AdAge 40 Under 40 - CEO at Growth Skills - Fractional CMO - Search Engine Land SEO Innovation Landy Award Winner - 2022 U.S Search Best Campaign Winner - 2nd Degree Black Belt - Bare Knuckle Karate Champion

I’m a performance driven Growth Marketing expert. I help brands acquire customers and increase their value over time. I have a deep speciality in SEO & Content Marketing. I made AdAge's 40 under 40 for innovating in these areas. I'm a self taught marketer so I can talk theory but also do hands on execution. 

Philosophy: There are only two relationships in Nature. Symbiotic and parasitic. Humans and corporations can chose to be either. I’ve chosen to grow and nurture symbiotic relationships with friends, family, coworkers and clients. I also help connect people who I know would thrive together. 

Kyokushin Karate: I’m a bare knuckle Kyokushin Karate champion. I equate bare knuckle Karate to growing a start up. You have to embrace the suck, be fearless and stare the problem in front of you right in the eyes and solve it. I’ve learned that martial arts has very little to do with kicking and punching but everything to do with life.

Specialties: Business and Team Growth, SEO Management, SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, SEO Product Development, Social Media Marketing, PPC, Website Development, Video Editing, Video Production, Project Management, Partnerships, Negotiation, Sales, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, PR, Brand Building, Brand Positioning

Lavall Chichester

My little startup turned 5 years old today. Her name is
Reyna Maya Chichester, named after Maya Angelou. 

Maya Angelou was a poet, dancer, singer, activist, scholar and a world-famous author. 

My daughter sings, dances, and fixes in justices on the play ground. 
When Reyna talks about the origins of her name, we want her to be able to connect with a strong black woman who made positive change for others in the world. 

Reyna Maya turned five to day and she reminded me that we have to use our skills for good. A woman stole packages from our building and Reyna recommended that we buy her, her own package, so she doesn’t have to steal.

Our children are born empathic even though they are growing up in a world that is losing it’s empathy. Most of us are masters of our craft and have the means to make change.

Be like Reyna Maya, let’s help others get the care and support they need, so the future can be proud of us.
#change #spreadlove #bethechange #careeradvice

AdAge 40 Under 40 - EVP, BarkleyOKRP & MissionOne Media - Search Engine Land SEO Innovation Landy Award Winner - 2nd Degree Black Belt - Bare Knuckle Karate Champion

If you search January 6th or January 6th insurrection on Google.
The White House is using SEO & Content marketing to influence the search results. 💡 

The White House claims the top stories position for both terms. 📈 

Leaving politics aside, this is an example of how SEO & Content Marketing
can and is being used for reputation management, reframing a story, brand marketing and more. 🥋 

Anyone claiming SEO is dead, is not paying attention. ☠️ 

Here is why the page is ranking and will claim the top organic positions soon. 🎓 

Why?
-White House dot gov has high domain authority 
-The content mention January 6th 47 times
-The content uses entities relevant to the topic like Congress, specific congress people
-Meta titles & descriptions are optimized enough to matter
-The article contains words, images and multiple video which will make time on site higher
-They have a social media share bar that follows you making it easy to share
-They have a downloadable report
-They have gotten links from other websites

Results: 💸 
-They have the top stories position
-They rank for over 106 keywords in a day
- They will eventually rank on the front page for these words and more
-They have gotten hundreds of backlinks from other sites the page spreading the story and reinforcing the rankings
-People will find this and be influenced in one way or the other

ChatGPT & Perplexity have not yet been influenced.

Doesn’t matter, because according to SEMRUSH Google
search is 373x bigger than ChatGPT search. Meaning more
people use Google and find before it starts to rank on ChatGPT and the others.

SEO is more vital than ever to get your message in front of people.
SEO is so powerful it is actively being used to rewrite history.

I’d love your thoughts on this in the comments.

#seo #contentmarketing #growthmarketing #aio #searchengineoptimization

——————————
🥋 I'm Lavall EVP of SEO & AI Optimization at BarkleyOKRP & MissionOne Media. 
I’m a second degree Black Belt, Bareknuckle Karate Champion and do Full Contact Growth Marketing for my clients.
💰 My posts will help you increase search rankings, brand awareness and revenue using Growth Marketing. 
🎓 My posts will help you Learn How to Learn to grow your career and business.

Liked this post? Want to see more?
🔔 Ring it on my Profile
🔝 Connect with me

Stop building content your audience doesn't want!
Watch this video to learn how I use SparkToro's new Take Action feature + Replit to build a fully functional interactive tool in 30 minutes. 💡 

Not 30 days. Not 30 hours. 30 minutes. ⚡ 

Here's what you'll learn: 🎓 
-How to use SparkToro's audience intelligence to generate content ideas that actually match what your target audience cares about
-How to take those AI-generated recommendations and prompt Replit's agent to build real, working tools
-How the agent literally QA tests your build for you (it takes the quiz itself to make sure everything works)

Why this is a must-watch: 🥋 

Google's AI Overviews are eating your traffic. Static content isn't cutting it anymore. And your competitors are still stuck in "let's write another blog post" mode while you could be shipping interactive experiences that convert.

The example I built? A personalized protein product finder for The Vitamin Shoppe that asks about fitness goals, diet preferences, and lifestyle, then recommends specific products. 💪 

Two things that made me laugh during this build: 😂 
I told the tool I was vegan and it recommended whey protein. Had to remind the AI that diet preferences should probably come before "let me sell you cow juice." 🐄 

Also, watching Replit's agent click through my quiz like an eager intern running QA was oddly satisfying. 

Shout out to Rand Fishkin Amanda Natividad Casey Henry for launching the new Take Action feature. I love it we are using it more and more for our clients.


#contentmarketing #seo #vibecoding #ai #aiskills #Replit #cursor #loveable #guides #sparktoro #audiencedata #audiencedevelopment 

——————————
🥋 I'm Lavall EVP of SEO & AI Optimization at BarkleyOKRP & MissionOne Media. 
I’m a second degree Black Belt, Bareknuckle Karate Champion and do Full Contact Growth Marketing for my clients.
💰 My posts will help you increase search rankings, brand awareness and revenue using Growth Marketing. 
🎓 My posts will help you Learn How to Learn to grow your career and business.

Liked this post? Want to see more?
🔔 Ring it on my Profile
🔝 Connect with me

We are hiring an SEO & AI Optimization Supervisor. Come work with some of the best people in the world. Our clients are amazing and our SEO team is small but growing fast. Come join us from the ground up so you can impact our culture, process and product.

This is a dream job for anyone interested in:
-SEO, Content, AI etc
-Working at a large independent agency not a holding company
-Hybrid working experience (some in office) 
-Want to work with a great team
-Freedom to be creative at work
-Learning from the amazing people at BarkleyOKRP and MissionOne Media

#hiring #seoroles #seojobs #aioroles #aijobs #aiojobs #contentmarketingroles #contentmarketingjobs
____

🥋 I'm Lavall EVP of SEO & AI Optimization at BarkleyOKRP & MissionOne Media. 
I’m a second degree Black Belt, Bareknuckle Karate Champion and do Full Contact Growth Marketing for my clients.
💰 My posts will help you increase search rankings, brand awareness and revenue using Growth Marketing. 
🎓 My posts will help you Learn How to Learn to grow your career and business.

Liked this post? Want to see more?
🔔 Ring it on my Profile
🔝 Connect with me

Associate Director, Talent Acquisition | Hiring Media & Client Experience talent for BarkleyOKRP

Do you have a sixth sense for when Google is about to shake things up - and the technical chops to respond before anyone else does?

BarkleyOKRP and MissionOne Media need an SEO & AI Optimization Supervisor to join our innovative team.

You’ll own organic growth for key clients by blending technical SEO, AI-assisted search, and smart strategy across both traditional and generative channels. If you thrive on autonomy, love working alongside devs and content teams, and driving measurable impact by an agency that champions bold thinking, you should move fast.

Send your resume - or apply online!

#newyork #kansascity #seo #ai #movetheneedle #supervisor #pleaseshare

Open article: Supervisor, SEO & AI Optimization by job-boards.greenhouse.io

VP of People at Gorilla | In the pursuit of employee significance | Leadership & Career Coach | Illustrator | Corporate Hippy - views expressed here are my own

I’m a tech executive who believes the future belongs to companies that combine AI capability with human intelligence.

Not AI as a silver bullet.
Not people strategy as soft culture work.
Not simplistic “do more, faster” productivity narratives.
But practical systems that help organisations make better decisions as they scale.

I’ve spent my career building and operating those systems across people, performance, operating models, and now AI. 

The work only matters if it shows up in reality; how leaders lead, how teams decide, and how companies change without losing trust.

Most recently, I led the global People function at a Series B energy tech company and co-led our early AI rollout across governance, ethics, enablement, tooling, and experimentation. 

Alongside this, I work with founders, executives, and investors as a fractional leader and advisor. I help organisations roll out AI responsibly, navigate change, and build people systems that compound growth rather than create drag.

If you’re a founder, COO, CPO or leader trying to:
- adopt AI without breaking trust or momentum
- lead change without drowning managers in process
- scale people and operating systems that actually work in the real world.

I write and speak for you.

Things I write about:

- Practical AI adoption without hype or harm
- Where human judgment still matters in everyday AI decisions
- Leading change that creates clarity and engagement, not chaos
- People systems that support growth instead of getting in the way
- Why culture breaks during scale-ups, and how to fix it

Vanessa Monsequeira

May this be your 2026 reminder for everytime you get feedback. 

That a Frankenstein pizza is what happens when you try to implement ALL the feedback.

8 years ago, I got a performance review back.

It was good.

But different leaders wanted different things from my 360 and some of those things contradicted each other.

I was ready to become that Frankenstein pizza.

Then I talked to my mentor, a senior badass leader at the firm.

She said something that changed how I operate:

"Ness, you don't have to take all the feedback just because it's given to you."

It seems obvious now.

But back then, as a middle manager finding my footing, in a system that rewarded listening and implementation ....

Those words felt foreign ....but liberating.

Because trying to create a pizza with ALL the toppings is exhausting.

And it leaves a bad taste in your mouth and often for others too. 

The hard part was figuring  which feedback to listen to.

Here's what I started asking myself:

→ Was this given with good intention?
→ Deep down, is this what's actually holding me back?
→ Do I have capacity to implement this right now?
→ How will I close the comms loop on the feedback I don't take on now / ever?

It's taken me years of practice. I don't always get it right. 

But when I do, the outcomes are:

— Better use of my time.
— Better discernment of who I trust.
— Not running around like a headless self improvement chicken
— And growth in the direction that actually serves my goals as a leader.

So here's your 2026 reminder:
Not all feedback counts equally.
Not all feedback deserves action.

Choose your toppings wisely.

Vanessa Monsequeira - चित्रलेखा

VP of People at Gorilla | Building Employee Experience as a Product | In pursuit of making work suck less | Leadership & Career Coach | Corporate Hippy - views expressed here are my own

Meme showing a pizza topped with an entire roasted chicken, pepperoni slices, chocolate sprinkles, and colorful candy pieces. Caption reads: 'When you incorporate all the feedback from every critique.

Name the person who helped you step into your light and your power as a leader.

For me that person over the last two years has been Ruth Penfold

As a female leader in tech, the waters we swim in are different.

Through working with Ruth I:
🌱 Grew taller in moments where I felt like shrinking
🌱 Had mirror moments where I had to look at the person staring back at me and make decisions in line with my courage and integrity
🌱 Connected mind back to body - essential for every leader who wants to lead a team and workforce with engagement and integrity
🌱 Learned how to balance strength and softness as a woman of color in leadership
🌱 Navigated tough decisions and self-doubt with someone who's been there - Ruth is a former VP and CPO in tech

Importantly, growing happens together and I was part of one of the first the Women Who Lead cohort.

💜 Women Who Lead is a 12-week, high-touch leadership accelerator for women who are done playing small at work and ready to feel like themselves again - grounded, confident, powerful, whole. 

Superb for moments of transition and reinvention. It blends somatic work, identity work, and real leadership strategy so change actually sticks - in the body, not just the head.

The in-person and online catch-ups helped me breathe and realize phew it's not just me.

There were moments of shared joy, laughter, commiserations, consoling.
Women help other women rise.

And I can wholeheartedly recommend working with Ruth and the program. 

She has an incredible way of combining rational, emotional, and somatic practices in an integrated way.

🗓 If this is speaking to you run don't walk to the next cohort.
FREE taster workshop next week - Jan 12-22
https://lnkd.in/ecY4Ew62

And if you already know in your mind and your body this is for you - check out more info in the comments.

Thank you Ruth Penfold 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

Two women taking a selfie on a city street, both smiling warmly at the camera. The woman on the left has long gray-blonde hair and wears gold hoop earrings with a beige top and crossbody bag. The woman on the right has dark curly hair and wears a black jacket. Behind them is a European-style street with outdoor café seating and storefronts. The photo captures a moment of genuine connection and joy between the two friends.

I have high idea productivity. But not all of my ideas are good.

And it’s probably driven my teams, friends, and family a little crazy over the years.

Yesterday, I shared that 2026 is my Year of Creating Space.

That’s hard to do when ideas fire at 100mph
 …and my personality says: yes, chase it, build it, implement it. NOW!!!!

My ideas don’t wait for quiet moments. They show up in meetings on walks, mid-conversations, reading, listening to podcasts, and during dinner.

If I don’t capture them, my brain keeps holding onto them loudly.

I’ve learned this from from teams I’ve led (and gentle nudges from my husband): 

👉🏾 Not every idea deserves action.
👉🏾 But most ideas do deserve to be captured.

I borrowed the Ideas Bin concept from listening to Nathan Barry, founder of Kit.

He often talks about how his “high idea productivity” can drive his team a little crazy.

Every time I hear it, I smile and think: "yep, that’s me".

So this year, I’m implementing it too.

Here’s how I’m using an Ideas Bin:
→ Capture ideas the moment they appear
→ Plan a date to revisit them
→ Then step away

Come back with fresh eyes and decide:
 → Keep in bin
 → Move to discovery
 → Time for action

The goal isn’t speed.
It’s creating space for better thinking.

If you’re smiling because you do this also generate ideas at the speed of light…
....you’re my people.

📌 I created a Notion Ideas Bin template. Feel free to use and make it your own!

Thanks again to Nathan Barry for the inspiration.

A screenshot of a Notion page titled “Ideas Bin.” At the top is a green call-out box with a lightbulb icon titled “Use this as a mental parking lot.” The text explains that people with high idea productivity should capture ideas without acting on them immediately, revisit them later, and decide whether to keep, explore, or act. Below the call-out is a table-style database listing ideas with columns for idea name, category (people, process, technology), date ideated, date to revisit, and status such as “Keep in bin,” “Move to discovery,” or “Time for action.”

I pre-order books the same way some folks invest in startups.

Because early support compounds.

Pre-orders help publishers gauge demand, secure better distribution, and give authors the momentum they need in those critical first weeks.

Since 2023, I've actively sought out and championed business books by women authors. I noticed that prior to this, women authors barely featured in my top 5 reads for the year.

So I started examining the supply and visibility of business books by women authors, the shelf space in bookshops, the top 10 lists recommended by apps, and thought leaders. 

The pattern was clear; women authors were barely featured.

Some of the sharpest thinking in leadership and organizational design is coming from women who deserve a bigger platform.

I've just pre-ordered three books I'm genuinely excited about:

📘 Purpose and Work by Jessica Zwaan - Jessica's framework around organizational archetypes of purpose (which I first saw at PX Immersive last year) is refreshingly non-performative. It's reframed how I think about purpose at work in a way that feels both fresh and obvious once you hear it.

📙 Exceptionals by Ingrid Tappin 🏳️‍🌈 -  I saw Ingrid present at the Valencia Digital Summit and again in a recent webinar. She's created an entirely new category of thinking about leadership and inclusion, one that's actually pragmatic rather than theoretical. Exceptional work in every sense.

📗 The Manager Method by Ashley Herd - Ashley's bite-sized videos and manager posts are gold. Having led people teams across several organizations, I've seen firsthand how little we talk about the day-to-day, practical side of management. Ashley fills that gap beautifully.

I track all the business books by women authors I'm reading in a Notion database. 

If you're building your 2025 reading list, these three deserve a spot.

And if you can, pre-order. It makes a real difference.


#womenauthors #leadership #culture

Three business book covers with arrows pointing to circular headshots of their authors: Purpose and Work by Jessica Zwaan, Exceptionals by Ingrid Tappin, and The Manager Method by Ashley Herd

When was the last time you trusted a leader or colleague who wasn't truthful with you?

I'm guessing never.

Every time I've seen trust erode, it's due to the usual suspects:

→ Someone held back feedback but told someone else behind the person's back. 
→ Or shared a half-truth because they didn't have the courage for a crunchy conversation. 
→ Or outright lied.

Cowardice - it's an ugly word we don't talk about enough at work and in leadership.

I don't say this to throw shade. 
We all have moments where we shy away from courage.

But as a leader? It's costing you the most valuable thing you have =  Trust.

What actually happens when trust breaks down:
→ Your team members stop trusting feedback that is useful.
→ Innovation dies because people play it safe or quite frankly because they can't be bothered.
→ Your engagement scores tank.
→ People show up but check out.
→ And eventually they leave.

Not because the work is hard.
But because they don't trust you.

There's a simple model that explains this: The Truth-Trust Cycle.

When you give a bit of truth → it creates trust
That trust makes you ready to give more truth → which creates more trust
And the cycle continues

The opposite is also true.
The moment trust is breached, people recoil and stop having real conversations.
And everyone's just performing their job, not actually doing it.

So here's your January challenge:
→ Have ONE hard conversation on a topic you've been avoiding.
→ Don't soften it.
→ Don't delay or delegate it.
→ Have it.

Because without the courage to tell the truth, you'll never build the trust your team actually needs.

And these are the actions that make work suck less.

#leadership #crunchyconversations

The Truth-Trust Cycle diagram showing a purple spiral on a light purple background. The spiral moves clockwise from the center outward, labeled: truth → trust → more truth → even more trust → even more truth → more trust, illustrating how truth and trust build upon each other in an expanding cycle. By Vanessa Monsequeira, Leadership that makes work suck less

There is a man riding a horse. 

The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important.

Another man, standing alongside the road, shouts, "Where are you going?" and the first man replies, "I don't know! Ask the horse!"

The late Thích Nhất Hạnh used to teach this zen story and says:

"This is also our story. We are riding a horse, we don't know where we are going, and we can't stop. The horse is our habit energy pulling us along, and we are powerless. We are always running, and it has become a habit."

--

Three weeks into January, I vowed to create space and to actually ride the horse instead of being dragged.

In past years, I've noticed a pattern:
→ The top 3 priorities become 5. Then 7.
→ "Heartbeat work" is often underestimated i.e. the essential keeping-the-lights-on stuff
→ Add generative AI to the mix, and suddenly the expectation is "more, faster."

The horse starts sprinting in multiple directions at once, and my December-to-January fresh ideas glow fades fast.

--

I've found two things that actually help me hold the reins:

1. Bi-weekly reflection (15-30 minutes)
A pause where I ask myself: "Did I choose this direction, or did the horse?"
It's the only way I've found to go slow so I can go fast again—in a direction I actually choose.

2. A Top 5 Priorities doc
A simple Notion doc with:
• 1 table for the top 5 priorities (not 7, not 10)
• 1 table for all the heartbeat work
For each priority:
• Who's the primary/secondary driver
• What is initially in and out of scope
• What "good" looks like

Then I socialize it with leadership and key stakeholders outside my area, so there are no surprises and a better way to discuss scope creep and new "quick wins." 🤮

--

Yesterday, I spent half a day offline planning H1.

Within an hour, I caught myself in classic Ness mode; front-loading way too much. The horse was already starting to bolt.

So I paused. Used my own frameworks: the Priorities doc and the Ideas Bin (the one I shared last week).

I can't promise the horse won't gallop away at different times this year. But I know I have the tools to tame it.

🐴 What helps you tame your horse? I'd love to hear what's working for you.

Black-and-white cartoon of a man clinging to a galloping horse while shouting, ‘I don’t know! Ask the horse!’ as another man on the roadside asks, ‘Where are you going?’”

Change doesn't fail because people are tired.

It fails because leaders stop leading when it matters most.

I just wrapped a discussion with a CEO who told me their organisation was "suffering from change fatigue."

I asked them: "How many times have you explained why this change matters?"

Them: "Maybe twice in the all-hands?"

Me: "There's likely your problem."

__

Over the years, I've consulted with dozens of organizations. And "change fatigue" comes up constantly. 

It's become the convenient excuse for why transformations stall. John Kotter found: 70% of change initiatives fail.I'd bet that with the acceleration of AI, it's higher now.

Multiple changes have been constant for decades.
Freeze, Change, Unfreeze change model rarely exits anymore. 

So why are we still so terrible at it?

Because most leaders don't understand (or don't want to understand) the basic building blocks of leading change.

Here's where it actually falls apart:

→ Leaders mention it once or twice in all-hands meetings, then wonder why nothing sticks
→ Leaders get defensive when feedback surfaces instead of listening and adapting
→ There's no consistent communication—just sporadic updates that create more confusion
→ The "why" disappears after the initial announcement, leaving people to fill in the blanks
→ Middle managers aren't equipped or empowered to champion the change on the ground

Meanwhile, their teams are left confused, disengaged, and exhausted.
Not from the change itself, but from the chaos around it.

Not everyone needs to love the change. 
But everyone needs to understand it.

People can handle change. 
They can't handle uncertainty, mixed messages, and confused timelines.

The fix is simpler than you think:
→ Make the process crystal clear from day one
→ Repeat the mission until you're sick of hearing yourself say it (then repeat it 10 more times)
→ Create feedback loops and actually listen without defensiveness
→ Equip your middle managers—they're your change champions, not your messengers

The gap between wanting change and leading it is where most transformations die.

Don't be the leader who announces change and disappears.
Be the one who stays in the arena until it sticks.

What's one change initiative you've seen fail—and what could leadership have done differently?

#changeleadership #leadership

Diagram titled "The surface area of change" showing three nested rectangles representing decreasing willingness to engage with change: largest section "Who wants change", medium section "Who wants to change", smallest section "Who wants to lead the change"

If we want to succeed as leaders, we have to realise that effective communication feels like overkill.

How you navigate...

→ Sharing Q1 priorities and watching blank faces nod
→ Saying "like I mentioned last week" for the third time
→ Realizing your teams are working on the wrong thing
→ Biting your tongue because you feel like a broken record
→ Getting asked a question you know you already answered

...determines whether your team actually executes, or an idea just exists.

And nobody warns you that the part of leadership that feels the most annoying, is repeating yourself endlessly. 

Yet it is actually the part that matters most.

We act like clarity is a one-time event. 

Like if you said it well enough the first time, it should stick.

The message isn't the problem. The lack of repetition is.

Communication is something you do until you're sick of hearing yourself - because that's roughly when your team is starting to actually internalize it.

When you stop too early:
→ Your team drifts off priority
→ The organisation looks disengaged
→ Your engagement scores for 'meaningful work' drop off

Not because they don't care, but because you thought 3 times was enough.

It wasn't.

I'll say it again: if we want to succeed as leaders, we have to realise that effective communication feels like overkill.

You need to say something at least 7+ times, in 7+ different ways before it actually sticks.

Here's one method and free resource to help: https://lnkd.in/e2aVW69u

Keen to hear from other leaders: how do you make your comms repetitive enough to actually land?


#leadership  #development #communicationtraining

My team doesn't listen" contrasted with "Your comms: 404 Page Not Found" - highlighting communication gaps in leadership

taplio

The Battle

Lavall Chichester

Vanessa Monsequeira

Followers

Posts

Engagements

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Performance ScoreLavall Chichester's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreVanessa Monsequeira's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Lavall Chichester

Vanessa Monsequeira

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Lavall Chichester's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreVanessa Monsequeira's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreLavall Chichester's LinkedIn Performance