Former American visa officer Della brings over 17 years of experience in conducting visa interviews and leading international exchange programs to Visasuperior. Fluent in Spanish and Mandarin, Della has served in high-volume consulates worldwide, including Santo Domingo, Guatemala City, Lima, Taipei, Beijing, and Manila.
Her expertise in F-1 Student and J-1 Exchange visas makes her exceptionally skilled in helping applicants navigate the visa process with confidence. At Visasuperior, Della provides personalized coaching to ensure clients are fully prepared, understand what visa officers are looking for, and know how to communicate their story clearly and effectively. She can help you prepare for success with our Visa Practice interviews.
If you want expert guidance from someone who has been on the other side of the visa window, Della is your trusted ally for a successful interview.
### What inspired you to start your business, and what problem were you passionate about solving?
My husband Robert and I are co-founders of Visasuperior.com, an online advisory service for non-immigrant US visa applicants. We are both former American visa officers with over 35 years of combined experience at the US Department of State, where we approved and denied thousands of visa applications.
We launched Visasuperior after retirement because we wanted to continue helping people – just as we did during our diplomatic careers. I have previously managed international exchange programs and saw firsthand how transformative travel and cultural exchange can be. Now, we use our insider knowledge to help clients prepare for the visa interview with high stakes, increasing their chances of success and creating strategies for those facing possible denial.
Starting a business after decades in government service has been both a challenge and an adventure. We have learned web development, SEO, and social media from scratch, constantly adapting and growing. It was worth reinventing ourselves and enabling others to achieve their American travel dreams.
### How has your business evolved since the launch, and what key decisions have contributed to driving that growth?
When we first started Visasuperior, we thought it would be relatively easy to attract attention to our website through video blogs on social media. We had never managed social media marketing before and were surprised to learn how challenging it is to rank high in Google Search so that people looking for visa consultants can find our business. I took the free online courses from HubSpot Academy on search engine optimization and learned quite a few insights that helped us improve our searchability. One of the key insights was about the importance of earning backlinks. We have been steadily working on it, but it has been a slower process than we had hoped. Nevertheless, we have set specific SEO goals and have seen improvement in recent months. Fortunately, we are also starting to see an increase in clients. It’s not where we want it to be yet, but we continue to work on it.
### What sets your brand apart in the competitive market today?
Did you know that 1 in 4 American tourist visa applications are denied, and 1 in 3 American student visas are denied? Those are not very good odds.
But why does this happen? It’s not because the applicants are not qualified for the visa. It’s usually because they have not prepared well for their Visa interview in the US.
As former American visa officers and diplomats who have approved and denied thousands of visas and supervised visa officers, we understand the decision-making process for visa approvals and denials. We know what factors are most important to the visa officers making these decisions. We use that insider knowledge to help our clients correctly fill out their DS-160 US Visa application form and practice for their visa interview. We do not use templates or generic guides, but instead offer a one-on-one consultation with each of our clients so we can give them specific advice for their situation.
Using this approach, we have helped students, professionals, business people, and tourists from around the world successfully obtain their non-immigrant visas and achieve their American dream!
### What has been your most effective marketing strategy so far, and why do you think it has worked so well?
Our most effective marketing strategy so far has been to offer free consultations with companies and organizations whose clients rely on having a non-immigrant visa in the US. For example, International Exchange Program sponsor organizations whose clients need US visas to participate in the program. We have met with several of them and provided a free overview of the American visa process. In return, they have given us client referrals. This has so far provided the most reliable and effective source of clients.
### How do you stay connected with your ideal audience and understand their needs or behavior?
To understand the current concerns and needs of our clients, we monitor Facebook groups where our target clients tend to ask questions about the American visa process. We answer their questions and then use that information to plan new videos and blogs. We also carefully review all comments left on our social media pages to notice trends in what our viewers are asking about the American visa process. We take pride in timely and thorough responses to all audience comments and emails.
### What is one branding move or campaign that has taken your business to the next level?
One mistake I made early on was focusing exclusively on my target clients, thinking that direct outreach was the only path to growth. I overlooked the power of building relationships with other companies and organizations that serve a similar audience. It wasn’t until later that I realized how much opportunity I had missed by not collaborating. It’s the difference between fishing with a pole and casting a wide net – when we pool our networks, we create ripple effects that benefit everyone.
If I could go back, I would prioritize strategic partnerships from day one. The boldest move I made was reaching out to a non-profit organization with a similar target audience to host a webinar. It felt risky, but it doubled our reach and built unexpected trust with our audience.
A surprising lesson? Your “competitors” are not always competition. Sometimes they are your most valuable allies. Conventional wisdom says to protect your turf, but I have learned that generosity and shared goals often lead to significant growth.
### How do you define success, not just in numbers, but in purpose or impact?
Aside from the goal of earning enough profit to fully support my family, my aim is to provide a high-quality service that helps our clients achieve their American dream. I have seen the power of international travel and what it can do to change negative perspectives of people and culture in another country. Travel opens doors and minds, and I am very happy to do what I can to help people in their quest to visit the United States.
### How do you personally define success, beyond income and growth metrics?
Have you ever done something that made your friends and family think you had gone crazy? After two decades serving as an American diplomat, I decided to resign from my job and start my own business, visasuperior.com. This was not an easy decision. I loved my career at the US Department of State, where I had the great joy of managing international exchange programs. Every day, I saw people bravely travel abroad, experience new cultures, and come away with a completely changed view of the world and their place in it. I truly enjoyed my work, and I had many reasons to stay. I was afraid to make the change from having a consistent, reliable income and doing what was familiar and easy. However, the work was no longer challenging for me. I was stagnant and needed something to push me out of my comfort zone so I could keep learning and growing. Since starting Visasuperior, an online US Visa Consulting Company, I have learned entirely new skills – web development, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and sales and marketing. Much of it has been daunting because no matter what I do, there is no one to blame for mistakes except myself. At the same time, it is deeply satisfying because I have so much latitude to learn, be creative, experiment, evaluate, and make changes along the way. Despite the financial risks, I have enjoyed the adventure of owning my own business, and I am glad I had the courage to make this change.
### Can you share a challenge or setback that ultimately became a turning point for your brand?
When we started Visasuperior, we did not fully understand the importance of search engine optimization. This was something we had never worried about as American diplomats, so it was a completely new concept for us. Luckily, we were able to learn more about it from free online courses and have made significant progress in moving up in search engine results.
### What daily habits or rituals keep you focused, creative, and grounded as a leader?
Every day, in addition to getting through my task list for Visasuperior, I try to maintain the habit of exercising, eating healthy food, spending time with my husband and two children, learning something new, reading, and getting enough sleep. I find that it can be easy to let work take over, especially as a small business owner. There is always more work to be done. So, it is vital to carve out time for each of these activities every day. On the other hand, if I don’t get to all of these things in one day, which often happens, I don’t beat myself up about it. After all, there are only 24 hours in a day!
### How do you approach innovation and risk in your business strategy?
One of the best aspects of owning a family business is that whatever we consider as an approach to our business or a new idea for marketing our services, we can try it out. We don’t have to ask for permission or get a committee to approve it. If it doesn’t work, we try something else. We set goals, measure results, and adjust our strategy. We love having the latitude to innovate, be creative, and try new things!
### What advice would you give to someone starting a business in today’s rapidly changing digital world?
On the positive side, in today’s rapidly changing digital world, there are many tools and applications that are free or inexpensive that are super useful for small businesses just starting out. It’s quite a difference from just five or ten years ago. It’s also incredibly easy to create and edit videos and get them out quickly and for very little cost to people. Plus, AI tools can save considerable time in editing and creating images. We have been impressed and grateful for all these changes that have kept our startup costs quite low. For anyone starting a business now, I encourage you to carefully look at all the free and cheap options available before signing up for expensive subscriptions or immediately paying for big advertising campaigns. You can get quite a bit done through bootstrapping!
On the other hand, it has been a challenge in this Media Rich environment to get as much attention on our website and social media posts as we would like to see. It’s so difficult to break through and be seen by our ideal target market. We are spending our savings to make this business work, so we have been hesitant to pay for ads. But it’s a direction we have to consider so we can further grow our business.
### Where can our audience reach out to you and learn more about your work or offerings?
Check out our website for free information and resources – Visasuperior
If you want us to help you practice and prepare for your Visa interview.
For questions, feel free to email us anytime at info@visasuperior.com
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