Wunderbar Together

Als 17-Jähriger spricht ihn ein Model-Scout auf der Straße an: ob er Lust hätte, mal bei einem Model-Wettbewerb mitzumachen? Er wird nach London geflogen, trinkt die Minibar leer und gewinnt nicht, aber sein Leben macht einen Bogen: Johannes Huebl wird Model. Unzählige Foto-Shoots auf der ganzen Welt später zieht er gegen den Rat seiner Agentin nach New York – und wird zum erfolgreichsten deutschen Männermodel in den USA.

2017 trifft er bei einer Filmpremiere in New York ein It-Girl, jünger als er, geborene New Yorkerin, und verliebt sich auf der Stelle. Heute sind Johannes Huebl und Olivia Palermo ein Ehepaar, das für seinen Style gefeiert wird. Nicht nur im real life, sondern auch von Millionen Followern auf Instagram – was auch dafür sorgt, dass vor ihrem Apartmenthaus in Brooklyn jeden Tag ein Papparrazo sitzt.

In der 22. Episode des Wunderbar Together Podcasts - ganz auf Deutsch! - erzählt Johannes Huebl, wie es für einen Hannoveraner ist, eine Manhattanite zu daten, wie es sich mit George Clooney Zigarette raucht, und wie er in der Pandemie zum Fitnesstrainer für seine Freunde wurde. Er erzählt auch, wie er sich in letzter Zeit von den USA immer wieder wegsehnt, hinein in die Fashion-Metropolen des alten Kontinents, um seine kommende Karriere als Designer anzuschieben.

Folgt Johannes Huebl auf Instagram, checkt seine neue Kollektion bei Frescobol Carioca und findet seinen pandemischen Musiktipp "This Feeling" von Faithless (feat. Suli Breaks & Nathan Ball) hier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfPeOambsGg

The Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and Oliver Nermerich and produced by Peter Tooke and Heiner D'Alquen. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together Initiative for inspiring and supporting this project.

Growing up in his grandmother's and mother's hospitality business in the heart of Cologne, working and living alongside powerful women and hosting others became part of Philippe von Borries' DNA. Venturing out of Germany, he eventually landed in New York, where he, in 2005, co-created a virtual shopping mall for the many independent lifestyle brands popping up in his new home, Brooklyn: Refinery 29 – a virtual place to refine content and products, geared towards the next generation of women, with 29 shops on each virtual floor.

What started as a sketch on a napkin Philippe drew together with his partner, Piera Gelardi, and two other friends, ended up being a global internet business – sold to Vice Media in 2019 for $400 million.

In episode 22 of the Wunderbar Together podcast, Philippe von Borries, Co-Founder of Refinery 29, takes us on his journey from German kid to internet wunderkind and how becoming a father has turned his view on work upside down. He also takes a stand on the recent accusations of discrimination at the company and his own reckoning with racism.

"The company is not your baby. I realized that once I had a a real baby." – Philippe von Borries

Follow Philippe von Borries on LinkedIn and Instagram. Find Refinery 29 here. And of course, re-visit his music pick and wedding dance, "Time Of The Season" by The Zombies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzpPy9hJYA8

The Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and Oliver Nermerich and produced by Peter Tooke and Heiner D'Alquen. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together Initiative for inspiring and supporting this project.

He is the first German who ever scored a touchdown in the National Football League NFL. He is a former New York Giants player, now a New York Giants employee. He is a remarkable athlete, a celebrated podcaster and an expert ambassador for American Football in Germany and around the world: Meet Markus Kuhn.

In episode 21 of the Wunderbar Together Podcast, Markus shares how he, together with his dad, took a flight to the US, squeezed himself and his dad, both tall and enormous men, in a small rental car, and road tripped colleges around the country, showing Markus' video tape as a promising young football player to coaches. "If I would have known what big of a business this is back then, I probably would have never shown up. Being naive helped me", says Kuhn.

He continued his journey, working his way into the 50+ people roaster of the New York Giants, surviving four years in one of the hardest, most unforgiving and most competitive professional sport leagues in the world. "I sacrificed various body parts". Since then, Kuhn has been learning the science behind football, going back to school and becoming a sports expert. "American Football is like chess – with the best athletes in the world as your pieces."

Follow Markus Kuhn on LinkedIn and Instagram. Find his football podcast "The Vollmer and Kuhn Show" (in German) here. And of course, re-listen his epic music pic that doesn't need an introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdKVX45wYeQ

The Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and Oliver Nermerich and produced by Peter Tooke and Heiner D'Alquen. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together Initiative for inspiring and supporting this project.

He started out as a local newspaper reporter in small-town Eastern Germany –today, he presides over Complex Networks, a global media company headquartered at Times Square in the heart of New York City. As president, a term borrowed from the music industry, Christian Baesler leads the daily operations of the company and its roughly 300 employees.

In episode 19 of the Wunderbar Together Podcast, Christian takes us on a journey deep into youth culture: into Complex, coined as the MTV of Gen Z; into sneakers; and into one of the world’s most successful YouTube shows, "Hot Ones", a show about famous celebrities eating progressively spicier chicken wings.

Christian also reveals what music he spins when secretly performing as a DJ – and the differences he has observed through his work between continents: „In Germany, Hip Hop is mainly considered a music genre. In the U.S., it’s a culture.“

Follow Christian Baesler on LinkedIn and find his music pick Tale Of Us & Mind Against - Astral [Life and Death] here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2eCQO-S4ws. Special shoutout to German podcaster and marketing samurai Philipp Westermeyer for being our surprise guest!

This episode of the Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and Oliver Nermerich and produced by Peter Tooke and Heiner D'Alquen. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together Initiative for inspiring and supporting this project.

Being a tall teenager, she got bullied for her height. But when she entered the basketball court for the first time, “all the girls ran up to me and were like, 'Oh my God, you're so tall'. And I realized they were actually excited, which I’ve never felt before. I think that's why I ultimately got stuck with basketball.”

Today, at 6’5”, Marie Gülich holds the center position at the WNBA team Los Angeles Sparks, one of very few Germans at the highest level of female basketball worldwide.

Marie Gülich is a leader both in the WNBA and for the German national team and shares her time between the US and Europe. A fate she shares with most female basketball players, who spend their summers playing for extra income while their male counterparts in the NBA earn a ten- or hundredfold.

On episode 18 the Wunderbar Together Podcast, Marie not only shares her journey from a tall girl to a pro athlete and the humbling experience of entering US sports – "I was a good player in Germany and I came to America and I was no one" – she also shares insights from the “Wubble”, a sprawling complex in Florida where the WNBA plays their current season shut off from the outside world to minimize the risk of being exposed to COVID-19. "I think 2020 has been a really good representation of not being able to control anything."

Follow Marie on Instagram @mariegulitsch and Twitter @marygulitsch.

Find Marie's music recommendation – Beyoncé`s "Halo" – here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnVUHWCynig

Special thanks to German basketball hero Paul Gudde @paulgudde for being our surprise guest!

This episode of the Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and Oliver Nermerich and produced by Heiner D'Alquen. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together Initiative for inspiring and supporting this project.

Ralf Möller talks about why Berlin is making movies, while Hollywood is closed. How Arnie and him ride their bikes to the gym together almost every morning, work out, eat healthy, and keep on with their lives in the spotlight beyond retirement age.

He also explains why what comes easily, also goes easily – at least in showbiz. "Alles, was einfach kommt, geht auch schnell wieder." – Ralf Möller.

Follow Ralf Möller on Instagram @ralf.moeller and Facebook and check out his website.

Find his music recommendation – David Bowie's Rebel Rebel – here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U16Xg_rQZkA

A special shoutout to Tom Junkersdorf @tomjunkersdorf for being our surprise guest!

The Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and Oliver Nermerich and produced by Heiner D'Alquen. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together Initiative for inspiring and supporting this project.

Follow Christoph Niemann on Instagram @abstractsunday and check out his wonderful website and his shop.

Find his music recommendation – Oscar Peterson‘s Hymn To Freedom – here, performed live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCrrZ1NnCuM

A special shoutout to Christoph Amend @ch_amend for being our surprise guest!

The Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and Olli Nermerich and produced by Peter Tooke. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together initiative for inspiring and supporting this project. Find out more at http://wunderbartogether.org and follow on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

On episode 15 of the Wunderbar Together podcast, Sanel Huskanovic, travel influencer and founder of "Mein Trip Nach New York", reveals how he carried on with his tour agency during until it was too late, hoping the lockdown would lift. He describes letting go of 50 employees and trading his luxury apartment for a friend's couch. He discusses the fact that many of his customers in Europe still wait to get money back - and how he tries to respond to them.

And he shares how growing up in Bosnia, experiencing war and concentration camps as a young teenager and coming to Germany as a refugee before moving to the U.S. have shaped his way of looking at life – and why he won't give up.

Follow Sanel Huskanovic on Facebook and Instagram and see his tours at https://meintripnachnewyork.com/.

Find his music recommendation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSALn2s5qas

The Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and produced by Peter Tooke. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together initiative for inspiring and supporting this podcast. Find out more at http://wunderbartogether.org and follow on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Christoph Mücher also shares his personal highlights of Wunderbar Together, from an iconic slacklining moment high above Monument Valley to meeting the quilting ladies of Kutztown, Pennsylvania – and his vision of the digital continuation of the project in 2020.

Having grown up in the German heartland of the Ruhrgebiet, Christoph Mücher has lived in Montreal, Abidjan, Tokyo, Munich and Wellington before moving to Boston, the place that he is now returning back to. "Boston is the city on my little journey that took me the longest to understand."

Find out more about Wunderbar Together at http://wunderbartogether.org and follow on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Watch "Building Bridges", the iconic moment of Wunderbar Together in Monument Valley: https://wunderbartogether.org/blog/one-inch-dreams-releases-two-films-on-building-bridges-above-monument-valley/

And make sure to check out the Kutztown Folk Festival, taking place virtually this year: https://www.facebook.com/pg/kutztownfolkfestival/

Christoph Mücher's music recommendation: http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/pat-garrett-and-billy-the-kid/

The Wunderbar Together Podcast is hosted by Felix Zeltner and produced by Peter Tooke. Many thanks to the Wunderbar Together initiative for inspiring and supporting this podcast.

In episode 13 of the Wunderbar Together podcast, Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt who has helped Google become one of the most innovative companies since 2010 and also serves as an adjunct professor at Stanford University, not only shares his journey from the Southwest of Germany to the Silicon Valley. He also creates a workshop-like atmosphere and walks us through the most basic techniques of turning problems into opportunities, sharing his experience of fostering innovation within Google and many of the largest organizations in the world.

Connect with Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt on LinkedIn and read his latest piece on teamwork in a world on pause.

Hosts: Felix Zeltner, Olli Nermerich