Jake Shane Reveals the Poetic Text 'Mentor' Glen Powell Wrote Him About 'Playing by the Rules' in Hollywood (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Jake Shane.Photo:Katherine Goguen

Katherine Goguen

At 25 years old,Jake Shanenever thought he would find himself at the center of the 2024 pop culture zeitgeist.

In 2023, the internet star was an executive assistant for a manager in the music industry and dreamed of working in the “A&R” side of the business. One year later, Shane went massively viral for his comedic content on TikTok, started and toured his wildly popularTherapusspodcast, recorded his first comedy albumPuss and Poems— which features stars likeJoe JonasandSnookie— and the manager he previously assisted became his manager and mentor.

Speaking to PEOPLE as one of 2024’s Creators of the Year, Shane explains that while he “hoped, dreamed and wished” to achieve success in his creative pursuits, he never thought things would take off the way they did over the past year.

“I remember when I first started posting online, [my manager] would tell me, ‘At the end of the year you’re going to have a million followers.’ I was like, ‘Okay, that’s not going to happen.’ Then it happened a week later,” he says. “Once you have that success to propel you, you lose all expectations. But with that being said, good things only happen if you continue to work for things you want.”

Jake Shane.Noam Galai/Getty

Noam Galai/Getty

Success definitely did not come easy for Shane, especially as he coped with anxiety and OCD. Back in October, Shane went onThe Squeezepodcast and shared that he was diagnosed with OCD at 21 years old and struggled living with it untreated for most of his life. “My parents were very against medication, so I was like, ‘Okay there’s nothing that could done’" he explained on the podcast.

Shane also wrote about his OCD in an article featured inHighsnobietyin May, where he talked about how his “hyperfixation” on pop stars likeLady GagaandTaylor Swifthelped him cope with OCD in the long run.

“Something about female pop stars made the world go quiet. (Hyperfixation, a symptom of OCD itself, was in fact my only comfort),” he wrote. “My OCD wasn’t fixed, and the intrusive thoughts remained the same, but falling into the world of pop stars gave me the confidence to address these issues head-on.”

Now, Shane is only a quick phone call or text away from some of his favorite pop stars likeOlivia RodrigoandTate McRae. “I still feel starstruck,” he says about meeting some of his favorite celebrities. “You see someone on your screen or you listen to them in your ears, and then you see them in person. I still get excited.”

Shane says one of his biggest dreams is to get into acting, and he follows words of wisdom fromTwistersstarGlen Powelllike they’re “words of the Bible.”

Shane — who interviewed Powell, 36, on an episode ofTherapussback in May — adds that he now considers Powell an important mentor in his life.

Jake Shane and Glen Powell.Jake Shane/Youtube

Jake Shane/Youtube

“[Glen] knows so much about building your own brand, persona and getting into the space,” Shane says. “Talking to him about it is really inspiring and he always knows what to say.”

But even as Shane continues to pursue his acting dreams, he says he will “always be a fangirl” and his desire to interview top stars like Swift andAriana Grandestill remains at the top of his bucket list.

In light of his current success, Shane adds that making sure his audience is happy and enjoying his work actually gives him more anxiety than the attention on him. For him, the “more eyes on me just means I’m doing a good job.”

Jake Shane.Katherine Goguen

“I know people aren’t here because I’m a fashion icon or because I’m hot,” he continues. “I get real anxious when I don’t feel like I’m funny. I need to feel like I’m making people laugh — and that I’m funny at all times — or else I feel like I don’t have a purpose in being there.”

Shane says that while second-guessing himself can be “debilitating,” having his close friends and fans to lean on has helped keep him grounded.

“I don’t think people that aren’t in [the fanbase] understand the community that we [built together],” he says. “They are so supportive of everything I could do. I couldn’t ask for a better community of people.”

source: people.com