Interviewed by Batzul Gerelsaikhan. Photographed by Suniko Bazargarid.

Meet Mr. Anand Khurelbaatar (Hobby: 1995-2005) the CEO and Vice-Chairman of Monos Group, which employs 2,000+ employees via its subsidiaries in medicine, cosmetics, food and R&D center. At 31, Anand is preparing to take his company public on the Mongolian Stock Exchange in 2019.

PERSONAL

1. You have given many interviews before, i.e.: Forbes Mongolia’s 2017 #30under30, ikon’s #ӨглөөнийХүн, and Bloomberg interviews to name the biggest, but is this your first English one?

Yes, it is! Thank you for having me.

2. How many languages can you speak?

Mongolian, English and Chinese. I am also learning Japanese now.

3. Which universities did you apply to and why did you pick the university you went to?

I have 2 degrees - one in business management and the other in pharmaceuticals. After graduating from Hobby School in 2005, I just picked Santa Monica community college in Los Angeles, because my big sister Solongo Khurelbaatar graduated from there also.

After college, I went to Loma Linda Healthcare University in California, and there I had to choose between pharmaceuticals or business management. I picked business, but later in 2014 I chose to study pharmaceuticals at the University of Pharmaceutical and Science in Mongolia while I was working at Monos. I graduated as a pharmacist in 2017. Now I am actually planning to become a pharmaceutical doctor in few years.

4. At 30, you are already a father, a husband and a CEO of one of the Top 100 Companies in Mongolia. How do you juggle it all?

I am 31, actually. I got married to my beautiful wife Chinkhuslen Nyamdorj this year and we are parents to our two year old son - Amar.

How do I juggle it all? Hmm. It is definitely not easy to run a group company, which has over 2,000 employees, but it is all about right management and delegations. I am learning everyday from my job and I love it.

5. Do you have any free time at all?  What is your hobby?

Usually, I work 12 hours a day with tight schedules. However, I still make time for myself and read books whenever there is a chance. Two years ago, I changed my lifestyle by deleting my social media accounts, like Facebook and Instagram. Thanks to this decision, I saved time more and finished reading 25 books last year. This year, I am planning to finish 30 books. Besides reading, I love watching movies also.

6. Which books influenced you the most?

I read mostly about business, but lately I have been into history. There are many books that influenced me, so I cannot really choose from the entire list. However, if I have to pick one, then my favourite book would be “Where Do We Come From” by Ernst Muldashev, which I read in 2004. It was the first book that I finished reading passionately and this book made me want to read more and explore more. This started my book-reading habit and I am happy to name it my favourite book!

7. What are your good and bad habits?

My bad habit would be… I do not know if it is a bad habit or not, but I love playing video games. My good habit would be waking up at 5:30am every morning - I am workaholic!

8. What was the best advice you have received in your life? Who gave that advice also?

My father, Khurelbaatar Luvsan, is the founder of Monos Group. He is the most influential advisor to me. Every time I see him, I try to get more and more advices, which led me to change my vision and strategy to export our company products abroad. In my opinion his best advice was: “Be a good man, but always be hungry!”

9. Is there any message or advice you would like to give to your fellow Hobby Alumni readers?

Read more books and never stop learning.

AT HOBBY SCHOOL

10. What kind of a student were you?

I studied at Hobby School from 1995-2005 and I was not an A student, but I was very active in social activities and sports.

11. What are your fondest memories at Hobby School?

Cutting classes with some of my classmates and almost getting kicked out of school few times! But I love my school. It taught me many things.

12. Who was your favorite teacher?

Our Principal Mrs. Oyuntsetseg and my class teacher Erdenetsetseg.

13. What did you think about Hobby Alumni establishment and will you come to our first Alumni Drinks on Dec 13, 2018?

Yes, I will be there. I would like to thank you Batzul for doing all this voluntary work.

With that being said, I’d like to donate Monos’ Ekos water to the “Hobby Alumni Basketball” events every month in 2019.

CAREER

14. Before we cover your career, can you explain to our readers what Monos Group does in Mongolia?

Established in 1990, Monos Group is a group company of 13 subsidiary companies in manufacturing, trading, retail, university and franchising (Mango, RE/MAX, Circle K, etc.). We have over two thousand employees and now we are planning to take our Monos Foods public on Mongolian Stock Exchange soon.

15. How did you end up becoming the CEO?

I started my career at Monos Group from 2011 as a project manager. My first project was Monos Foods which manufactures around 50 products like Tseneg, Berryvit, Eco Tea, Enkhjin Tea and so on.

Monos Group is our family owned business, so people immediately think my father appointed me as the CEO, but in 2010 Monos was owned partially by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”). So the board members were from overseas and our company’s corporate governance was changing at that time. I simply worked hard and that’s it. The board picked me and appointed me as the CEO in 2013.

16. Have you worked anywhere else before?

I was a librarian in a college, a manual worker at GanZam state company, a part time teacher and a pharmaceutical marketing teacher at University of Pharmaceuticals and Science in Mongolia.  

17. What do you like most about your work?

You have to love you what you do. I love almost everything at work! In 5 years, I am aspiring to run our subdivision companies overseas.

18. That’s great! What products are you planning to export abroad?

We are targeting Russia with our pharmaceutical and supplement products; and the Asian market with our cosmetics and food products, but mostly through OEM production and e-commerce.

19. Whom should we feature next from our Hobby Alumni?

My class has numerous successful people - all specialised in their own fields, but I would like to recommend Mergen Nachin next. Mergen went to MIT and he has been working at Facebook, Inc. as a software engineer for over 8 years now. I feel bad choosing just one from my class, but Mergen would be great to know next.