If anyone remotely knows what Taylor Swift‘s life is like right now, it’s Shania Twain. When Taylor was still in grade school, Shania was the queen of country pop, with diamond selling albums and numerous #1 hits to her credit. In a far-ranging interview with “Haute Living,” Shania talked about her life at the top of the country heap, and parallels she sees between her reign in the 1990s and early 2000s and what Taylor is going through now.

First, though, she expressed admiration for the young singer. “That girl is working her butt off. She is living an exhausting existence, but she’d dedicated and committed to herself, to her art, and her work,” she said of Swift. But seeing parallels between Taylor’s career and her own, Shania added, “It isn’t even about ambition, though I’m sure that most people would call her ambitious. She’s an extremely hard worker, and I’m sure she’s got giant goals. But it’s not all about ambition: it’s about passion and committing yourself to your passion,” traits that Shania says got her to her own career peak. She commented on how working with passion “reaps rewards” for artists. “So, I would say that I’m most proud of my perseverance, and that I didn’t waste my talents,” she added.

Source: People