People First: Spotlighting Monika’s New Business
“People first” is one of our core values at Prism Group. We prioritize our people and encourage them to pursue their passions outside of their work with Prism, because we know that not only makes them more effective team members, but it also honors them as people first.
Like the rest of our office team, Monika’s role at Prism is pretty all-encompassing.
As a small business laser-focused on taking care of people and doing good in the world, no one’s role here fits neatly into a clear-cut job description, and we all wear a lot of hats. Sure, we each have our basic bullet points of individual responsibilities and duties, but when the mission is to take care of people and do good, every team member ends up going above and beyond their on-paper duties in some way. To work at Prism is to be a “yes” person, and Monika is certainly no exception.
Can you pack some to-go plates for these folks?
Yes!
Could you make me some extra copies of this agreement?
Yes!
Will you get some new blueberry bushes planted?
Yes!
And perhaps my favorite, can you find me some small plastic camel figurines for a talk I’m giving?
Yes!
(It’s true- she actually found them!)
And so it’s no surprise that when Mother Mary asked Monika in 2021, “Will you trust me with your life?” her answer was also, “yes.”
Fast forward to Easter 2025, one of the many fruits of that “yes” was launched: Marie Madeleine, an online rosary house owned and run by Monika.
Monika says, “It was always, like, a small calling in my heart to have maybe some type of religious shop one day, even though I've never even worked in retail… I was scared to start a business. That's not my background. I don't know what I'm doing, but mother Mary gave me the courage and the grace to do it.”
According to Monika, Marie Madeleine—the French spelling of “Mary Magdalene”— is a testament of what happens when you take a leap of faith and put it all in Jesus’s hands. In 2021, Monika consecrated herself to Mother Mary, and her faith began to deepen as her heart changed. It took time for things to fall into place, though, another way Monika has learned to trust in God’s will and not her own.
In August of 2023, she ordered a gift for her mom from Etsy.
“Little did I know, this statue came from Medjugorje.” [Medjugorje is a village known as a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage since the Virgin Mary allegedly appeared on Apparition Hill in 1981 to six visionaries.]
“Usually when you purchase stuff from Etsy, it comes from, like, Wisconsin,” Monika continues, “but the box said Bosnia, Herzegovina…And it blew me away that this beautiful statue of Our Lady, it says Medjugorje on the base, but I didn't think it was from Medjugorje. So, you know, it was almost like a God wink.”
Four months later in January of 2024, she felt an urge to Google pilgrimages to Medjugorje. Four months after that, she was in Medjugorje herself and felt the calling to start her store even more strongly.
Monika in Medjugorje in May 2024
When she got home, she got to work coming up with a name and working on the logistics like securing the LLC and setting up a business bank account. Looking back, she realizes all of the people who helped her bring Marie Madeleine to life were all new friends that had come into her life after her consecration to Mother Mary in 2021.
She left the launch timing in God’s hands, and as faith would have it, she was ready to open on Easter Sunday in 2025.
Marie Madeleine is for both children and adults.
Two of Monika’s favorite products are such sweet gifts for young Catholics: a “parts of the Mass” ring of cards to help little ones follow along with the different parts of Mass, and a “Mary Magnet Playset,” where kids can “dress” Mary in the different outfits she wore in each of her apparitions.
Her other favorite products are her Daily Prayer booklet—designed by her— that has all the prayers you need and can fit in your purse or stay on your bedside table, and, perhaps most impressive, her custom umbrellas.
Each of her three umbrella designs features a different holy image on the inside that can be seen as you look up from beneath the umbrella in what is most definitely an intentional and symbolic way. Every umbrella is black on the outside and folds up onto itself, trapping the water inside and making it super easy to close from inside your car. Perfect for those stormy days in the South!
Monika’s hope with Marie Madeleine is to “bring all glory to God. I want it to help assist people in deepening their faith, their prayer life, to keep their eyes on Jesus.” She believes faith is between you and God and that everyone’s faith journey looks different, but when the time comes to deepen your faith, she hopes that Marie Madeleine can be there to help you find the tools and gifts for every occasion to assist in deepening your faith.
To learn more about Marie Madeleine and see what Monika is currently offering, visit: www.shopmariemadeleine.com and stay tuned for her umbrella launch this summer!
