Robert W. Roach, Chairman and President, Oak Lawn Marketing Co., Ltd.

To succeed at work, you need ability, luck, and a strong will

Chairman and President of Oak Lawn Marketing Co., Ltd.
Robert W. Roach

Originally from Illinois, USA, he came to Japan in 1983 as an exchange student at Nanzan University's Center for Japanese Studies, and returned in 1986 as a research student at the Faculty of Law. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics and Japanese studies from the University of Illinois in 1985, and a law degree from the University of Denver School of Law in 1988. In 1993, he co-founded Oak Lawn Marketing Co., Ltd. with Noriaki Nakamura, a company he continues to work for to this day.

Oak Lawn Marketing operates the well-known TV shopping site Shop Japan. Chairman and CEO Roach came to Japan as an exchange student and had a difficult life. However, he grew the company with his flexible thinking and creative ideas. We spoke to Roach about his philosophy of success.

I attended a public university in the United States and came to Japan as an exchange student at Nanzan University in Nagoya. After graduating from the public university, I returned to Japan to study law at Nanzan University, and then graduated from the University of Denver Law School to become a lawyer. Looking back, I found my student life quite challenging. I paid my own tuition fees, and by the time I entered university, I was aiming to start my own business.

Oak Lawn Marketing was founded 25 years ago and is currently involved with over 50 companies, including subsidiaries. However, it hasn't all been smooth sailing, and there were many failures in the beginning. When we first started our business in Japan, we even had the experience of being unable to make transactions because we didn't have an account. We have grown by learning from these various failures.

I've always wanted to do work that conveys the good things about Japan and the good things about America, so I'm building a hybrid company that incorporates the best of both worlds and doesn't reflect the bad. For example, we don't have a fixed seat for each employee, and we've introduced a free address system where employees can sit wherever they like and work, and we try not to create a domestic environment so that employees can perform at their best.

Embracing diversity　It's important to have empathy

The type of employee I need and want to work with is someone who embraces diversity. For example, someone who has studied abroad or can speak a foreign language. Studying other languages ​​makes them more empathetic and flexible in their thinking. Also, someone who has their own opinions and can clearly explain why they think that way (someone who compares data rather than intuition). And someone who has the skills and luck to use when the time is right. Success requires skill, but sometimes luck is also necessary. I think it's important to have empathy in order to seize luck. To do that, you need to absorb a variety of things every day.

You only live once　 Find a job that suits you

I recommend that you set high aspirations and goals from a young age. Even something as small as that is fine. This is the story of my son. When he was a university student, he also had no clear goals for the future. I told him that if he obtained a lawyer's license, he could do whatever he wanted. This is because in America, lawyers and businessmen can both work. I advised him that if he hadn't decided what he wanted to do, having a lawyer's license would be advantageous for doing business later on.

We want our employees to gain as much experience as possible in the kind of work they want to challenge themselves with. We have a wide variety of departments, and while it is possible to stay in the same department, there are also opportunities for transfers. Some new employees have been transferred to other departments three times in the three years since joining the company, allowing them to find a career that suits them. We have this system in place because we only have one life, and we want our employees to move on to the next stage if they feel uncomfortable with their current job or want to try something different. Life and work are one and the same!

Even now, I travel around the company to get to know my employees better. I have one-on-one meetings with them at the start of each new year. We talk about a variety of topics, but I also sometimes give advice on individual career plans. For example, if someone wants to start their own business, I'm always available to give them advice. In the coming age, there will be an increasing number of options available to employees other than working for the first company they join for life.

Message to university students

In this age where people are said to be living to 100 years old, it's better to do what you love. I don't think you need to work just for the sake of working. The first step is important. To students about to start job hunting, I recommend researching the company's operations and philosophy to find out the details, and if you want to get in, you should do your best to sell yourself. This means selling yourself through your own efforts, without relying on others. I myself would like to always be challenging myself, such as by developing new businesses.

From the October 31, 2019 issue of the Student Newspaper (Hideki Anzai, third-year student at Komazawa University / Asahi Moriizumi, second-year student at Waseda University)