Growing up in McComb, Chris Ray had dual interests in the worlds of arts and business. Those two interests have found a comfortable home in the Ramey Agency, a marketing and communication firm, where Ray is chief executive officer.

Ray is the son of a high school art teacher and an ordained Presbyterian lay minister who was previously head of hospital social services. The creative life was a part of him from childhood. “You can imagine with a mother who is an art teacher, I did a lot of arts and crafts as a child,” says Ray. The artistic gifts from his mother also found an outlet in his brother Corey, a photographer and chef in Gulfport, and his sister Cameron, a speech therapist in Little Rock. At Rhodes College in Memphis, he demonstrated his writing ability by his final senior project — a book of short stories he authored.

In college he majored in English and studied business, absorbed by the intersection of business and creativity. While at Rhodes he had the opportunity to intern with Tommy Ramey at the Ramey Agency. “I was his first intern, and it was an intoxicating experience. No day was the same. I learned a lot,” says Ray. After finishing Rhodes, he worked for the Ramey Agency for 10 years. Three of those years he headed the agency office in Memphis. In 1999, after Ray moved to another agency, Tommy Ramey died, and Ray and his partners purchased the agency from the Ramey estate. Ray grins, “I call this my second tour of duty.”

Jack Garner, president of the Ramey Agency and Ray’s business partner, recalls his first impressions of Ray. “Before I became Chris’ business partner at the Ramey Agency, I was his client. He ran the agency’s Memphis office, and I was a part of the marketing leadership group at Union Planters Bank. Even though he looked to be about 14 years old, he impressed us all with his extraordinary strategic thinking and marketing expertise. And now that I’ve been working side-by-side with him for the past seven years, I’m even more impressed with his marketing and branding skills. He knows his game - and he still doesn’t look much older than 14.”

To listen to Ray speak about his agency is to witness a mixture of sound business ideas and creative dreams. This is reflected in the agency’s self-description in its business brochure: “The Ramey Agency was created to build premium brands. We help high-end and high-performance companies lead their categories. Said another way, we help dreamers, visionaries and entrepreneurs reach higher.”

Explains Ray, “We saw early on that we could not be all things to all people. I learned a long time ago that I work best with projects I am passionate about, and I am passionate about creating premium and high performance brands.” Some notable Ramey clients are Viking Range Corp., Blackberry Farm, Hunter Fans, University Medical Center, Millsaps College, Peavey, The Culinary Institute of America, The Catfish Institute, and Bank Plus.

“Every job is an opportunity to learn,” enthuses Ray. “Advertising is opening new avenues - web technology is exciting. It is overwhelming what is now available to clients.”

Ray is proud that “community service is ingrained into the culture of this company.” As far back as the ownership of Tommy Ramey and continuing until the present, the agency has allowed its employees to donate annually 40 paid hours of service to community projects. This year alone the company itself has contributed services to Operation Shoestring, Fondren Renaissance Foundation, the Mississippi Blues Marathon, Stewpot, and Taste of Mississippi.

In 2002 the agency helped establish the Tommy Ramey Foundation to provide scholarship money for Mississippi students of culinary arts and marketing. The Meridian Star, in its March 1, 2006, edition stated, “The Tommy Ramey Foundation introduced its annual scholarship program in November 2003 and has awarded 10 scholarships to date. The program extends support to the development of outstanding professionals in the marketing field and honors the late Thomas G. Ramey’s passion for the advertising profession and his philanthropic spirit. As founder and president of The Ramey Agency, an advertising and marketing firm, Ramey left his mark on not only the Mississippi advertising community, but everyone who encountered his larger-than-life personality.”

Bill Ray, CEO of BankPlus and chairman of the Ramey Foundation, in the same article said, “Tommy Ramey always had an interest in seeing Mississippi students succeed in the marketing field, and we are pleased to help … students reach their educational and career goals.” The foundation is in its early phases of what will become an endowed scholarship program. A substantial gift from Tommy Ramey’s mother will expand the work of the foundation.

This sense of public service has led Ray to serve on the board of Operation Shoestring and the Montessori School at St. James Episcopal Church, and assist other nonprofits, as catechist for six- to nine-year-olds at St. James, and on the board of the Southern Region of the Young Presidents Organization. Wife Carolyn says, “His parents instilled a strong sense of community service in him. They were always helping others who needed money or just a hot meal. He believes in working to do the right thing, but he works under the radar. He’s one of those men who gets things done.”

Ray met Carolyn when she was attending Rhodes College on a soccer scholarship. “I fell in love with him through his letters. In the days before e-mail and cell phones we were both faithful letter writers. You can learn a lot about a person over three years of letters. He is a wonderful writer, and sometimes I suspect that he harbors a secret file of ideas for a great American novel.”

They share a passion for travel and reading. “We both love books,” says Ray. “Our house is filled with them.” Carolyn admits that some of her happiest years were when she was employed at Lemuria in charge of the First Editions Club. And together they have traveled the world. Ray says of Carolyn, “She loves being a mom and home schooled Henry for three years so that we could travel together.” Chris and Carolyn have two sons, Henry, 10, and John, 7, both students at St. Andrew’s School.

Carolyn continues, “It is Chris’ travels that have helped him blossom from a classic picky eater to someone who will eat anything. When we first met, he ate just one vegetable: green beans. That’s it. Nothing else.”

Carolyn claims that her husband had an epiphany of sorts when they were traveling on a Viking sponsored trip in Europe and Africa. “In France he picked at his food the whole way. We were with a bunch of self-proclaimed ‘foodies,’ so he stood out. In Marrakech, we were sitting on the floor of a fabulous restaurant, eating all sorts of exotic foods including a delicious pigeon pie, when something just clicked for him — and ever since he has eaten whatever anyone puts in front of him. We laugh that just a few years ago he wouldn’t eat a spinach salad with goat cheese, but now he has eaten sea urchin, cod brain soup, and blowfish sperm risotto. And the list grows with each trip!”

According to longtime friend Bill Andrews, marketing director of the Viking Corporation, “Chris personifies the definition of a Southern gentleman. He is very bright, well-educated, and has a curiosity about everything that is truly refreshing. He has the ability to understand the meaning and special nature of an evening at Po’ Monkey’s Juke Joint in Merigold and follow up the next evening with a discussion of the nuances of a stunning Pinot Noir at Auction Napa Valley where wine lots are going for millions of dollars. His ability to move effortlessly between the board room and a manufacturer’s assembly line is very impressive.”

Cousin Stewart Speed probably put it best. “Chris has soul. His insightfulness about people is unique and is certainly evident in his work at Ramey.”