The following is a very special episode of Defining Moments, as I got to interview Paul Shen, who is my uncle. He’s a retired financial services executive who worked at Citibank for 36 years before transitioning into being a full-time pastor. We discuss some important moments in his life such as seamingly being miraculously healed of a heart defect at birth, immigrating from Japan to the United States at just 16, getting re-assigned positions mid-career, losing most of his net worth in the 2008 financial crisis, having his heart problems resurface, pastoring in his 60’s and just recently being diagnosed with end-stage heart failure. Paul has led an inspiring life that has impacted thousands of people and we get to hear a little bit of the behind the scenes of his life in this episode. The theme of this episode is the difference between our generations (Boomers and Millennials).
Intro 0:00:00 - 0:02:30
Growing up in Japan 0:02:31 - 0:06:55
College in America 0:11:12 - 0:21:50
Working for Citibank 0:21:51 - 0:36:55
Meme Stocks 0:36:56 - 0:38:56
2008 Financial Crisis 0:38:57 - 0:44:23
Loyalty to Citibank 0:44:24 - 0:45:25
Transitioning to Full-Time Pastoring 0:45:26 - 0:59:20
End-stage Heart Failure Diagnosis 0:59:21 - 1:06:09
Lessons in Crisis 1:06:10 - 1:11:08
Outro 1:11:09 - 1:11:43
Paul Shen: Immigrating to America, Loyalty to Citibank, 2008 Financial Crisis, Pastoring and Heart Failure