Rhett James McLaughlin

Rhett McLaughlin's rise to internet fame started long before he likely had access to a computer. In 1984, Rhett met his once-and-future blood brother and video-creating partner Charles "Link" Neal in a first-grade class. The two children quickly bonded and became lifelong friends. The pair both went to North Carolina State University when they graduated high school and each studied a different form of engineering. Following college graduation, Rhett worked at Black & Veatch, but shortly after, he left his full-time job to make videos full time with Link in 2006. The pair were in at the ground floor of YouTube's rise to prominence, and quickly created sponsored videos with a variety of partners, ranging from Alka-Seltzer to Cadillac. Their videos were known for being off-kilter bits of viral marketing, becoming very well received by advertisers and marketers. Being lovers of local commercials, Rhett and Link went on to make a variety of them, first for local North Carolina businesses and then all over the country. The success of their commercials caught the eye of IFC, who gave them their own TV show, called "Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings" (IFC 2011). They moved from North Carolina to Los Angeles, but sadly, the show only lasted one season. Shortly after the cancellation, they started hosting a weekday morning show on YouTube called "Good Mythical Morning." That show, along with their other regular content, helped make their already mammoth YouTube presence even bigger.