Capitol Communicator is running “Up Close and Personal” profiles of communicators in the mid-Atlantic. In this profile we feature James Maravetz, VP of Marketing and Brand Management, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD. Photography for the series is by award-winning Cade Martin, wardrobe styling by Pascale Lemaire and Sybil Street for THE Artist Agency; and hair and makeup by Patti D Nelson, Janice Kinigopoulos and Lori Pressman for THE Artist Agency.
James, please provide us a short bio.
I started my career in the New York ad agency world as a copywriter at the legendary Cliff Freeman and Partners. It was a wildly fun place to learn how to be a copywriter. Cliff Freeman taught me to be funny and fearless. Then after bouncing around the agency world for a decade, I managed to combine my two favorite things into one job: making ads and spilling beer on my shirt.
Are you involved in any other organizations?
I’m a co-founder of the VoteMeToo SuperPac, a political fundraising group that supports qualified female candidates in national elections. The future is most definitely female, and now I just want to be in service to the cause.
What are the things you are most proud of?
Personally, I’m proudest of my two children, Cliff and Faye. Thanks to their mother, they’re still in pre-school and already smarter than I am. But on a professional level, I’m proud of helping all the people who’ve ever worked under me go on to bigger and better jobs and leave me in their dust.
Who is your personal role model?
My very first creative director in advertising was Dan Morales. He pulled me out of a dead-end restaurant job and put me on a my current career path. I still owe him about 1,000,000 beers.
Did Dan offer professional advice that helped you in your career?
The best advice Dan ever gave me was: “When you love your job, you never spend a day doing work.” I took that advice to heart—if I’m not laughing every day, then I’m doing it wrong.
What professional advice do you have for others?
No matter what you do, find a way to make it fun. When you’re a filmmaker, it’s easy to enjoy yourself. But when you’re a spreadsheet person who loves making spreadsheets, you’ve got life figured out.
What’s on your Spotify and Pandora playlists?
Anything I can lip-sync to while eating microwaveable french bread pizza and dancing in my kitchen—so mostly hip-hop and R&B.
What’s your favorite restaurant?
I’m a former fat kid, so it’s hard to turn down Krispy Kreme.
Is there anything else you would like us to know about you?
My final bits of advice: sometimes you have to burn your life down to figure out who you really are. Embrace the journey, hit rock bottom and then rebuild. Then apologize to anyone you hurt along the way.
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