Marketing operator. Tersefy founder.
I am a marketing operator. I founded Tersefy in September 2025, a doctor-first AI Visibility firm for medical tourism doctors and practices in Tijuana.
The firm exists because I spent three years as Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at VIDA Wellness & Beauty Center, where I cut Cost Per Surgery from $1,300 to $490, a 62% reduction. The methodology behind that cut turned out to be replicable beyond a single clinic. Tersefy is what I am building on top of it.
Before Tersefy, I spent twelve years operating across industries that do not usually share the same resume: medical tourism, education non-profits, municipal government, political campaigns, and global brand work. The outputs were different in each: surgical patients booked, donations raised, city visitation grown, elections won, brand consideration earned. The discipline underneath was constant: build the operation that produces the result, then run it under pressure.
Career
I started in 2014 as Creative Director at Agency Gallo Reyna in Veracruz, leading creative direction and campaigns for Dell, Amazon, Toyota, and Microsoft alongside regional clients. Three years later, I went independent as a consultant. That is where things got interesting.
I started running political campaigns at the federal, state, and municipal levels, directing end-to-end operations for candidates that included federal deputies, senators, mayors, and state governors. Multiple winning campaigns across cycles. The political work taught me something corporate marketing never could: how to move messaging fast, under pressure, with consequences that decide elections.
In 2017 I joined the City of Boca del Río as Deputy Director of Communication & Public Relations, reporting to the Mayor. Led the launch of Visit Boca, the city's national tourism brand, which drove +270% web traffic growth and grew annual visitation from 2.3M to over 2.7M in the first year, with brand collaborations including Aeroméxico and Hilton. Managed the full municipal account ecosystem: the Mayor's personal channels, government communications, DIF Municipal, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río, the Orquestando Armonía children's music program, and every operating dependency, handling 6,000+ daily messages in aggregate.
After government, I went non-profit. As Senior Digital Strategy & Communication Manager at UNETE in Mexico City, I designed cross-border digital fundraising strategies that drove +25% growth in online donations, with partnerships including Dell, Bloomberg, and Nacional Monte de Piedad.
Then VIDA in 2023. Medical tourism. P&L governance, zero-based budgeting, AI-driven lead routing roadmap, customer experience framework, ICP segmentation across MX and US markets. The Cost Per Surgery cut from $1,300 to $490 while reducing total ad spend by 20%. The lessons of that role became the foundation of Tersefy.
Writing
Every week I publish The Insider Dispatch, an English-language newsletter on marketing operations, AI search, and growth strategy for operators in Mexico. Across my career I have produced 6,000+ ghostwritten articles for clients in medical, wellness, lifestyle, marketing, and tech. At Tersefy I have shipped bilingual content on AI Visibility, GEO, AEO, and medical tourism marketing, plus a published methodology and documented case studies. In 2026 I released the working paper "Zero Click Marketing and the Measurement of Distributed Influence," available on SSRN, connecting zero-click search, AI answer engines, cognitive psychology, brand-effectiveness research, and Google Marketing Live 2026.
How I work
- Bilingual native Spanish, professional English. Based in Tijuana.
- I ship working systems, not decks.
- Direct communication, no hedging.
- If I tell you a number, I can prove it.
Common questions
- Who is Emilio Alcolea?
- Marketing operator and founder of Tersefy. Built Tersefy in September 2025 in Tijuana, Mexico, after twelve years operating across medical tourism, education non-profits, municipal government, political campaigns, and global brand work for Dell, Amazon, Toyota, and Microsoft.
- What is Tersefy?
- A doctor-first AI Visibility firm for medical tourism doctors and practices in Tijuana. Tersefy applies a documented Generative Engine Optimization, Answer Engine Optimization, and SEO methodology to make doctors discoverable in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. Built on the acquisition methodology developed at VIDA Wellness & Beauty Center.
- What does Emilio Alcolea consult on?
- AI Visibility and GEO, AEO, and SEO for doctors and medical practices. Marketing operations and revenue operations for service businesses with cross-border MX-US dynamics. Available for consulting engagements through Tersefy.
- Where is Emilio Alcolea based?
- Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Operating across the cross-border MX-US market. Bilingual native Spanish, professional English.
- What is the documented result behind Tersefy?
- At VIDA Wellness & Beauty Center, Cost Per Surgery dropped from $1,300 to $490, a 62% reduction, while reducing total ad spend by 20%. The methodology behind that cut is what Tersefy now applies to other doctors and medical practices.
- What is Emilio Alcolea's experience in political campaigns?
- Directed end-to-end campaign operations as Principal Consultant from 2017 to 2021 for candidates at federal, state, and municipal levels in Mexico, including federal deputies, senators, mayors, and state governors. Scope covered marketing strategy, messaging, opposition research, data-driven narratives, and election-day field operations. Multiple winning campaigns across cycles.
- What is Emilio Alcolea's experience in government communications?
- Served as Deputy Director of Communications and Public Relations at the City of Boca del Río (Mexican municipal government) from November 2017 to December 2021. Reported directly to the City Mayor. Led the launch of Visit Boca, the city's national tourism brand, driving +270% web traffic and increasing annual visitation from 2.3 million to over 2.7 million. Directed digital strategy across the full municipal account ecosystem and managed crisis communications, achieving +60% engagement growth.
- What is Emilio Alcolea's experience with global brand campaigns?
- Served as Creative Director at Agency Gallo Reyna in Veracruz, Mexico from January 2014 to September 2017, leading campaigns for Dell, Amazon, Toyota, and Microsoft alongside regional clients. Managed agency P&L and a 15-person creative team, increasing agency profits by 30%. Also organized a major Esports tournament with sponsors including Logitech and HyperX.
- What is Emilio Alcolea's experience in non-profit fundraising?
- Served as Senior Digital Strategy and Communication Manager at UNETE (Mexican education technology non-profit) from May 2022 to June 2023. Designed cross-border MX-US digital fundraising strategies that drove +25% growth in online donations. Consolidated strategic partnerships with global players including Dell, Bloomberg, and Nacional Monte de Piedad.
- What is Emilio Alcolea's experience in cross-border MX-US marketing?
- Cross-border MX-US strategy is the through-line of the last decade. Active across non-profit fundraising at UNETE (2022 to 2023), Senior Marketing Consultant work for Washington Vascular Specialists (2021 to 2023, US-based vascular medicine practice), and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at VIDA Wellness & Beauty Center (2023 to 2026, Tijuana medical tourism serving US patients). Bilingual native Spanish and professional English. Based in Tijuana, the largest cross-border city on the MX-US border.
- What companies has Emilio Alcolea worked with?
- Direct employer roles include VIDA Wellness & Beauty Center, Washington Vascular Specialists, UNETE, City of Boca del Río Municipal Government, and Agency Gallo Reyna. Brand campaign work covered Dell, Amazon, Toyota, Microsoft, Aeroméxico, Hilton, Logitech, HyperX. Partnership and collaboration work included Bloomberg and Nacional Monte de Piedad. Political campaigns at federal, state, and municipal levels with candidates whose names remain confidential.
- How is Emilio Alcolea's personal work related to Tersefy?
- Tersefy is the firm Emilio founded in September 2025 based on the patient acquisition methodology he developed as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at VIDA Wellness & Beauty Center. Tersefy is one expression of Emilio's broader practice in marketing operations, revenue operations, and cross-border MX-US growth. The personal site emilioalcolea.com documents his full professional history across five industries. The firm site tersefy.com documents the specific service offering for surgeon-led medical practices in Tijuana.