SPARKED: Rebellious Leadership Beyond the Ordinary
A call for leaders ready to stop managing and start igniting.
What does it take to lead and market like a rebel in a world addicted to sameness? SPARKED isn’t another “best practices” talk. It’s a field guide from the trenches by Hugo Pérez, the engine behind Local Boy Co., a sharp, story-obsessed strategic studio that takes brands from forgettable to this anticipated story.
Drawing on 20+ years zigzagging through global CPG, entertainment, higher ed, nonprofits, and startups, Pérez finds the thread that matters and pulls it until the whole story clicks. He’s the creative who helped normalize mental-health conversations with an award-winning MTV campaign, and turned a nationwide food-kitchen tour into “brand like → brand love” obsession that helped introduce plant-based pasta to the masses.
Bio:
Hugo Pérez is the Chief Strategist and Founder of Local Boy Co., a creative studio that does everything from ad copy to full-blown productions, campaigns, and documentaries — powered by strategy, guts, and a small team of content ninjas who know how to make brands feel like something.
A full-stack marketer with a knack for clarity and a gift for narrative, Pérez has spent more than 20 years helping Fortune 500s and scrappy challengers alike move from forgettable storytelling to the stories everyone has been waiting for.
On stage, Pérez brings a mix of clarity, humor, and rebellious energy. He doesn’t just talk to audiences — he sparks them. His sessions draw from his business pursuits and his decades as a professor teaching branding, storytelling, marketing, and leadership to deliver presentations that are part inspiration, part workshop, and part wake-up call — leaving leaders and teams with practical tools to cut through the noise, think differently, and act boldly.
At Local Boy, Pérez leads with heart, hustle, and a healthy disregard for beige branding. Whether it’s a keynote, a campaign, or a brand refresh, he and his crew cut through the clutter with ideas that stick and language that lands.
Beyond the studio, Pérez is a mentor, educator, and soon-to-be author. His upcoming book, Sparked: Rebellious Leadership Beyond the Ordinary, and his newsletter, That Was Interesting, are built on the same core belief: that a bold, honest story is still the most powerful tool we’ve got.