Matt Rife Says Girlfriend Jessica Lord Is His Biggest Support System, Talks Life After Fame

"I was really contemplating quitting comedy, moving back to Ohio, and getting a normal job…” the comedian recently confessed

“She's so important to my infrastructure,” Matt Rife says about girlfriend Jessica Lord, 25.

The 28-year-old comedian caught up with PEOPLE backstage at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday.

Rife explains he usually prefers to keep a tight lid on his relationship with the English actress and dancer, saying, “It's newer, but I mean I do prefer to keep it on the more private side. Just because, I mean, people are literally insane,” he laughs.

But he spills a bit anyway, gushing when he mentions how Lord helps him stay grounded.

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“She forces me to take personal time, obviously, and I love that. Whenever she's like, ‘Can we have tomorrow for ourselves?’ I'm like, ‘Thank you. I would love to have that.’ ”

Personal time is something Rife sees very little of these days as his star continues to rise. He describes his packed schedule as “a nightmare in the best possible way.”

In just one year, the comic and TikTok giant – with a following of 17 million on the platform – landed himself on Forbes' top content creator list, after quickly selling out his ProbleMATTic World Tour, totaling over 750,000 tickets sold.

This staggering year for Rife is quite the leap from the year he had before.

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“July of last year, I was really contemplating quitting comedy, moving back to Ohio, and getting a normal job…” Rife said on stage at the Cleveland Public Auditorium on Tuesday.

While he admits he’s hesitant to slow down with all the attention on him, he’s doing his best to follow wisdom from one of his comedy heroes, Dave Chappelle.

“Dave Chappelle actually gave me this advice, he said, on this tour, ‘Make sure you're still making time to live your life. Because that's where material comes from.’ ”

Rife explains it’s too easy to get sucked into the business side of his booming career. “It's wonderful to be able to think about work. But you have to create; you have to still have your personal life.”

Rife’s mega popularity among his Gen Z following is reminiscent of Dane Cook. Rife says people mention this career comparison to him often.

“So many other people do bring that to my attention…”

“That's somebody who reached the pinnacle of success in comedy, right?” Rife says about Cook.

“So think about how many people loved him, right? Think about how many people hate him. So it's like as much as so many people like me right now, so many people hate me as well.”

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Still, he has a formula that helps him focus on his fans instead of negativity.

“Don't worry about the things you do that people don't like. Focus on the things that you do that people do like and make more of that stuff for them. Because those are the people who bless you with a career.”

He adds that Lord is integral to him finding balance. “She's the most concerned about my sleep problem. She's always making sure I'm eating that day and making sure I get my work done so that I can have the free time.”

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While Rife doesn’t run any of his material by Lord, he says he likes to poke fun at her on stage. “But she loves it,” he adds. “She's British, so she has like the best sense of humor.”

The comic also touches on the sense of spirituality he manages to maintain through his hectic lifestyle.

“I don't want to stop working. But yeah, I think there has to be a level of spirituality, and it can be as simple as gratitude. You can be proud of yourself…”

“It doesn't have to be anything incredibly spiritual, just some kind of awareness as to where you're at and what you've done to get here and what you have to do to stay here.”

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