With all the employees we have around the world, we wanted to bring to light who we are here at IIL. Each month we will spotlight an employee from one of our offices. Here, we introduce Max Laussu from IIL Europe. 

Max Laussu is the Managing Director of IIL Europe (UK). Over Max’s 6 year career with IIL, he has worked at three of our international offices in Paris, New York, and now, London.

Anyone who has ever met Max can immediately sense his great love of life. With a passion for traveling and finding new thrills to experience, Max has developed an unusual hobby: skydiving.

In one of Max’s travels, he found himself in Australia and in his search for the next thrill, he decided to do a tandem skydive jump. Skydiving had always been on his bucket list and what better time to do it than on a trip to Australia?  The tandem jump included one minute of free fall while having someone strapped on his back. The experience ended up being more peaceful than Max expected and he immediately fell in love. In that moment he knew he had to do it again.

Max has gone on to earn his “A” skydiving license which allows him to jump on his own. He is able to jump anywhere as long as the weather permits. One would think that winter would be a bad season for skydiving, but Max shares that it is actually the best time of year to skydive as long as the air is dry.

Max’s next goal is to acquire a FS1 license which would allow him to jump with other skydivers and do formation jumps.  To do so he needs to prove that he is in control of his body while he dives with an instructor. He recently bought his own skydiving suit and plans on getting his own parachute this year. This, he shares, is a big step that one should take some time before jumping into (pun intended).

Max shares that there is nothing else like the feeling he gets when he skydives, and that it can be very addictive. “You can do whatever you want in the air. If you want to just take in the view, you can,” he says. “It’s such a magical moment and you don’t want to do it too much to lose that,” in regard to becoming a frequent skydiver. Some people end up taking the activity very seriously and it’s easy to recognize those who do; however, Max enjoys it for pleasure, not something to participate in for competition.

After a recent weekend skydiving in Northern UK, come Monday Max was feeling much more positive about life. Max says that it has taught him to not take things too seriously, that a job is a job, and that he doesn’t want to go crazy over everything. Skydiving is usually viewed as an extreme sport but it has become a meditative activity for Max. When asked if he recommends people to try skydiving he is eager to say yes. “There is no other feeling like it. You feel alive.”

This year Max and a group his friends are making plans to go to Portugal to find a “drop zone” to skydive for four days. With big plans for skydiving, Max has a lot to look forward to in the New Year with his upcoming license to skydive with others, his trip to Portugal, and purchasing his own parachute bag. At the office, “I’m keen” is something Max is often quoted as saying, and that is really the approach that Max has towards life!

Don’t miss next month’s IIL Spotlight to learn more about our team. We are more than just your average company. Together, we are a family.