Kelly Wakasa was born on November 27, 1999, in Hillsborough, California, and is an American skateboarder, YouTuber, and social media personality.
He started his YouTube channel in 2013 and grew it into one of the more distinctive lifestyle and skateboarding channels on the platform.
Beyond YouTube, he launched his own clothing brand, Do What Excites, in 2021.
Who is Kelly Wakasa?
Kelly Wakasa is an American skateboarder, content creator, and entrepreneur from Hillsborough, California. He built his audience by mixing skateboarding footage with travel vlogs and lifestyle content on YouTube.
Before finding his footing in social media, Wakasa competed in soccer at an elite level. He even earned a spot on the US national soccer team during his teenage years, before shifting his focus to skateboarding and content creation.
His YouTube channel has grown to over 1.6 million subscribers, and his presence extends to TikTok, Instagram, and a joint channel with his friend Luke Eich called LIFE OF LUKE AND KELLY.
He also runs his own clothing line under the name Do What Excites.
Early Life of Kelly Wakasa
Kelly Wakasa grew up in Hillsborough, California, a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area. He came from a family of four children, growing up with two older brothers and one younger sister.
One of his older brothers, Kasey Wakasa, played professional soccer for Phoenix Rising FC.
Sport dominated Wakasa’s early years. He excelled at soccer from a young age and reached the level of the US national team as a teenager.
Despite his athletic success in soccer, Wakasa’s interests shifted toward skateboarding and content creation as he moved through his teens. That shift set the course for the career he would build on social media.
Kelly Wakasa Age
Kelly Wakasa is 26 years old as of 2026, born on November 27, 1999. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He launched his YouTube channel at just 13 years old, posting his first skateboarding content in April 2014.
Kelly Wakasa Ethnicity and Nationality
Kelly Wakasa holds American nationality, having been born and raised in Hillsborough, California. He is of Caucasian ethnicity.
His family background includes an older brother who pursued a professional athletic career in soccer with Phoenix Rising FC, reflecting the family’s strong ties to competitive sport.
Kelly Wakasa Height and Weight
Kelly Wakasa stands at 5 feet 11 inches tall, which equals 1.80 meters. His weight is reported at around 74 kilograms, or 163 pounds. His athletic build reflects both his earlier years as a competitive soccer player and his ongoing active lifestyle as a skateboarder.
Kelly Wakasa Education
Wakasa enrolled at the University of Arizona campus in Tucson in September 2020. In 2021, he made the decision to drop out and move to New York City to pursue his content creation career full time.
That move to New York City marked a turning point in how he approached his YouTube channel and social media platforms. By 2021, his audience had grown enough that the decision to leave college made professional sense.
Kelly Wakasa Career
Kelly Wakasa built his content career in stages, starting with skateboarding footage and gradually expanding into vlogs, travel content, and collaborations. His ability to shoot and edit his own content played a large role in setting his videos apart from other creators in his space.
Early YouTube Career and Skateboarding Content
Wakasa created his YouTube channel on November 19, 2013, but his first upload came on April 28, 2014.
That first video, titled “Sidewalk Surfing: A Skateboarding Documentary,” introduced his filmmaking sensibility to his early audience and earned over 20,000 views.
His early content leaned heavily into skateboarding, capturing tricks, spots, and the culture around the sport. He also showed a clear talent for photography and videography in his edits.
That combination of skating skill and visual creativity helped him stand out on YouTube during the mid-2010s, when skateboarding content was growing across the platform.
Growing the Channel and Viral Moments
As his subscriber count grew, Wakasa broadened his content to include day-in-the-life videos, travel vlogs, and challenge videos. His video “Going Back to High School UNDERCOVER on the FIRST DAY!” earned over four million views, making it one of his most-viewed uploads.
Other popular videos include “Handboarding vs Fingerboarding Game of SKATE with Ferry Potter!” and “Surprising My Best Friend After Years Apart!” which accumulated nearly four million views on its own.
In May 2019, he and his friend Luke Eich officially launched a joint channel called LIFE OF LUKE AND KELLY. That channel produced videos like “Traveling 2,000 Miles to Surprise Best Friend in Hawaii” and “Surprising Best Friend with Trip Out of Country for First Time.”
New York City, Clothing Brand, and Continued Growth
After dropping out of the University of Arizona in 2021 and relocating to New York City, Wakasa also launched his clothing brand, Do What Excites, that same year. The brand sells apparel and accessories through its official site at dowhatexcites.com.
That brand name reflects his stated philosophy about living an adventure-driven life. Products from the line have sold out shortly after release, according to reporting on his career.
He has partnered with brands including Samsung, NordVPN, Established Titles, and Hopper for sponsored content on his YouTube channel. Those sponsorships represent a significant portion of his income outside of direct ad revenue.
Kelly Wakasa Endorsements and Sponsorships
Wakasa’s large and engaged audience has attracted several brand partnerships over the years. He has promoted Samsung, NordVPN, Established Titles, and Hopper in his YouTube videos, each of which aligns with the travel and lifestyle themes of his content.
His business contact is listed publicly as kelly@whalartalent.com, with management handled through Whalar Talent, a creator-focused talent agency.
Those partnerships, alongside his clothing line and YouTube ad revenue, form the main pillars of his income as a creator.
Kelly Wakasa Girlfriend
Kelly Wakasa publicly announced in June 2022 that he was dating Ashley Alexander, a fellow YouTuber and social media creator known online as Ur Mom Ashley. The two frequently appeared in each other’s content and ran a joint Instagram account under the handle kaaashley.
Their relationship attracted significant attention from both of their fanbases. They appeared together in vlogs, collaborative videos, and social media posts throughout 2022 and 2023.
As of the time of writing, the confirmed status of their relationship has not been officially updated through either of their verified channels.
Kelly Wakasa Net Worth
Kelly Wakasa’s estimated net worth is $3 million as of 2026. His income comes from multiple streams built across his YouTube channel, brand sponsorships, and his clothing line.
His YouTube channel, which has topped 1.6 million subscribers, generates ad revenue from videos that collectively have earned hundreds of millions of views.
Brand deals with companies including Samsung, NordVPN, Established Titles, and Hopper add to his earnings at rates that typically exceed standard ad revenue per placement.
His clothing brand Do What Excites provides an additional revenue stream through direct sales. Wakasa is also managed by Whalar Talent, a management firm that connects creators with brand partnerships and business opportunities.
Kelly Wakasa Social Media
Kelly Wakasa is active across several platforms. On YouTube, his self-titled channel @KellyWakasa has grown to more than 1.6 million subscribers, with content ranging from skateboarding edits to travel vlogs and challenge videos.
On TikTok, his account @kelwak has built a following of over 1.5 million, where he shares shorter clips from his lifestyle and skating content.
His personal Instagram account is @kellywakasa, where he posts photos and videos of his travels, skating, and daily life. He also previously co-managed a joint Instagram account with his girlfriend at the time, under the handle @kaaashley.
The Bottom Line
Kelly Wakasa’s video “Going Back to High School UNDERCOVER on the FIRST DAY!” surpassed four million views and remains one of the most-shared uploads on his YouTube channel.
He launched the channel at age 13 in 2013 and has been posting content consistently since April 2014.
Growing up in Hillsborough, California, he was a national-level soccer player before trading competitive sport for skateboarding and content creation.
His clothing brand, Do What Excites, launched in 2021 shortly after he dropped out of the University of Arizona and moved to New York City.
In 2026, Wakasa continues to post on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram while developing the Do What Excites brand.
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