Young Lehigh alumna flourishes as senior brand manager at Marcolin Eyewear

Cara Diorio

Lehigh alumna Cara Diorio,’07, attributes her time at Lehigh as the driving factor in what helped her to become the senior brand manager at Marcolin Eyewear.

“The basis and knowledge of retail math is really important to becoming a really good sales person,” she said.

Diorio has a degree in supply chain management and served as Student Senate president while at Lehigh. She was also a part of the presidential search committee for former university president Alice Gast. After past internship experience as a merchandising assistant, Diorio became an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale’s upon graduation, where she supported sales volume and communicated with vendor and distributors to ensure delivery of merchandise.

However, upon taking an interest in the sales industry on the other side of the marketing spectrum, she decided to make the transition as an account executive at Marcolin eyewear, where she managed the sales of luxury eyewear brands. She is now a senior brand manager of Marcolin for North and South America, and has an integral role in the development and planning of the marketing efforts of eight luxury eyewear brands.

Diorio attributes her interest in sales to a marketing channels class taught by professor Teresa McCarthy. McCarthy had a career as a buyer in New York City prior to teaching at Lehigh, and served as one of Diorio’s most memorable mentors who helped guide her with knowledge and exposure to the buying and sales industry.

McCarthy also encouraged Diorio to seek out internships and network with Lehigh alumni who had a presence in the marketing field. As a student, Diorio interned at Polo Ralph Lauren as a merchandising assistant and was introduced to the opportunity by a Lehigh alumnus.

Diorio reminisced on her time serving as president of Student Senate and said the role helped her greatly in preparing for her career down the road by allowing her to build confidence and practice skills needed for presenting professional ideas.

“The leadership role of being president of Student Senate definitely helped me take on bigger projects in my industry,” she said. “Especially the public speaking aspect really prepared me for my professional career.”

Diorio may be the senior brand manager of sales today, but she started out as an assistant buyer on the other side of the marketing spectrum. During her transition over to the sales side of the industry, she said her financial background and having an understanding of marketing trends from her college years helped to support her transition, and she was seen as a good fit for a career in sales.

Today, she manages eight luxury brands of eyewear at Marcolin including Tom Ford, Balenciaga, Roberto Cavalli, Mont Blanc, Tods, Dsquared2 and Swarovski. She recently made a trip to Los Angelas for an eyewear showcase that overlapped with the Academy Awards. There, she hosted clients at the event and showed eyewear trends and color palates.

Diorio is currently working on adding new fashion and luxury brands to Marcolin so the company can grow and gain more of a presence. Her future goals include becoming a vice president at Marcolin and expanding her career in sales even further. Dirio recently left for Milan, coinciding her trip with Milan Fashion Week, where she will be purchasing inventory while transitioning over to selecting products to bring into retail.