Division: The Agency | Practice: Healthcare
Phone: 050-1749-8809

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ASK ME ABOUT:

My wife being arrested for murder (wrongly, as it turned out) in the UK, my somewhat masochistic passion for renovating old Japanese houses, or how I once rocked the bass guitar on stage... in a dress.

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Rich’s not-so-secret second love (after his wife) is the bass guitar. Indeed, it’s music that gets him up in the morning, through the day, and to bed at night. Any schooled player in the rock world will attest to the fact that the bass is the easiest instrument to pick up and yet the hardest to perfect. Rich will be the first to admit he needs to work on his chops – and that’s exactly what he does every day, not just through his amplifier, but in all areas of life, including his work as one of Japan’s top pharma recruiters. Rich made the bold jump to The Agency, in his words, “to have more flexibility in my working style and offer more meaningful service to clients and candidates.” The biggest difference our Englishman has felt since coming on at TA? “I am completely in charge of my own life and business,” he says. Rich recently bought a lodge in Nagano, which he and his wife are renovating – a passion project that wouldn’t have been possible while he was at Company B. Sounds suspiciously like freedom, doesn’t it?

Division: The Agency | Practice: Consumer
Phone: 050-1749-7012

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ASK ME ABOUT:

Creating sustainable ways of living for future generations, commandeering oil tankers, or how I once wrote a musical about life in my home town.

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You’d need a flamethrower to light up a room any faster than Laurens. Equal parts recruiter, humanitarian and benevolent gadfly, our own Flying Dutchman has a lust for life that requires no caffeine. Indeed, just spend a few minutes around him and you’ll start to believe in human beings as rocket fuel. Recruitment for him is all about creating win-win-win situations: “If an introduction is beneficial for my clients and candidates, I create an environment of positive synergy,`` says the Rotterdam native. ``That's what drives me in this business every day.” Becoming a principal at The Agency means joining what he calls a unique team of highly skilled consultants who operate independently while keeping a strong sense of unity and collaboration. No wonder this born communicator feels right at home with us. When not blowing up our consumer division, Laurens will be leveraging his many passions – Thai kickboxing, scuba diving, motorbiking and cleaning up forest trash – to motivate young people to empower themselves and make this a better planet.

Division: The Agency | Practice: Professional Services
Phone: 050-1749-7011

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ASK ME ABOUT:

Working for the welfare of impoverished children in the favelas of Sao Paolo, how a Dutchman falls in love with Japan in Ireland, or why honesty really is the best policy.

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Willem. Friso. Kraai (“crow”). By any name, he is still The Agency’s very own Renaissance man. Willem hails from the idyllic forest town of Doorn, The Netherlands, where he spent his youth – symbolically, we think – building tunnels and tree houses with his brothers amongst the wild deer and rabbits. His life travels have taken him from Amsterdam to Sao Paolo to Galway (where he met his Fukuoka native wife) to Shanghai to Singapore to, finally, Tokyo in 2017. Along the way he somehow managed to attend both law school and medical school, as well as build three businesses from scratch, and he still runs his own recruitment firm back in the old country. While working at Sotheby’s and studying tax law at the University of Amsterdam, he was invited by a friend to join a boutique recruitment company, and before long one of the majors poached him to work in their Asian theater. Ultimately, though, for one who came up in the industry old-school style, with nothing but a phone, phonebook, notepad, and a barge load of integrity and passion for the work, our rack was the perfect place to hang his hat. “I am not joining a company,” he says, “but a group of people with a vision to build an honest and trustworthy environment, to inspire each other to become better.” Having practically grown up in an auction house, Willem is an art aficionado and collector who annually attends The European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht. When not spending time with his family and friends or traveling, he likes to run, swim, ski, golf, and watch his beloved Ajax FC on the box. Give him a “caw” to learn more about this most sophisticated of birds.

Division: The Agency | Practice: Healthcare
Phone: 050-1749-8810

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ASK ME ABOUT:

Life in army greens on Western Samoa, how a greasy cheeseburger helped me make my greatest placement ever, or the time I got turf-slammed by a Secret Service agent, only to be helped up by a very apologetic Jimmy Carter.

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New York-born and St. Louis-raised, Pat is a an honorably discharged veteran who served for years as a 12B combat engineer, or Sapper – one of the six elite army groups that gets a shoulder rocker patch. These are the guys who go into combat zones first and make the way clear for everybody else. Pat’s military experience with putting others’ welfare first became a way of life for him, carrying over into the recruiting world where co-workers began calling him Sugar Bear. Because Sugar Bear shares, and Pat believes in sharing information so everyone can benefit. Sound like any recruiters you know? Didn’t think so. And that’s exactly why he’s a perfect fit here at The Agency. And unlike some of his former colleagues, we don’t take his generosity for granted: we reciprocate it.

Adventure brought Pat to Japan, and his love of family and recruiting keeps him here. While working on deals (which includes assisting others in the TA tribe with theirs), he also works on improving life for himself and all of the McDonnells. Pat came on at TA for the freedom and better quality people: well, better got even better with him on board.

Division: The Agency | Practice: Human Resources
Phone: 050-1749-8806

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ASK ME ABOUT:

Rustling up grub for 1,500 hungry sailors on a battleship in the middle of nowhere, driving the coolest route around the Grand Canyon out of Vegas, or how I once matched the iron handshakes of Norman Schwarzkopf and his bodyguard.

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A lot of folks know St. Louis for its toasted ravioli, gooey-butter cake and pizza, but for us here at Zensho Agency, the best thing the city has ever cooked up is Brad Corbet. Through the Gateway Arch, he headed west and didn’t stop till he reached The Rising Sun where he finished his navy years aboard the USS Blue Ridge (flagship of the 7th fleet) and other sea monsters. Stepping away from the service, he was soon working as an executive search consultant at one of Tokyo’s major firms. But even a guy renowned for his easygoing nature can take only so much grief, and this month Brad came on board at The Agency, a move he knows is the blue ocean cure to all his red ocean woes over at that other place. “It makes sense,” he says. “After knowing what doesn't work, it’s enlightening to find something that does.”

Family, friends and colleagues alike admire him for his reliability, empathy and positive vibes (perhaps not so much for his outrageous rocking out to 80s hits). What to call someone who views setbacks as learning opportunities rather than failures? A winner, which is just one of the many reasons why Brad is perfect for The Agency culture. He is our first functional specialist, focusing on HR roles across all industry sectors – a hat this aspiring gourmet wears as comfortably as he does a chef’s toque. Welcome to the tribe, brother! We look forward to watching you fry the competition for years to come.

Division: The Agency | Practice: Digital, Branding & Communications
Phone: 050-1746-2436

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ASK ME ABOUT:

Revelations at a weeklong silent retreat, writing and reviewing essays for academic philosophy journals, and how I helped build a medical clinic in rural Cambodia.

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A Philippines national, multilingual Rafael was born in Thailand, raised in Malaysia, has lived in the UK, Spain and France, and worked in Hong Kong and Shanghai. He has our industry in his blood, having worked at his mother’s recruitment firm every summer from the age of fourteen, which surely makes him one of the most experienced professionals of his generation. After years in Management Consulting, Corporate Strategic Planning, Marketing and Commercial Management, Rafael landed in Tokyo and, ultimately, here at The Agency, transitioning from Corporate back to his roots in Executive Search, where he feels right at home – something he attributes to our dynamic culture, characterized as it is by flexibility and mutual support. Those who call him quirky don’t know the phrase “obsessed with success.” Indeed, Rafael is a details freak renowned for his problem-solving skills, and this, coupled with his passion for helping others, makes him an invaluable member of our tribe. When he starts clicking his double-jointed neck and thumbs, you know he’s in the zone! On non-recruiting days, he does Muay Thai, competitive rock climbing, or shops for another vintage Polaroid camera to add to his collection. Much of his vacation time he dedicates to volunteering for charities in SE Asia.

Division: The Agency | Practice: Professional Services
Phone: 050-1744-8123

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ASK ME ABOUT:

Sibilant-ending Hungarian verbs, why Japan is the best despite Japanese being my weakest language, and how I got the nickname “the rocket scientist.”

AND FOR THE REST OF THE STORY:

This man is living proof that nice guys sometimes actually finish first. Perhaps it’s his perennial sweet tooth or love of sunshine that makes him so consistently at peace with the world, but whatever the case, Andre Wayand has a way with clients and candidates that keeps them coming back for his special brand of service. The fact that our Passau, Germany native speaks five languages is also pretty convincing evidence that he’s a natural-born communicator, one who understands people with a wisdom born of a truly international perspective. After studying English in Adelaide as a teenager, he transferred to a Tampa, Florida high school, graduated, and went on to Rollins College, spending his junior year in Paris. Don’t be surprised to learn that he then lived in Spain, where in 2011 he decided to make Japan next on his globetrotter itinerary. Indeed, Andre might happily wear a pith helmet to complete his “fearless adventurer” profile if only it was acceptable business meeting attire. What made him decide that The Agency was the right place to build his ultimate recruiter home? “The vision of the founder,” he says. “The positive energy of everyone I met at the firm. I’m really excited about the difference in atmosphere.” To which he, himself, contributes a ton. While Andre likes to read and tinker with computers in his free hours, he also skis and swims to stay fit. Some say he’s too nice to survive in the cutthroat world of recruitment. But then again, they’ve surely never seen what this nice guy can do when he’s swimming in our blue ocean.