Brent Smith was born and raised in the West, but where he really feels comfortable is the East.

After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1990, he worked in Japan for 12 years. In 2001 he moved back to the United States and worked for Barbara Barry, a full-service residential interior-design company.

In 2004 he set up his own consulting firm - The Brent Smith Group.

Two years after that, he came back to the East at the invitation of Chanintr Sirisant, managing director of premium lifestyle furniture firm Habitat Thailand.

Today, he is chief marketing officer of Habitat Thailand, which operates local shops for its UK parent.

"I feel comfortable with the Asian way. One reason is it's the first place that I really started exploring the world," the 39-year-old executive says with a grin.

"When I was young, it was all about schools, university and home. Because of that, I didn't see the world much. But after I graduated, things were different. It was a very important period for me because I had to come to the real world and work on my own. In Japan, I really explored the world and it seems that what surrounded me there helped shape my life."

Right after he graduated, he went to Japan to visit his brother and joined Intercontinental Trading Corp's tobacco division. An executive with the firm had asked him to work as marketing director for its Cuban cigars. But Smith also got another job offer in the US.

"I told an executive of the company in the US about the job offer in Japan. That executive told me that it was a good opportunity to explore another side of the world, and I was still young. The executive said I could come back to the US anytime because I'm a US citizen. So, I went for that," he says.

The Japanese are well known as procedure-oriented and deeply respectful towards each other. Working there presented Smith with a big challenge, as he had to prove his ability to his subordinates, who were about twice his age.

He was very impressed with Japan's work environment, as people always pay attention to each other's ideas.

Smith left the company to become marketing and sales manager for Estee Lauder Japan and Mac Japan, which was part of Estee Lauder.

He worked in Japan until he found himself staying there for a dozen years.

"In that time, I already had things I wanted - enough money to buy a good home and stuff to entertain my life. And I thought it was time to relax for a while," he says.

So he decided to leave and go back to the US, where he encountered reverse culture shock.

In the States, you have to be quick in both talking and taking action. Sometimes, you even need to speak out loud to call for attention, he says.

However, the US is a goal-oriented country, which means they can be flexible in managing the work process.

After he started up his consulting business, it seemed his star was crossed with Asia. One of his clients, Habitat Thailand, one day asked him to work with it as chief marketing officer. He waited until all his contracts were completed, then flew to Thailand.

Ten months with Habitat was still too short to have formed ideas about working here, he says, but he finds that Thailand shares a trait with Japan of respecting other people's ideas. The Kingdom also fits between the Japanese procedure-oriented and the American goal-oriented ways.

As to his own working style, "My brain works all the time and I like competition."

It is a habit he picked up from working with Estee Lauder in Japan. The company loves to place its cosmetics counters close to other global brands in order to compete directly with them.

Competition energises him and at the same time benefits consumers.

He never thinks about retirement. "I will continue working," he insists.

Despite being a workaholic, Smith still finds time for a break. In Tokyo, he liked to visit cities and chat with shop owners. Sometimes he played with children in the neighbourhood. Because of that, his Japanese is undoubtedly fluent.

Here, one of his favourite activities is to take a boat down a river to see the traditional life along the banks. And again, he likes to talk with the people and children where he lives. But when does he expect to be able to speak Thai? That's something where those people could help him best.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation