Angela Duckworth, author of the New York Times best-seller Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, writes that "the most dazzling human achievements are, in fact, the aggregate of countless individual elements, each of which is, in a sense, ordinary".
At 43, Wallop Treererkngam joined the elite club of Thai nationals who have managed to climb to a top spot at Japanese carmaker Suzuki. Now the executive director of Suzuki Motor Thailand, Mr Wallop is also one of the youngest top executives in the car industry.
And while each individual strand of his success story is in a sense ordinary, what is extraordinary is how he's managed to weave them all together.
Mr Wallop's background is, in many ways, quite modest. He followed his Chinese-born family's wishes and matriculated at Assumption University's marketing department. His passion, however, was elsewhere. Behind his parents' back, he enrolled in the political science programme at the open-admission Ramkhamhaeng University.
The Suzuki executive financed his education almost entirely out of his own pocket. After grinding through two full courses and working his fair share at the family business, he began offering his services as an English tutor. Not surprisingly, Mr Wallop rarely made it home on time -- a habit that has followed the chronic workaholic.
During 2012-2016, Suzuki shipped combined 102,109 eco-cars and sold 104,550 eco-cars domestically.
Nonetheless, it was at Ramkhamhaeng University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree after only two and a half years.
He went on to receive a master's degree in international affairs and diplomacy from Thammasat University and, guided by his passion for public service, applied for a training programme organised by the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Mr Wallop beat the odds and was one of 36 applicants to qualify for the ministry's new recruitment scheme. All in all, 1,800 people had applied for the programme, many of whom were from high-profile political families.
But it wasn't all easy sailing from there. Of the 36 applicants who were up to snuff, the ministry would have picked, in any normal year, 18 people to be trained as diplomatic staff.
But due to the 1997 financial crisis, the Thai government was feeling the budgetary pinch. The ministry that year had to cut the number of new staffers to only six. And just as (bad) luck would have it, Mr Wallop ironically came in at number seven.
Mr Wallop personally questioned how Suzuki could grow in the competitive local market, but he took on the challenge.
Looking back, he can't help but think that falling short was a blessing in disguise, as he believes he'd never have reached his present position had he chosen to work at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
In a rare moment of sentimentality, Mr Wallop sees "each person as being presented with different levels of life opportunities", which is why he's made it his priority to create life experiences and opportunities for his two kids.
A few days after failing to find a job at the ministry, the 25-year-old knocked on the door at Primus Leasing Co (a former captive financial unit for Ford and Mazda vehicles that closed shop after the 2009 financial crisis rocked the US). After working there for 10 years, Mr Wallop managed to become a general sales manager handling car loans.
Mr Wallop and his family on vacation.
Approached by a headhunter who was looking for a new manager at a Japanese car firm with plans for a large investment in Thailand, Mr Wallop joined Suzuki just one month after the Shizuoka-based company set up its first car plant in Thailand under the eco-car scheme's first phase in August 2009.
Thailand had launched the eco-car programme in 2007, attracting five manufacturers -- Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Toyota -- and 28.8 billion baht in investment.
Board of Investment (BoI) regulations in the first phase mandated that each carmaker make a minimum of 100,000 eco-cars annually from the fifth to the eighth year of production. Eco-cars were required to have carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of less than 120 grammes per kilometre for the first phase. Only Mitsubishi and Nissan met the first-phase commitment.
Suzuki itself spent 8 billion baht in 2011 for the first phase of the Rayong plant, which makes 50,000 cars a year. In early 2013, it spent another 1.3 billion baht to raise capacity at the plant to 100,000 vehicles.
Mr Wallop recounts how he was once reluctant to join the firm.
"Once I knew it was Suzuki, I questioned how this new car brand would manage to grow in the Thai automotive market, where the competition is very intense," he says. "But I eventually agreed to take this risk."
Early on at Suzuki, Mr Wallop did almost everything himself as a marketing manager, from contacting the BoI to developing a dealership network and mapping out marketing plans.
Originally, the Phornprapha family was the authorised dealer for Suzuki before the parent firm took charge of the dealership network in 2009, ending a 35-year relationship with the famous Thai clan.
"For the past several years, while Suzuki Motor Corporation focused on plant construction in Pluak Daeng district, Rayong, I travelled to every province seeking as many new Suzuki partners as possible," Mr Wallop says. "As a result, we now have 103 locations."
A chronic workaholic, Mr Wallop still cherishes family time.
He says the number will increase to 120 by the end of 2017.
Mr Wallop's warm, family-oriented Southeast Asian sensibilities have been a breath of fresh air at the Japanese carmaker.
"Finding new dealership partners is like finding a husband for a daughter: I want someone whose first priority is to take care of her and make her happy," he says. "A small player like Suzuki likewise needs someone who can sacrifice and dedicate themselves to taking care of the outlets and service centres, and it's not necessary to have any experience in the car market or to function as dealers for many car brands."
Thanks in part to Mr Wallop's no-nonsense personality, Suzuki's sales rose 255% to 24,685 cars in 2012 (propelled by the 1.25-litre Thai-made Swift eco-car). Sales jumped a further 184% to 45,292 cars in 2013.
In 2014, Suzuki launched its second eco-car model, the 1.0-litre Celerio, in May and a third model, the 1.25-litre Ciaz, in July.
Mr Wallop with a Suzuki Carry food truck on display at a motor show.
Suzuki's eco-cars now represent 80% of its overall local sales, and Mr Wallop predicts that they will become more popular on account of their low prices and fuel efficiency, on top of the fact that smaller cars are garnering greater acceptance in the Thai market.
Mr Wallop says Suzuki this year will cling to its 3% share of the Thai market while increasing its overall sales in the country by 4.7% to 24,000 units. The company plans to export 39,500 Thai-made eco-cars to Asia, Oceania, Europe and Latin America.
Last year, Suzuki sold 22,913 cars (including the Ertiga multipurpose vehicle and the Carry mini truck), up 7.7% from the previous year. The company shipped 37,137 eco-cars, down 5% year-on-year.
During 2012-16, Suzuki shipped a combined 102,109 eco-cars and sold 104,550 eco-cars domestically. It was also one of 10 carmakers to join the second phase of the Thai government's eco-car scheme, launched in late 2013.
While applying for the BoI's investment privileges in the second phase, Suzuki set a target of making 8.43 billion car parts and assembling 100,000 vehicles a year.
The BoI's regulations in the second phase require 100,000 cars to be produced from the fourth to the eighth year, with CO2 emissions below 100g/km.
During 2012-16, Suzuki shipped 102,109 eco-cars and sold 104,550 eco-cars domestically.
Mazda is the only player to have begun making second-phase eco-cars. General Motors withdrew in 2015.
Manufacturers must begin production of second-generation eco-cars before 2019, but they can withdraw from the scheme without any penalty.
According to the Federation of Thai Industries, Thailand's eco-car output totalled 359,325 units in 2016, up 4.9% year-on-year, with 240,207 slated for export and 119,118 for domestic sale.
Combined eco-car production from March 2010 to the end of 2016 amounted to 1.71 million units.
Mr Wallop says Suzuki is still committed to the eco-car scheme, though production has remained far below the 100,000-unit target.
"Once Suzuki achieves the 100,000-car mark, we will think about moving forward to the second phase," he says.
Mr Wallop says the Japanese car firm will have to feel confident in the long-term health of the country's automotive industry before applying for BoI privileges and drawing an investment blueprint.
"Suzuki believes its performance in the Thai market has been strong," he says. "The brand was ranked eighth in the mass-market segment and took the third spot in the eco-car segment last year, behind Toyota and Mazda."
But hard sales numbers alone don't do Mr Wallop's contribution justice. During his time at Suzuki, the company has steadily improved its car purchase experience, as indicated by J.D. Power's 2016 Thailand Sales Satisfaction Index Study. Within those two years, Suzuki climbed from the eighth to the fourth spot in the rankings.
"There is still a long way to go for Suzuki," Mr Wallop says. "My working life started when the country plunged into the 1997 financial crisis. So I have been through a lot during the last 18 years, both times of recession and prosperity for the Thai automotive industry. We still expect more good things to come in the future."
