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. James went on to become the Group President of Pico, in charge of growing the business through an IPO and building relationships with employees to expand worldwide. Now close to retirement, James focuses his sharing on the grander scheme of things – like how he ties success to succession for his family to continue the business, and how he has finally found peace about life after his career ends.

Read more on James Chia's story on Salt and Light

 

Special thanks for this episode: James and Woon Yeow Chia, John and Rosanne Chia, Carol Por and Michael Landry

 

-----------------

Support Faith Collides podcast with a review --->  http://bit.ly/FaithC0llid3s

Faith Collides podcast is hosted by Grace Huang from Lux Mundi.  More information: www.lxmundi.com