Although CELSO SCHVARTZER was recently appointed the new head of GMR Marketing’s Latin American office in Sao Paulo, his home is a 45-minute flight away in Rio de Janeiro. So every Friday, Schvartzer boards a plane with hopes of nothing but family time and relaxation for the next couple days. This weekend’s highlight is a family celebration of his granddaughter’s 10th birthday as well as taking in his favorite Rio soccer team, Fluminense. The 56-year-old formerly led brand activation efforts on behalf of Coca-Cola Brazil for the Olympics and FIFA World Cup from '97-'03, and helped craft the Brazilian Olympic Committee’s sponsorship plan for the '07 Pan American Games. He teaches a Revenue in Sports class for the MBA of Sports Marketing program at Estacio in Brazil. Schvartzer spends most weekends in his Rio penthouse with views of the Christ the Redeemer statue and just minutes from Copacabana and Ipanema Beach.
SUNDAY MORNING STROLL: I wake up hoping that the weather is good enough for walking along the beach. Sometimes I go by bike and we come back by car. So I go by bike and I ride my bike and my wife meets me there and brings me back home with the bike. From the place I live, you have different accesses but the one you can go to by bike is 20 kilometers, and it’s all along the seashore so it’s beautiful.
ROOM WITH A VIEW: I’m a get-up-early guy. I usually wake up much earlier than most of the family and I enjoy my home. I have a nice apartment, a penthouse, so from my penthouse I can see the Christ the Redeemer statue.
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| Schvartzer cherishes spending time with his granddaughter |
STICKING TO THE ROUTINE: I am a Taurus. I was born in May, so I usually wake up and spend a half hour taking care of my few orchids and I walk with the dog. Then I go back home and have my breakfast which is an unnegotiable routine.
FAMILY FIRST: My favorite activity is taking care of my granddaughter. I have only one granddaughter; she’s turning 10.
BON APPETIT: We have a tradition at home, my wife calls it Midnight Pasta. She says I’m a great midnight pasta cook. But it’s a trick because at midnight she’s so hungry, so hungry that everything is good. So it’s not that I am a great cook, but maybe I know how to publicize myself. … It’s usually real pasta, I just change the sauce. So sometimes it turns out that the sauce is great, and sometimes it’s just a disaster. But at midnight the disaster is not so bad.
BUT FOR ALL ELSE: My favorite place is a pizza place called Capricciosa. It’s a wonderful place and I’ve been their client for like 10 years now. They take care of me as if I were a king.
GUILTY WEEKEND PLEASURE: The soccer games are on TV from 4pm to 8pm so we have two games in a row and my wife likes to run at 6pm. So I was supposed to go with her riding my bike, so she runs and I ride my bike with her. Sometimes I don’t go because of the soccer games and it’s when I feel guilty.
GREEN THUMB: I started growing orchids. I once brought orchids from Hawaii, so I pretty much like them. I talk to my orchids. There is one that is my favorite one, a species called Vanda.
