Today I work as a Digital Temporary Manager and SEO consultant. I teach at universities, for public institutions, and for private companies. My job, and what I genuinely care about, is helping businesses grow online.
Here's the short version of how I got here: a strict nun, public toilets, flyers, a pub, a thesis on Philosophy of Law, a string of early jobs, a move to Milan, a woman named Gabriella, a phase of doing absolutely everything, some real fear, BEM Research, a return to "pure" consulting, Search Foundry, and Donne in SERP.
The Nun
I got my first formal warning in elementary school. A nun called my parents in and told them, flatly, that I was "too curious." The trigger was a question I couldn't shake: if God is good and forgives everyone, why does he still separate the good from the bad in the end? I just wanted to understand — the concept didn't add up to me, and at that age, nothing about it made sense.
Toilets, Flyers, and a Pub
My parents made a deal with me that felt almost written in blood: they'd pay for university, and I'd pay for everything else. So I did what most people starting out do — I took whatever work I could find. I cleaned the bathrooms of a theater (I even bought a book on cleaning technique, because I wanted to do it properly). I handed out flyers on the street. I worked as a waitress in a bar. None of it was glamorous, but all of it taught me something I still carry with me.
A Thesis on Philosophy of Law
My curiosity led me toward a rather unusual thesis topic: The Law Facing Death: Euthanasia and Suicide, with an entire chapter devoted to suicide on the internet. Researching that chapter meant confronting some genuinely disturbing material — and it was exactly that experience that pulled me toward studying the web itself, seriously, for the first time.
The Early Years
Right after graduating, I jumped into web marketing. The projects were interesting enough, but not yet what I actually wanted to do. Still, I was learning — a lot, and fast.
Moving to Milan
At thirty, I moved to Milan on my own, far from everyone I loved. It felt almost traumatic, but I wouldn't have given it up for anything: it meant finally doing exactly what I wanted — SEO. The first month was rough. I was the only woman on a team of men, and my first project fell apart. But by the time I left Milan, people cried. And it was there that I met the person who's still my closest friend today.
Gabriella Sannino
Without ever having met me in person — just by following what I wrote online — Gabriella Sannino, a well-known international SEO, nominated me for SEO Woman. I came in third, mostly, if I'm honest, because every Italian friend I had voted relentlessly on my behalf.
The "Do-Everything" Years
Back in Rome (for love, though Milan and I missed each other equally), I kept working as an SEO and web marketer for various Italian and international agencies — until I found myself running an entire business from the ground up: hiring, vendor management, sales, admin, all of it. It wasn't what I wanted, and at some point I told myself: if I'm going to open and close a company anyway, it might as well be my own.
BEM Research
BEM Research was my chance to feel what it's like to be an entrepreneur. After almost six years, I understood something important: contracts, tax filings, accountants, and everything that comes with running a company just aren't for me. What I actually want is to do SEO and digital marketing — nothing else. BEM Research lasted six years, and it went well. I even had fun, some of the time. I kept clients for years, and that's still one of the things I'm proudest of.
It All Makes Sense, Eventually
Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing — and the more I think about it, the more it all seems to connect. Without that curiosity, I'd never have written such an unusual thesis. Without that thesis, I'd never have started investigating the deep web and how search engines actually work. Without certain early jobs, I probably wouldn't have made it through what came later, professionally speaking. Without that one difficult work experience, I wouldn't have learned to turn fragility into strength. And without BEM Research, I'd never have realized that I don't want to be an entrepreneur — I want to be a consultant, plain and simple.
And Last but Not Least
I'm genuinely proud to be part of Search Foundry, a real collective of professionals and friends, and to have co-founded Donne in SERP, the first Italian community for women in the industry.
Who I am, underneath it all
Proving your skills is fairly straightforward once you've been around long enough. Search "Mariachiara Marsella" on Google and, beyond the Knowledge Panel labeling me an "SEO Professional," you'll find plenty of other documentation, not just my website or social profiles, but interviews and contributions published elsewhere too.
But when it comes to explaining who you really are, that's a different question entirely — and it's one people considering working with you always ask themselves. I do the same: before committing to work with someone for months, I want to understand what kind of person they are. So, to make that easier, I had a simple cartoon made that captures my personality better than a bio ever could.
I'm not a genius, and I'm certainly not "super" anything. I just love what I do, and that makes me good at it — the same way it does for anyone doing work they actually care about. Given the choice, I'll take "monstrous" over conventionally, boringly pretty any day — it's simply more interesting to me. People tend to describe me as easygoing, but there's one thing I have zero tolerance for, and it's the kind of thing that could make a woman my height (5'2", for the record) genuinely lose her temper: people who pollute and don't care.
How I work
Where I'm strong: attention to detail, paired with real passion for the work. Competence and reliability, even on complex, high-stakes projects. A proactive streak — I like getting ahead of new technologies and trends, which in turn helps accelerate my clients' business and gives them a genuine competitive edge. I'm a pragmatic project manager: I don't waste time talking around problems, I like tackling challenges head-on and solving them fast. I build relationships on empathy — understanding what clients actually need, and building trust through real rapport, not just deliverables. And I bring a 360-degree view to projects, working constructively with other professionals and staying focused on the bigger picture of the business, not just my slice of it.
What I deliberately don't offer: a full-service, do-everything agency model — I'm a consultant, not an agency. Old-school, keyword-obsessed SEO. Blind deference to algorithms — a website should be optimized to genuinely serve users better, not just to please Google. And patience for guesswork: I have very little tolerance for marketing run without a method grounded in data.