Being chronically online is part of the job description for this top influencer marketer

Sophia Sesto is Poppi's VP of culture.

Photo Credit: Sophia Sesto If you're lucky, scrolling through TikTok could be part of your job.

Sophia Sesto, Poppi's VP of culture, is tasked with keeping the prebiotic soda brand relevant.

Poppi's influencer strategy relies on its team of marketers who are deeply fluent in the internet and pop culture.

Sophia Sesto has a trick up her sleeve for influencer marketing: staying chronically online.

Her role — vice president of culture for the buzzy prebiotic soda brand Poppi — requires her to be tuned in to popular culture.

To spot trends and emerging content creators, it's crucial to follow "your own For You Page," Sesto told Business Insider.

Sesto was recently featured in Business Insider's 2026 list of most innovative influencer marketers.

The search for new, culture-driving creators "is never-ending," said Sesto, who leads Poppi's influencer, partnerships, and social marketing teams.

Within Poppi's internal Microsoft Teams , there is a channel called "Seed" where Sesto and other Poppi staff "are constantly dropping" creators and content, accompanied by ideas for how the brand can work with these people in the future.

Poppi has a "long-standing" partnership with Alix Earle, Sesto said.

Courtesy of Poppi "It is the most manual process," Sesto said, adding that AI tools haven't yet proved useful on this front.

"It's all in-house, and we say we get our consumer because we are them." Brands are projected to spend more than $44 billion on influencer marketing in the US this year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

As more dollars get pumped into the space, and more creators vie for those checks, standing out and driving conversation carry more weight.