When the restaurant he managed shut down in August of 2021, Ambrose Cappuccio was presented with a situation he’d never been in before.

“As a manager, I had never had to tell an entire team ‘we’re done.’”

But that didn’t keep him down for long. When it came time to decide whether to find a new restaurant gig or divert his career path, he chose to switch it up with a creative career. 

“Almost immediately, I asked myself, ‘what’s my career pivot?’”

His wife, who’s a copywriter, inspired him to enroll at book180 to build a copywriting portfolio. 

And with a background in playwriting, acting, and theater, he has enough creativity flowing through his veins to bring innovative thoughts to whatever he sets his mind on. The first play he ever wrote and directed was shown at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

“But I’ve definitely got the itch now. All my life, I’ve wanted to write scripts,” Ambrose said. “ I see that I can do that as a copywriter.”

Ambrose sees a career in advertising and copywriting as something that can support his passion for theater. He’s still continuing to build his dream of playwriting and acting.

“In a weird way, I think advertising can be an avenue for playwriting,” Ambrose said. “I mean, what other job offers such an environment to support creative work? I think more artists should consider advertising as a profession.”

You can catch Ambrose on Chicago Fire and at Lookingglass Theatre, and as part of the debut class of creatives graduating from book180. View his writing portfolio here. Book180’s students learn how to create portfolios to show they’re start their copywriting careers with experience.

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