Alumni Profile: Mark “Gravy” Graves

Mark Graves, Brass Section 2004-2006

After aging out of drum corps, Mark Graves found a new passion—craft beer. Although the brewing industry is difficult to enter, five years of drum corps prepared Mark for the challenge. He persevered through a year of unanswered emails, phone calls, and rejected applications before receiving an entry-level position at Philadelphia’s award-winning Manyunk Brewing Company. Gravy admits that his first job wasn’t glamorous, but in just ten months he was promoted to a brewing position. Mark has since built on his success in Manyunk to a Cellarman position with the acclaimed Flying Fish Brewing Company.

Mark’s bosses have taken note of his hard work and resiliency, which Mark attributes to his summers on the drum corps field. “If it were not for the lessons learned at Jersey Surf I would not be where I am today, in a career field that I love. The experiences you get during your time in drum corps and on teams like the Jersey Surf set you up to tackle the parts of life that school does not train you for.”