MrBallen is the founder of the multi-platform content company, Ballen Studios and the creator and host of the popular true crime podcast, MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories. John B. Allen (MrBallen) quickly rose to fame in 2020, first on TikTok and then on YouTube where he became one of YouTube’s biggest storytellers. Allen is a former US Navy SEAL turned YouTube sensation who launched his hit podcast, MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories, in February 2022. The podcast is true crime-focused while also exploring strange and mysterious occurrences, and since its premiere has skyrocketed on both the true crime and overall podcast charts. The series regularly maintains its position as one of the top podcasts as it continues to fascinate listeners with unparalleled storytelling each week.
Born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts, Allen grew up in a writing and storytelling-centric family. His father and older sister are both Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists. His mother is a professional writer and his younger sister is a PhD scientist. Despite that, Allen wasn’t initially drawn to storytelling himself. After attending college in Amherst Massachusetts, he decided to join the military. Allen enlisted in the Navy at 22 years old, and within two years, became a Navy SEAL. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2014. After a near-death experience in the field where a grenade hit him in the shoulder and detonated near his feet, Allen medically retired from service in 2017. Stemming from his own experiences as a veteran, he went on to co-found Elite Me... See more
MrBallen is the founder of the multi-platform content company, Ballen Studios and the creator and host of the popular true crime podcast, MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories. John B. Allen (MrBallen) quickly rose to fame in 2020, first on TikTok and then on YouTube where he became one of YouTube’s biggest storytellers. Allen is a former US Navy SEAL turned YouTube sensation who launched his hit podcast, MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories, in February 2022. The podcast is true crime-focused while also exploring strange and mysterious occurrences, and since its premiere has skyrocketed on both the true crime and overall podcast charts. The series regularly maintains its position as one of the top podcasts as it continues to fascinate listeners with unparalleled storytelling each week.
Born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts, Allen grew up in a writing and storytelling-centric family. His father and older sister are both Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists. His mother is a professional writer and his younger sister is a PhD scientist. Despite that, Allen wasn’t initially drawn to storytelling himself. After attending college in Amherst Massachusetts, he decided to join the military. Allen enlisted in the Navy at 22 years old, and within two years, became a Navy SEAL. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2014. After a near-death experience in the field where a grenade hit him in the shoulder and detonated near his feet, Allen medically retired from service in 2017. Stemming from his own experiences as a veteran, he went on to co-found Elite Meet Inc., an organization that helps former special forces members, like himself, find jobs. With his new company, Allen started to gain an online presence where he would tell stories of his time as a Navy SEAL.
Always having an interest in the strange, dark and mysterious, Allen’s storytelling ultimately evolved and led to his career today. After posting a viral TikTok in early 2020 about the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident surrounding the mysterious deaths of nine Russian hikers, Allen’s following became more cult-like with every story he would tell. By 2022, Allen launched Ballen Studios, a multi-platform content company and expanded his unparalleled storytelling into the podcast space with MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories. Ballen Studios inked an unprecedented distribution and first-look deal with Amazon Music, making MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories a flagship offering to all Amazon Prime customers globally. The MrBallen subscribership and overall business of Ballen Studios continues to grow exponentially, with projects that will bring Allen’s unique storytelling style into television, film, live touring, merchandising, additional digital-first ventures, and publishing with the publication of his first graphic novel, MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark & Mysterious publishing on October 1, 2024.
Allen continues to use his platform to give back and founded the MrBallen Foundation with the mission to honor victims and support families of heinous crimes through education, training and financial support.
