Jay Shetty

About Jay Shetty

Jay Shetty is a British-born advocate for personal growth, love, and success. After losing two of his best friends when he was 16, he began to seek deeper purpose in life. This led him to meet a monk when he was 18—an encounter that would compel him to live as a monk in India and Europe for three years when he was 22.^[4] After that, Shetty collected the principles he learned and used them to begin coaching others. Eventually, his virality gained the attention of Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post and founder and CEO of Thrive Global. His rise to success quickly launched from there with the start of his own daily show.^[4]

Today, Shetty is a bestselling author, host of a leading health podcast, and purpose coach to millions. He has delivered keynote speeches at companies like Google and Facebook, has featured dozens of notable guests on his leading health podcast, and has launched his first world tour.^[3][5] 

Early Life

Jay Shetty was born and raised in London, England, on September 6, 1987.^[6] Growing up, Shetty was extremely introverted, overweight, and academic, qualities his peers picked on him for. At 14, he began to try and find himself, which led him toward social circles where drugs, violence, and crime were common. During this time, he was rebellious and frequently suspended from school.^[6] Then, at 16, Shetty lost two of his best friends, one to gang violence and the other to a car accident. This loss would prove to be a pivotal moment in Shetty’s life.^[4]

Becoming a Monk

When Shetty was 18, his friends convinced him to attend a speaking event given by a monk named Gauranga Das.^[6][7] At the time, Shetty wasn’t interested in hearing from a monk. He was obsessed with the rags-to-riches stories of self-made entrepreneurs, and he idolized how they achieved the modern ideals of success.^[8] Gauranga Das’s words and virtues, however, compelled Shetty to think differently. 

Gauranga Das, who graduated from a prestigious Indian technology institute, met Hare Krishna monks as a student. Inspired by the monks, Gauranga Das left the traditional path to practice Krishna consciousness and ultimately became a monk in the ISKCON Chowpatty temple. Today, he’s delivered over 10,000 seminars on the Krishna consciousness principles.^[8] 

Gauranga Das’s story influenced Shetty so much that after graduating with a degree in behavioral science from Cass Business School at 22, he decided to live as a monk in India for half of every summer vacation.^[4] He spent the other half of his vacation interning at companies in London.^[6] 

As Shetty describes, “[It] just inspired me on my whole spiritual journey and literally changed the trajectory of my life; just simply meeting him for a week in London completely changed what I wanted to do and became my role model and inspiration in life and still is.”^[7]

When he was in India, he meditated for 4–8 hours each day. He also helped build sustainable villages, coached others about consciousness and success, and worked with food programs that provided more than a million meals each day. This period in Shetty’s life urged him to abandon his old definition of self-made success—money and fame—and pursue a life of growth, connection, and service.^[4]

Career

After three years of living as a monk, Shetty returned to conventional living. However, while he gained a wealth of wisdom during those three years, he realized he was behind on building any actual wealth. Not long after returning from India, his business school friends began inviting him to speak to their teams on living like a monk and the wisdom he learned about personal success. This led Shetty to realize the impact his knowledge could have on improving employee productivity and fulfillment at work.^[6]  

Soon after, Shetty became a social media coach at Accenture. His videos taught executives the basics of harnessing digital tools for online branding and strategy and were noticed by Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post. In 2016, Huffington invited Shetty to move to New York and become the host of HuffPost Lifestyle. During this time, Shetty began to grow his personal brand. He left the company the following year to create his own viral video agency.^[4][6][10]

In 2015, Shetty came in third for the Guardian Rising Star Award. The next year, he won the ITV Asian Media Award for “Best Blog.”^[4] In 2017, he was named on Forbes “30-under-30” list for his remarkable transition from monk life to digital superstar.^[11] In 2018, Shetty had the most popular video on Facebook, garnering more than 360 million views.^[12]

Books, Podcast, and Speaking Events

In April of 2020, Shetty published his first book, Think Like a Monk. The book, which reached the number six spot for self-help books on Amazon, details all of the wisdom he had learned in his three years living in a monastery.^[6] 

Three years later, Shetty released his second bestselling book, 8 Rules of Love. In the book, Shetty teaches readers practical strategies for defining and nurturing love based on Vedic wisdom and modern science. The same year, he launched his first ever world tour, the Jay Shetty Love Rules World Tour, to bring principles from the book to live audiences. The tour features a 90-minute speaking event where Shetty teaches audience members principles from the book. There are more than 30 tour dates worldwide, many already with limited ticket availability or sold out.^[5]

Jay Shetty’s popularity also stems from the success of his highly engaging podcast, On Purpose. His podcast, the leading health podcast in the world, features interviews with notable guests like Ray Dalio, Dr. Andrew Weil, Mel Robbins, Dr. Mark Hyman, Drew Barrymore, and more. With over 400 episodes, the podcast has a 4.8 star rating.^[13] 

Shetty has also served as a prominent keynote speaker for major corporations, like Google, Coca-Cola, Facebook, and Microsoft.^[6] Today, companies can invite Shetty to speak to their employees on engagement, purpose, and overall well-being.^[14] 

Family and Personal Life

While Shetty was born and raised in England, his mother and father are from India. His father is from Bangalore, India, and his mother is from North India and grew up in Yemen. Both moved from India to London in the hopes of providing better opportunities for their children.^[6] 

At the end of 2013, Shetty started dating Radhi Devlukia, a woman he had taught.^[6] Three years later, the two were married. His wife is an influencer, dietitian, and advocate for Ayurvedic health and green living.^[15] She has also been a guest on Shetty’s podcast On Purpose.^[16] With millions of followers, she has achieved much success in her own right.^[17]

Jay Shetty and wife Radhi Devlukia-Shetty live in a Hollywood mansion formerly owned by retired actor Balthazar Getty. Shetty purchased the 6,600 square-foot home for $8.4 million.^[18] 

Jay Shetty Today

Today, Shetty spends his time promoting his first world tour and the release of his second book, 8 Rules of Love. He shares insights, new episode announcements, fan reviews, and content about his tour with his millions of Instagram followers.^[1] As Shetty explains in a 2020 interview with The Guardian, “I want to help people find stillness, purpose, peace and clarity in their daily life, by adopting the mindset monks have developed over thousands of years . . . I’m now living my highest purpose.”^[7]

Jay Shetty Quotes

• “Cancers of the Mind: Comparing, Complaining, Criticizing.” —Think Like a Monk
• “Love doesn’t mean you compromise who you are. Love doesn’t mean you sacrifice things that are meaningful to you. That’s not love. Love means you are loving from a place where you still love yourself.” —8 Rules of Love
• “When we accept the temporary nature of everything in our lives, we can feel gratitude for the good fortune of getting to borrow them for a time.” —Think Like a Monk
• “When you learn to navigate and manage your breath, you can navigate any situation in life.” —Think Like a Monk