In the Ferrara area, a professional reinvents herself and creates a company with a network of forty professionals. A story of growth in small steps, hard work, and vision. Above all, a clear credo: giving human value to company resources. Giampaolo Colletti interviews Marisa Ferrara, founder of MF Consultant for FARE INSIEME.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
A before and an after. Because nothing is stable, in work or in life. And quite rightly so. A before and an after, with the desire to make a difference as the watershed. It is the fine line that separates stability from entrepreneurship. For Marisa Ferrara, that moment between the before and the after came just over ten years ago, in March 2015 to be precise. A clear choice that marked the boundary between a career already under way and a pioneering journey as a start-upper in a field still unexplored but studied and sought after. «I'd been married for a year and had a permanent HR position. I decided to start over from scratch and get back into the game. I was driven by the desire to be able to give client companies what I never had myself when I was on the other side of the desk.» This is how Marisa Ferrara describes her life. Her career had already been mapped out within the hierarchies of a fast fashion giant and her future was yet to be written. From Milan to Ferrara, from employee to pioneer in a sector that was still poorly explored in Emilia. This is how MF Consultant was born, first as a freelancer, then as a sole proprietorship, and presently as a company with a network of forty professionals. A story of growth in small steps, hard work, and vision. «I started this adventure tooth and nail. At the time, training was seen as a cost, not an investment. The hardest part was getting the message across about human value and about the uniqueness of people», says Ferrara, born in 1982, originally from the province of Caserta, a psychologist with a master's degree in human resources. «It was taken. A painful but necessary decision. A door that opened, not one that closed. A question was set – shall I get back in the game? – that was replied by an unexpected answer: yes. It's easy to introduce yourself with the company title that acts as a shield, but when you introduce yourself with your first and last name, it becomes more complex», says Ferrara. There were moments of fear, “tears, smiles, and shortness of breath”. But also the fundamental support: her husband, the first companies that believed in her.
The evolution. The journey, year after year, has consolidated: temporary management, head hunting, executive search, coaching, and mentoring.Services that MF Consultant now offers nationally and internationally. But above all, a clear credo: giving human value to company resources. The beginning, Marisa says, was a question of identity. «You no longer have a job title to protect you, but you have to put yourself out there as a person and as a professional, build a reputation, recognise your talent, face your limitations and turn them into areas for improvement. This is what I still try to convey to my colleagues every day.» Satisfaction comes in the details: «Every phone call or contact we receive through spontaneous word of mouth from companies or professionals who have used our services and recommend us,gives us a pat on the back and motivates us to continue working, keeping the bar very high.» Yet there are challenges. «The most difficult moment is every time we encounter companies that think their employees change jobs just for money. They become short-sighted in the fact that employees often run away from their managers. They change because they don't identify with them, they don't respect them, they don't feel inspired, and above all, they don't feel listened to», says Ferrara. The market, meanwhile, has changed. Small businesses have realised that an administrative contact is no longer enough: they need an HR department, even outsourced, capable of working on engagement, career planning, and welfare. The demand for motivation has remained constant. Companies seek motivated staff, and professionals seek motivated companies.
Between machines and people. And while artificial intelligence enters processes, Marisa remains firm on one point: «Despite the great advances in artificial intelligence and automation, an organisation's success continues to depend largely on people. Technology remains a tool: it is humans who design it, manage it, and interpret it. Human capital brings with it transversal skills, creativity, empathy, emotional intelligence, and above all, ethical values. All qualities that AI cannot replicate.» Today, MF Consultant is a diverse team spanning across several disciplines: law, psychology, marketing, economics, master's in HR, and certifications in business coach. «Every member of the team is unique! Totally different personalities, different approaches and visions. With a single common goal: putting the person back at the centre of focus. This is our strength. The philosophy of MF Consultant has never been to expect anything from the future, but rather to continually ask ourselves what we can offer. Today we are working on a project that makes us particularly proud: it highlights excellence but leaves no one behind. It is the VURA Method, a registered trademark and patented method. It is based on the premise of valuing the uniqueness of the individual to strengthen the sense of togetherness and ultimately create the corporate community», Ferrara says proudly. Ten years after that courageous choice, the watershed is now behind us. That indefinite life seems far away. The sowing, as Marisa says, is awaited as a value. Today the fruits are here: a company that has put people at the centre of focus. A company that has chosen courage.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
Read the other interviews
