Daily Inspiration: Meet Carlo Lupercio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlo Lupercio.

Hi Carlo, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m Carlo Lupercio, I’m a Gen Z valley boy with a passion for pop culture and I turned my passions into a career as a creative growth influencer + partnerships marketing manager. With 6+ years of experience turning Celebrity, TV/Film, & Influencer partnerships into culture-driving campaigns. I’ve worked with some of the largest household names in the industry like Jordyn Woods, Doja Cat, Jessie Murph, Khalid and iconic TV & Film titans such as Netflix, Lionsgate, and HBO:Max to launch digital and social partnership campaigns for a mobile app called Poshmark, a leading marketplace for new and secondhand styles.

I grew up in Winnetka, CA suburb within the San Fernando Valley to a proud Mexican family, and growing up my family loved to watch telenovelas just as much as blockbuster films. I remember spending hours as a kid catching up on the drama from whichever current telenovela my grandmother was watching. Movies like La Bamba, Scooby Doo, Charlie’s Angels, and Selena were on constant repeat in my household. As a kid I loved television, movies, and pop culture. I loved the creativity, passion, excitement, and beauty that came from watching TV shows and movies, and as a child my aspiration was to be an actor – in which I actually auditioned for a Welch’s grapefruit juice commercial. The film that ignited this passion of mine was Charlie’s Angeles (2000) with Lucy Lui, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, I think I watched it so much that I know every line, word for word. But that was the passion of this film, 3 badass women from different backgrounds, in a career that they loved and prioritized, while also managing full exciting lives outside of their career.

Fueled by passion for tv, films, and Hollywood I knew a career within the industry is where I wanted to land. At California State University, Northridge, I majored in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations and it is here where I began to explore what career I wanted to build. I initially started out building a career in Entertainment & Gaming Public Relations, pitching products and stories to major outlets like Variety, GamesRant, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. After spending a year interning for PR agencies, I landed a position as an intern for the Global Communications team at Electronic Arts which was one of the most exciting but uncertain times of my career as I landed this during the global pandemic. It was here that I learned the ins and outs of being a part of a Fortune 500 organization, supporting the Studio & Product PR team, and getting to assist on multiple AAA title launches such as The Sims 4 and The Sims Spark’d. Having seen the exciting world of working in-house for a brand, I didn’t want to stop there shortly after I secured an internship for a mobile game app, Jam City and thereafter an internship with mobile app, Poshmark.

It was at Poshmark that I realized while exciting, a career in Public Relations is not where I saw myself. During this time, I met the Growth Awareness team at Poshmark and learned about a career in growth marketing and the impact and importance it has to a business. Upon my internship ending, the Growth team offered me a role as a Growth Coordinator for the Partnerships & Influencer Marketing team. I attribute my success to my phenomenal mentors and leaders, Charlene Phan, Meghan Salgado, & Tiffany Haughton. Taking the offer to be a part of the team, I began to learn the ins and outs of the role and began to work on a variety of exciting campaigns. I’ve been with Poshmark for 4 and a half years now and I am now a Growth Manager, having led and scaled Poshmark’s Celebrity, TV/Film & Influencer Program, developing and executing a comprehensive growth strategy across influencer agencies, influencer/creator content, Posh Shows, TV/Film partnerships and direct celebrity partnerships to accelerate app traffic and elevate brand visibility.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s most definitely not been a smooth road, like most things that are worth it, struggles are paved on the road to success. Throughout my journey, my identity and career have always been intertwined. The two are not interchangeable, because they are so closely tied together by my own doing. To understand some of the struggle I faced within my identity, I’d like to take you back to my childhood.

The Valley is where I spent most of my life specifically academically. Like many middle school was an ugly but beautiful time, and of course it was the time I came to the realization that like most of my peers I was ‘different’. I was a Mexican-American kid, attending a school that was not as predominantly latinx. Like many others out there I often was always the only one in the room. This is where I started to realize that there was a difference between me and other peers at the time, and of course on top of already feeling different I had this growing realization that like my peers and even family there was still something different about me. Feeling quite isolated I begun turned to non other than entertainment – TV shows and films where the great escape for me. I binged hours of Degrassi at this time and it was in fact the character of Marco who’s story I saw and felt seen. Though I was coming to terms of who I was and what this meant, I was not quite ready to live fully within my authentic self for the fear of being ‘othered’.

High School felt no different, but it was through the TV Shows, films, and educational programs of Health Class and my High School’s GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) that I began to feel empowered to live in my truth as I had seen many others. At this time there was also a rise in a new form of entertainment, social media. Specifically, YouTube and so the search on YouTube began – ‘How to come out to my family’ and ‘tips for coming out to your family’ and after a few searches I was shown some of the most watched YouTube Videos of this time (2015), of LGBTQIA+ people coming out to their family and friends live. It was inspiring and resonating to me, the only thing that stood out to me was that like many of the videos I watched very few people of color at this time were coming out live. I had a story tell, I had a voice, and I had an iPhone. What I felt I had to do was record, post, and hope that someone else out there searching for the exact video I was, was to view it and see that the world did in fact not end after coming out to my Mexican parents. My video quickly went ‘viral’ and garnered over 100,000 views and was picked up by outlets like We are Mitu and Buzzfeed. I started to receive messages and view comments from others highlighting that this video helped them feel seen and know that they were not alone and that it is when I realized the importance and impact of social media.

Shortly after coming out my sophomore year of high school, summer begun and ended quickly and junior year rolled around. At my high school, William Howard Taft in Woodland Hills, most of my peers knew they had aspirations to be a lawyer, doctor, or dentist. And shortly after, the feeling of isolation crept up once again, as I had no aspirations to become any of those things. Though I knew and saw the impact of entertainment, Hollywood, and social media, I had no idea at 15 years old that one could become a talent agent, influencer manager, or even major in marketing. And at this time, society was on the cusp of understanding what an Influencer was and what a career in social media could look like.

After a rejection letter to UCLA, and acceptance letters to California State University, Northridge (CSUN) & The Academy of Art San Francisco, I knew there was a place for me guided by the universe to follow my passions of working within the entertainment industry. With much thanks to my alma matter, it was at CSUN through the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication that I learned about the lucrative careers that can be made within the entertainment industry & newly added Influencer Marketing space. Being a part of the university, this was also the first time in my entire academic career, that my professors had empowered me to join a career in the entertainment industry and provided valuable knowledge, experience, and insight.

It was here that I finally knew how to overcome these struggles with my identity, and I knew that if having nothing else left, I knew my voice and identity would always be there because that is me.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m an Influencer + Partnerships Marketing Manager, and I’m super passionate about helping brands and creators connect to partner together to launch growth-driving partnerships. In addition to managing partnerships for Influencers and Brands, I also bring a unique background of media, public relations, and corporate communications.

I’m most proud of two things the first being revamping Poshmark’s Influencer Partnerships by rebuilding the creator catalogue and unlocking untapped Gen Z audiences and building partnerships with creators of color & LGBTQIA+ creators. The second, is my partnership initiative I launched this year, which is bringing Reality TV Stars to Poshmark to host live shows where they sell the items in their closets and connect with their fans in a way they have not before. I’ve worked with stars from The Bachelorette, Jenn Tran and Charity Lawson and RuPaul’s Drag Queens, Dawn and Kerri Colby, and more.

What sets me apart from others is that I know traditional corporate marketing, and I also am a native to social media and understand the social & cultural landscape extremely well. Because of this I know how to blend the two to lead campaigns that are both successful amongst target audiences but also executive and brand approved.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something surprising I think that most people don’t know is that I actually am a pretty good artist. Before I built a career within this space, I loved to draw, sketch, and paint. I have a few paintings that I have decorated my place with that I actually drew and painted myself. I haven’t picked up a paint brush in quiet some time but it is something that I do one day hope I can make more time for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carlolupercio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlolupercio/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/carlo-lupercio

Image Credits
Carlo Lupercio, Poshmark, Inc.