Meet the British-born, former monk & award-winning digital strategist turned captivating host, storyteller and viral content creator. Since launching his video channel in 2016, Jay’s viral wisdom videos have garnered over 4 BILLION views and he has gained over 25 MILLION followers globally.
Jay was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2017 for being a game-changer and influencer in the world of Media. Jay aims to deliver educational and insightful content in an entertaining, uplifting format – with the mission of making wisdom go viral. His inspirational video reach is known to skyrocket upwards of 100 million views within days of launch. He has created content for and partnered with the likes of Snapchat & Facebook and serves on the National Geographic Chasing Genius Council.
After meeting a monk at the age of 18, Jay sought to redefine personal success. He was inspired by a life of service, impact and passion as opposed to money, fame and power. After graduating with a first-class BSc (Hons) Degree in Behavioral Science from Cass Business School, he turned down lucrative job offers from prestigious companies, moved to India and lived as a monk. He traded his suits for robes, shaved his head, slept on the floor and lived out of a gym locker. Jay meditated for 4-8 hours a day and studied ancient philosophy. Half the day was spent on personal growth and the other on help others. This included everything from personal and collective meditation, study and reflection to teaching and philanthropy. For three years, Jay helped build sustainable villages, food programs distributing over one million meals per day and coached Millennials throughout India and Europe.
Jay received a proposal from his guru who believed he could share what he had learnt if he left the path. Jay moved back to London with his parents, in massive debt with no recognizable skills on his resume. Fortunately, his friends, now working for the largest organizations in the world yet experiencing tremendous stress and pressure, invited Jay to coach them on wellbeing, purpose and mindfulness. Jay began sharing his experiences as a monk in the world’s largest corporations including EY and Nasdaq.
Driven by a desire to share his learnings with as many people as possible, he re-engaged with the world and dove head first into learning about the tools and techniques that might allow knowledge to spread as fast as entertainment. He joined Accenture, helping them build their digital division while learning about the forces shaping the new digital landscape. He quickly became their #1 social media influencer, having advised over 150 executives on their personal brands, which provided a very broad base with which to test theories. He leveraged his findings to launch his own Facebook page in 2016.
Jay’s videos were spotted by Arianna Huffington, who asked him to create a series for HuffPost. His first four videos hit over 50 million views – the highest HuffPost had ever received. Arianna invited Jay to New York to be a Senior Host & Producer for HuffPost Live where he created #FollowTheReader. The Facebook Live Daily Talk Show, featuring authors and life changing ideas, became #1 for audience engagement – with themes that include passion, purpose, mindfulness, resilience, failure and communication.
These days, Jay continues to expand his brand through his viral video agency, group coaching & workshops.
One of the top challenges for executives is raising employee engagement, and for good reason. Engagement is on the decline across the world, and that spells trouble for business leaders everywhere. Today, employees are genuinely searching for meaning, purpose and fulfillment in the workplace. When each person deeply understands how they fit into the bigger picture they become more motivated to align with the company’s goals.
With an emphasis on work-life integration, Jay understands that a separation of the two can create more stress, inevitably trickling into personal interactions. Jay guides participants into personal awareness and an understanding of their responsibility to co-create a meaningful trajectory.
His highly interactive session may include the following exercises:
1. What advice would you give to your younger self?
2. At age 80, what will you regret that you did not do?
Takeaways include:
1. Understanding the scientific reasoning for purpose and meaning for a healthy life
2. How to integrate one’s purpose with that of the company
3. Practical techniques to give meaning to everyday activities
“An inspiring speaker skilled at reaching global audiences, making connections with people, and artfully guiding them through self-awareness exercises to reach a higher purpose. He has the right balance of experience, empirical evidence and anecdotes to convey his messages. Feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive and all who attended left with food for thought on how they can link their passions and skills with greater purpose.”
“Aside from being an excellent communicator, all of the advice, stories and tips Jay shared were spot on and super related to what the event was about. Everyone loved the session and Jay helped us end the event on a very high note.”
“I organised for Jay to come in & train the marketing team at HSBC’s global headquarters. Jay left such a strong mark of positivity & motivation amongst the team, that we got him back in for a follow up session. Jay has a special energy that draws people towards him, and a talent at taking people on a journey of digital learning, understanding & realisation. Every time I meet Jay I learn something new & I walk away feeling ready to take on the next big challenge. Jay is not just the ‘urban monk’, he’s an inspirer, an innovator, a digital activist.”
“Jay delivered an inspiring talk as part of the ‘Digital Edge Programme’ we’ve been running at SABMiller. His style and charisma really added to the event, with attendees leaving feeling inspired and pumped up about a world of possibilities. Jay is also a lovely guy to work with – humble, laid back and modest. Highly recommended.”