By BETHANY FIRNHABER Staff Reporter

Mel Elias is competitive, but for a good reason. Born in Malaysia to poor, uneducated parents, he worked hard to make a better life for himself. His shopkeeper parents made sacrifices so he and his older sister could attend a local international school and, later, a boarding school in London. He studied law at the London School of Economics, but later dropped the profession when an opportunity to open a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf store in Malaysia presented itself in 1997. When the franchise company he worked with merged with the L.A.-based coffee company a year later, he moved to Los Angeles and quickly worked his way up the ranks. He was named chief executive in 2008 in the depths of the recession, when the company had to lay off employees and close underperforming stores. Today, the company employs almost 5,000 people and owns 300 stores in California, Singapore and Malaysia. It franchises an additional 600 stores, which employ 7,000 people, in 24 countries. Last month, the company opened its first European outpost in Cologne, Germany. Elias sat down recently with the Business Journal at its L.A. headquarters for Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on La Cienega Boulevard to talk about his Third World childhood, his passion for jazz piano and the principles that helped him rise to the top of his industry.

Question: You were born in Malaysia; what was your childhood like?

Answer: My parents moved to Malaysia to start a small business selling shoes. I was born on the day there became 1 million people in the capital, so it was a big deal. But Malaysia was very Third World at the time, so the lifestyle we had was very humble and very simple.

Where was your family from?

At the turn of the century my family was in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, around that area. So I guess I have a very unique sort of Asian cultural perspective, together now with a Western cultural perspective.

What did you do for fun as a child?

There was a garden with fruit trees, but there was nothing much to do. When it rained, you make boats out of paper. We were not very well off. I had one bicycle that lasted me for five years until it was rusting up, but I took care of it. You learn how to appreciate the small things and the natural things.

Tell me about your education.

We moved to Singapore when I was 12 or 13. I went to a very interesting school called United World College. It’s an international school where the children of the heads of multinational companies went. Then I went to boarding school in England for two years for high school and then I came back to Singapore and did two-and-a-half years of military service. After that, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer, so I went back to London to the London School of Economics.

That’s a lot of school. How did your parents make it work?

My parents were not educated, and I think they felt that because they weren’t educated they didn’t have the things they thought were valuable. So they spent their whole lives and energy and efforts trying to educate my sister and myself and make sure we had the ability to make our own choices. Even though we had a very simple life, we were given all the nutrients, if you like, to be able to make our own choices and have our own opportunities in life.

Where is your family these days?

Most of my family still lives in Singapore. I got back about three times a year to Singapore, but I actually enjoy living in L.A. a lot more.

Really, why?

Because the weather, the space, the lifestyle; it’s a good balance. It’s incredible what great weather can do. I lived in London for about seven years, and when you have to live for 11 months in gray misery, or one month of absolutely burning hot weather, it just changes everything.

How did you come to work for Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf?

I was practicing law in Singapore. I had the itch to do business and build something and create equity. I happened to be doing the franchising contracts for two businesses – Tower Records and Coffee Bean – to open a franchise in Singapore and Malaysia. I felt like this was an interesting opportunity for me to launch into business, so I left the law and joined the franchisee entity with little or no retail background at all.

How was the store received?

When we opened in Malaysia in 1997, it was in the height of the recession, but there were lines around the block. An ice-blended coffee cost 10 ringgit. You could buy five meals for 10 ringgit. But the coffee became a status symbol, an affordable indulgence. It was the opportunity for people to spend a few dollars to really treat themselves.

And the store was a success?

We opened before our competition did; there was no Starbucks there at the time. It was very clear to us that this brand had something, and the industry – coffee – was on the way up. About a year after that, we had the idea to actually come to America and try and buy out the owners of the brand. The guy who started it was retiring, so there was an interest.

So you and this franchise company in Southeast Asia bought Coffee Bean?

I was part of the group. We came over here, we had negotiations and in January 1998 we closed on what was then 34 stores in the U.S. By that time we had something like 27 stores in Singapore and Malaysia, so we grew in two years almost as much as the corporation did in 35. That was the beginning of the modern era of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Is that when you moved to Los Angeles?

I ended up staying here in America because I help put the deal together. I worked in middle management; I was a director of operations at the time.

How did you become chief executive?

I became the director of business development in 2000; I started the franchising division. Very soon after, the company was big enough to create a vice president of operations position. I got the job in 2001. By 2004, I became the chief operating officer. I was a natural choice to fit into all these different slots because I had actually done so much of the work in these different divisions. There was a time we didn’t have a CFO for about a year, and I took that position as well. So by 2008, when the position for chief executive officer was something the company wanted to put into place, I put a business plan together, I presented to the board and I made my case for a five-year plan to head the company.

What shape was the business in when you took over?

It was just off the back of the financial crisis, which is why the opportunity became available to me. We had to do a reduction in force; we had to close stores. We had to sort of cut the fat and keep the muscle in every business, and those are difficult decisions.

How has the company performed under your leadership?

We’re actually, as a company, we’ve never done better. We’ve never been as profitable. In all respects, 2012 was the best year we’ve had and it looks like 2013 is going to be even better.

Who has influenced you the most in your life and career?

It has to be my immediate family. We created this sense of the need to accomplish, that you’re only as good as your last performance. That’s something that, when we had dinner, we talked about. They talked about business, they talked about sales are up, sales are down, we have too much inventory or not enough. When you listen to all these conversations, it becomes something that’s in your blood.

So your family first introduced you to retail?

My grandfather had a department store in Singapore, and he bought land; he was a real entrepreneur. I saw him make many mistakes, but you only need two or three successes out of 10 failures when you’re an entrepreneur. He knew what taking risk was and I admire that in people. I think you have to be prepared to fail or you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur.

How many languages do you speak?

Unfortunately, really just English. And I speak a little bit of Malay, which is an indigenous language of Malaysia, so I can get by there. And I speak a little bit of French, but nothing too fancy.

I hear you’re engaged.

Yes, for almost a year. It’s been great. It’s a new phase in my life and I’m enjoying it. I’m looking forward to having a family really soon.

What do you do for fun?

I’m an amateur musician, so I like to record music and write songs.

What kind of music?

Any genre I can get a hold of, I love learning new things. I started jazz piano lessons, and I’ve decided to write all these jazz songs, so we’re doing a jazz album. The job at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is overwhelming, so to be able to have something where you can switch off for six hours a week is therapeutic. It’s my way to be completely creative in a really different sense.

When did you start playing jazz?

Just recently. I think it’s the musician’s music; jazz is very improvisational. You really have to hear and feel and play off each other. You don’t follow a script. It’s just like life and business in a way: You know where the general direction is, but everyone’s improvising and playing off each other.

How long have you played piano?

I’ve played since I was a kid, but I’ve never learned, I can’t read notes or anything. I play by ear, so I’ve been up and doing that for a long time.

Do you have any other hobbies?

I play soccer a lot. I try and play twice a week. I have a league that plays at night, so I leave from here late and run off to play soccer.

How often do you travel for work?

I’m gone at least twice a month somewhere. Sometimes I’ll do one-day trips so that I can get there and not have to deal with the jetlag. If I have to go to Milan for a meeting, I’ll land, have the meeting, then take off that evening and come right back. People think I’m crazy.

That does sound a little nutty.

Traveling is a headache for me because you get out of your rhythm, but it has to be done. The interesting travel is when you go to tea and coffee plantations.

Where does the bulk of your supply come from?

We buy from all over the world for coffee, but most of it comes from Costa Rica, Brazil and Colombia. The majority of the tea, I would say, is from Sri Lanka, but we buy from Japan to China, and lots of Taiwanese tea.

What’s a typical day like for you?

I wake up early, and I start scanning and quickly responding to urgent emails. Sometimes I have to make calls before they go to sleep in Asia while I’m making coffee and running around the house. I’m usually at work by about 9 to 9:30. As soon as I come in, it’s game on: meetings, real estate visits, performance reviews. Come 6 o’clock, everything is quiet and that’s the most productive time. That’s when you can really do a bunch of thinking.

What’s the best advice you ever got?

Somebody once told me, “Don’t cop out of anything.” If you have to do something, whatever it is, do it to its full potential and get the best out of it.

What’s your favorite Coffee Bean
beverage?

I always have a café mocha. But when I really want to treat myself, I have something called a sunrise ice-blended, which is not on the menu. It’s on a secret menu. It’s orange juice with vanilla powder blended with ice.