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People and Pop Culture

Weekend Plans With Wasserman VP/Brands Jez Lubenetski

Lubenetski, a former FSU soccer player, makes a point of spending time with her children away from the officeJEZ LUBENETSKI

Wasserman VP/Brands JEZ LUBENETSKI has battled through the first week of the year like the rest of us, gearing up for '19 while trying to transition out of holiday mode. Lubenetski is a former Florida State soccer player, "2018 National Champs, no big deal," who later studied under DR. BILL SUTTON before joining the Wasserman team and starting a family in Raleigh. She took some time out of her first work week of the year to talk plans not only for the weekend, but also what the year holds for both her company and young family.

FIRST WEEK BACKIt’s been a housekeeping week to start the new year. We’re all trying to remember what our jobs are and get back into the swing of things. I lead our American Express account globally here and there’s a never a quiet moment. We’re in the thick of the NBA season obviously, which is a major area of focus for us, and we’re also gearing up in planning for many of their premier event properties, everything from Coachella to Wimbledon. Both The Grammy's and NBA All-Star Weekend are front-and-center right now because they’re on the calendar for February. I’m based out of our Raleigh office, so that weekend in Charlotte will be a nice, short trip. 

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART ISI’ve been at Wasserman 11 years next week give or take -- I started in the Raleigh office as an intern many moons ago in ’08. I was here just under a year before transferring out to our L.A. office for three years. Then I’ve been back now seven years. It’s a beautiful area, I’m in N.Y. probably every other week for client work so I get the taste of city life while also getting to benefit from a little slower existence here in Raleigh. I’m originally from Norman, Okla., and have bounced all around for school and jobs, but North Carolina is home to my family now.

WEEKEND AGENDA: My husband and I both work full-time in addition to having two young kids, so this weekend I’ll be planning our travel schedules for work throughout the year but also making time for fun and vacations. In an ideal situation, most weekends what we end up doing is getting as much time outside as we can. That’s one of the benefits of North Carolina. We’ll take the kids to the park, soccer practice, and then I also really like to cook if time allows. I spend all week at work in front of a computer or on conference calls behind closed doors. Weekends I like to do something completely different, rest and recharge, get outside, try a new restaurant here in either Raleigh or Durham. Saturday morning we may take the kids to a new spot for hot donuts and coffee or I'll maybe even sneak in a date night with my husband.

IN THE MEANTIME: Our daughter is only 3, and there’s a reason people aren’t supposed to play soccer til age 5 or 6. It’s just a reason to get outside right now, but she enjoys it, gets to run around and spend some energy. Kids will choose what they want as they move forward, but for now we just try to put them in everything and see what they like. When it comes to sports fandom, I’m complicated. My very first allegiance is Oklahoma Sooner football. Unfortunately, we’re done for the year but we’ve had a heck of a run on quarterbacks lately, we need to keep it up. Then right after that is everything FSU, namely the women’s soccer team, but that’s not on TV quite as much. The Seminoles are a very close second in football for me. Then I really don’t have a lot of pro affiliations, but I did marry into a Redskins and Orioles family. I’m really a college sports girl through and through.

Know of someone who should be featured in Weekend Plans? Shoot a note over to tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

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