couldn’t afford hotels. So Duncan would rotate between nights at YouTuber Chris Chann’s house, apartments of girls he met on Tinder, and even public buses and trains.