Following an extensive corporate career, in early 2000 Monica travelled to Indonesia with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to deliver an aid program to children living in poverty. The experience challenged her assumptions about the meaning of success and how she could make a greater contribution with her life.
On returning to Australia and witnessing food related illnesses amongst children and an abundance of over processed, heavily marketed children’s foods, Monica launched Whole Kids.
Whole Kids has since grown to become Australia’s largest range of organic, plant based, allergen friendly and additive free snacks for children, the proceeds of which are funding kids health and environmental projects around the world.
Whole Kids was the first food company in Australia to be certified a B Corporation and in doing so is committed to creating a healthy life and a healthy world for kids.
In partnership with Plan International in 2018 Whole Kids delivered 500,000 nutritious meals to 580 schools across 4 provinces in Cambodia as part of Plan International’s World Food Program.
The project has since become a benchmark for educating girls and helping communities around the world become self-sustaining.
In 2019, Monica together with her daughter Chloe and five other 9 year old girls travelled to Cambodia to visit the project. This child-led field trip was the first of its kind and was carried out to champion the overarching message of gender equality through the power of food education.
In 2020 in a first for her industry, Monica launched a successful $1.2M equity crowdfund campaign giving Whole Kids customers an opportunity to invest in Whole Kids and participate in shaping the future of the business and their children’s health. The campaign saw some of Australia’s leading female entrepreneurs invest in Whole Kids, bringing with them a network of over 2 Million women.
Monica is widely recognised as one of Australia’s leading female entrepreneurs and has received many awards for her achievements including Conscious Company’s World-Changing Women (2020), Remodista Women2Watch in Business Disruption (2020), Australian Small Business Champion Entrepreneur (2018), Westpac Top 100 Women of Influence (2016), Fairfax Media’s Top 9 Most Influential Female Entrepreneurs in Australia (2016) and NAB Women’s Agenda Emerging Entrepreneur (2013).
