After the campaign debuted, "I got an outpouring of messages and emails from strangers all around the world, which shows the beauty of social media and how much power it has." Many of the messages contained sentiments like "if I'd only seen this when I was younger, I would have pursued this career choice in the fashion industry."
"I thought, 'now I have a huge responsibility to make this a thing,'" Mercado said. "Which is funny to say out loud, because it should have been a thing from the beginning. I'm here not just to do this for myself. I want to make a path for other guys and girls who don't see themselves out there."