Mara Steinitz ’18

The fact that I went to Mac helps me in the work I do now because there aren’t a lot of people who have strong writing and analytical skills who also know how to cut up a cow.

Mara Steinitz ’18

History Major
Marketing Manager at Catelli Brothers Family of Foods
Writing • Marketing • Networking • Curiosity

Before Catelli Brothers Family of Foods, I spent seven years in the niche meat world—local farms, small butcher shops, including working at Lowry Hill Meats during my last two years at Mac. At a certain point, I realized that I wanted to talk about meat, not just cut it up. I had built up a big network in the small-meat world, so I sent cold emails to women in the industry who were doing interesting things and got hired to do meat education. My network also helped me make my next move, to a marketing agency where I supported small farms selling direct to consumers. Now I manage marketing for a much larger meat processor that distributes millions of pounds of meat a year to food service distributors and retailers. I make sure labels for retail products are in compliance with the USDA and are also eye-catching and informative. I write email blasts, website copy, and promo materials for customers, draft letters for the CEO, and make presentations for our sales team to give.

I graduated from Mac very idealistic, very “small meat only.” I was butchering in whole animal shops that sold direct to consumers, and I liked to tell stories about the specific farmers we worked with and their happy animals. That’s not the story I can tell now because now I’m talking about a much bigger scale: specific and strategic advancements in veal housing, or a family in Australia raising hundreds of head of cattle for generations in ways that people in the US are just figuring out are sustainable. I have learned that we need a diverse food system that includes precious small farms and bigger, more efficient farms that can feed a country. And I realize that another important thing I learned at Mac was to look at multiple sides of an issue and question my assumptions. I ask myself a lot: How can we do more to bring the two sides of this issue together?

I ran the Mac Jewish organization, and through that found my way to the Repair the World Fellowship in Detroit—a Jewish, year-long service fellowship, where I was a food justice fellow after graduation. I’m not sure I would have stayed in butchering if I hadn’t made that move. I fell into marketing because I know a lot about meat and a lot about writing. I can see my long-term career turning to niche communications rather than marketing, which has a bit more of a focus on numbers. But I don’t see myself making a move any time soon. There’s still so much to learn.

Last updated: October 2025