MARCO MONTERSINO
Entrepreneur | IM Trading S.R.L.
MARCO MONTERSINO's story - Entrepreneur | IM Trading S.R.L.
My name is Marco Montersino, and this is the story of how a small white flag, waved by a child trying to be seen by his father, became the symbol of a company built on values: IM Trading S.R.L., which works in Workplace Safety and Privacy.
I grew up in a deeply agricultural world, where there was only one dominant verb: work.
Work early, work hard, work always.
In that culture, recognition came through hard graft: the more you worked, the more you were worth. But inside me there was a desire for something different.
The image I carry inside is that of a little boy with a small white flag in his hand, raised as high as possible to be seen by his father.
That flag stood for the need to be recognised, listened to, seen for who I was. But however hard I waved it, it always seemed too small. No one really noticed it.
For years I chased that recognition through work. I started my own business, took charge of managing over 3,000 clients, and threw myself completely into day-to-day operations.
On paper I was "succeeding": I had a company, work, responsibility. But inside I was repeating exactly the pattern I'd criticised as a boy: lots of work, very little time for family, almost no space for myself.
The turning point came when I started my individual journey with Private Community.
I started from a simple, uncomfortable question: "Why do I do what I do?"
Behind it were other questions: "Who am I working so hard for? What am I looking for? What's the point of all this?"
The awareness work forced me to face a truth I'd been avoiding: I was chasing a model of approval that no longer belonged to me.
I complained about the culture of "work, work, work", but in fact I was replicating it, putting aside what I said mattered most to me: my family.
I understood that what truly drives me is giving value to family, mine and other people's, and I chose to rebuild the way I work starting from that awareness.
Today I can say something I wouldn't have thought possible a few years ago: I see my children, I talk with them, I listen to them.
I'm no longer just a tired presence at the end of the day – I'm a father who's actually there. For me, that alone is a huge achievement.
From this personal transformation a new idea of business was also born.
IM Trading S.R.L. isn't just a company that deals with workplace safety: it's the concrete way I can help make sure fathers, mothers and children get home safe and sound at the end of the day.
Safety isn't just about regulations, it's a form of care. And for me that has a deeply personal, family value.
Almost by chance, over a family dinner with the in-laws, the idea was born of setting up our current company together with my brother-in-law Sebastiano.
He worked in a bank. At a certain point he told me: "I'm leaving it all behind, I'm coming to build something with you."
My reaction was surprise: leaving a secure job for an entrepreneurial venture in workplace safety isn't an obvious choice. But that proposal fitted perfectly with the path I'd started with Private. I felt it was the right direction. And I said yes.
After working on myself, I decided to bring Private Community into the company too, through the Corporate Programme.
There were four of us in the company: me, my wife, my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law. Four different people, with different styles, fears and expectations. We needed a common language.
The Corporate Programme allowed us to build a shared Vision and Mission, to define clear roles, procedures and responsibilities, but above all to create identity. We were no longer just "family members working together" – we were a team.
One of the most transformative tools was the study of behavioural styles.
I'm a Go-Getter, geared towards action and goals; my wife is a Promoter, drawn to relationships and involvement; my brother-in-law is a Nurturer, with a strong need for security and looking after others; my sister-in-law is an Examiner, precise, analytical, detail-oriented.
Putting names and meaning to these styles changed the way we work together.
I understood that with my wife I need to lighten the way I put things, because energy matters enormously to her.
With my brother-in-law I learnt to give more stability and clarity, because his sense of calm comes from feeling secure in his surroundings.
With my sister-in-law I understood that the time she needs to weigh things up isn't reluctance, but a resource for avoiding mistakes.
This "map" hasn't stayed theoretical: we use it in recruitment interviews, in choosing clients, in internal communication, even in writing quotes.
Today, when I interview someone, I don't just describe the job: I tell the story of IM Trading S.R.L., our Vision and our Mission, the family values behind it and the reason this company exists.
I want to understand whether the person in front of me can find their own identity within this project.
When I see something light up in a person's eyes, I know that's where a genuine working relationship can be born.
One of the things that makes me proudest is the growth of the people within the company.
I think, for example, of a young woman who, on her first day, said: "I don't know how to do anything." She stepped in cautiously, with little confidence in herself.
Step by step, task by task, one mentoring session after another, today she's a point of reference: she manages medical check-ups, coordinates with the occupational doctor, tracks deadlines and handles part of the risk assessments.
That didn't happen by chance. It's the result of three things: trust, responsibility and a culture of feedback.
We've created an environment where people know what's expected of them, where they can grow, but where it's also clear that if they don't recognise themselves in the values, it's better to move on.
In a well-defined culture, people self-select: whoever isn't aligned eventually shows themselves the door. Whoever stays, stays because they believe in it.
A key role in this journey was also played by the Community of entrepreneurs I share my work with in Private.
Honest discussion – sometimes sharp-edged, never superficial – has been real fuel.
Receiving direct feedback, even when it stings, forces you to strip away the excuses and look at what's really there.
I now bring that same culture of open discussion into the company: people learn to talk to each other, to tell each other the truth, to handle conflict. That's where the most meaningful growth happens.
In terms of numbers, the change is clear to see.
In its first year, IM Trading S.R.L. turned over €170,000.
In the following years we saw steady growth of around +100% each year.
But that's not the point for me: turnover isn't the strategy, it's the consequence.
The real strategy is having a clear Vision, sharing mission and values with partners and team, choosing clients and colleagues who fit that vision, and building an environment founded on feedback and responsibility.
When you align these dimensions, the numbers take care of themselves.
Today I no longer work "to make turnover".
I work to build a company of value, family-like in the way we stay together and solid in the way we work.
Turnover is just proof that we're heading in the right direction.
If I had to give a piece of advice to an entrepreneur, I'd say this:
if you want to build a company that lasts, that has real value, that isn't just turnover but also culture, wellbeing and growth, then a journey like this isn't an optional extra.
It's an inevitable choice for anyone who truly wants to run a business.