Josh Liljenquist Reveals The Best Part Of One Of His Viral TikTok Stories

Viral TikToker Josh Liljenquist knows how to make the internet cry – happy tears, of course. With more than 40 million followers on social media, Josh has built an online community of people who love a feel-good story. Nearly all of his videos go viral quickly, but one particular video, posted earlier this year, has an update that he knows will tug at many heartstrings. 

Josh spoke to The Blast exclusively to share an exciting update to his February 2026 video captioned, “Changing A Man’s Life,” and May 2026 video titled, “Surprising a Man and Changing His Life.” 

In 2019, Josh began posting on TikTok while in college at Minnesota State University, Mankato. When he started out, he was doing it all by himself – from coming up with ideas to filming and editing and posting. He shared some insight into why he does what he does exclusively with The Blast. 

“I grew up in Fairmont, Minnesota with my parents, Trent and Julie Liljenquist and my older brother, Jacob. Helping people was something I saw modeled at home before I ever had an audience,” Josh said. “My family hosted two foreign exchange students while I was growing up, and my mom also opened our home to kids who were going through difficult situations. Jacob and I learned pretty early that sometimes helping another person means sharing your space, giving something up, or just being willing to make room for somebody else.” 

He said his brother had a huge influence on him, as well, and taught him “a lot about turning the other cheek.” 

“As the platform grew, I started thinking less about just making something people would watch and more about what could actually happen because they watched it,” he continued. “Today, I have more than 42 million followers combined across my public social media accounts, but honestly the biggest evolution hasn’t been the number. It has been figuring out how to turn attention into something useful.” 

How Josh Met James Cowan, Jr.

Back in February of this year, Josh posted a video of his first time meeting James Cowen, Jr. 

“Two months ago, I met a man whose bank account was in the negative,” Josh said in the video. He then tried to gift James with $500 but instead of taking the money, James donated to a nonprofit he was raising funds for. 

“James Cowan, Jr. came into my life during a really difficult period for him. He was rebuilding his life after addiction and was facing eviction,” Josh told The Blast. “We shared his story, and strangers on the internet rallied around James and his family. My team was able to help too, and that support changed what was possible for them. What I didn’t know at the time was that it wasn’t going to end with one video.”

When Josh found out that James was about to be kicked out of his home due to a criminal history, he started a GoFundMe to help James and was able to raise $40,000.  

Making Sure Each Video Is About The Experience

Josh’s videographer, editor, and co-producer, Ben Steine, helps to shape the stories that Josh tells on social media. He’s also involved in many of the decisions made about how they present people that they meet and help. 

“James’s story is actually a really good example of why Ben matters so much to what we do. I may be the person people see on camera, but Ben is often the person who takes what happened that day and turns it into a story people can really feel. He helped bring James’s original story to life,” Josh told The Blast. “I think part of the reason Ben understands the importance of documenting moments goes back to his own family. His dad was paralyzed, and there were things he physically couldn’t come along for anymore. Ben would use video to show his dad what he had done that day so his dad could still experience some of it afterward.”

He added that for Ben, it’s not just about getting a good shot; it’s also about the experience for someone who’s watching. 

An Update On Josh And James After That First Meeting

The story of the friendship made between Josh and James didn’t stop when the cameras stopped rolling. He recently shared a much-needed update on where they stand in a video posted in May. Months after that first chance meeting, Josh was able to give James some more exciting news. 

“James Cowan, Jr. is now a full-time employee on my team,” Josh told The Blast. “He handles a lot of the human side of what we do, talking with families, doing outreach, helping us on filming days and following up afterward.” 

Josh added, “Ben helps bring the story to life visually, and James helps make sure we never forget there is an actual person behind the story.” 

The team of three discuss everything from what to post, what they shouldn’t post, and how they can properly tell someone’s story. 

“That is probably the biggest difference between the early days and now,” he continued. “It went from me trying to make videos people would watch to having a team that spends a lot of time thinking about the person behind the video and what happens to them afterward.” 

Josh said this particular story changed his perspective because it showed “what can happen when you don’t treat the viral moment as the ending. He added, “if we had treated his first video as the end of his story, we would have missed the best part.”

Josh Liljenquist’s Message To Everyone

When asked what his main message is to everyone following his social media pages, Josh said, “live to love.” 

“There isn’t some crazy dramatic origin story behind it. The phrase honestly just popped into my head one morning, almost like a eureka moment. Live to love is the way I describe the mission behind what I do. It isn’t the name of a nonprofit. Over time, though, the phrase has meant more and more to me.” 

As for what’s next for Josh, he plans to keep doing what he’s doing, making a difference wherever he can. He also hopes to get “better at what happens after the video.” 

“The team has grown, and we are putting a lot more thought into follow-up,” he said. “It isn’t enough to me anymore for something to get millions of views or for a fundraiser to raise a big number. I want to know what actually changed for that person. James is probably the perfect example of why. I would love to keep finding more of those second chapters. I also never want this to become so big that we lose the personal part of it.” 

If you know someone in need and you would like to nominate them, Josh has set up a page. You can follow all that Josh and his team are doing on TikTok.