[1] Parisella graduated from Emerson College in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

He worked as a reporter for the Salem Evening News from 1989 until 1991, when he became Congressman Nicholas Mavroules' press secretary.

A year later he became an assistant city solicitor in Beverly, Massachusetts.

In 2000, Parisella gave up his solicitor's job to join the law firm of Alexander & Femino, where he still practices.

[3] Parisella is a lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts National Guard, serving as a Judge Advocate General.