An Inspired Chat with Dustin Pagliughi of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Dustin Pagliughi. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning Dustin, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Lately I’ve been getting a lot of joy from spending more time outside. I’ve made a habit of stepping away from my phone and computer for a few hours and just being in the fresh air. Sometimes it’s a walk through a local trail, sometimes it’s sitting in a park with no agenda. There’s something grounding about hearing real sounds instead of notifications and paying attention to what’s around me. Those small pockets of time outdoors have been a nice reset and a reminder that I don’t always need a screen to feel engaged.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m the founder and CEO of Locomotive Content, where we help brands and creators bring stories to life through user-generated content and found content. Over the years I’ve built a reputation for creative, flexible content production and have worked across a wide range of media formats.

I love turning raw ideas into content that resonates, whether that’s an engaging social-first video, a polished campaign built around real voices, or a content strategy that blends authenticity and impact. I care deeply about collaboration, and we aim to find and place content that’s not just seen, but felt.

After all, we need Human Generated Stories™.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
The person who saw me clearly before I ever saw myself is Nancy Moscatiello. She was my boss at a production company early in my entertainment career, and she was the first to recognize that I could grow into a well-rounded producer. Nancy coached me through the work, pushed me to think in new ways, and helped me build a workflow and style that felt like my own.

I owe a real part of my success to her.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There have definitely been moments when I almost gave up. I’ve had my share of failures in life and in my career, and a few of them knocked me down hard enough that quitting felt like the easier path. But I’ve learned that you can’t really have success without failure. Every setback has taught me something I couldn’t have learned any other way.

What’s kept me going is taking those failures and turning them into something useful. Each one pushed me to adjust my approach, rethink my assumptions, and build better strategies for the next round. Over time, those lessons added up and became the reason I was able to move forward instead of stopping.

So yes, I’ve been close to giving up more than once. But those moments are also the ones that shaped how I work, how I problem-solve, and how I define success now.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
I try to make the public version of me as close to the real me as possible. I don’t want to show up one way in my work and another way in my day-to-day life. Staying genuine makes everything simpler, and it’s a big part of why I enjoy working with real people and their content. There’s something powerful about honest stories and real moments, and I like helping brands share things people can actually relate to.

So yes, what you see publicly is very much who I am. I work hard to keep it that way.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yes, I could, and I’ve actually spent most of my career doing exactly that. I haven’t had a lot of praise along the way. In fact, the only formal recognition I’ve ever received was back in 2017, when I was named Most Valuable Employee at a company with more than 250 employees worldwide. It meant a lot, but it was also a reminder that most of the work we do happens quietly, without applause.

What’s kept me going isn’t the recognition. It’s the standard I set for myself. I like knowing I showed up fully, did the job well, and pushed a project as far as it could go. Praise is nice when it happens, but it’s never been the reason I give my best.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.locomotivecontent.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/locomotivecontent
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/locomotive-content
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/locomotivecontent/
• Other: https://vimeo.com/locomotivecontent