Faith Collides

Do you feel like a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none? Has your career taken a very non-linear path, as you bounced back and forth between different callings and passions? If so, you’ll probably resonate deeply with Max Anderson’s story. Max is currently the managing partner of Saturn Five, a venture fund in Denver, Colorado. But in the past 20 years, Max has also worked for McKinsey & Company, at Tim Keller’s Redeemer Church in New York City, and for Bridgewater Associates, one of the largest hedge funds in the world. He also came up with an idea called “The MBA Oath” that was so popular during his time at Harvard that he gained national attention from news outlets like CNN, NPR, and The New York Times. It’s basically a Hippocratic oath for MBA students who wanted to pledge to conduct themselves with honesty and integrity in the midst of the 2008 global financial crisis. Max has accomplished a lot, but it hasn’t always been easy. There were times when he didn’t know whether he should stay in the busi

Akeel Sachak is an investment banker in the United Kingdom, working for Rothschild & Co. He’s been with the company since 1985. Over the past 35 years, Akeel has climbed the ranks from junior analyst to Partner and Global Head of Consumer. Over the years, Akeel’s specialty is food and beverage related transactions. He’s helped companies like Coca-Cola, Asahi, and Weetabix through mergers & acquisitions, and strategic and financial advising. He’s had a fulfilling career, made lots of money, and generally been successful in his work. But Akeel’s main passion isn’t his job – it’s his Christian faith. Originally raised in a Muslim family, Akeel came to know Jesus at Oxford University after hearing an evangelist speak. Akeel then met his wife Joy at a church. At first, Akeel was timid about sharing his faith at work. But over time, he’s come to see that his job and beliefs can go hand-in-hand. He’s also realized that it was wrong to gather wealth without sharing it with others. You may not often hear inves

Nona Jones is Head of Faith-Based Partnerships at Facebook. It’s her job to teach faith communities how to stay connected and engaged through social media. As a Christian, Nona loves helping churches across the country do “digital discipleship” while also assisting her husband pastor a church in Florida. But Nona’s life wasn’t always so great. Her childhood was filled with loneliness, neglect, and all kinds of abuse: physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual. Nona was so broken by her experiences that she tried to take her own life twice. Things turned around when a friend invited Nona to church in the sixth grade. As she experienced unconditional love and acceptance for the first time in her life, Nona began to do better in school, eventually earning a full-ride scholarship to the University of Florida. After initially pursuing a medical degree, she switched to Communications. After college, Nona bounced around a few different jobs, first with a broadcasting company, then Nationwide Insurance, and a utility co

Peter Demos is a restaurateur and the CEO of Demos Brands, a family business that his father started. He successfully owns and runs multiple restaurants, but his career has had plenty of failure, too. Peter started working in his dad’s restaurant before he was even a teenager. He loved the community of “restaurant people,” but was also interested in becoming a lawyer after he saw the proceedings of a court case. During his undergrad years in college, Peter got in over his head with thousands of dollars in credit card debt… until he discovered some practical money management principles that he’s carried with him to this day. After law school, Peter started working for a firm in Tennessee, but realized it wasn’t something he wanted to do long-term. And so, things came full circle when he rejoined his dad’s business, taking over the management of the restaurant and eventually buying it from his father. All this time, the Christian faith wasn’t a huge part of Peter’s life. He’d gone to a Christian school as a kid

Emma Anderson is Head of Solutions Delivery at Planet, a payments company based in Ireland, that provides services to companies like Starbucks, Adidas and Kate Spade. It’s an industry we don’t often talk about - yet it’s played a vital role in enabling our ability to make online payments and digital transactions. Emma had several stops along the way to get to this point, but her original career goal had nothing to do with the payments industry. Her parents were missionaries, and that inspired Emma to pursue being a medical missionary. But Emma struggled to make it through the rigorous and demanding coursework of medical school at the University of Birmingham in the UK. So, she dropped out and started working as a sales and operations coordinator for a heavy machinery company. In 2007, Emma was introduced to the endless possibilities in the world of digital payments when she accepted a position at Barclays. And then pivoted to a Senior Marketing Manager role at Visa to promote digital payment products and serv

Trae Stephens is a partner at Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm with a portfolio that includes Airbnb, SpaceX, and Palantir. Trae is also the chairman and co-founder of Anduril Industries, a rapidly growing US defense technology company with over 350 employees, and a valuation of $1.9 billion. In this bonus content, Trae opens up on how he met his wife Michelle, how he learnt about stock options when he moved to big data start-up Palantir after working for the US intelligence, how he had to solidify his faith at Georgetown and how faith continues to impact the way he believes we should be working to make this world a better place. Full transcript on the interview story on www.faithcollides.com/traestephens_bonus --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/faithcollides/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/faithcollides/support

Trae Stephens is a partner at Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm with a portfolio that includes Airbnb, SpaceX, and Palantir. Trae is also a co-founder of Anduril Industries, a rapidly growing US defense technology company with over 350 employees, and a valuation of $1.9 billion. Trae opens up on growing up in rural Ohio with a grandfather who was the pastor of his church. He shares how he had the opportunity to travel to the Middle East on an overseas mission trip, what it was like to be the editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper, and how the events of 9/11 prompted him to pursue a different career path— one that may not have panned out without bold steps and prayerful intervention of getting on the waitlist at Georgetown University. Upon graduating in 2005, Trae secured a data analytics role in the US Intelligence community, working on identifying and tracing intelligence to terrorists’ activities. But despite getting into what he wanted to do after high school, Trae could not b

Today Brad Kellogg is the Director of Consulting Services at Houston Methodist Global Healthcare, and he opens up on how his career journey has involved plenty of risks, a lot of change, and a humble reliance on God. Early in life, Brad learned about the ups and downs that can come with working. His family ran a car rental franchise, but the business went bankrupt in the 1980s. And as a kid, Brad started a successful lawn care company with a friend, and also experienced some challenging issues at church that made him come to his own faith. As Brad entered university, he had a desire to work as an engineer internationally after an internship in East Africa. When Brad graduated, he found a full-time engineering position with Schlumberger, a publicly traded oilfield services company. But entered the workforce when oil prices dropped to historical lows, so he experienced job uncertainty during his first months relocating to Texas. While Brad was able to keep his job and move up the corporate ladder, he and his wi

Jon Chiu did everything right to ensure a successful career by excelling in school, getting an engineering degree from UCLA, and landing a full-time job with an investment management firm right out of college. It looked like things had lined up quite nicely for Jon. But the year was 2008, and a financial crisis was about to crash the economy and change the world. Jon lost his job after only a few months. He reluctantly decided to work as a cashier at his sister’s frozen yogurt shop. All his hard work and his expensive degree felt pretty meaningless at that point. But Jon Chiu didn’t give up. He went back to school, earning a master’s from Stanford. Then he was hired as a management consultant for the prestigious McKinsey and Company. He thrived there, using his problem-solving skills to help the company’s clients make informed, data-driven decisions. Jon also worked at Google for a few years, and then came back to McKinsey as an Engagement Manager. Jon was good at what he did – but the long hours and high str

Arin Pinto grew up in Texas yet has worked all over the world. His first trip abroad to India was a college internship with Goldman Sachs. After getting a master’s degree from Stanford University, he moved to China to study and do an internship with an energy-focused non-profit. From there, Arin moved to Ethiopia to take a low paying job with a private equity firm. When he tried to start his own business there, it failed, and he went back to the United States to figure out his next move. That’s when Arin discovered that “there’s a deeper, spiritual, mental, emotion element to what people need and it’s not just money.” On this episode of Faith Collides, he’ll share how he reached that point, and how it changed his mindset. Then, you’ll hear how Arin worked his way from sub-contracting to being on the management team of Khudairi Group, a Houston-based company focused on the oil and gas sector in Iraq.  It’s a story that will open your eyes to what it might look like to work in emerging markets. It’ll also

Faith Collides is for people who think faith can collide with work. Season 2 dives into real and raw stories coming from industry leaders from all walks of life, who open up on how they’ve connected their faith in the most critical times of their careers. We believe if you care about doing well in your career, God cares too. Be inspired in the Christian faith, get career perspective and insight into different industries. Season 2 releases October 19th on all available podcast platforms. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/faithcollides/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/faithcollides/support

John Anderson is the former Deputy Prime Minister in Australia. He was part of a reformist government under the Howard Administration (a Liberal – National Coalition) that has been Australia’s longest standing government of our time. If you have not yet heard John's story of how he grew up on a farm, got into politics, and how he allowed his faith to define his identity, worth and work, you might want to first check out the episode here: www.faithcollides.com/johnanderson In this bonus content, we get into John's views a bit more. He shares his father's experience at war, how a politician might look at the issues facing western society, and what he thinks a Christian politician should respond during a pandemic. If you'd like to hear more thought-provoking conversations on politics, values and culture from John Anderson, you might want to check out his podcast and videos from his website: www.johnanderson.net.au. In a new series called John Anderson Direct, John stays safe and continues to talk to high profile

John Anderson is a farmer who later became the Deputy Prime Minister in Australia, a role and rank similar to the US Vice President. He was part of a reformist government under the Howard Administration (a Liberal – National Coalition) that has been Australia’s longest standing government of our time. Since the mid-1800s, John’s family was farming and grazing sheep in Australia, and making a good living. But John was encouraged to be the first from his family to get a college degree. At the University of Sydney, John tried to study law but ended up intrigued by studying history. He says, “I'm one of those people who believes that you learn all you need to know about statecraft by studying history.” But the political scene did not come under John’s radar until after he graduated and went back to farming with his dad. Back at home, John realized the rural city divide between the Nationals, a party he represented, and the rest of the country. So at the age of 32 years old, John ran for Member of Parliament, simi

Anne Beiler was 40 years old when she came up with the Auntie Anne’s brand for her famous soft pretzels. The company, now owned by private equity firm Roark Capital Group, has over 1,800 stores worldwide and annual sales of $800 million.   Growing up in an Amish community, Anne Beiler did not think about pursuing a career. She wanted to get married and raise a family. In her 20s, Anne married Jonas who was a mechanic and they were both lived happily on a farm. But on September 8, 1975, Anne was 26 years old when her second daughter Angie was killed in a tractor accident. Anne eventually sought counsel from a well-respected pastor in their community, but this would soon turn into seven years of sexual and religious abuse from him. When Anne finally had the courage to “confess” to her husband, Anne and Jonas got help through counseling. Out of that experience, Jonas wanted to change his career to become a counselor to help others in the community. Anne soon realized that she may need to find a job to support

Horst Schulze is the creative force behind The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain we know today. As President and COO, Horst grew The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain to approx. 50 hotels by his retirement in 2000. But Horst wasn’t finished, he says for fun he started an ultra-luxury hotel chain called Capella Hotel Group. Capella is also known as the hotel where President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un shook hands for the first time at their 2018 historic summit. While Horst is widely known as the legendary luxury hotelier and for his contributions of excellence to the hotel industry – there is so much more to who he is. In Part 2 of this special episode on Horst Schulze, we find out how he became a founding member of building The Ritz-Carlton brand we know today. We also hear what it was like when Marriott bought a stake in the company, and what Horst did after he retired.  More interestingly, we find out what happened when he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer – primary leiomyosarcoma of the colon – and ho

Horst Schulze is the creative force behind The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain we know today. As President and COO, Horst grew The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain to approx. 50 hotels by his retirement in 2000. And shortly after, Horst founded an ultra-luxury hotel chain called Capella Hotel Group. Capella is also known as the hotel where President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un shook hands for the first time at their 2018 historic summit. While Horst is widely known as the legendary luxury hotelier and for his contributions of excellence to the hotel industry – there is so much more to who he is. One way to get to know Horst is to listen to his incredible career story that involves faith, hard work and business sense. This first episode of a two-part special on Horst Schulze covers the stories and work highlights that he navigated through in the early part of his career. On Faith Collides, Horst shares some interesting highlights: Born in Germany when World War II started, Horst grew up in a small village y

Caroline Tautz has played a pivotal role in bringing Arabic news and media content on a digital platform to the Middle East. In 2001, Caroline was asked to set up the first Arabic news service for CNN in the Gulf. Fluent in both Arabic and English, she was in charge of overseeing the launch of the CNN Arabic site and for covering news stories during a time of great regional upheaval. Caroline was the editor-in-chief for CNN Arabic services during a period of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the Arab spring, and the rise of the Islamist militant group ISIS.   In 2015, CNN appointed Caroline as Vice President of Arabic Services, and Rani R. Raad Chief Commercial Officer for CNN International stated, “Our continued investment under Caroline’s leadership in CNN Arabic reflects the strength of our aspirations for this region.” Today as the Dubai Chief Operations Director, Caroline continues to grow the CNN Arabic brand and build its operation in the region. In this episode, Caroline opens up for the very first time

James Chia grew up in Singapore post WW2, at a time when the country was recovering after the Japanese occupation. The Chia family were village farmers, raising chicken, pigs and ducks to make ends meet.  James was the fifth son out of the 10 brothers, so he was somewhat shielded from farm chores and got to go to school and enter the National Military Service. But his second eldest brother S.L., started working odd jobs in high school to help out the family; and in 1969, S.L. got the opportunity to start his own art studio. This art studio was called Pico. Fifty years later, Pico is now a publicly listed company in Hong Kong, with a market capitalization of $400 million, over 30 offices worldwide and 3,000 employees. In this episode, James shares how his family grew up with humble beginnings, and his journey to join Pico and get into sales for the company. James also opens up about his faith journey, and how a phone call from his brother Henry got James to say a prayer for the first time at 40 years old. Jam

Robert Dail never imagined he would have a career in the army. At a young age, he wanted to become a lawyer and enter politics. But it was also then when he committed his life to the Lord. Robert’s father was a blue-collar worker at a navy base in Virginia, and that was what prompted Robert to join the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), a military preparatory program in college. Other than the fact that his father was a military man, Robert needed financial assistance. So, he joined the program half-hearted. It also didn’t help when the instructor told him that he would need to work in logistics. This meant Robert had to learn how to plan, procure and transport things like weapons, food and shelter. It wasn’t the manliest area in the program, but that was where Robert realized he was a natural at logistics. By the time Robert graduated from college, he had found out that he didn’t get into law school. He didn’t have a backup plan. But soon realized that since he had received a college degree and compl

On July 28, 2019, GOOD TV released a speech from Jeremy Lin, and the media went viral on how Jeremy Lin hit rock bottom in his career because he feels like the NBA has given up on him. It was newsworthy because Jeremy Lin was on the Toronto Raptors, the same team who won this year’s NBA championship. And this was a historic win for Jeremy when he became the first Asian American to receive an NBA ring.   But the challenge was, Jeremy hardly played during the Finals. Also, his contract with the Raptors was ending after the season, and he was soon entering into free agency, which means he would need to secure a new contract with another team. Unfortunately, his prospects did not look promising. Since Linsanity, a record-setting streak of high-scoring games when Jeremy played for the New York Knicks during the 2011-2012 NBA season, Jeremy had sustained serious injuries. He would go on to play in six other teams until he joined the Raptors in 2019. And after a mediocre performance with Toronto Raptors, it didn’t