Shane Profitt Walked Up to Chris Janson at a Sushi Restaurant and the Rest Is History: Living 'My Dream'

It was just last year that Shane Profitt was cutting grass in the medians of the roads lining his hometown of Columbia, Tennessee, making 11 bucks an hour and questioning just what life had in store for him.

But now, he seems to have his answer.

"To have a song in the Top 40 is truly mind-blowing," Profitt, 22, tells PEOPLE of his debut single "How It Oughta Be." "Today I woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning because I am so excited to get my day started. You never know what can really happen until you chase a dream. You'll never know unless you try."

Profitt's efforts have already afforded him the chance to quit his job, serve as an opener for his musical hero Chris Janson at the Ryman Auditorium and step on stage to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.

"I have cried every single time," he admits quietly.

Certainly, that's the sort of emotion a guy like Profitt seems to have no trouble showing both on stage and off. He's the kind of guy who addresses any woman as 'ma'am,' a guy who puts his phone away when he sits down at the dinner table, a guy who still believes in the importance of prayer.

That's just how he was raised.

"I'm here to tell you that growing up, there was nothing that I could say I wanted to do that my family wouldn't back me up 110%," explains Profitt, whose granddad was the one who taught him to play his first three chords on his guitar back when he was a senior in high school. "I could tell them I wanted to be an astronaut tomorrow and they would be there to watch the spaceship take off."

So, when Profitt shared with them his dream of becoming a country music artist, everyone who loved him quickly jumped on board to help. Profitt went and perfected his playing skills, started playing covers around town and soon snagged the attention of Janson himself after approaching him at a sushi restaurant.

Yes, a sushi restaurant.

"Getting to truly live my dream is unbelievable," says Profitt, who soon after signed to BMLG Records in partnership with Janson's Harpeth 60 Records earlier this year. "I don't ever take it for granted. And the fact that I get to do this now is a true testament to how quickly things can turn around for anybody."

Undoubtedly, Proffitt's heart can be heard through every note of his debut single "How It Oughta Be," from what kind of friend he is to what he believes in at the end of the day.

And he believes in the simple things.

"I grew up like every other small-town kid, and I feel like there is a huge difference between growing up in a house or a home," says Profitt. "I was very fortunate and blessed to grow up in a home. There's not as many homes nowadays. Everybody, these days, needs a little more home in their life. And I feel like if everybody in today's world had a little bit more home, the world would be a whole lot better off."

Nevertheless, there are times in the delivery of "How It Oughta Be" that one can notice an anger bubbling up to the surface of the guy with the sweet smile. Take for example the moment Profitt delivers the lyric "oughta be off your ass when that anthem gets sung."

"Yeah, there's quite a few lines in this song where you can hear my raw emotion, and that's because it means so much to me," admits Profitt of the hopeful song he wrote alongside David Frasier and Mitch Oglesby. "I think that goes back to being a songwriter on this as well, because I want to write stuff that's true to me. And I know that there are lyrics in this song that mean a lot to other people."

And with the new acoustic version of "How It Oughta Be," Profitt says he hopes that everyone can hear the sentiments of this song loud and clear.

"Full production is always awesome on a song, but the acoustic version is always the song in its purest form," he says. "When we sat down to write the song, that's pretty much how it sounded. It turned out exactly the way I wanted it to."

His own life seems to be doing the same thing.

"It's one of those things where I didn't want to look back in 20 years when I have a son that's growing up and he asks, 'Well Daddy, what did you want to do when you were growing up?'" Profitt says quietly. "I didn't want to look back and have that doubt."