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Chief Change Officer™
#239 Dominic Carter: Cracking Japan’s Business Code – From Market Research to Aging Tech – Part One
00:29:25
Dominic Carter, CEO of The Carter Group, didn’t just move to Japan—he cracked the code to thriving in one of the world’s toughest business landscapes. From a wide-eyed expat with shaky Japanese to running multiple companies, his journey is a rollercoaster of bold moves, burnout, and bouncing back. He shares why Japan draws a certain kind of outsider, how he stumbled into market research, and why walking away sometimes pulls you right back in.
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- [02:20]
Vince Chen
Foreign hi everyone. Welcome to our show. Chief Change Officer, I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change, progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. Today we are talking with Dominic Carter, CEO of the Carter Group whose journey from Australia to Japan is anything but predictable. He didn't just move aboard. He jumped head first into a new culture, built a career, burned out, left, and then came right back. This time on his own terms. In part one, we dig into his early days. How a fascination with Japan turned into a full blown career. Why opening a Tokyo office at 24 almost broke him and what made him bet on himself as an entrepreneur. In part two, things get personal. Dominic, now in his 50s, is facing the same challenge as many of us are aging parents. Omni, he's not just navigating it, he's building businesses around it. We'll dive into the future of aging tech, the cultural barriers that slowed innovation, and why the biggest business opportunity in Japan might just be the one no one's paying enough attention to. Let's get started. Good afternoon to you, Dominic. Welcome to Chief Change Officer.
- [04:46]
Dominic Carter
Thank you for having me, Vince. It's a pleasure to be here.
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Vince Chen
Dominic, you are originally from Australia, but now you're in Japan. You've been there for over 20 years or so. What brought you all the way from Australia to Japan? It's quite a long flight, sure.
- [05:08]
Dominic Carter
I think Japan tends to attract a certain type of person and I tend to think the type of person it attracts is often people who feel that they don't really fit in very well in their home countries. I would say as a kid growing up in Australia, definitely I loved growing up in Australia. It's a great place to grow up. But I liked my fellow countrymen. But in some ways I felt like I didn't have so much in common with them as well. So I was always looking outside and what would be. When I thought of what my life would be like as an adult, I always assumed that I'd be living overseas. I was very interested in Japan when I was a teenager and so that led me to when I was at university, I chose to study Japanese at university. I wish I'd studied harder. I always laughed because it would be so good if I'd put in the work early on to learn Japanese really well. But yeah, I was always fascinated with everything that was outside of Australia and my existence at that time. And I guess I had like an idealized picture of what living overseas would be like and what Japan would be like. And I always thought if aliens came to visit the Earth, I really hope that they do their first stop in Japan because people there behaved and refined and have such an amazing culture. So like, I think this might be best put forward for humanity if the aliens started there. But yeah, basically I'D always seen myself working and living overseas and that was feeling sometimes as a little bit of an outsider in my own culture. And as I say, I think that's very common to people that come to Japan. I think that in a way we find something here that we can't find at home and we just feel very comfortable being here. And I think people who. I know people who've lived here for over 40 years and it's just really a home for us.
- [07:00]
Vince Chen
Do you mind if I ask you at what age you moved over from Australia after college or even before?
- [07:08]
Dominic Carter
No, I had my first job. So when I graduated from university, I started working in a market research in Australia. So I forgot about my Japanese studies. But very soon, I would say within about six months of me starting in that company, they had expressed an interest in opening up an office in Tokyo. So I put my hand up for that. And so for the next two and a half years, because I was the only one who was really interested in it and I. And even though my Japanese was very scant at that time, it was more than anyone else. And so, yeah, so they groomed me to be positioned to go up there and participate in the opening of the business. So I was working in Australia for three years and I was 24 when they sent me to Japan to open up the office. And that's what I did. I did that. I did that for four years and it was successful. Four years, but it was very challenging, personally. It was a lot of responsibility at a very young age. So I end out a bit, to be honest, but. But I left that job and then when I was at the airport going home, I gave in my, what they call alien registration cards. If you're a foreigner, you have an ID card that you need to carry in Japan all the time. So I gave that in at the airport and I said, I'm not going to need this, so you can have it. And so I went back to Australia and then within six months I was back. So it turned out that there were people who were still interested in working together and I launched the business within about, yeah, six to 12 months of going back to Australia. So I was back and that was 2003. So now we're almost 20, 25. So I've been going all of that time.
- [08:49]
Vince Chen
So basically you first went there representing an overseas company. You did that for a few years, but decided, okay, time for a break, time to move on. You went back home, but then you returned this time on your own. And ever since you stayed Worked, built your business and established your own credentials, not to mention you've built up your Japanese skills along the way. I'm guessing you speak it very well.
- [09:30]
Dominic Carter
Now, always be better. But yeah, I'd always wanted to have my own business. That was something that I'd always, you know, when I was a, when I was a kid, I admire, I looked up to the entrepreneurs like I thought they were the people who were the real sort of pioneers and people who was building the country. This was back in the 80s, so we had very famous entrepreneurs in Australia. Alan Bond is a famous one. And there was another one, Christopher Skase, but they both ended up in or Alan Bond ended up in prison and Christopher Skase ended up in Spain escaping prison. But basically it was a time when there was a lot of celebration of entrepreneurship and they were the heroes. And yep, there was. Some of them crashed and burned. But I strongly believe that entrepreneurship's very important to advance culture and society and I think entrepreneurs play a very important role in advancing society. They're obviously, I'm not saying that they're necessarily more important than other people or artists and so forth are really important and people who contribute a lot to the culture. But I think the entrepreneur has a role to play, an important role to play and economic and philosophical role. And I always thought that and I always wanted to have my own business. I thought this could be great. I don't really want a boss and even when I was working in Australia, I don't think they really knew what to do with me. So I had a lot of autonomy even when I was quite young. So yeah, I think it's just a very, it was just a very natural thing for me to do and obviously very challenging. And we had, it was tough for a few years there and sometimes it's still tough, but I, yeah, I'm just really happy doing what. I'm really happy with that choice of going out on my own really early.
- [11:17]
Vince Chen
Being your own boss comes with freedom, but it also means owning every decision, every action. Entrepreneurship, when successful, can bring big reward, financially and otherwise. But behind the big paycheck, there's also a lot of stress, pressure and challenges that outsiders don't usually see. They just see the highlight reel, maybe even your face on a magazine cover. 7, 8, 9 figure success. Great. Or maybe you are a low profile entrepreneur just quietly building. Either way, it takes a certain type of person. Just like not everyone moves to Japan and stays long term, not everyone is cut out for entrepreneurship. Now, I know you've had your hands Full over the past 20 years. Running businesses, building, evolving. Can you walk us through your entrepreneurial journey? Not just the ups and the downs, but also the types of things you build along the way. I'd love to hear more about how it all unfolded.
- [12:49]
Dominic Carter
Yes. I started off the company that I had originally worked for. They're the global leader in brands and advertising research. So my job when I first came to Japan was testing ads, TV ads, clients like Unilever and Mars and so forth. And that was very, that was a very interesting time because at the time those clients were spending a lot of money on TV advertising. Clients still do, still do spend a lot of money on tv but in those days it wasn't the digital. It wasn't the digital environment we have now. So there's a lot of focus on television. So there was a lot of the work that we were doing was considered to be very important. So it was actually quite high profile and high pressure. But I learned a lot from that about how to communicate with consumers and how to. Things like how to adapt communications for global companies so that it works in Japan, so on and so forth. And so that was the type of work that I was doing. And when I, when I had the opportunity to come back to Japan, it was a similar type of. It was a similar type of work that I was starting off with. But we did have the opportunity to work in the entertainment area as well. So we started working on fairly early on with Universal Studios Japan, which is a theme park, big theme park in Osaka. We were working on communications related projects and also we ended up doing most of the marketing related research for Universal Studios which we did until essentially until Covid came along. And that sort of unfortunately put an end to that business. But we were working very heavily in those areas of marketing market research for some time. I. My interests aren't only in research. I have, I have a research business which is, we have a fair. It's a fairly wide type of range of projects. We do everything from sort of entertainment to insurance, cars, luxury to human centered design and robotics. We do a really wide range of projects. I've got about 40 people in that team. But I also have a software business in the ad tech area. And I'm also working on what I think is going to be a very, a very big project around aging tech and aging related technologies, which is a special interest that I have. I've started off in research. Everything that I've done has got a connection to what happened before. Like I'm not a big believer in making completely crazy leaps of faith. But there's always going to be connections that you've made and ideas that you've had and relationships that allow you to look at new areas. And I'm always looking at new areas because I get bored easily and I like making new things.
- [15:34]
Vince Chen
Yeah, I can see you're one of those people who's always moving forward, not making random reckless jumps, but also never letting yourself get too comfortable looking back. What do you think drives you? What's the common thread behind every time you push past your boundaries into the next big thing? Is it motivation, emotion, a certain mindset, or something else entirely? Some people are purely opportunistic. They follow the money chasing trends that bring the biggest returns. But in my view, if that is the main driver, it doesn't lead to sustainable success. So what about you? What's the thread that connects everything you've done A to B to C and keeps you stretching your limits?
- [16:44]
Dominic Carter
I strongly suspect if I were more focused on money, I'd be a lot richer than I am.
- [16:52]
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- [17:22]
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- [17:50]
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- [18:23]
Dominic Carter
Looking back, I think what I've tended to search for is connection all the time. So, so I think there is. If you're interested in connection with people and understanding of people, you know that whole world of consumer insights and market research is a very interesting area to work in because you know, your projects relate to understanding, understanding people. I think we also, if you look at a social role for what we do in research, it is, it does relate to giving people a voice as well. And I think when I, when I think about it, everything that I've tried to do is about connecting with people, giving, giving voice to people, ensuring that their needs are reflected in the way that organizations that are more powerful than them relate to them. So this, of course it can include stuff like government and whatever, but also companies that are making products, if they listen to their users, then the product's going to be so much more useful. It's great for the user, it's good for the company. So even with our projects in Age Tech where we're bringing Age tech into Japan, we're working on bringing interesting and breakthrough product in still very much we're based on talking to users and using the skills that we have in consumer insights market research to make sure that we're bringing in the right products and that we can help adapt them successfully. We're moving from, we do plenty of straight consumer insights related work. Now we're moving to more commercial commercialization of those insights in our business, which I think is amazing, something I've wanted to do for so long, but it still is based on that real active listening to people and ensuring that we're making active connections with people and that we are reflecting that back in the, in the ways that we interact with people. So that's a bit, that's a very strong thread because you hear people say we're not really quite sure what to do or we've worked really hard on this problem that we have in our business and we just don't know how to move forward. Or we tried this and we tried that. I say, look, maybe you need to spend a lot more time with your users. You need to spend a lot, a lot of, a lot more time with your customers or the people that you're trying to work with. Just ask other. Sometimes you don't actually have to come up with all of the solutions on your own. You can, you can partner with people. And I think if we look at the area of aging, in particular, the problems that we have in age, the challenges that we face in aging, and let alone trying to market products of people who are aging, unless we actually take a really collaborative approach with people, it's very hard to see how we're going to be successful. So that stretch is always connecting and reflecting back what people are thinking and feeling into commercial decisions.
- [21:27]
Vince Chen
Before we dive into your big current project, which I see has huge potential, let's do a quick age check. I know there's a personal reason that led you to this next big thing. Can you share that story with us? What made this the right path for you?
- [21:52]
Dominic Carter
Yes, I think a lot of people, and a lot of people my age too, because I just turned 50. And so a lot of people around our age are dealing with their aging parents. And I became, honestly speaking, I became very frustrated dealing with my parents because I wanted them to be a lot more proactive about the way that they were managing their situation and the fact that their independence was gradually disappearing. I could see that happening. I think they were in denial. But my brothers and sisters and I, we were very concerned about it. So I started, I gave, I got dad an apple watch, for example. We tried speakers, and we tried the pendant that they wear if they fall over, they can. But it was very hard to get their cooperation. Right. In Australia. Yeah, my brothers and sisters, I have four brothers and sisters and they're still in Australia. And I'm the only one in Japan. I was looking at, I just looked at their experience and I thought, got to be better than this. Like, I want it to be better than this when I'm the same age as well. Because when we think about, when we think about aging, yes, we want to help out, we want to help our parents, but we're also thinking of ourselves as well.
- [23:10]
Vince Chen
Yeah.
- [23:11]
Dominic Carter
And I'm thinking like I, when I'm, when I'm in my mid-70s, I think these are the, these are the types of solutions that would be great to have around. And I certainly hope that I'll be able to access those and I'll have the capacity to help myself in a way. But very much looking at my parents journey and all of the issues that they've had, I thought, yeah, this is an area of business where we can actually really, of course there's a huge opportunity in a market like Japan. And Japan's not the only aging market, but it is the oldest market. So I'm 50, but the median age in Japan is 50, so half the population is over 50. 50, 30% of the population is over 65. There is a method. The size of the market is massive. And aging people in Japan do tend to have more financial resources than younger people, interestingly. So it's a big business opportunity in that sense and there's a lot of interest in it globally from the point of view of being able to work on projects that have a genuine positive impact people. I think it's something that we can also feel very good about as well because the products that we're working with really do help improve people's quality of life.
- [24:28]
Vince Chen
Technology, no doubt it plays a huge role. And I'll let you talk more about that in a moment. But as I was listening to your personal story, I couldn't help but relate. I'm also over 50. My parents are in the mid-70s, early 80s, and of course many of my friends have parents around the same age. And yes, generational shifts are something we all see coming. What affects my parents now will eventually come affect me. And not just now, but in the years ahead. But don't you think part of the challenge isn't just technology? It's not about having the right tools or even how good they are. A huge part of the problem is mindset and habit. Our parents generation often isn't mentally prepared to adopt technology deeply, even when it could make their lives easier, healthier or better. So when we talk about technology, adoption isn't the biggest barrier. Sometimes not the tech itself, but the willingness to accept and use it.
- [26:03]
Dominic Carter
Yes, it's very hard and we can't really move faster than the user in that respect. So I think if we project out into the future, I think you and I will be very open to technology and every way that can benefit us as we age. But our parents there in a sense is a little bit too late for them. There are certain. If we look at. When I say too late, I mean too late for them to fully embrace. There are some people who. There are some people who do, but they're the minority at the same time. There's a philosophy I think especially in Japan where people think aging is rightly aging as a natural process. So these deteriorations that we face over time, they're actually natural. We accept them, them. So anything that's like too extreme of an intervention or it's helping too much is in danger of being rejected because it doesn't really fit in with people's philosophy and their way of thinking. And frankly people prefer other people to look after them. And aging people in Japan still have people to look after them because the, the baby boomers who are the biggest or have been in the past the biggest, the biggest portion of the population in Japan, they have children. And the children. There are enough people to look after the baby boomers. For people who are our age though Gen X you could think of them being. There's a generation bulge in there called the baby Dunkai. The dunkai are the baby boomers and the baby dunkai, the children of the baby booms. But the baby Dunkire and other big group in the population but they're really beneath us. There's the people that were for the, for our elders. I think the opportunity in aging tech is a long term one and I think it'll come. It really comes from people in their 50s who yes, they may be able to gently introduce some solutions to their parents as they become available. So things like sensors and stuff, that's fall detection and so forth as that gets better, yes, that's a no brainer that we can, we can put, we can put that in with our parents. But that tech has to be very unobtrusive. It has to really can't be, you really can't be asking aging adults past a certain point to be really learning new technology and stuff. It just doesn't really work. But for us, yes, as we age, I think, yes, we have almost a responsibility to be very conversant with technology because and especially in Japan, as I say that we don't have people, we don't have enough people who are younger than us look after us. If we don't look after ourselves as we can, then we're really causing a problem to other people. And Japanese people understand that very well. They're very, they're very aware of their impact on other people and they don't want to cause a problem for other people. And being responsible as a person, being personally responsible is a really key value. I think that thinking, that way of thinking actually works very well with tech. But I think it's going to take, it's going to take a while and it's really a generational curve that we're on in terms of getting to the point where aging technologies are really fully utilized. So we have to have the technology but as you say, we have to have the mindset and I think that our generation has that mindset. But I think we need to, we really need to get in early because our, over time we become more set in our ways. And I think we just want to be aware that we are aging and that we may want to be thinking about this as we get older.
- [30:00]
Vince Chen
Sure. So far I haven't asked about your specific role in this tech space. Are you more of an investor? Are you actually building the technology or are you more on the marketing and community building side? What exactly is your role right now? And looking ahead, do you see yourself shifting, doing more of certain things, less of others? Because beyond just creating new products, there's also the challenge of shaping mindsets, helping people become more open and receptive to this future of aging. How do you see your role in making that happen?
- [30:51]
Dominic Carter
I think that the first thing to bear in mind is I think this is a huge task like that. It has many aspects to it and there are many roles within that and many opportunities. But we're coming. We've of course started off as being researchers, which means that we've spent, for example, you spent a lot of time in the last five years with people in their homes, for example, looking at how they, how do they prepare their meals as they get older, how do they clean, how do people go shopping, all of. So where can technology come to play a role in those daily, in those daily tasks? Now in the last three or four years, we've done about 25 projects just on those sorts of issues on robotics because we have clients that are looking how do we build really good human centric robotic solutions that people actually want to work with? Because people generally don't just in the area of robots, they don't really know how to interact with them.
- [32:01]
Vince Chen
That's it for today. We've explored Dominic's journey from an outsider in Australia to building a career and a life in Japan. But his story doesn't stop there. Next we turn to a challenge that hits close to home. Aging. From navigating his parents, changing needs to pushing the boundaries of aging tech In Japan, Dominic is tackling the future in a way that's both personal, scalable and urgent. Join me for part two. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you like what you heard, don't forget, subscribe to our show. Leave us Top rated reviews. Check out our website and follow me on social media. I'm this Chen, your ambitious human host. Until next time. Take care.
- [33:14]
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- [33:44]
Vince Chen
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Dominic Carter
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- [34:39]
Dominic Carter
Ask your dermatologist about Cosentyx.
- [34:45]
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