Meet Carmela D’Arienzo | Marketer and Resident Fangirl

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carmela D’Arienzo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carmela, how do you think about risk?
Risk taking is not about taking the road less traveled by as much as it is about betting on yourself.

As a first generation college student, I remember the first big risk I took was deciding where I wanted to go to school and what I wanted to study. My Italian-Irish-American family wished for me to be a school teacher and go to a school close to home. However, I was raised to always follow my gut and trust that everything will play out how it is supposed to, and knew I wanted to pursue a career in entertainment at a school upstate.

By creating ambitious semester schedules with extra curriculars and internships throughout my college career, I planned on entering corporate America working with big corporations. My unfaltering passion for music then led me to the decision to forgo the initial plan I have been preparing myself for, and start my full-time career at a brand new fan engagement start up. From there I continued to work within startup culture for the next 2 years until I took the biggest risk of them all by quitting my then job without another one lined up.

This was the moment I put all my eggs in one basket, dedicating all my time and energy to what best served me, and completely took control of everything around me. Taking that time to rebuild myself, the relationships with those closest to me, and evidently my love for music, was vital and risky nonetheless. Many thought I was crazy, or didn’t understand it – or try to talk down on it- but almost a full year later since that moment I am fully reaping the benefits of taking that risk. I was able to move out of my parents house, travel to new countries and cities, and start my new dream job working with an incredible team and roster of clients.

The thing with risk is that while it is scary, you have to trust that you will be the one to catch yourself when you fall no matter what. And with that mentality in tact, I have found risk-taking vital for growth and evolution.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
To summarize it in one sentence – I pursued a career in music and specifically a career in marketing/fan engagement due to the fact that I am a fangirl through and through. After college decision day, I went to see Harry Styles perform on the TODAY Show in New York City and stopped an intern running around and shouted at her “How did you get this job!?”. And while headed to her next task she turned over her shoulder and said “I study PR and Marketing!”. So no joke the next day I called my now alma mater Marist College before orientation and changed my major – despite not knowing what either field entailed.

While on campus I deviated from the path of music and leaned more into traditional PR and marketing. At my first internship working in the consumer department at DeVries Global the summer after my sophomore year, an executive told me that if I liked what I was doing right now – which I did – I should try everything else while I could through internships and part-time work, and then make a decision on my career path as I approach graduation. And that’s what I did! I then worked at B2B firms, non profit organizations, and larger tech departments – which I credit to making me a well rounded person and employee today – but still had the itch I couldn’t scratch of wanting to work in music.

During the pandemic and my fall semester of my senior year of college, I was scrolling on TikTok when I stumbled upon a video of some girl fantasizing about her life working in music PR (the algorithm was really working overtime!). By reading the comments, I saw my now-friend Danielle offer to connect with anyone who was interested in the field, so I replied to her to comment, we hopped on an hour and a half phone call, and she then connected me with one of my first bosses in the industry. From there, the rest is history.

I am now a Marketing Associate at mtheory and couldn’t be happier. In this role I am working directly with artist managers and their artists to aid in creative strategy, marketing , and execution across various aspects of the artist’s music and brand. The work is fun and challenging, but the best part is the incredible people I am able to work with from the CEO and the senior team, to my fellow associates. After 6 months of being on the team, I am exciting to continue to grow at mtheory and continue to put my superfan powers that got me into music in the first place directly back to our clients strategy with our team expertise.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve been incredibly lucky that throughout my career thus far, I have been able to travel to LA often for work, and as of lately for pleasure. I have fond memories in Topanga, the Valley, and Santa Monica – but there is nothing as special as going to a city overlook in the hills and taking it all in. I’m reminded especially in those moments how small I am, yet at the same time how grateful I am to be here and for every good or bad thing that led to that moment. I can’t share the exact location because frankly I don’t know the address and only go there with my best friend – but I cannot recommend enough finding a spot to overlook the city and take it all in. It’s no New York City skyline – but holds a magic of its own.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I think it is also important to note that I am incredibly grateful to have had the unfaltering support of my family, friends, and mentors – and I owe my success in all of my endeavors directly to that. My parents, sister, grandparents, cousins, friends from all over the world, mentors from various stages of my life – I could name everyone but that could be a whole article in and of itself. They all know who they are and most importantly because I express my gratitude directly to them often, probably to the point of nauseam. My support system is my lifeline and it wouldn’t be right to share this story without acknowledging that.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmeladarienzo/

Image Credits
Sara Bouwman – Headshot Photo