Thanks for popping by.
I am Gabriella Ferenczi.

Forks in the Road

• 1990s

  I’m a teacher at heart. At six years old, I taught my parents languages using a whiteboard my dad gave me as a gift. I had chalks, they had their notebooks and assignments, and I’m told I was a very strict but fair teacher.

• 2000s

  I studied in Budapest, Hungary (ELTE University) and in Marburg, Germany (Philipps-Universität) where I spent time doing extensive research work for my final dissertation.

  The intricate worlds of psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, stylistics, semiology, semantics, dialectology and the history of language were my favourite modules. To this day, I’m fascinated by onomatopoeic words – you know, those rare gems that mimic sounds in nature, revealing surprising similarities across different languages.

  My academic background in languages and communications forms the foundation of my expertise in marketing communications.

  • MSc in German Linguistics and Literature, Eötvös Loránd University of Arts and Sciences (ELTE), Budapest, Hungary, 2006
  • MA in Education (Teaching and Learning), Eötvös Loránd University of Arts and Sciences (ELTE), Budapest, Hungary, 2006

  

• After graduation, I started teaching at a fantastic independent language school in Budapest where I worked for 18 months. I loved every second of it but as fate would have it, London was calling me. In late 2007, I set foot on the shores of the British Isles and have never looked back.

  I established my boutique language coaching business, ProLingua Global and designed a signature 5-step language coaching programme to meet the specific needs of executives in the financial services industry, working closely with HR and Learning & Development teams across organisations including BlackRock, Allianz, Barclays, Deloitte and many more.

  

• 2010s

  I co-owned an award-winning hair and beauty salon in Central London, where I first learned the practical aspects of marketing. From websites to newsletters to social media, this is where my digital marketing journey began in 2013.

  Over 12 years, we built a well-oiled digital marketing engine under my leadership that consistently drove visibility, clicks and bookings. As the business grew, so did the team, reaching 16 at its peak, requiring hands-on leadership, coordination and clear systems. Like any other consumer-facing business, we navigated shifting economic, social and industry forces – and a few years after Covid, the time felt right to close our doors and move on.

  

• I launched Language Professionals’ Networking Event, an independent, non-profit monthly social initiative to create an interdisciplinary platform for language service providers to network and connect with one another.

  What started out as a London-based initiative was forced to move online due to Covid, and our doors have opened up to a community across 5 continents.

  

• 2020s

  My digital marketing skills evolved as I built an ecosystem of online platforms for these for-profit and non-profit businesses. Colleagues often came to me for advice and guidance, and rather than keeping those conversations one-to-one, I chose to structure and share my insights more widely, through long-form writing, a new podcast series, workshops and practical resources.

  Thrive Online was launched in 2021 as a home for that work. It’s a platform dedicated to helping service businesses, particularly language professionals, create impactful digital assets to attract clients.

  

• In each of my businesses, I launched a digital marketing internship program, personally mentoring over 20 interns between 2020 and 2023. Guiding these ambitious young talents from across Europe and watching them apply their fresh ideas to our projects was incredibly rewarding.

  This experience deepened my desire to work more closely with university students and influence their academic journey, and I started to look around for side jobs.

• My first foray into academia was as a Lecturer in Marketing at Kingston University International Study Centre. With my background as a language teacher, I could easily relate to the linguistic challenges international students faced and could simplify the seemingly complex academic language of marketing for them. It was the perfect blend of teaching marketing while leveraging my language coaching expertise at the same time.

• TODAY

  Today, I work as a Lecturer at Coventry University London, designing and delivering learning experiences across BA, MSc, and MBA programmes. My work focuses on building curricula that combine academic rigour with industry-ready skills, spanning the full learning design lifecycle – from curriculum architecture and assessment strategy to blended, asynchronous, and face-to-face learning journeys.

  I have developed multiple postgraduate modules and led the design and academic oversight of a new three-year undergraduate degree, BSc Digital Marketing and Analytics, launching in September 2026. The programme was built with a strong emphasis on strategic thinking, technical capability, and graduate employability, ensuring students are well prepared for the evolving demands of digital marketing roles.

  Alongside teaching modules such as Data Analytics, Brand Storytelling and Content Marketing, Creativity and Innovation, I supervise postgraduate dissertations and serve as Deputy Course Director for the BSc International Fashion Management and Marketing programme.

  I collaborate closely with colleagues on programme enhancement, quality assurance, and international partnerships, creating coherent and inclusive learning pathways aligned with real-world and employer expectations.

  

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And many more LinkedIn recommendations and client testimonials.

Random Facts

If you’ve read this far, thank you.
Do reach out if I can be of any help.

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