Meet Lifestyle Asia Thailand’s 50 ICONS, where we gather influential people from Thailand’s younger generation and dive into their beliefs, thoughts, and toasts to their spectacular success in their respective careers. This story goes out to Ittirit “Gene” Ratanadaros Umpujh, a young businessman who’s ready to take his family’s empire to new heights.
Living up to your family’s expectations is hard, but when it comes to having to take their legacy and empire to greater heights, the pressure can get even more overwhelming. However, for Gene Ratanadaros Umpujh, this young lad is here to redefine success and push boundaries in the world of retail development. Having spent over a decade studying abroad, Gene’s life has finally stabilised in Bangkok. And as he returns to his roots, the 26-year-old has been headfirst in being the key player of The Mall Group, one of Thailand’s biggest retail developers.
Today, LSA sits down with Gene as he shares his keen eye for detail and unwavering determination to achieve success. Keep on reading to get to know this talented businessman and his story on evolutionising Bangkok’s most popping destination, EM District.
Gene Ratanadaros on leading his family legacy managing The Mall Group
Could you please give us a life update?
“It’s been two years. Work, right now, is finally falling into place. I’ve been having a normal day-to-day routine. My last project was EM Wonder, which is EmSphere’s entertainment floor. We’ve just opened it on the 28th of June, so EmSphere is finally complete now.”
Tell us about EM Wonder.
“This project is for my generation. We have all kinds of entertainment spaces here, including jazz bars, Thai bands, hip-hop to even lots of famous places. It’s very challenging being in this industry because all the destinations chosen, we had to find the best places so all can align, making EmSphere a strong establishment. When it came to curating this area, I wanted one hip-hop place, the other Thai, but in the end, each category chosen has no more than 3 venues. We also have a wine and vinyl bar.”
“For the restaurants, my team manages that. I’m not a big foodie. However, I do know if we get Khun Pla, she has quite a strong following in the food industry as many of her restaurants are well-known. When we invite restaurants to open at our malls, we prefer to ask big franchises first, so they can be a magnet. But yeah, I put all my trust in my team for food. They’re food experts.”
When it comes to working with your family, how is it more challenging?
“I’m lucky that when I came back to Bangkok, I got to enter my family’s business right away. EmSphere was just starting to be the talk as well. I think everyone knows, when it comes to working with your family, there’s always some sort of friction since it’s the older generation versus the new. We have to find a way to compromise. For example, with EM Wonder, I would say I have more experience than my grandparents. So, I would have a much better input dealing with this division. However, for The Mall and events, I let them go all in since they have more experience than me.”
“One thing I always do since we’re from different generations are updating my seniors on new trends. These things must be informed, so they can keep up and be aware. It’s important to share my insights on how the new generation thinks and behaves. And I’m super lucky as my mom, when she responds, she doesn’t use emotions. She listens and thinks logically. If there’s a valid reason, she will stand by it. My grandmother, on the other hand, is very open minded. When you’re a retail developer, it’s all about adapting. Malls aren’t the only product you sell. There always needs to be new brands, renovations, and updates within this space for it to be successful.”
Do you face any pressure as one day you’ll have to fully lead your family’s empire?
“Of course, there’s pressure, especially working with your family. But to be honest, my main pressure is that it’s my future too. It’s not the same as working for another business. If you fail working for someone else, you could always find another job. But here, if I fail, it affects my future. To cope, I’m lucky I go home to a cute girlfriend (smiles). She always talks to me and never makes me stressed. She relaxes me. I’m also the eldest in my family, so sometimes the seniors want to debate with me. However, my sister will join next year, so I’m happy our generation will have more of a voice when it comes to decision-making.”
How has you mindset change from your very first day?
“Growing up abroad, everything had more structure. Working for The Mall Group, it’s more centralised, which it shouldn’t be. I’m a firm believer that everyone who works with us has a brain, a unique perspective, and a good level of decision-making. But because our strategy is centralised, running towards one point, it’s much slower and somewhat goes in circles. Imagine it’s only me leading, and there’s 4-5 projects. That’s too much, and things will delay. But if we had certain people taking on different roles, everything will run quicker and smoother. I want to make my business more efficient. We’re having a family dinner soon to see who wants to do what and fits well in what sector.”
Many don’t want to work in the family business, why do you want to do this?
“I actually didn’t want a career like my family. I wanted to be a pilot and footballer. I’m good at football, but not to that level where I could go pro. For my degree, I did interior design, so I know what good taste is like. However, I always knew at the end of the day, I had to come help my family. Our group is small compared to other family retail developers. We only have 18 people within our family. But regardless, it’s my future too.”
“Even though there may be friction working with your family, I think it’s all about compartmentalisation. It’s being able to separate your world. I’m glad I can do this well, and my family too. When we’re at home or going on a family trip, no one talks about work. When it work, it’s work. But when it’s time to relax, you have to do that.”
There’s many malls in Bangkok, how do you differentiate yourself from others?
“Being in the retail industry, your concept always has to change with the time. Currently, we’re trying to change our image from The Mall to The Mall Lifestyle. Then there will be Bangkok Mall, which will change the evolution of malls. It’ll have a stadium, but we’re also finding another anchor too. That’s our short term plan, happening within 3 years.”
“For our long term goal, it’s to never be stagnant. We have to always be ahead of the market, knowing the trends, inviting brands to enter the market and influencing Thai people to wear it. If you notice, the staff at EM is always young. I love having the newer generation around me because they’re full of fresh ideas. But what I want to do for them is mold them to make more decisions. I want it to be from the bottom up, not top down.”
What other goals do you need to achieve before feeling like you’ve succeeded?
“I want to bring in more visitors to our malls as well as clients, especially newer brands. For example, The Emporium, being Thailand’s first luxury mall, might see it as old, but I want to build on this project and make the younger generation become the top spender here. Other than that, my long-term goal is to diversify. Retail centres can keep going but it can be boring doing the same thing. My plan is to bring more diversity and do other things, so we can evolve better.”
Lastly, who is Gene in 10 years?
“I love EM District but, in the end, I have to go help The Mall side too. But I’ll always be at EM the most. Right now, I don’t have someone to watch EM. It’s just me. I hope one day, besides me, someone from my family can watch EM forever, too. And besides that, I’ll be diversifying the retail establishments.”
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Drinking is best during the day, especially when at brunch. If she's not working, catch her at the gym or socializing with friends. An introvert extrovert at heart. She's a Capricorn.
