Jay Shetty (born 6 September 1987) is a British podcaster, author, entrepreneur, andlife coach.[3][4] He has appeared on television programs to informally discussmental health andlife purpose.[5]
In a 2008 interview, Shetty claims that at a 2006 event inFrance of the Iskcon Pandava Sena (the Hare Krishna youth group) he had undergone a "massive transformation" and become much more appreciative of the Hare Krishna movement.[8]
In business school around 2007 (though Shetty had provided inconsistent accounts of when the event took place),[8] Shetty claimed to have metGauranga Das, a monk invited to speak at the school onselflessness and living a minimalist lifestyle.[12] Shetty claimed to have spoke with Gauranga after his talk and followed him for the remainder of Gauranga'slecture circuit around the United Kingdom.[7] Shetty claims to have spent four summers in India interning at corporations and training with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Shetty has often claimed that he spent three years, from 2010 to 2013, living the ISKCON lifestyle at an undisclosedashram inMumbai, India,[13][14][15]. Despite this claim, his blog posts and people familiar with his movements during that period indicate he actually spent a majority of this time making promotional videos atBhaktivedanta Manor inWatford,[12] with Shetty writing in a blog post that he had arrived in India in October 2010 and had spent less than four months in the country before leaving again.[8]
Shetty began his career atAccenture, working on digital strategy and as a social media coach for the company's executives.[16][17] In 2016, Shetty broke away to become an independent content creator.[8] His work caught the attention ofArianna Huffington, who hired him to produce videos forHuffington Post about topics such as relationships.[16][18][11][19] Shetty stopped working for theHuffPost in early 2017, later releasing videos independently on Facebook and YouTube. By 2019, Shetty had over 1 million subscribers on YouTube and 20 million followers on Facebook.[8]
President Joe Biden with Jay Shetty on 26 July 2023, in theWhite House
In 2019, Shetty launched the podcastOn Purpose.[20] Thepodcast was downloaded 64 million times in its first year.[12]On Purpose became the number one health podcast in the world according toForbes.[21][22] In July 2023, Shetty interviewedUS PresidentJoe Biden on hismental health initiatives in a podcast episode filmed at theWhite House.[23] Shetty has conducted interviews with a number of other public figures.[24][25]
Marketing professor William Keep ofThe College of New Jersey likened the school's business model to amulti-level marketing scheme, as many students are encouraged to recoup the $7,400 tuition cost by starting their own training centers.[8]
Shetty's first book,Think Like a Monk, was published in 2020 bySimon & Schuster. The book offers advice on reducing stress and improving focus, based on Shetty's experiences from living at anashram.[7][35][36][26]
Shetty won a 2016 Asian Media Award for Best Blog[38][39] and a 2018Streamy Awards in the Health and Wellness category.[40]
In April 2019, Shetty was honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Online Award atThe Asian Awards and in May 2019 he won Best in Health & Wellness at the11th Shorty Awards.[41]
In July 2025, Shetty was named inTime magazine’s inaugural “TIME100 Creators” list - branded by the publication as the 100 most influential digital voices.[42]
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