Mario Kümpel, better known as Surferzyzz, is 25 years old and lives in Leipzig - when he's not travelling around the world. He has become known for the more than 400 windsurfing YouTube videos he has produced. But he didn't want to stop there, so in 2018 Mario founded the fashion label Jibe Wear together with two friends - and the online surf shop Wind Lounge just two years later.
Quite a lot for one person. So we asked him how he manages it all.
Hello, Mario. Glad the interview went well.
Hi Linus, you're welcome, I look forward to your questions.
How did you come up with the idea of making YouTube films about windsurfing? And when did you realise that you could reach people with such films?
I always watched a lot of films, series and YouTube videos as a teenager. But YouTube in particular was a different world for me. Real people showing parts of their real lives. That was very inspiring and I became a different person myself through YouTube. I didn't have it so easy at school, I happened to follow a gaming YouTuber who was similar to me. He then started doing fitness, documented everything and completely changed in the process. From a nerd to a cool guy with a girlfriend, so to speak. I wanted to copy that - and then I almost became cool (laughs). Because there was no one in windsurfing who regularly produced video blogs, I just tried my hand at it. I thought to myself, maybe I can inspire people too. Just like it happened to me back then. I knew that I could reach people when I had about a hundred subscribers after a year and the first comments started coming in. I was convinced that something could come of it. I don't know why (laughs).
How did you get into windsurfing in the first place? Leipzig is not exactly a windsurfing stronghold.
Long story, short: My dad is a windsurfer with heart and soul, so I had no choice! I was put on a board for the first time when I was eleven - and a little later the addiction took hold of me too. But I have to be honest, it was a love-hate relationship. After every third session, I never wanted to windsurf again. I just couldn't get the hang of going upwind - and the frustration level was extremely high. Fortunately, the great planing rides made up for it!
What is the target audience for your videos?
Basically, almost all of my 15,000 subscribers are windsurfers. More and more wingsurfers are slowly joining. The demographics of my community also correspond pretty closely to the demographics of our sport. Mostly male, between 30 and 50 years old. Of course, there are also women among my viewers. However, the young viewers are the most interactive overall. They are mega hyped on windsurfing, and that motivates me all the more - of course, they also know best how social media works.
Financing your vlogs must have been a big problem? Especially at the beginning, when you were still studying.
That's right, it really wasn't easy. At the very beginning of my career, I was still at school. I simply used my dad's camera equipment, he supported me a lot and made everything possible. Later in my studies, I had around 700 euros a month in support from my parents - that was enough to live on in Kiel. I then earned extra money for petrol, equipment and much more with a mini-job. I also inherited a bit of money from my grandad, without which I wouldn't have been able to buy my first camera, laptop or car. So there was both luck and brains involved.
And how do you deal with criticism of yourself and your social media presence?
It depends on the criticism. If someone gives me an open and constructive suggestion for improvement on the beach, I'm actually pleased. But when it comes to insults on the internet, it's of course very hurtful at first. It also hurts when people blaspheme behind your back. But that used to be much worse for me, now I can put up with it. You just get used to it. But the topic is very difficult, because I usually have 100 per cent positive comments and 99 per cent positive ratings on my videos. It almost makes you feel stupid if you let yourself be triggered by the individual cases. But I'm only human (laughs).
What was the idea behind you and your two friends founding the fashion label Jibe Wear?
Well, the skaters, snowboarders and so on, they all had their own style! I'm not a fashion guru or anything, but the idea was simply to produce clothes that were clearly made by and for windsurfers. And cool ones at that. Of course, we then realised how difficult it is. But hey, everyone said it was impossible - and we've come a hell of a long way. Hopefully we'll be back at Jibe Wear soon!
What is the difference between Jibe Wear and other fashion brands like Chiemsee?
Well, Chiemsee is a huge company and they are simply no longer a crystal-clear windsurfing brand. But I don't mean any offence at all. I think their clothes are mega cool and I always have a Chiemsee shirt in my wardrobe!
When you founded the Wind Lounge in 2020, Jibe Wear was still in its early stages. Wasn't it a bit risky to found the Wind Lounge as well?
Absolutely, Wind Lounge was the biggest risk I've ever taken in every respect. You can set up a fashion label with very little start-up capital, but not a surf shop. The amount of work involved is also completely different. But the opportunity came up, we were the perfect team for the job, so we just went for it.
What was the idea behind the Wind Lounge in the first place?
Our focus is on advice, service and customer proximity. For example, there is such an incredible amount of material on the market that windsurfers are really grateful to Mario Kümpel if you pre-sort the selection and position yourself clearly. That's why we don't have ten different board brands in our range - in the end, that doesn't help anyone. Making such decisions and not going for the masses is a lot of responsibility, but it's all the more fun when you get positive feedback from customers.
Your team wants to support young and committed windsurfers in particular. What exactly do you mean by that - and why is it so important to you?
We founded our Wind Lounge team in 2022. The bottom line is that young windsurfers get more favourable conditions on our equipment - and we also help wherever we can. Even if our time is naturally very limited. It is simply important to us to make it easier for young windsurfers to get into the sport - especially if they have regatta ambitions. However, we are not the messiah who will solve the problem of young windsurfers - that will require a lot more ideas and commitment.
Why don't you have a classic surf shop with a branch? Instead, have you completely focussed the Wind Lounge on online purchases?
Christopher and I live in Leipzig - it's simply not worth having a big shop here. Especially in our initial phase, it would have been far too much effort. But let's see what comes next.
How did you still want to give buyers the feeling that they were in a surf shop - and could touch and look at the items there?
Well, let's be honest. You can't touch anything in the online shop yet. But we don't want to replace local surf shops either, we want to create something new, something of our own. In the medium term, for example, our customers should be able to find a corresponding video for almost all products on our Wind Lounge YouTube channel. Including interviews with other customers, team riders, material reviews, talks with the manufacturers - and so on. Plus, of course, our website, the product manuals we write ourselves and so on. It's all an incredible amount of work. But in the end, we will create something that doesn't compete with physical shops. Not because it's better. But because it's different.
You only offer very exclusive and relatively unknown brands like Future Fly in your shop. Is there a particular reason for this?
When we founded the company, we said to ourselves that we only wanted to sell products where we were fully behind the brand. In the beginning, these were simply brands that we were able to get to know in depth. However, we now also have well-known brands such as Patrik and Point-7 in our range - we have had extremely good experiences with both, by the way. Point-7 is also my new sailing sponsor.
In your range you also offer specially produced gadgets such as the Wind Lounge screw box. What is the idea behind it?
The idea is that we solve problems for windsurfers that don't really need to be solved. The screw box is just one product of many, and the story is quite simple. We have seen that other surf shops sell individual screws for up to three euros. That is of course completely crazy. Our own screw box contains 30 high-quality and finely sorted screws in all sizes, washers - and you end up paying less than in the DIY store.
Do you think you can continue to grow the Wind Lounge with this concept together with your friends?
We are the youngest surf shop in Germany. So far, it's been all uphill for us, because we've basically started from scratch. To be honest, we don't know where the limits are. Our concept naturally makes it harder for us to grow quickly. Everything is personal and is done with heart and soul, and heart and soul is limited. But we are in good spirits, everything is going great so far, even though the world is in crisis mode. However, we definitely don't want to become the next Surf Amazon, but always keep our vision in mind.
What will we be hearing and seeing from you in the near future? What are you currently focussing on?
In the near future, I will mainly be documenting my first experiences with the new Point-7 sails - my new sail sponsor. Apart from that, I'll of course be following our journey with the surf shop on YouTube - as well as any other windsurfing adventures I come across! The focus for us is on two things: YouTube and Wind Lounge.
Will you still be taking part in regattas? Maybe start again at the PWA? Or are you ruling it out?
I'm up for it, but the foil theme is just super cool. In regattas with a fin, it was always the case that at least you weren't permanently scared to death and could just push sometimes. When you take part in a regatta with a foil, you have to be on point. As I don't train every day now, it makes it really difficult. But hey, I know myself, I'm guaranteed to be up for it again - and then I'll be at the start!
You mentioned foiling, which is forbidden in Saxony. It's certainly difficult for you to get to a good level in foiling. Your father is very much against the ban. How do you deal with it?
My father is going full throttle, after all, his hobby was banned along with foiling. The whole thing is really annoying and absolutely incomprehensible. The justification for the ban makes no sense and unfortunately we now have to take the long, legal route. It's really tough for the young people here who were thinking about training for Olympic foiling. I don't even want to start thinking about what would happen if something like this were to spill over into other federal states. It's just annoying for me, but at least I'm travelling a lot - so I don't want to moan too much. By the way, there's a fundraising campaign for the legal dispute - www.skvl.de
Editor's note: In the meantime, the Foil ban in Saxony lifted again - find out all the background here!
See you again soon - and thanks for the great chat.
FACTS
- Born: 11.9.1997
- Place of residenceMarkkleeberg
- ProfessionYouTuber/Surfshop operator
- Size/weight: 189 cm/ 80 Kilo Surfs since: 2007
- Regattas: Many fun regattas, regattas of the DWC, the IFCA and a participation in the 2021 PWA 2* event in Croatia
- Successes: Over 4 million views and 15,000 subscribers on YouTube, over 400 YouTube videos produced in 6 years.
- Favourite spot:Lake Cospuden
- Favourite discipline:Slalom with fin
- Favourite move:Lay Down Jibe
- Sponsors:Future Fly, Point-7 Sails, Northshore Management, Dunekacke and Wilms, Sensosports, Vayu Wingfoiling, Xcel Wetsuits
- Mario's Youtube channel: Surferzyzz
- Mario on Instagram: @Surferzyzz
- Mario's surf shop: Wind Lounge
