About Simone Passacantilli. From Early Experiences to Fractional CMO.

First of all thanks for being interested in my story. I hope you’ll enjoy the reading.

1980 to 2006 - Welcome to the world.

What matters: I was born, I learned, I lived. The rest? It’s all in the story below.

2006 - My first creative agency in Italy.

I started young, in a living room in Rome, while still finishing university. We called it Juice – Creative Communication. I was in my twenties, full of instinct and energy. Over five years, we built a client base across Italy and managed advertising space in national cinema chains. It was my first experience building a business from scratch, learning on the job, adapting quickly, and turning ideas into real work. At the beginning, it was creative work (mostly copywriting) which I enjoyed very much. We created some memorable campaigns at the time. At some point, that role shifted to more admin and sales and started to feel too small. It didn’t seem like the direction I wanted to grow in, and I realised it was time to step out.

I exited.

The agency is still operating today.

2011 - A corporate chapter that taught me what I didn’t want.

After that, I joined a corporate role in the betting industry. I imagined a brilliant career inside an international company that welcomed people with ideas and energy. Two years later, I had a different view.
The structure was heavy, decision-making was slow, and no one really owned the outcomes. I gave everything I could, but the system didn’t move. Eventually, I walked away and turned down similar roles that came afterwards.

I knew I needed to find something that made more sense to me.

2013 - Moving to London to (re)Start from zero.

I asked myself what would be the most challenging city in Europe to restart in at 32, with no job and no safety net.

I moved to London. No contacts, no backup plan, just enough money to cover what I thought would be two months. It turned out to be closer to one, but that’s another story. What mattered was the urge to test myself and rebuild on stronger ground.

After a few weeks, I joined a startup called Action Cameras, working across ecommerce, marketing, and operations. That’s where I met the person who would become my business partner: Simone Luciani. A special thanks, with deep gratitude, to Simone, with whom I formed a true professional duo for 11 successful years. Together, we were known as “the Simones”.

2014 - Building RichClicks and Leading Through Growth.

We started sketching an agency model that didn’t exist yet, one built around consultants working directly with clients. No layers, no account managers, no salespeople. We called it RichClicks.

We wanted to create something truly ours. Our freedom over investors, banks, rounds of seed funding, VCs, etc.

I still remember the first time a client told us they chose us because we were the only ones who actually listened. That’s when we knew we were onto something real.

For the next twelve years, I led that agency. I focused on strategy, marketing, team leadership, and operations. The weight of responsibility was constant, day and night. Looking back, I wouldn’t recommend carrying that much for that long.

Still, we scaled across Europe. We hired 25 people in five countries. We travelled a lot. We managed multi-million advertising budgets. I built a team with internal systems that allowed us to grow with consistency and focus. Client retention was high. The team stayed. We weren’t chasing visibility, but we ended up receiving several awards and many nominations. Some were well known (RAR Awards, DRUM, Google Premier Partner Award, European Search Award, etc.), others less so. That wasn’t the point. The work stood up over time.

What I remember most, though, has nothing to do with performance. We had a team that genuinely cared. We built a culture based on trust and respect. We ran retreats in London, Milan, and Tenerife. Each one created connection, shared moments, and a feeling that we were building something solid together.

That part of the journey meant more to me than any metric.

In 2024, I exited RichClicks.

The business was in good shape. The team was strong. The system is still running today.

The cycle felt complete.

2024 - Exiting the Company and Rethinking the Way I Work

What I learned in those years is simple. Growth without structure creates noise. Speed without direction leads to confusion. Teams don’t fail because they lack skill. Teams struggle when no one is clear on who owns what, when priorities shift too fast, and when the system can’t hold the weight.

Most problems in business are not technical. They come from the human side. Mistrust. Poor communication. Weak processes. When clarity is missing, everything becomes harder. But when structure is in place, the pressure drops. The decisions get better. And people start to focus again.

2025 - Another beginning.

Now I work with founders and leadership teams who feel that pressure and want to build something more solid.

I act as a fractional CMO, supporting companies that need strategic thinking without adding full-time overhead.

I consult on marketing, operations, and internal alignment. I mentor professionals stepping into new roles, helping them lead with calm and clarity. I don’t bring formulas or tactics. I bring presence, experience, and the ability to read a business fast. I’ve seen enough plans fail because no one was there to hold the structure together.

After two decades of building and scaling, I’ve seen that success doesn’t come from perfect planning. It comes from consistent decisions, healthy teams, and a system that doesn’t collapse under pressure. That’s what I help build. Not with theory, but through honest conversations and systems that make sense in real life.

My life outside work.

If you’re thinking about working with a marketing consultant - especially in a fast, noisy city like London - it’s only fair to get a sense of the person behind the job title. Just to see if there’s a chance we’d actually get along.

And if we do end up working together, chances are we’ll talk about food, travel, music, or the places that help us reset.

The way I approach business has always been shaped by how I move through the world: curious, grounded, humble, and fully present.

I was born near Tivoli, just outside Rome, in a place where simplicity was the norm and time moved at its own pace. Emperor Hadrian built a villa there, and people still visit it today. I grew up around countryside, cats, and people who didn’t rush unless there was a good reason.

Ah, Italy. Some things really do leave a mark.

I love exploring.

I’ve walked through the Peruvian Andes for days from Cusco to Machu Picchu. I’ve followed rivers in Borneo at dawn, tracking orangutans. In Tanzania, I once stood in front of a wounded lion and cried. I got lost in Aokigahara, the forest at the foot of Mount Fuji, silent and heavy like nowhere else.

And then there were the other moments I’d never forget.

Watching the sun rise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia. Getting half-massaged, half-beaten in a hammam in Istanbul. Contracting exotic diseases on almost every continent (yes, I’ve become something of a specialist). Getting stuck on a boat off the coast of Komodo where you can’t even swim, because of the dragons. Jumping into a cenote in Mexico with the car’s electronic key still in my pocket. Walking in flip-flops next to a rattlesnake in Death Valley, thinking it was a garden sprinkler.

Different intensity. Same effect.

All of these moments stay with me. They remind me to pay attention, stay grounded, keep listening: to the planet, to others, and to myself.

What else?

I love being into nature, quiet early mornings, sunsets and yes, good food.

Once in a while, I go raving: it’s more meditative than it looks, and definitely counts as cardio.
It clears my head and gives me energy. Curiously, a club with loud, good music gives me the same feeling as a silent sunset.

In general I feel younger than the number on my ID. Curiosity helps. So does the DNA. Thanks, Mum and Dad.

I also cook a lot. Not just because I love food, but because I love the process. There’s something about putting together a good dish that feels a lot like solving a complex brief: timing matters, ingredients matter, tools matter, and so does knowing when to stop. You have to have respect for what you’re working with. You need to care. And when it works, nothing is wasted.

And fair warning: if we end up working together and you’re seriously into food, there’s a high chance we’ll lose track of time talking about it once the real work is done.

The person behind the role.

Thanks again for reading my whole story.
This page took me more time to write than any other - talking about your work is easy. Talking about yourself? Not so much.

But if you’ve made it this far, you’re probably not looking for another growth framework.

You want clarity.
You want rhythm.
You want someone who can walk into your business and see what others miss.
Someone who can read what’s not written or said.
Someone who can go beyond the numbers.

Mostly, you want a real person you can build something solid with.

That’s what I do, and that’s what keeps me going.

If it sounds useful, we can talk - about fractional support, consultancy, mentoring.

Or maybe just about travel, food, and life.

Let's have a chat!

Lot of Gratitude.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has shared this journey with me: colleagues, partners, clients, Sara and friends. Thank you to those who believed in me, those who challenged me, those who inspired me, and those who supported me in moments of both triumph and difficulty. Every single “thank you” is deeply felt and sincerely meant. I owe much of my growth to each and every one of you along the way.