Midweek Interview with M. Development’s Ben Jones
This week, the CEO of M. Development took us out to dinner and and bought us all our favourite foods. Okay, we took ourselves out to dinner and emailed him for an interview.
The challenge for the industry is…
Integrity of design/content. Be it architecture, interiors, food menus or brand identity there are too many people falling into the same old traps and the same formulas.
The consumer increasingly has visibility of what’s hot and what’s not through social media and online, and the power to comment on it, if you’re not fresh and exciting, and detail orientated, the market will move on.
The things I like about my job…
I get to work with passionate people who love my favourite things, hospitality, food, drink, design and architecture.
And the frustrations are…
Life’s too short to be frustrated, you just have to stay focussed and have faith.
If I didn’t work in travel I would be…
A big client of travel.
Favourite airline?
Singapore Airlines every time.
My proudest moment was…
The last year has been busy. We have opened Bali’s most beautiful beachclub (Ulu Cliffhouse) and Carl Cox played there to a crowd of 1800 people in May, and I have expanded our luxury villa brand Mandala to four sites, it’s been really rewarding to hear consistently positive feedback from the industry, friends and our clients.
The naughtiest thing I ever did was…
It’s pretty hard to isolate one moment!
I try to relax by…
Sitting by the sea at my new villa Mandala.TheRocks in Uluwatu.
The last time I feared for my life was…
Never.
If I can, I always try to avoid…
Long questionnaires like this!
I really wish I had…
I don’t believe in regrets.
The best advice I’ve ever received was…
I used to work in the financial markets on the trading floor in Hong Kong and my boss there was a big influence in my early career. He always used to remind me, no matter ow technical, complicated, studious and hardworking people are, if they don’t “get people”they don’t get ahead.
This is something I’ve always worked hard on, people skills, team welfare, inspiring by being a person’s person. That is what has got me ahead more than anything else.
I don’t understand why people…
Don’t follow their dreams, you only live once.
My greatest weakness is…
Marmite.
And my greatest strength is…
I like making things happen.
If I won a $1 million lottery (aside from travelling), I would…
Buy a villa I have my eye on in Ibiza.
If I was prime minister I would…
Give everybody a day off to spend time cleaning up their local environment, we’ve had a few beach clean ups in Bali recently and it’s a great initiative.
If I could be someone else for one day I would be a…
Mick Jagger circa 1975.
I’ve always wanted to travel to…
Rajasthan….there’s some incredible hotels I’d love to stay at including the Aman I Khas and the Taj Lake Palace.
My favourite holiday was…
With my wife around Indonesia this summer, we sailed around Komodo on a beautiful boat called Rascal and spent a week at the incredible Nihi Sumba hotel.
We also did a trip to Greece last year to a tiny island called Folegandros that was away from the crowds and absolutely beautiful.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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