Monica: a mom IRL and an iMamma on the job

After opening in December 2023 our offices in Palermo, Sicily, Mashfrog enriched its roster with new professionals in the IT Engineering & Digital Experience sector, coupled with a team specializing in Communication & Marketing. Monica is an integral part of this team and is mainly tasked with the development of iMamma, a digital ecosystem dedicated to mothers and pregnant women. During this interview she took us on a deep dive of her job, focusing on how being a mother strongly influenced her work, and vice-versa!

Tell us about your professional experience

My job is one I've always dreamed of doing in life: I've been a professional journalist since 2004. I call myself a reverse emigrant because I moved from Veneto to Sicily to enroll in Communication Sciences. This experience was supposed to last only one year but instead kept going on, so much so that in November it will be 28 years since I first landed in this beautiful region I call home. During my college years, I started an internship at the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper, where I then remained for many years, trying my hand at all the various aspects of journalism, from TV to radio, to the printed press, my true passion. I have had various experiences in other media outlets and in press offices, even recently as the mayor of Corleone's spokesperson. I have been working on iMamma since 2016, a project that I have helped to grow over the years.

What is iMamma?

In 2011, iMamma was conceived in Palermo as a pregnancy and fertility app, helping future moms with useful tools, as well as verified information from trusted sources about their gestation period. Over the years, the team has grown in sync with the platform's offerings. An app dedicated to expectant mothers at first, iMamma has now evolved into a tool that also supports new parents and families in general. Today, the team consists of around 20 people, all employed by Mashfrog, including developers, designers, and communication and social media experts.

Who’s part of the workgroup?

Some staffers of our "Sicilian" team keep working full-time on iMamma, specifically those communication-savvy. We handle all strategic and operational aspects of the blog, app, and all social media platforms, and we also provide customer service for the app. We can also count on the support of our IT colleagues with prior experience on this project, assisting us in case of technical issues arising on any of our platforms.

What role are you playing in this project?

Ever since its onset in 2016, most of my work has been dedicated to the imamma.it blog. What started as a series of scattered blog posts written by a mom (that's me!) has evolved into a project that has achieved remarkable results in terms of views and SERP rankings, where we rank first or on the first page for many keywords. But iMamma goes beyond that because it's a blog, an app, a Facebook group, multiple social media profiles, and a community with over 40 chat rooms – in short, a true ecosystem where we care for women, from pregnancy to motherhood. I like to think of iMamma as a way to provide a very simple yet highly effective "cheat sheet" for all the families needing it.

You’re a mom working for mothers: how are such experiences intertwined?

My son was born in 2011, the same year iMamma was born. Perhaps it is a sign of destiny, but it certainly confirms how closely related the two are. From the very beginning, my work was based on the needs of mothers and pregnant women, starting from basic needs, doubts, and curiosities that I can understand as a mother myself, being a mother helps me choose the topics I talk about, often drawing on personal experiences: sleep, preparing infant formula, are just a few of the topics that I can draw from my life experience.

Conversely, iMamma is a daily reminder of how lucky I am to be a mother and how much this is not taken for granted. Working as a chat moderator and reading messages from women, I realize that many of them struggle to fulfill their dream of motherhood or fail to achieve it. Hence, working daily with this reality pushes me to be a better parent, day in and day out, while trying to do my best for my son.

How are your first few months at Mashfrog going?

The first positive aspect that leaps into mind is the chance to work in full-remote mode. Working from home is a huge perk for me because it allows me to better focus on my child’s growth, especially in his critical pre-adolescent phase. Another positive aspect of Mashfrog is its young and dynamic work environment, where everyone feels eager to grow and learn. I'm also very pleased to have the opportunity to keep working with my team over the years, having built a strong relationship of trust and understanding. This will undoubtedly benefit the iMamma project.

I haven't had the chance to meet all of my colleagues in the Content & Creative BU in Rome yet, but I know that there will be more opportunities for interaction and integration in the near future, and I'm really looking forward to them.

Last but not least, how do you envisage your professional future?

I don't see myself doing anything other than what I always wanted to do. Today, I consider myself a 4.0 journalist because my profession is ever-evolving. From a world of TV, radio, and print to the AI revolution we're living in at the moment, it's a quantum leap. But I love to grow and I love challenges. And I wouldn't be here today if this wasn’t part of my essence. So I say... journalist for life!