Leadership Team
DigitalFirst Consulting is led by a team that sits at the rare intersection of human capital strategy, digital brand architecture, and the emerging science of algorithmic hiring. Together, Mara Patti and Alan Katzman bring decades of combined experience advising students, families, and professionals on how to navigate systems that most people don't even know exist.
Mara Patti
Mara Patti brings deep expertise in career development, professional coaching, and talent strategy. Her background spans the full arc of the employment lifecycle — from early career positioning to executive transitions — giving her an instinctive understanding of what hiring managers and organizations are actually looking for beneath the surface of a resume. Mara's strength lies in translating complex career challenges into clear, actionable roadmaps, and in holding clients accountable to the disciplined execution those roadmaps demand.
Co-FounderAlan Katzman
Alan Katzman is a nationally recognized authority on digital presence, social media strategy, and the role of online identity in high-stakes evaluation processes. A pioneer in the field of digital footprint consulting, Alan has spent years studying how institutions — from elite universities to Fortune 500 recruiters — use digital signals to assess candidates before a single conversation takes place. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and US News & World Report, establishing him as one of the foremost voices on the intersection of personal branding and algorithmic decision-making.
Co-Founder
Together, Mara and Alan bring a uniquely integrated perspective: one that understands both the human side of hiring and the technological infrastructure that increasingly governs it. That combination is precisely what DigitalFirst was built on — and what sets it apart from every other career service in the market.