Passionate sponge bob with an aversion to routines and corporate behaviour. 

Why I am who I am - the early days

Born & raised in Vienna, Austria. Brother to an amazing sister. Son to a caring and loving mother and an equally caring and loving father. Happy childhood. No internet. No iphones. No crash helmets and helicopter parenting. Played outside a lot with the neighbour kids. Still turned out fine. I guess. Proud memories of Commodore 64 tape recorder games and joystick killers (remember summer games?). Played ego shooters and killed a gazillion enemies online. Still turned out fine. I guess. Went through rebel phases and skater, punk & rocker outfits. Went to school. Loved the social aspect, hated the way stuff was taught (with a few exceptions). Spent a lot of time traveling with my family. Mostly Southern Italy and Southern Turkey but also all over Europe. Father is Turkish. Mom's Austrian. I am in between. Proud to combine the good stuff from both cultures. 

Left school when I was 16 to make a 'living' as travel agent. First independence. First 'real' job. First 9-5 indulgence. 4 years of fun in the sun. Travelled a bit but not as much as you would think. Felt like summer camp with the occasional class room session in between. 

Realized my childhood dream and completed my private pilot license. I will never ever in this life forget the joy I felt on my first solo flight. Spent a couple of years flying in my spare time with both glider and single engine planes. Loved every single second of it. Loved the theory as much as the flying. 

Spent 8 months at the Austrian army (mandatory 'fun' for every male 'adult' in Austria) and I do not only remember the fun stuff but also the part that sucked (like the cold and the sleep deprivation torture and the morons and the drill instructors and the boredom and and and). Still wouldn't have wanted to miss it. 

Wanted to do something different. Started taking on different part time jobs. Call centre agent at a telecom provider. Chauffeur/ driver for a hotel. Waiter in a restaurant. All of it really hard work. All of it really good fun. Irregular work hours and plenty of free time met irregular income and plenty of home made pasta dinners. 

Decided to stay at the call centre firm. Must have done a couple of things right. Must have said a couple of good things in front of a couple of good people. Climbed the ranks for a while. Changed from customer facing to customer managing. From "hello my name is, how can I help you" to "I think we should focus the campaign on our Enterprise segment". Made a lot of really good friends that I am still in contact with. 

Needed a challenge. Found a Master of Science program at a private university in Krems/Austria. Applied. Paid tuition (with the friendly support of my employer) and started a 2 year MSc program (Communication and Management) part time next to my full time day job. Completed the program. Wrote my thesis on the topic 'Brand management in the Austrian motorbike market'. Graduated.

Setting off to new shores

Decided to give in to that longing for adventure. Applied for a job in Dubai online. Got a call. Had a couple of phone interviews. Never visited Dubai before. Had no idea about the company I was applying for. Accepted. Quit my job in Austria. Attended my university's graduation ceremony. Packed my things and touched down the next evening in the Middle East for the first time. No contacts. Little money. No idea about the job or the company. Loved it! 

My work assignments made me travel to countries like Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

Met my beautiful wife in Dubai. Got married 2012. Became a proud father in 2014. Love them both endlessly. Our kid will (have to) learn 4 languages.   

Resigned from the consulting firm in Dubai. Decided to team up with my BFF and start a boutique style management consulting firm ourselves. Did that amidst the worldwide financial crisis. Had no substantial savings or start capital. Scratched the edge of bankruptcy a couple of times. BFF reeled in a prospect in West Africa. Together with BFF I set up an entire brand from scratch for the first time. Loved it hard. Spent almost an entire month preparing the pitch for that client. Countless all nighters on Red Bull and fast food (and smokes back then). Landed the client. 

Spent 4 months in Cote d'Ivore and Liberia on that project. New environment. New culture. In passing, walked into the Austrian consulate that happened to be in the vicinity of our client's office. Said hello to the Austrian consul. Became friends. Met regularly for Tennis, pool and weekend trips to this summer house on an island off the coast of Abidjan. Ate Schnitzel and Sauerkraut dumplings at his friend's Bavarian restaurant in Abidjan. 

Landed another project in Oman. Spent 4 months in Muscat. Loved it. Made new friends. Delivered a very demanding project successfully. Got invited for another project. 

BFF landed us a project in Baghdad (2011). Big discussions and even bigger concerns. Went there anyway. Spent 10 months on a project, working from within a heavily guarded compound. Drove in armoured car convoys from and to the airport, through countless checkpoints. Loved the adventure of it all. Ignored the risks. Made it out alive and happy that I've done it. Made new friends. 

Received a job offer in Dubai. Decided to quit consulting and the associated long work hours and the weekly travel stress. Back to regular salaries and 9-5 work hours. 

Started a web project that I launched with another friend in my spare time. Spent another countless evenings and weekends meeting people offline and online. Coordinated web developer and other people across three timezones through Skype calls, drop box file sharing and Wunderlist task management. 

Still in Dubai. Still loving it.  

Things I've done. Or that I was involved in. Things I currently do.