Carlton Pinto is one to Goa’s top fashion influencers. That’s his hobby. He actually sells the real estate experience to his clients during the day.
So what inspired a kid from Duler, Mapusa to venture into the real estate world, and that too with sexy suspenders? Let’s find out!
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Tell us a bit about yourself…
My name is Carlton Pinto. I live at Duler, Mapusa. My loved ones call me “Calu” or “Calty”.
My Insta handle is @the_B_O_S_S_life
If anyone were to ask you, “What do you do for a living, then what would you say?”
I am a Real Estate Developer, Fashion Influencer and an E-commerce Global Distribution Partner.
What was that one moment when you decided, “That’s it! I want to become a real estate developer and a fashion influencer”
Well to be honest construction is in my blood. Ever since I was a kid I’ve watched my dad (a civil contractor) in this line and what he did enthralled me and always left me curious.
I would always think of how I would take over the reins from him and probably expand the business even more. I started with C Pinto Builders a brand of my own, where besides taking over contracts I also build apartment complexes and villas for sale. A real estate developer to put it simply.
Well as for the fashion influencer part of it, I never thought it was something I would do. Funny enough, it all began when a close friend of mine one day asked me “Carlton, why don’t you do a portfolio shoot?”
At that time the camera and me were not really the best of friends.
I would even say that the camera absolutely hated me. I also thought I lacked the confidence it takes to pose in front of a camera.
Believe you me, I was gobsmacked when I saw my first picture taken on a DSLR camera. I have always had a knack for dressing up and looking the part.
I live by the quote by Mark Twain’s short story; The Czar’s Soliloquy, “One realizes that without his clothes a man would be nothing at all; that the clothes do not merely make the man, the clothes are the man; that without them he is a cipher, a vacancy, a nobody, a nothing…there is no power without clothes.”
After that portfolio shoot I just knew that I wanted people to know my fashion sense and style. I wanted to represent myself and my choice to the world. This is just how my journey as a fashion influencer took flight.
Why only real estate and fashion influences? Why not anything else?
Well, we all know establishing yourself and your brand is not an easy road. There are many hurdles on the path. I am innately a perfectionist and I truly believe in order to be successful in life, you should stick to what you are good at and make that your living.
Also the most important part is that whatever you set your mind to doing, make sure you are passionate enough to do what it takes to get you there.
Right now these two fields are what appeal to me the most. What the future holds for me is something that I am patient and willing enough to let time unfold.
I have to always take into consideration that I do not prioritize one aspect over the other and that I give them both enough time and effort to be successful. Honestly speaking, I’m still learning every single day how to be better than I was yesterday. I think it’s just part of life.
A bit about your role models…
My role model is Robert T. Kiyosaki. He’s the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and has written books on wealth creation and financial literacy.
He is a huge role model in my life. The ideas and tactics that I use in my business are what I have read and understood from his works.
Any inspirational moment you remember in your life that changed everything…
Well my most inspirational moment in my life was, and I don’t think I will ever forget it is, when I came across this book called The Secret: the Law of Attraction that a friend of mine happened to recommend to me, when I was at a low point in my life.
When I read the book, I was inspired. I gained a new perspective on life. I felt like I had discovered fire. It completely changed my perception of life as a whole.
Till date, I haven’t come across something that has inspired me more.
I use the law of attraction on a daily basis, be it my real estate business, or being a fashion influencer.
Whatever I have in my life is because of these simple techniques that I learned from the law of attraction, and it has, till date always worked for me.
What was the biggest challenge when pursuing this as a fulltime career? And how did you overcome it?
Whenever I do something I give it my all and I would definitely be lying if I said it’s as easy as can be.
In my real estate business, it’s definitely disheartening when the client doesn’t reciprocate the interest and enthusiasm that I have. One may even think that after being in this line for many years, I must be used to clients backing out or rejecting my products but it isn’t always easy.
Rejections lead to an increase in one’s self doubts; Why did they reject me? Why did they not like what I’ve done? Am I lacking in some aspects? Am I doing something wrong? Am I not paying enough attention to my business? Do the clients not see me as someone they can trust to build them the home of their dreams?
And sometimes especially in the beginning phases, these kind of thoughts have always put me down. I’ve even on some days found it difficult to get out of bed and get myself to work because I am my biggest critic and it definitely had repercussions.
I gradually learnt how to manage myself.
But it definitely doesn’t mean that getting rejected has no effect on me. I’ve taught myself to learn from my mistakes, to take every rejection as an opportunity to learn and improve.
I’ve taught myself not to give up and to keep going in order to achieve my dreams and goals.
With being a fashion influencer, I face completely different challenges. I never thought that this would be something I even had to deal with…but here we are.
Haters, people who criticize and critique everything that you post on social media. You give it your best, stand in front of the camera all day on shoots, but it’s not just that, I have to also work with my team to come up with concepts and ideas for the shoots, the type of clothes I’m going to wear, scout the location, think of what I’m trying to portray etc… these tasks don’t just happen without any planning and dedication.
Even posting the picture once the shoot is done leaves you a bit skeptical about how people will react to it. And to go through all that and have someone discourage you and tell you that you aren’t good enough does take a toll on you. I’ve even had people who made fake accounts of me on social media, followed my close friends and tried to in a way ruin my reputation.
But honestly speaking my biggest challenge is to be able to manage both, my life as a real estate developer, an e-commerce global distribution partner and as a fashion influencer.
To be able to find the time to manage these aspects of my life as well as to have time to spare for family, friends and the gym can be very challenging.
But you do it because you are passionate and because you want success and you want to prove your worth.
On my journey I have realized that there are going to be many negative people around, many haters to deal with, but I think that is all a part of my success story. I guess you can say it’s all about the balance, the yin and yang.
Any memories as a kid you’d like to share? Something that helped shape you as a fashion influencer?
Well, I wasn’t always this fit, muscular guy.
I grew up chubby and I was teased a lot and I hated it. I had to stop the teasing and had to improve myself. I couldn’t bear the thought of people mocking me and making fun of me for being fat.
This lead to me going through the biggest transformation from fat to fit.
While I was on my fitness journey, as I achieved my physical goals, my level of confidence was boosted.
I developed a ‘can do’ attitude and I think that that has shaped me into the person I am today.
It took a lot to work on myself physically and to mentally keep motivating myself to not give up and take the easy road.
When I did it, I realized that I need to use this ‘never give up’ attitude in all aspects of my life. It has become sort of like a mantra.
Like they say, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.
It’s what I live by, it’s what I encourage others to live by.
To appreciate constructive criticism and work on it to improve your self is the biggest challenge that you can face. But keep going, there definitely is a rainbow at the end of the tunnel.
Who is the one person you’d like to meet from the past (personal or celebrity)? And what would you ask him/her?
It really is hard to think of just one person to communicate with from the past, especially when you have so many questions to be answered, so many perspectives to learn from.
To even be able to think of asking them a why? Or a how? Is completely nerve wrecking. That said, I think I would really like to have a day where I could meet a great personality like Steve Jobs – the man who was the pioneer of the personal computer revolution.
I really can’t think of a proper question that I would want to ask him, but I would definitely want to know what drove him, what inspired him to take up the path he chose, and how he was able to get through whatever hurdles that threatened to bring about his downfall.
I would want to know what his mindset was when he did what he did, whether he even had an inclination of the change he would be bringing about by just introducing a product.
I would definitely want to know how he managed to keep it together and mange and do what he did.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self?
I would definitely tell myself to not settle for small victories, and that I am meant for something much bigger. Also, that I need to keep the fire in me ignited no matter the difficulties I have to face.
I would definitely tell myself to not be satisfied after achieving one or two goals, but to keep at it and play your best game and to keep growing, keep achieving and keep helping.
What role did family and friends play? Any quick incident you remember when family or friends helped you overcome a hurdle or challenge in life?
When it comes to family and friends I truly am blessed. My parents have always been there to support my every decision, to guide me through trying times.
My parents have always wanted what’s best for me. They have encouraged me to be independent and make my own identity.
Be it further studies, or even starting a new business, they always warn me of what could go wrong and how I could fail or fall short.
They’ve never discouraged me from taking up the challenge and proving not just to me and them, but also to those around that I can achieve what I set my mind to.
My friends are like my second family. They have always played a very important role in my life; they’ve always been there to motivate me when I needed it, to support me when the going gets tough.
They are there to guide me through my downfalls and are my biggest cheerleaders in my victories. We’ve always been like this, encouraging, motivating, going out of our way to help each other and just being there for each other.
What were people’s feedback (negative and positive), and who stood by you the most on this journey as an entrepreneur/fashion influencer?
I have always been a very social person. I like meeting new people and getting to know more people.
People who know me will definitely say I’m am a very helpful person, that I can be counted on to give valuable advice when it comes to business, relationships, fashion and many such other aspects.
And as they say, it’s all about the balance. I definitely do have people who will say that I have a big ego and am a show off just because of what I am.
There are people who try to bring me down, spread rumors, make fake accounts to spoil my reputation, and I am glad that in times like this, I have friends who are always there to get me through it all and to remind me of why I am on the path that I have taken.
I believe, there’s a saying that goes, in life if you have no haters or no one hates you then you are doing something wrong. If someone is trying to bring you down, remember, it only means you are doing something right.
What is the legacy you want to leave behind as a fashion influencer/entrepreneur? And for whom?
I definitely want to leave a legacy behind, to be remembered not just by my family but to be remembered in society. I want to be remembered for the drive and zeal I had for life.
I love making money…I mean who doesn’t? and I want to be remembered not just as Carlton Pinto, but as ‘The Carlton Pinto’ – the man who never gave up an opportunity to grow.
I want to be remembered as one of the biggest and best businessman there ever was.
The man who never settled but kept working for his success. The man who looked failure in the face and told it to back off.
I want to be remembered as the guy who had so many businesses and created many opportunities for people to grow and succeed under his wings.
I want to be someone that young entrepreneurs aspire to be like. I want to be a role model to people. I want to be remembered as the man who never gave up, who always kept dreaming and setting goals and worked hard to achieve them.
I also want to be remembered as a man who did many great things, but never forgot how to be humble, never stopped encouraging others to do their best and who always encouraged people to stick to their goals and follow them with a burning passion.
This is definitely how I would like to be remembered by my children and by everyone whose life I played a role in.
You can catch a snippet of this conversation on ItsGoa‘s Instagram page. Humans of Goa is our original and official series that shares stories from the lives of Goans. ‘Humans of Goa’ celebrates the spirit of every Goan.
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