About

Hello! My name is Francesca Marano, and I am the Associate Director of Engineering at XWP.

I co-led two major WordPress.org releases, 5.3, “Kirk” and 5.4, “Adderley“. Yes, the software that powers over 40% of the web.

I am good at what I do and yet, I remain approachable 😉 Sharing knowledge is important to me and I do it generously, whenever I can.

Francesca speaking at a conference

Previously, I worked at Yoast, the only SEO plugin that really works, and at SiteGround, the amazing international hosting provider. Before that, I had a bunch of jobs, from administrative director to florist. You can read about those in my LinkedIn profile.

I am very proud of the blog I founded in 2013, C+B. With an editorial staff of more than eighty authors, C+B has helped thousands of Italian creative female entrepreneurs find their path throughout the years.

I am a passionate speaker and you can find me talking about WordPress, community, open-source, women in tech, and small businesses. Check some of my talks on WordPress.tv.

You can hire me as a speaker for your conference or workshop. Check Notist for a collection of slides, resources, and tweets from my talks.

Random things about me

  1. I spend my time between Torino, Italy, and Tonbridge, UK. Before March 2020 I used to travel extensively. Now the longest distance is from bed to sofa, I guess…
  2. Favorite food. Ok, it changes quite a lot, so here is a top 5: pizza al padellino, tom yum, kimchi-jjigae, Persian jeweled rice, a damn good cheeseburger, tiramisu. I became lacto-ovo-vegetarian on March 2020, so all the above have been transformed to fit this.
  3. I am an atheist but I have numerous patron saints: Beyoncé, Lizzo, Rihanna, Michelle Obama, Zadie Smith.
  4. I used to think Kim Kardashian was the greatest entrepreneur of our time and I watched her show for years. She probably is, I just got bored of entrepreneurship talk and tv-shows.
  5. I love dancing
  6. David Letterman is unsurpassed, but I haven’t watched the show on Netflix.
  7. Favorite TV show of all time: Buffy The Vampire Slayer. First series to use “Google it”, how can you not love it/her?
  8. I love knitting. It’s relaxing and engaging. Plus it keeps loved ones warm.
  9. I learned HTML in 1999.