Java House Group CEO Paul Smith at Java ABC Place on June 27, 2018. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NMG
This is completely irrelevant to this interview, but the suited
profile picture of Paul Smith is acutely reminiscent of a MI5 agent in
the Cold War era. In reality, Paul Smith sells coffee.
He
has sold coffee in 20 countries in the last 18-years: Kuwait, Dubai,
Russia, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, China and now Africa. As managing director
of Costa Coffee Asia, he opened 200 stores in five years across 30
cities in China, building a workforce of 2,200 people while at it.
As
head of food and beverage for M. H Alshaya Gulf Region based in Kuwait
he managed Starbucks franchise across the Gulf and into Turkey. Under
his belt (on top of his 36-years experience) is a MSc in Change
Leadership and a BSc in Food Marketing.
Now he’s the
big kahuna at Java House Africa with it’s 65 branches in Kenya, Uganda
and Rwanda. Paul Smith doesn’t play golf. He spoke to JACKSON BIKO
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When were you most terrified in your life?
When
a missile hit a shopping centre down the road from my flat in Kuwait
and rubbled the whole place up. That was pretty scary. That and when our
plane’s engine went down during a flight to Egypt.
Also,
some years ago I was diagnosed with cancer of the kidneys. The day
after the diagnosis I woke up early and wrote on my computer: Paul vs
Tumour. Fortunately, Paul won.
It was a time of
attitude change. The Chinese have a lovely saying that translates to,
“Build bridge when reach river.” We have to learn to live now, not in
the future or the past.
What was your greatest anxiety, coming to an African market - was failure always at the back of your mind?
I
think I've gone past the failure thing in my life because I don't
consider anything that happens a failure anymore. You‘ve got to just
figure it out or learn from it. Sometimes the question could also be;
how do you move on from it? What I've learnt early in my life is that if
you look after people, develop people, and grow people they will grow
businesses. People are the business. What was my biggest anxiety coming
here? I'll be very honest; a white guy running an African business. How
do you justify that? Why should I be allowed to do this? Shouldn't there
be somebody else that could do that? But what I hope I bring is sort
world class understanding.
The human resource here is
better than what I have encountered around the world and in most
cultures. Kenyans - and I have interacted with many abroad - have a
better working attitude and service than most nationalities. So I’m not
anxious, my aim is to have this business peak in leading edge in the
world, not just Africa.
Who's the African in you? Has coming here ignited anything in you?
I
was joking that I'm gonna do this world DNA test which determines your
heritage, funny enough I think mine is African. I have read all Wilbur
Smith's books and Wilbur Smith always wrote beautifully about his
earlier days in Africa. I can remember that on my first weekend here we
went out somewhere into the country and I heard the rumbling of thunder.
And you would think the rumbling of thunder here is like anywhere in
the world? It's not. It sounds different. Wilbur Smith used to describe
it in his books and it's exactly as he described it. I can remember
getting goosebumps and thinking ‘wow I'm actually here.’
Do you consider yourself successful?
[Pause]
It depends on what you mean by success. If success is contentment then I
haven’t gotten there yet because I still think there's more to learn.
But I'm at a place where I am comfortable with myself. Maybe that’s
success. But if you measure success by money, some people would say I
am, others would say I’m not.
When did you get to this place where you were comfortable with yourself?
I’m
58-years now, so maybe four years ago. You just get to this point where
you can predict things or you know things or you understand things or
you can see things in front of you that you don't need to think about
them anymore. It's more like driving a car, you get familiar with it.
It’s what I call unconscious incompetence. The car drives itself now.
What gets you the most excited when you get off bed now?
Apart
from seeing Amelia? No two days are the same in this business, that’s
exciting. Because I never know what I will be dealing with. I could be
sitting in here working with a guy we call for safety and where the
future is and how we can get ourselves to ISO 22000 or it could be an
issue at one of the branches that need sorting out.
Amelia is the wife, I suppose?
My
partner for 18-years, yes, I have travelled with her to all the
countries I have been posted to in the world. We are not married, I’m
still in training. [Smiles]. I’m training to be a good husband. I have
been married twice before, I have two boys and a daughter back at home
in the UK.
Because she has accompanied you in all your
jobs abroad, how do you make sure that she remains fulfilled herself and
doesn’t feel like she is tagging along on your dreams?
That
is a great question. She has choices too. She worked a lot as well,
she's done a huge amount of retailing in fashion - she used to run a
food section in the UK, that is bigger than this business. Her choice at
the moment is study. But she also looks after our lives because you
can't do a job like this unless you got some serious support, at home
and at work. But you know when Amelia decides she wants to do something
she's got my 100 per cent support because she's done the same for me.
How does one get married twice or even three times, what is it; love, bravery? What is it that keeps you going back?
[Laughs)
People change, okay? And one of the things I probably been not so good
at is changing with that person I was with particularly in my younger
days. And this is about learning about yourself.
The
most important thing in relationship is to know yourself before you
understand the other person. And the journey I've been on to understand
myself has been disrupted by those other people's lives. And that's some
of the bits I regret. Not because it changed it, because I'm very happy
where I am now with what's happened with myself.
Which city or which country or which town most speaks to your spirit?
Probably
where I live back in the UK. I come from a town called Dartmouth,
connected to water. Everywhere I live I try and live where I can still
see the sea, or I'm in touch with water. I like to be near water. Most
of my sports side have been water related. I feel most centred there.
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