Marcel Ramin Derakhchan

is Managing Director at digital leaders advisory and an expert in filling top management positions in Business & Professional Services companies. In particular, he advises strategy consultancies, IT service providers and hidden champions. As a headhunter, he helps global companies fill key positions in changing markets.

Thank you so much for being with us today! How often do you usually travel for your job in consulting?

I travel twice a week.

What’s important to you when traveling professionally and privately?

When traveling privately, it’s really important to me to start my vacation not at my destination but already on board the plane. When traveling for my job I definitely prefer to keep distances and transfer times to a minimum.

What do you enjoy doing on the plane?

I love to read, read, read!

What are your tips for traveling light?

For me, taking only a hand luggage trolley is definitely the best way to travel light.

What’s the one item in your hand luggage you can’t live without?

I couldn’t travel without my Maglite mini pocket lamp and my Teufel Real Blue NC headphones.

Which one’s your favorite airport and why?

Private: Kuala Lumpur, as it always reminds me of the secret laboratory in “Men in Black”.

Job-related: Munich Airport Terminal 1 due to the short distances. From taxi to gate it’s sometimes only 150m.

Which place in the world would you love to travel to and why?

I’ve never been to Australia and New Zealand – that’s still a dream!

What’s your craziest travel story?

My colleague and I had checked in and we were already sitting at the gate at the airport in Berlin. We had a very interesting discussion and watched all the other passengers board the plane. When they made the final call, we were still caught up in our conversation and started hurrying to get on board. That’s when we realized that we were sitting at the wrong gate and that our plane had already left an hour ago.

Thank you so much for sharing your travel experience with us today!