I saw Mojia Shen for the first time in a YouTube video G(irls) 2015 summit after a friend told me she would make a great interview for my new podcast, One in a Billion. The minute she started talking, I was intrigued.

Her voice is strong, earnest and engaging.

How did she develop such a passionate persona, speaking directly to camera in English, her second language? That was just the first of a billion questions I had. Where did she come from? What’s her back story? What is she doing now?

Next, I googled her. In 0.61 seconds, 1800 results popped up.

In her Linked In profile – she writes “ I am a Made in China Robot turned Creative Human.” Almost immediately, I felt like I understood her. Her essence and her quest.

At age 19, Mojia knew where she came from, what she was expected to do, and she had worked hard to follow rules, fulfill everyone’s expectation, earn her marks and deliver results. Then came a surprise. When she got early admission offer from Beijing University, a top school in China, she turned that down. Why?

Her story in Episode #1 “Choosing Uncertainty” epitomizes a dream that is commonly shared among all of us. A dream to live a truly meaningful and fulfilling life.

What’s perhaps most uncommon about Mojia is her courage to push her limits. In the eyes of her world – her parents, her friends and her community, she was already perceived as having achieved the best. Yet, she was defying that definition of success. She chose to disrupt her sense of identity of where she belonged. She chose to join a global community of pathfinders and innovators to explore what is possible for her in life.

Learn more at chinapersonified.com/episode-1-titl…reative-human/

Music Used:
Dave O'Brien's Busy Bees
Mitch Hanley's The Dhingy, Bow