A custy co., ltd

RYO AOTANI

CEO & President

I was born in 1973 during the peak of the second baby boom. I started my career in management consulting in 2022. As a child, I did not get along well with my school teachers, classmates, or parents. I couldn't agree with any of them, and even though I knew in my head that “if I memorize my textbooks and pass my tests, it would make them happy," but my heart refused to go along with it. I managed to go on to high school, but after failing to get into university for two years straight I left home and picked up a part-time job through a newspaper scholarship program which provided me with boarding and three square meals a day. I was quite satisfied with the fact that "I could get paid while staying physically active by delivering newspapers," and thought how happy I was to be able to do something that I am content doing.

At the age of 24, I got married, became a truck driver, and started working as a newspaper salesman. This seemed to suit me well, and by the time I was 30, I was able to provide a good life for my wife and children. However, after meeting with my father for the first time in a long time, the subject of taking over his company arose. I studied design, planning, and marketing intensively under the guidance of my father, who had started his own business after working for an advertising agency and was known to be a successful businessman. As a result, my work went very well and I began to enjoy it more and more.

But that's where I got carried away. My arrogant sensitivity affected my family life, and my wife and I struggled to get along. Even though I had been very grateful to my wife for supporting me since a young age, we divorced and the children came to live with me. My wife passed away shortly thereafter in 2011. Then came the earthquake. I had wondered what I was going to do under such circumstances, and after suffering from depression, I decided to quit work.

As fate would have it, I decided to start a life insurance business. It was a fresh start for me at the age of 39. Through my insurance business, I had more opportunities to talk with business owners, and came to understand the importance of their philosophies. I began thinking that I would like to work together with them to help promote such philosophies. I myself am a proprietor, but beyond that I am deeply interested in developing people more than in management itself. I have always had a strong inclination to remain a general manager, to support the boss, and to let him walk away with a win. I want people to succeed who have aspirations in areas that are not about immediate profit or loss. As the saying goes, “in body and spirit”, I want the maturity of a corporation to be proportionate to its economic balance. However, this is not always the case.

When the time comes for me to pass away, I want to be able to say that "it's a beautiful world”. I am sure that is what I have been seeking since childhood. I would like to live in a world where people are connected by trust, not by greed or doubt. The “de” in “design” means “to mark out”. In Japanese, it is the same character used in the word “rebuild”. Through my work in management consulting, I would like to encourage society to rebuild and dispel its current sense of entrapment, therein allowing us to design a world where people can once again meet their hopes in the future.

(Contents of 2024 February issue of the monthly magazine "PHP")

青谷　亮

代表取締役

僕は1973年、第二次ベビーブームのピークの生まれです。経営コンサルティングの仕事を始めたのは2021年。子供のころは学校の先生とも同級生とも親ともなじめずにいました。納得のいかないことができず、「教科書を覚えてテストで点を取れば幸せになれる」と頭ではわかっていても、心が拒否してしまう。高校にはなんとか進みましたが、大学を二年浪人していづらくなった家を出て、三食つきの寮がある新聞奨学生のアルバイトを始めます。「自分の体を動かして新聞を届けるとお金がもらえる」ことにものすごく納得がいき、自分が納得できることで生きていけるって、なんて幸せなんだろうと思いました。

24歳で結婚し、トラックの運転手を経て、今度は新聞の営業を始めました。これが性に合っていたようで、30を超えるころには妻と子供にいい暮らしをさせてあげられるようになりました。ところが、父とひさしぶりに会ったことをきっかけに、跡を継ぐ話が持ち上がります。広告代理店勤務を経て独立し、成功していた父のもとで、デザインや企画の立て方、マーケティングについて猛勉強しました。結果、仕事は非常に順調にいき、楽しいと思えるようになりました。

でもそこで調子に乗ってしまった。僕の奢った態度は家庭にも影響して、妻とうまくいかなくなりました。若いころから支えてくれた妻には本当に感謝していましたが、離婚し、子供たちは僕と暮らすことになりました。妻はほどなく2011年に亡くなります。そしてあの大震災。こんな状況で自分は何をやっているんだろうと思い悩み、鬱を患い、「もうやめよう」と決断しました。

縁あって、生命保険の営業を始めることになりました。39歳での再出発です。保険の仕事を通じて経営者と話をする機会が増え、理念というものの大事さを理解するうちに、それを一緒に考えて提案するような仕事をしてみたいと考えるようになりました。僕自身が経営者ですが、経営そのものよりも人を育てるということにすごく関心があります。もともと参謀気質というか、ボスを立てたい、応援したい、勝たせたいという気持ちが強いです。目先の利益や損得勘定ではないところに志がある人に成功してほしいと思っています。「物心両面」と言うように、法人の成熟度と経済的バランスは比例していてほしい。なかなかそうはなっていない世の中ではありますが。

僕は死ぬときに「イッツ ア ビューティフル ワールド」と言って死にたい。子供のころから僕が求めていたものも、きっとそれなんじゃないかと思っています。欲にひっぱられたり疑心暗鬼になったりするんじゃなくて、信頼でつながる、そういう世界がいいなと思います。新しいコミュニケーションデザインを提案したいというのが、今の僕がやりたいことです。designの「de」は「再」という意味。再構築の再ですね。経営コンサルの仕事を通じて、今の世の中の閉塞感を払拭するような、未来に希望が持てるような世界をデザインしたいと思っています。

（月刊誌「PHP」2024年2月号掲載内容）