“Tae Bhurit” more than a sucessful CEO !
Although we’ve been seeing Tae – Bhurit Bhirombhakdi, Chief Executive Officer of
Boonrawd Trading Co., Ltd. in suits as the company’s key man behind the success of driving the billion-value beer industry, in fact he’s also very much an outdoor kind of guy, participating and enjoying activities. With this interview, we’d like to share with you a successful vision for this super CEO..
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, education, hobbies and your interests?
I’m the eldest of three children of Mr. Santi Bhirom Bhakdi (CEO of Boon Rawd Brewery Co., Ltd.) and Mrs. Arunee Bhirom Bhakdi. As a young boy, my parents have always told me that I have too much energy! I love to explore the world around me and could not stand still; and maybe that’s the reason why I am doing so many things I do today.
I started my education at the Satit Prasarnmit School. After finishing middle school, I furthered my study abroad at the Wilbraham Academy in Massachusetts, USA. And in pursuing my interest to become a successful businessman, I focused my study in business education at the Bentley College and then at Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration, respectively. Because my family is in the brewery business and as the eldest son of the family, I think it would be wise for me to know more about our business in depth, and so I decided to take additional trainings to become a Brew Master at Doemens Institute, one of Germany’s prestigious brewing academies.
Music and Sports are my hobbies. I love to play all kinds of sports; football, tennis, golf, and etc. However, I would say that I have special interests in action sports such as Thai boxing, car racing, and snowboarding. I get more adrenaline rush with action sports. In high school, I used to play Lacrosse for the school team as well.
Since you are both singer and businessman, do you think both position have something in common?
I think that they have a lot in common. They both require talent, passion, and a lot of hard work in order to succeed. If a person does not have a good sense of rhythm or a pair of pitch perfect ears, then it is almost impossible to become a singer because those are the basic foundations or talent that is required in order to sing. Likewise in business, if a person does not have a good sense in spotting opportunities and/or the wit to seize them, then it is quite impossible to become a businessman. However, to become a successful businessman or a singer, basic talent alone would not be enough. A person would need to have great passion and the willingness to work hard enough to push that extra limit that other people with less dedication would have given up.
When was the start for you to become a singer?
I have always loved singing as a boy and I would always be invited to sing at social gatherings and parties. My close circles of friends are also in the music industry and that was where I met a group of young talented musician, Krungthep Marathon, whom at the time were in the search for a lead singer. We became a great match and we released several successful albums together and that was some ten years ago. As I got more mature and so did my style of singing. I started singing solos in TV series as well as releasing my own songs.
We have also heard that you are a car racer, so which one do you do it more often?
My father himself was a car racer and he taught us children racing since we were young. I love speed and love to push my own limits. I get that adrenaline rush from car racing. As I grew older, I raced in higher racing class such as touring and GT in which I eventually became champion. Now, I am racing internationally and have recently won the Am Cup Championship in Beijing last October. Life is about tradeoffs; I have been focusing more on car racing now a days and I do not have time to sing anymore.
How does your family say about you having too many things in hands?
My family has always been very supportive and understanding of my various interests and activities. However, I am highly discipline with my time management so that I could spend my time effectively with my various responsibilities. It is all about prioritizing things. My family always comes first and I scheduled my various activities around them. Next is my work. After fulfilling my work responsibilities that is when I can add other activities and interests into my time table. If you really prioritize your time well, you will be amazed at how much time you have for many other things in life. People often say they are too busy with work and that they do not have enough time for other things. I would say that they have not mastered their time management.
Back in that time of you starting school what made you choose to study business? Was it to come back and help your family business?
Yes and No, I would say. Yes, as one of the heirs to our family businesses, I was expected to join in the business and expand our businesses into the future. No, studying business was not a requirement in order to run our family businesses. My father, Mr. Santi was a graduate in psychology and he has led our group of companies very successfully. As mentioned earlier, I took up business education because my passion lies in business enterprising and investments. Aside from managing the family businesses, I have started as well as invested in various companies across various industries and I dream to expand into many more businesses going forward.
How have you combined or used what you have learnt in your family business?
Our family business placed major importance to giving back to the society ever since Phraya Bhirom Bhakdi founded Boon Rawd Brewery 85 years ago. Each and every generation followed this value strictly as our family believe that the more we have the more we have to give back to the less fortunate people. I have combined this value that is deeply embedded into our family business with all the businesses that I am involved with. One of my personal projects is my dream to create a Thai Boxing Hero with two goals in mind; 1) to uplift Thai Boxing in the world fighting arena and 2) to create Thai boxing role model for Thai children to aspire to so that they will spend their time wisely and stay away from the wrong things. With that dream, I have personally supported our Thai Boxing Hero, Buakaw Bunchamek, and have been very happy with the results so far.
Since you have involved in many products, which product do you like the most?
I do not have one single favorite product in mind. I like all of the products that I have been involved with on their differences and their uniqueness. Singha Beer is our flagship premium beer and it is by far the market leader in the premium beer segment. Leo Beer is Thailand’s top selling mass market beer and it is the No.1 selling beer in Thailand. Its introduction disrupted the beer industry. Due to its premium taste and value pricing, it opened up beer culture to the Thai mass market to enjoy. U Beer is our “think out of the box” beer, designed to challenge the norm in the beer industry and celebrating the up and coming generation. Snowy Weizen by EST.33 is our answer to the up and coming craft beer culture. There will be many more innovative products to come and I must say that all of them are my favorites.
What has been the most difficult situation for you to deal with?
I think if you asked any top management, they would all say that dealing with people is probably on the top list of their most difficult situation to handle. I am no exception. People management as well as generation gaps posts a challenge for me, especially when our organization is this large and with 85 years of successful history. It is impossible to make everyone happy so I must focus my management decisions on the overall Company’s best interests. Those decisions are not always so easy.
What has been the most successful thing for your business?
Again, it is the people. They are the ones driving successes. I have a great team of people behind me delivering all the great works and I have been really happy with my team. It is critical for any successful top management to be able to form a great team working and focusing towards a common goal. “One Team One Mission” is my management leadership motto and it has been a great success so far.
What could be your next step in this business?
You’ll see soon!
What is your thinking about working happily?
I believe happiness and success goes hand in hand and that one cannot be achieved without the presence of the other. I have never seen a successful person that is not happy with what he does because if he is not happy then whatever he achieved would not be considered a success in the first place. At Singha, we very well recognize the importance of Happiness that we include the word as one of the 4 pillars of our Company wide culture the “Singha Way” which states as follow: 1) Family, 2) Courage, 3) Premium Quality, and 4) Happiness. As a result, I believe that it is only through happy working people where success is achieved. Be happy for what you have!!! Thank you.
Credit : Siam Scope Magazine
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