About Shoko Chiba

For 28 years, I worked on the front lines of global finance at securities firms with overseas affiliations. I began my career at Lehman Brothers and ultimately ended up at Goldman Sachs. In the second half of my career, I served as the Head of Financial Crime Compliance in Japan. The title alone sounds a bit intimidating, I know.

I was in the very center of a high-powered career path. Through my work, I observed how money flows through our society, and I also grew to understand the psychology of how people’s emotions influenced and guided their decisions. With this double perspective, I was always asking myself the question of, “How can people learn to be both very wealthy and happy at the same time?”

In 2020, I left Goldman Sachs to become independent. After a lot of self-care and recovery to heal my heart and mind from the stress of that world, I began sharing what I had learned from my experience working for those global corporations: practical, real-life lessons and approaches to money that many successful people knew.

Since then, I developed programs such as:

• The “Love and Be Loved by Money” Program
• The Power of Communication & Manifestation Course
• The “3S Mindset” Program: Sustainability, Shinayaka (elegant acceptance and resilience), and Shin no Jibun (your authentic self)

Through these programs, I helped clients develop both practical financial structures in their lives as well as more inner emotional peace of mind. Like two wheels on a cart, you need both in order to move forward smoothly.

My next challenge is to continue to integrate financial wisdom with emotional peace of mind, so I can share about how to create an empowered lifestyle where you feel safe to open up to receive and also know how to protect what you have.

As a child, I was very quiet. I loved reading books and drawing pictures.

I majored in English and American literature at Aoyama Gakuin University, which was a whole world far removed from economics or law.

People might assume that because I joined a foreign securities firm after graduation that I must have been good with numbers or really into economics. In fact, the opposite is true.

The turning point came during spring break of my junior year in college. The apparel company where I worked part-time went bankrupt.

At the young age of 21 years old, I thought to myself, “The world is so scary. I think I’ll wait to chase my dreams of doing what I love until I learn how to earn money.”

I chose money over passion and decided to focus on getting a secure job first. The work I chose happened to be at a foreign securities firm. The reason? A single, clear comment from my father: “Foreign companies pay well and you can actually take your paid vacation days off.” That was it.

My first job was at the trading desk at Lehman Brothers. It was like jumping into the savanna, both wild and intense, fighting for your life. When markets moved, the entire floor would heat up with energy. Every day was another adventure.

That job taught me about the flow of money and how to read financial data. It also taught me about how people’s hearts and minds work, not just intellectually but also how we function physically and emotionally.

At the time, there was a widely held belief that traders “retire” at 35. After five years in that position, I decided to move on and traveled to the UK to pursue an MBA in Finance.

Upon returning to Japan, I hoped to move into sales or marketing, but my lack of relevant experience became a barrier. Then one day I saw a newspaper advertisement: “PwC Consulting, Recruiting members for the Financial Team.” I applied immediately.

Without fully understanding what a consulting job entailed, I went through the interview process, passed, and was immediately assigned to my first project.

Those days were turbulent in their own way, but also enjoyable. Surrounded by excellent bosses, colleagues, and clients, I developed an important core belief that no matter what happens, I’ll be able to handle it.

After moving on from Morgan Stanley, I joined Goldman Sachs in 2007.

There, I worked in the department of financial crime compliance, building systems and checks to prevent money from flowing into wrongdoing. I also conducted company-wide training sessions.

It may sound like a glamorous career, but the investigative reports I read daily were filled with dark news. Gradually, my heart grew exhausted.

One day, a trusted mentor told me, “You’re really going to get sick if you keep this up.”

That stopped me in my tracks.

The real reason I had wanted to earn money in the first place was so I could do what I truly loved without fear. But I had lost sight of that goal chasing after stability, and now I was making myself sick doing something that didn’t even bring me joy. In fact, it was draining that from me.

You never know the line of when enough is enough until you decide with clarity about what you truly want to do.

I took a deep, honest look at the busy and unsatisfying life I created for myself and recentered what I put at the core. I now wanted to focus on doing what genuinely brought my heart joy.

That was the moment I committed to finding a path to independence and leaving the job that was draining my soul.

Shinayaka is an adjective that describes a uniquely Japanese approach to life that emphasizes both authenticity and mutual acceptance.

Being in a Shinayaka state is not about forcing everyone to agree with you or persuading others to see things your way. Instead, it is listening deeply, understanding both sides fully, and creating a space where surface differences can coexist beautifully.

Instead of always trying to win, Shinayaka people are comfortable enough in their own authenticity to take in the other person’s perspective without judgment and hold steady to the truth of their own experience at the same time. The goal is to find a natural point of connection where both sides are fully accepted.

The concept of a Shinayaka mindset boils down to graceful coexistence, elegant resilience, strength without force, understanding without control, and acceptance of others without losing yourself.

A Shinayaka mindset is the ability to remain open, grounded, and connected, even in difference. It’s the gentle strength to stay rooted in who you are while meeting others with openness, respect, and understanding.

Kotodama is a word in Japanese that means the soul of your words. There is power in every word you say. Not just the words you say out loud to others, but also to yourself. Especially to yourself. Every thought you think also has a power that resonates and creates your life experience. Your words have the power to uplift or pull down yourself and others.

When you apply the Kotodama concept in your way of life, it’s about being highly aware of the energy behind not just your own words, but what other people are saying, too.

This can be an incredible gift in the setting of an interview, for example, because it’s also about intuitively listening beyond language into the energy and feelings the other person wants to express.

This is where Shoko’s interview magic comes from, because she understands the deep power of Kotodama. It gives her the ability to listen on a deeper level to catch nuance in tone, expression, and presence. She absorbs both what is being said out loud and what is left unsaid, which is often a core piece of the puzzle in Japanese culture. Then Shoko is able to act as a mirror to the other person’s truth and guide the conversation into a place of authenticity, often surprising the interview guest as they make deeper realizations in real time. This is the essence of a great interview.

Those moments are Kotodama in action. It’s about knowing your words are living energy, that your language creates and reveals truth. When you are highly aware of the power of Kotodama, you’re able to name what others feel but cannot yet express clearly themselves. You harness the ability to choose words that give energy back to the speaker. It’s a beautiful superpower to have.