BRANDSTALK #72
Sebastian Kummer

HEAD OF INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS
VIENNA UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

He became famous in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic steamrolled across Europe. His crew left in Mallorca, and he found himself barred from one port after another and utterly alone at sea. Chased out of Greece by submachine-gun-toting coast guardsmen, he became a reluctant and unwitting pirate forced into a weeks-long game of cat-and-mouse with Turkish authorities in a self-described no-man’s land of remote bays and coves along the country’s wild coast.

Tune in to this interesting and delightful conversation with Professor Sebastian Kummer – Head of the Institut of Transport and Logistics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Professor Sebastian Kummer talks about his life journey as a university professor, consultant, and sailor. He explains how these different roles make him a thought leader and an authority.

Sebastian dives deep into 

💡why he chose to become a professor

💡what kind of consultancy work he does additionally

💡what stance he takes when being asked by the media to talk about recent topics 

✨“In media, it’s very important to be authentic and to have a short, clear message, and even more so that you produce valuable content.”💫

💡his involuntary quarantine all alone in the Mediterranean Sea during COVID and what the learnings he took away and how it shaped him. There’s a quote by Mark Twain, that Sebastian loves:

✨”In 20 years, you will not regret the things that you did, but you will regret the things you didn’t.”💫

💡his book “My Blu Quarantine”, he wrote about his endeavor

✨“Generally I’m optimistic, but when I’m sailing, I’m very realistic, because I know that the sea is dangerous. So yeah, I would say I’m an optimistic realist.”💫

💡how he defines himself as a personal brand in the context of all these different roles he plays

✨“I would never think that a personal brand is important. []But now I realized very much, the older I get, that personal brand is something that is very important. And it helps me also in many, many fields now. So brands are very important.”💫

 

Sebastian Kummer is a professor and since 2001 has been the Head of the Institute of Transport and Logistics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and since 2019 Endowed Chair Professor at the Jilin University in Changchun, China. 

He carried out numerous research and practice projects and his publication list includes more than 200 publications, including leading textbooks.

As a passionate sailor, he used to sail Optimist and Laser Class participating in world championships.

 

📹 Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XRRqVT22X-Y 

Get in touch with Sebastian Kummer:

  • book in English language: My Blu Quarantine: A pandemic strikes. The crew scatters. The borders are closed. An Odyssey begins.

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