Ozan Kuşçu
Co-Founder
Ozan Kuşcu was born in Istanbul in 1975. He graduated from the English Business Administration program at Marmara University in 1997. Between 1999 and 2001, he completed his MBA in Finance at Yeditepe University. He began his professional career at Monitor Company, working on the "Reorganization Project" for Yapı Kredi Bank.
In 1997, Ozan Kuşcu started as a Management Trainee at Garanti Bank, where he worked in commercial and corporate banking until 2005. During this time, he also volunteered to design and deliver internal training programs.
In 2000, while working at the bank, he received "Advanced Selling Skills" training from Management Center Europe (MCE) in Belgium, and in 2004, he attended the "Vital Business Update" at Cranfield School of Management in England. Between 2002 and 2005, he became an INLPTA certified NLP trainer through various trainings.
After his last role as Corporate Sales Coordination Manager at the bank, he coordinated the Technical Training Project for Branch Managers at Garanti Bank's Training Department. He then left the bank to become the founding and managing partner of NAR Education and Consulting Center.
Currently, at Nar Education, Ozan Kuşcu provides consultancy and training on establishing and managing customer-centric sales systems and new era leadership.
Under Ozan Kuşcu's leadership, Nar Education has made several investments, including developing Narköy, an agro-eco-tourism facility, and Nartek, which developed SimulApp, an interactive video simulation platform. He is also a co-founder of Agile Partners, an assessment center company.
In addition, Ozan Kuşcu has developed training and consulting methodologies in areas reflecting his interests, such as "Aikido in Business Life," based on his 20 years of aikido experience, and "Econovation" (ecological economic innovation), reflecting the founding principles of Narköy. He is currently working on three books on these topics, one of which, "The Jackal's Watermelon - Lessons from Nature," has been completed.
Fluent in English and German, Ozan Kuşcu enjoys practicing aikido and amateur guitar playing and singing in his free time.
Barbaros Avunduk
Co-Founder
Barbaros Avunduk, born in Istanbul in 1980, graduated from Yeditepe University with degrees in International Trade Management and Business Administration, specializing in marketing. He worked extensively in this field, establishing and managing marketing departments for renowned hotels and hotel chains such as Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay, Pera Palace Hotel, Divan Hotels, and The Sofa Hotel. Additionally, he taught ""Brand Creation and Brand Strategy Development"" courses at Istanbul University.
Barbaros has actively participated in various social responsibility projects and organizations, including the Sarıyer Rotaract Club, Contemporary Life Support Association’s “Starfish” Project, Yeditepe University Social Support Club, ACCOR RIISE and Planet 21, and the Foundation for the Support of Women's Work (KEDV).
In 2011, Barbaros discovered the discipline of coaching. He completed the ""Advanced Coaching Training"" program, accredited by ICF and AC (Association for Coaching), along with Corporate Coaching and Relationship Coaching specialization programs at FA Coach Academy. Following his training, he served as an instructor and mentor at the same academy, designing bespoke corporate training programs that combine coaching principles with traditional education.
Barbaros also completed the ""Professional Hosting & Announcing"" course, certified by the Turkish Ministry of Education (M.E.B.), at Dialog Anlatım & İletişim, and the ""Voice Dubbing"" training in collaboration with Global Dubbing Center.
From 2014 to 2018, he worked as a Business Development Manager at Nar Training and Consultancy. He then joined Raffles Istanbul as the Training and Development Manager, eventually serving as the Assistant Director of Talent & Culture Department, responsible for Training, Development, and Quality Management. During this period, he was one of the three Turkish trainers providing service and leadership training for ACCOR in the Northern & Eastern Europe and IMEA regions.
In his most recent industry role, Barbaros served as the Academy Director of Beymen Group Academy, where he and his team designed various training, development, and experience programs for the group's four brands (Beymen, Beymen Club, Network, Divarese) and the campus headquarters.
In February 2023, Barbaros rejoined the Nar Training and Consultancy family, launching the Misafir Akademisi to extend high-level service understanding across all sectors. He also continues to provide various competency, coaching, and leadership training sessions. Barbaros’s greatest passions include building connections and sharing new experiences with people and all other living beings.
Banu Kırmaz
Co-Founder
Banu Kırmaz graduated from Middle East Technical University with a degree in Economics. She began her career as a financial auditor at Pricewaterhouse Coopers before transitioning to the banking sector. In her banking career, she established and managed financial control and reporting disciplines and teams at Oyakbank and Akbank. After 11 years in the finance sector, she shifted her career to the hospitality industry, starting as the Director of Finance at The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul. Her next role was Regional Finance Director within the Europe region, enhancing her finance expertise in various countries.
To diversify her luxury segment hospitality experience, Banu took a new adventure in 2009 in Marriott International's new brand, EDITION as Director of Finance and Human Resources at The Istanbul EDITION: the new brand's first hotel in Europe. In this role, she gained an intensive experience by witnessing the birth of a new luxury international brand and had the chance to work with the creative team of EDITION. In 2013, she promoted to be the General Manager of The Istanbul EDITION.
In 2016, Banu has decided to combine her diverse know-how and extensive network in finance industry and in luxury hospitality and to share her first-hand experience with younger generations. She has taken on directorship and teaching roles at VATEL Hotel and Tourism Business School Istanbul, excelling in bringing in new high calibre professionals into the sector. Her new expertise in "academy" and "education" part of the hospitality, led her to extend her services to a larger domain and in 2021, she established her own practice. In 2023, she joined Misafir Akademisi as the Co-Founder and has been managing projects along with providing consultancy and training for service sector since then.