Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonia Urquilla.
Hi Sonia , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I graduated from university(Montclair State University) and naturally fell into sales. It was the jobs that landed on my desk first. But I didn’t like it. So I decided to invest in a career coaching program and pivot to marketing.
I took a bunch of marketing courses. One of them was SEO. But it was overwhelming and super technical, so I decided that wasn’t my path. I was struggling to land marketing jobs anyway. So I asked my career coach for help. I said, “Can you give me a hands-on project so I have something to show in interviews?” She looked at my LinkedIn, saw that I’d taken an SEO course, and asked if I could help optimize her website. I wanted to say no because it seemed complicated. I said yes instead.
That project took me weeks. Hours of learning, implementing, testing. But when it was done, her traffic went up, and her rankings improved. That was my sign. That’s when I knew SEO was the thing.
But around the same time, something else was happening. I was doing coffee chats with people at big companies I wanted to work for. One of those conversations was with someone at LinkedIn. At the time, I was writing about anime on my profile, mixing marketing concepts with anime references because I love anime and I wanted to bring some personality to what everyone else was posting about. This guy saw my posts and told me straight up: “You can’t write about anime on LinkedIn. Recruiters won’t take you seriously.”
I felt defeated. But I didn’t stop. I kept going. And thank God I did because that’s how I connected with people in the anime industry. One person reached out with a project, they wanted to tap into the anime Latino community in Europe for a UNIQLO collaboration. They specifically said they wanted someone passionate about anime and Latina. That project changed things for me.
Around the same time, I was in another coffee chat with a career coach. She told me I should take classes to remove my accent if I wanted to sound professional and land better roles. I didn’t do that either. Instead, I kept showing up as myself. And a recruiter found me. I landed my dream role.
That’s when I realized something: the moment I stopped trying to fit what other people thought I should be, the right people found me. My amigas found me. The people who actually got it.
Years before all this, my dad had a business. For a while his business was doing good. We lived comfortably. My mom was home with us. My sisters went to private school. We had a good life.
Then one day, people stopped coming. The economy shifted. Word-of-mouth dried up. He didn’t know how to reach new people. Within two years, we were moving apartments. My mom had to work until 8 pm. My dad had to work until 8 pm. The business closed, and it cost us everything.
That’s always stayed with me. He built something good. But nobody found him. He was invisible.
So when I got laid off from my dream job on 2024, I started building my own thing, I connected those two experiences. I refused to disappear the way my dad did. I refused to shrink. I stayed Latina. I stayed weird. I kept writing about anime. And that authenticity is what brought my amigas to me, women who saw themselves in my story and trusted me because I was real.
Now I help women-led service businesses do the same thing. Get visible without disappearing. Show up on Google, on AI tools like ChatGPT, on Claude, everywhere their clients are actually looking. My clients go from 4 leads in 4 years to making $18k from SEO. From barely any traffic to 2,000+ monthly. They get booked. They get featured. They get found.
That’s what my SEO services do. Making sure women who build real things don’t disappear because I know the cost of that.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it hasn’t been smooth. Not at all.
When I decided to pivot from sales to marketing in my late 20s, I thought it would be straightforward. Take courses, build a portfolio, land a job. But the job market was brutal. I was sending out applications and hearing nothing. I was confused. I was doubting myself. I questioned if I’d made the right choice leaving sales.
That’s when I asked my career coach for help. That vulnerability, admitting I was struggling, was hard. But asking for that project, learning SEO, grinding through those weeks of implementation… that taught me something. When I felt overwhelmed by the technical stuff, I’d pause, and I’d ask for clarity. And somehow, clarity came. Her website started ranking. Her traffic went up. But I still wasn’t landing marketing jobs.
The rejections kept coming. And then came the moments that really hurt. People I respected told me to change. Remove my accent. Stop writing about anime. Make yourself smaller so people take you seriously. That cut deep because it felt like the world was telling me I wasn’t enough as I was. But I kept going. I lean on my support system, my boyfriend. And I felt God telling me to stay true to who He made me to be. So I didn’t change. I kept going.
Then I landed my dream role. It felt like everything was finally working out. I was relieved. I was grateful. I was thanking God for finally getting here.
And then I got laid off in 2024.
That was the hardest obstacle. Losing a job you love, losing the stability, losing the identity you built around that role, it shook me. I was angry. I was scared. I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills. I didn’t know if I could actually do this on my own.
But in that moment of uncertainty, I had to lean on my faith completely. I couldn’t see the next step. I couldn’t see how this would work out. All I had was trust that God had a plan. That this wasn’t random. That being laid off wasn’t a punishment, it was a push toward something bigger. So I started building.
Building SEO by Sonia from nothing was terrifying. I had no income safety net. Every decision felt risky. Every client I wanted but didn’t have yet felt like a failure. But my faith carried me through. I kept believing that my purpose was to help women-led service businesses get visible. I kept trusting that if I showed up authentically, the right people would find me.
And they did. My amigas found me. Clients found me. The business started growing.
The obstacles are still there. Building a business is hard. But I’ve learned that the obstacles aren’t roadblocks; they’re where my faith gets tested and strengthened. Every time I wanted to quit, every time I doubted myself, I came back to my “why.” I came back to my dad’s story. I came back to my faith that God is guiding this work.
That’s what got me through.
We’ve been impressed with SEO by Sonia , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
SEO by Sonia exists for one reason: to make sure women-led service businesses don’t disappear because nobody knows they exist.
I work exclusively with women service providers, therapists, coaches, resume writers, business consultants, event planners, you name it. These are women who’ve built something real, who know their craft, who help people. But they’re invisible online. They’re not showing up on Google. They’re not in ChatGPT when someone asks for recommendations. They’re not getting found by the people who actually need them.
That’s what I specialize in. I call it brand optimization. It’s not just SEO in the traditional sense; it’s not just keyword research and blog posts and hoping you rank. Brand optimization means showing up everywhere your clients are actually looking. Google. ChatGPT. Claude. Perplexity. Your website. Reddit, Your Google Business Profile. AI tools. All of it connected. All of it working together.
Most SEO people focus on one thing: getting you ranked on Google. But people aren’t just searching on Google anymore. They’re asking ChatGPT, “Who’s a good business coach in New Jersey?” They’re asking Claude, “Can you recommend a therapist?” They’re using AI to find solutions. If you’re only optimizing for Google, you’re missing half your potential clients. My clients show up everywhere. That’s the difference.
Here’s what my process looks like: We start by auditing where you actually are. Most women service providers have no idea they’re on page 8 of Google or that they’re already showing up in AI mentions. We do a full website audit. We look at your Google Search Console. We check if your content is being recommended by AI tools. Then we fix the fundamentals.
From there, we build a strategy that gets you visible on Google AND in AI tools. We optimize your website. We create content that ranks and gets featured. We make sure your information is consistent everywhere so search engines and AI tools trust you. We build local SEO authority if you serve a specific area. We get you featured in podcasts, press, and publications because visibility breeds more visibility.
The results speak for themselves. I’ve taken clients from 4 organic leads in four years to making $18,000 from SEO alone and getting booked weekly. I’ve taken another from 5 monthly organic visits to over 2,000. But more than the numbers, I’m proud of the transformation in my clients. They go from feeling invisible to feeling found. From doubting their business to booking clients consistently. From thinking, “Does anyone even know I exist?” to getting regular inquiries.
What sets me apart isn’t just the strategy, it’s the philosophy behind it. I don’t believe you need to shrink yourself to get found. You don’t need to sound corporate. You don’t need to hide your personality or your culture or the things that make you different. My clients get found AS themselves. Not smaller versions of themselves. A Latina therapist stays Latina. A coach with a unique perspective keeps that perspective. That authenticity is what builds trust. And trust is what gets people to book.
I’m also proud of the fact that I built this business understanding the cost of invisibility. My dad had a real business that served people well. He just didn’t know how to reach new people. Watching what happened to my family because of that, it gave me a purpose that goes beyond making money. This work matters. Getting women visible matters. It’s not just about growing their revenue, though it is that. It’s about building something that lasts. Building a legacy. Building security for their families.
What I want readers to know about SEO by Sonia is this: If you’re a woman service provider and you feel like you’re shouting into the void, you’re not alone. And it’s not because your service isn’t good enough. It’s probably because nobody new knows you exist. That can change. Not overnight. But with a real strategy and consistent implementation, you can go from invisible to booked. You can build a business that actually sustains you. You can stop wondering if anyone will walk through your door and start managing too many inquiries.
That’s what I do. I help women get found. So they can keep building. So they don’t have to disappear. So they can take care of their families and themselves.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I wouldn’t be here without mentors. Seriously. This business, my faith, my growth, all of it is because people believed in me before I believed in myself.
My career coach was the first. She didn’t have to ask me to optimize her website. She could have hired anyone. But she saw something in me, she saw potential I didn’t even see in myself. She told me, “If you do this, amazing things can happen.” That one conversation, that one project, changed everything. I landed my dream role because of the confidence I built from that work. And years later, when I started SEO by Sonia, it was because of that foundation she helped me create. We’re not actively working together anymore, but she’s still someone I think about when I doubt myself.
When I got laid off, I was lost. I didn’t know what to sell as a business. I didn’t know how to go from being an employee to being an entrepreneur. That’s when I invested in a business coach. She helped me get clear on what I actually wanted to build. She asked the right questions. She helped me discover my niche instead of trying to be everything to everyone. She guided me through the scary part of pivoting from paycheck to uncertainty. That coaching was essential.
But beyond business coaches and career coaches, I have my priest. He’s been there for years. Not just for spiritual guidance, but for my personal growth. He’s helped me strengthen my faith during the hardest moments. When I was doubting myself, when I was scared about the business, when I was processing the layoff, he was there. He helped me see that my faith wasn’t separate from my work. It was the foundation of it.
And then there are my clients. People don’t always think about this, but your clients are mentors too. They teach you so much. They show you new strengths you didn’t know you had. They show you virtues like resilience and courage and authenticity. Every time a client tells me their story, how they were invisible and now they’re booked, how they went from doubt to confidence, I learn something. I grow. They’re not just people I serve. They’re people who’ve helped me become better at what I do.
So here’s my advice on finding mentors and networking:
First, be open to mentorship in unexpected places. My career coach became a mentor because I asked for help. My priest is a mentor because I’ve let him into my life. My clients are mentors because I listen to their stories. Mentorship isn’t always a formal title. It’s people who see you, believe in you, and help you grow. Sometimes that’s someone official. Sometimes it’s someone you already know who cares about you.
Second, invest in yourself. When I got laid off, I could have panicked and looked for another job immediately. Instead, I invested in a business coach. That investment taught me how to think like an entrepreneur instead of an employee. Sometimes the mentor you need is someone you have to pay for. That’s okay. Your growth is worth it.
Third, show up authentically in your network. I did coffee chats when I was looking for work. Not because I had a polished pitch, but because I was genuinely curious about people and their work. That authenticity opened doors. The UNIQLO project came because I stayed authentic about my love of anime. The recruiters reached out because they saw the real me on LinkedIn. People connect with people, not with polished versions of people. So be yourself in your network.
Fourth, give back. Mentorship isn’t one-way. As I’ve grown, I’ve tried to mentor other women. I share what I’ve learned. I tell my story. Because I know what it’s like to not have someone who gets it, who believes in you. If I can be that person for someone else, that matters. Your network grows when you give back.
Fifth, look for mentors in your community. For me, that’s church. That’s my family. That’s other Latina entrepreneurs. That’s my clients. Your community is full of mentors if you’re paying attention. The people around you, the ones who know you, care about you, challenge you, they’re mentors. Don’t overlook the people closest to you.
And here’s the thing: mentorship and faith are connected for me. My priest mentored me because he saw my faith as something to nurture. My coaches mentored me because they saw potential. My clients mentor me because they trust me with their stories. All of it is about being seen and valued. That’s what I try to create for my own clients too. I don’t just optimize their websites. I see them. I help them believe in themselves. Because I know how much that matters.
So if you’re looking for a mentor, start by asking: Who sees me? Who believes in me? Who can I trust with my growth? And then invest in those relationships. Show up authentically. Be willing to learn. Give back when you can. That’s how real mentorship happens.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.seobysonia.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seobysonia/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniaurquilla/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SEOBYSONIA
- Other: https://share.google/jMdALO4qlqXpnpX6S
