Jade Gray is a gung-ho entrepreneur, recently being awarded the B Corp certification for his venture Gung Ho! Pizza.

What’s your story?
I’m a reluctant businessman. Graduating from University in New Zealand I was torn between a life of an environmental activist or that of an entrepreneur. I chose the latter and over the last 20 years of building businesses in China my team and I have aimed to use the power of business as a force for good in helping to resolve the world’s issues. Over the last 5 years we have been focused on building our pizza brand Gung Ho! Pizza which was recently awarded the B Corp certification – the world’s leading responsible business accreditation – becoming one of only three in China.

What excites you most about your industry?
Young migrant workers. 80%+ of my team are from this demographic. They have shown incredible courage to leave their homes with very little resources in an effort to better their lives in the big cities. Being millennial’s they expect much out of life and typically are willing to do the hard yards needed so long as the companies’ dreams are aligned with their own. If not aligned then they are demanding, disengaged and pretty much impossible to lead! I find it a rewarding challenge.

What’s your connection to Asia?
In the early 90’s whilst studying in the UK I was advised that New Zealand’s future was no longer tied to the West but rather the East. With this insight I came home and undertook a degree in Marketing and Mandarin. Upon graduation I flew to China with a backpack and a set of skis ending up as a ski instructor in Yabuli, Heilongjiang. I fell in love with the place and for the next 20 years I have gone with the flow, in constant amazement with how the East has challenged and grown me as a person.

IKEA2 B-Corp E-Signature

Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
Beijing! Being the capital of China the government keeps business on a pretty tight leash, trialling new policies and enforcing with a strength not seen in other parts of China. As challenging as this is for the business, it is the ultimate training ground for doing business in China. We know that if we can lead our industry in Beijing then we can lead any market in China, and if we can succeed in China we can succeed anywhere in Asia.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
The journey’s the destination.
As entrepreneurs we relentlessly chase our goals. Although persistence is possibly our greatest asset, when misguided it can be our greatest shortcoming. Moving to a life committed to the here and now rather than some future goal or accomplishment is where it’s at. It’s not reaching the summit that’s important, but rather how we grew and evolved as a result of climbing it.

Who inspires you?
Anybody who has the balls to risk it all to follow their life’s calling.

What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
250 billion+ paper coffee cups are thrown away every year. I’ve since acquired a keepcup, which also keeps it hotter for longer.

If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
Asked that girl at my year 4 prom to a dance. Taken that role in the school theatre. Asked that question to the keynote speaker. Basically anything in life that I failed to do due to my fear of making a fool of myself.
Oh, and bought that VW Kombi camper at University…. That was one seriously cool ride.

How do you unwind?
Rock climb, hike, bodysurf. Anything that connects with the outdoors. And if I can’t get into nature then chilling with family and friends over a good meal….and if there’s a good music gig on, then busting some “embarrassing-for-my-partner” moves on the dance floor.

Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
My farmhouse at the Great Wall of China. Myself and a mate restored a traditional courtyard house in a village at the foot of the breathtaking Jiankou Great Wall section about two hours north of Beijing. There’s something pretty special about the energy of the place, and having known the locals for the last 13 years I’ve become part of the village. Sitting around the fire with some mates under the stars with the Great Wall in the background is pretty surreal. All one’s worries slip away….or maybe it’s just the Single Malt.

Generallisimo2

Everyone in business should read this book:
“The Art of War”-Sun Zi. You can’t understand business strategy in Asia until you have read this book.

Shameless plug for your business:
Gung Ho! pizza is proud to be Beijing’s favourite pizza brand having won Beijing’s Pizza Cup for two of the last three years beating out 184 brands. We have recently been selected to expand with IKEA as they grow their Livat Mall concept across China. We opened our first store in their Beijing store in June 2016 and are currently fundraising $3million to fund our immanent expansion into their other stores. Get in touch if you are interested.

How can people connect with you?
[email protected]

Twitter handle?
In China?? No go.
But you can follow our We Chat feed at Jiaoban bisa, 叫板比萨

This interview was part of the Callum Connect’s column found on The Asian Entrepreneur:

CallumConnectsCallum Laing invests and buys small businesses in a range of industries around Asia. He has previously started, built and sold half a dozen businesses and is the founder & owner of Fitness-Buffet a company delivering employee wellness solutions in 12 countries. He is a Director of, amongst others, Key Person of Influence. A 40 week training program for business owners and executives.

Take the ‘Key Person of Influence’ scorecard <http://www.keypersonofinfluence.com/scorecard/>

Connect with Callum here:
twitter.com/laingcallum
linkedin.com/in/callumlaing
Get his free ‘Asia Snapshot’ report from www.callumlaing.com

Recently Published

Key Takeaway: Pony Ma, co-founder of Tencent Holdings, has regained the title of China’s richest individual with a net worth of over A$65 billion. His rise reflects Beijing’s control over its private sector, which aligns with the state’s goals in China’s unique “socialist market economy.” Tencent’s success, including the AAA video game “Black Myth: Wukong,” […]
Key Takeaway: Black holes, a potential energy source, have been the subject of theoretical research since the 1970s. The Zel’dovich Effect, a theory that rotating objects could amplify energy waves, was tested in 2020. The experiment confirmed that a rotating cylinder could amplify sound waves and electromagnetic waves, revealing similarities between the rotating cylinder and […]

Top Picks

Key Takeaway: The “no-sleep challenge” has become a dangerous trend on social media, with some individuals trying to break world records for consecutive days without sleep. Sleep is essential for survival, as it helps the body repair itself and prevents health problems like depression, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and a shortened lifespan. Chronic sleep deprivation […]
Key Takeaway: China’s Chang’e 5 mission has challenged long-held assumptions about the Moon’s volcanic past, suggesting eruptions occurred far more recently than expected. The lunar landscape might not have been as dormant as once believed, with volcanic activity on the Moon potentially being active as recently as 120 million years ago. The findings suggest that […]
Key Takeaway: Sigmund Freud’s theory of sublimation aimed to explain why some people display extraordinary talent by transforming repressed sexual desires into creative or intellectual prowess. He believed that Leonardo da Vinci’s life and work exemplified this process, as he left many of his paintings unfinished and engaged in scientific experiments that derailed his artistic […]
Key Takeaway: High-altitude platform stations (HAPS) are emerging as a new frontier in communications technology, offering a unique blend of accessibility and affordability. Positioned between 4 and 30 miles above Earth, these stations bring telecommunications equipment closer to the surface than satellites, resulting in stronger, higher-capacity signals. Researchers have demonstrated that HAPS could provide high-speed […]
Key Takeaway: Horse domestication remains a mystery, despite its significant impact on human civilization. The Indo-European or “Kurgan hypothesis” suggests that horse domestication began on the steppes of western Asia, specifically among the Yamnaya people. However, recent advances in technology have revealed that the horses from the Botai culture were not the ancestors of today’s […]

Trending

I highly recommend reading the McKinsey Global Institute’s new report, “Reskilling China: Transforming The World’s Largest Workforce Into Lifelong Learners”, which focuses on the country’s biggest employment challenge, re-training its workforce and the adoption of practices such as lifelong learning to address the growing digital transformation of its productive fabric. How to transform the country […]

Join our Newsletter

Get our monthly recap with the latest news, articles and resources.

Login

Welcome to Empirics

We are glad you have decided to join our mission of gathering the collective knowledge of Asia!
Join Empirics