Barbara Bertagni is a wonderful self-made woman, fashion and cosmetics expert, blogger and content creator. TheCelebrity.Online has recently interviewed this amazing figure for the cover story feature. Below is the Q&A session we had with Ms. Barbara.

Barbara Bertagni As Cover Story Interview Feature – TheCelebrity.Online January 2023 Edition

How do you introduce yourself?

Barbara Bertagni: I was born in 1971 in Cremona. A small town in Lombardy. After graduating, I moved to Parma to get a degree in Economics and Commerce. For me, education has always played a fundamental role in a person’s life path. I have always believed and still believe that KNOWING sets you free.

At the age of 20 I met my now husband and we have never parted since. We got married 21 years ago and mutually decided not to have children. And we are still convinced of our choice today. We get on well together, complement each other and don’t see the need to expand our family unit.

Immediately after graduation I started working as an entrepreneur by joining the family business. I had to roll up my sleeves right away and I never counted the hours of work. A lot of work and many responsibilities in various business sectors.

A work experience that has formed me as a person and as a worker, allowing me to grow at 360 degrees. In 2016, at the age of 45, I opened my fashion and cosmetics blog www.ladybb.it and later my Instagram account @ladybb___. Why this choice so far from the work I’ve done for decades? The answer is somewhat complex. I will tell you about it in the continuation of this interview. From 2016 to 2020 I therefore held two jobs: entrepreneur and influencer/blogger. Very hard years. I worked 7 days a week at all hours of the day.

Currently I dedicate myself full time to influencer marketing in the fashion and cosmetics sectors, sectors in which I collaborate directly with production companies. I carry out this activity in total autonomy, without making use of anyone’s help. Alone I manage the contacts with the companies, I prepare the photographic and video material to be published, the texts and everything that needs to be done. I started this activity alone and from scratch, for this reason I like to call myself A SELF-MADE WOMAN.

How was the transition from your childhood into adulthood/teenage and what good and bad things do you remember?

Barbara Bertagni: I had a happy childhood thanks to the wonderful relationship with my parents. My parents didn’t limit themselves to educating me, but they always supported, listened and followed me. My best friend has always been my mother. A wonderful woman who dedicated her life to her family without giving up her professional career. In fact, she and my father created the company where I worked from scratch.

Both of humble and poor origins, thanks to their tenacity, they managed to redeem themselves. Their example was for me a guideline that I have always followed and still embrace today. I began to encounter the first difficulties during the period of compulsory schooling (at the time elementary and middle school). There, in fact, due to my excessive shyness and also insecurity, I was unable to give my best and the teachers, instead of helping me to overcome my inner barriers, rowed against me until I felt inadequate to be able to continue my studies.

I was so stuttering that I couldn’t get a full sentence out. I blushed whenever a teacher or classmate spoke to me. One can therefore well imagine how difficult it was for me to answer a simple oral question. Since I felt inside me that they were wrong, I decided to continue studying and I graduated with excellent grades.

The degree represented for me MY REDEMPTION which allowed me to believe in myself and in my abilities in spite of the opinion of others. Although I am still a shy and insecure person, I have come a long way and I am proud of the person I have become and the stuttering has always improved, even if it has not disappeared completely.

Struggle – What hardships have you faced during your life?

Barbara Bertagni: Like everyone, I have had to face various difficulties in my life. But the biggest ever dates back to 2016, when I decided I didn’t want to continue with the job of an entrepreneur. 2016 was possibly the worst year of my entire life. I fell ill entering the terrible tunnel of depression. In 2016 I was 45 years old and felt I had to make a big change in my professional life.

No one understood my state of mind, let alone the reasons for my inner malaise. I forced myself by trying first of all to understand what was happening to me. Just during this dark period I decided to open my blog www.ladybb.it and write a book DO NOT START DIET MONDAY. A book with a deliberately ironic title, written during sleepless nights, in which I tell in black and white the ordeal I was going through and how I got out of it.

Dedicating myself to influencer marketing and sharing my illness thanks to the book allowed me to get out of the tunnel of depression. Since 2020, the year in which we sold the company, I have dedicated myself full time to this new professional activity and fortunately depression is a sad, painful and distant memory. Alone, without anyone’s help, I put myself on the line at the age of 45.

I am aware that I started my new professional path late, as I am aware that the competition is ruthless, but I have no intention of giving up! I go ahead, alone, with my determination, tenacity and constancy.

But why is this job so far from what I’ve done for decades? First and foremost, I have always loved marketing and advertising, fashion and all things personal care. So I put all these passions of mine together and turned them into an online job. Furthermore, I recognized the need to work from home to have that flexible schedule which would allow me to spend more time with my husband and with my parents who had just begun to fall ill at that time.

What things people usually do not know about you?

Barbara Bertagni: People probably don’t know that I’m shy, insecure, and a stutterer. They see me on my social channels and maybe they think of me as a confident woman. Instead, no. As I said before, I have lost a lot of my shyness and insecurity, working hard and constantly on myself every day, but my nature has not changed and cannot change.

Shyness, insecurity and humility are part of me even though I’m almost 52 years old. I’m a grown woman but I’m always that little girl who blushes easily, who sometimes stutters and who always questions herself.

What make you unique from your competitors in the industry and life?

Barbara Bertagni: First of all the age. Nowadays most of the women who work in the influencer marketing sector are young and in any case younger than me. I would add empathy. I am an empathetic person both professionally and in private life.

Being empathetic is hard, but it also makes a difference on social media. I’ve managed to create a good relationship with those who follow me, always responding personally to the comments and messages I receive.

I could also say: irony and self-irony, radiance and spontaneity, kindness and respect, humility and education. Last but not least, the fact that I am an ordinary person and I often highlight this aspect, telling of my daily life made up not only of work, but also of assistance to my elderly and sick parents, of errands for my family, of house cleaning and so on. ‘other any common woman does (or should do) every day. Finally, I would like to add professionalism, much appreciated by the companies I work with.

What are your diet preference and physical measurements?

Barbara Bertagni: I don’t follow a particular diet. I’m not a vegetarian or even a vegan. I love Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, so I enjoy eating what I love. I work out constantly and drink about 2 liters of water a day. I am 171cm tall, weigh around 50kg and wear an S or XS depending on the brand and model of the garment. The eyes of others see me very thin or even too thin. My eyes see me normal weight. I like myself like this and I hope I don’t gain too much weight over the years.

And in any case I believe that the weight, the measurements and the aesthetic aspect are not that important.

What expert advice would you like to share?

Barbara Bertagni: Get busy, roll up your sleeves and don’t count the hours of work or even the economic gain. Sacrifices and failures help to grow. Easy money and comfort turn people into amoebas. In invertebrate beings, with unthinking minds and dry souls. I’ve never worked for an economic return. I have always worked to learn a profession by giving the best of me. The voracity of knowledge, the desire to learn, tenacity, determination, passion, intellectual honesty, humility, respect, kindness, education, if applied, make us better people.

Better internally and consequently better with others and more professionally performing. In professional terms, my advice is not to work with the sole objective of money, but to work with the aim of learning, of learning new things, not looking at the working hours, but at the quality of one’s work. In personal terms, I feel like saying that the family is very important, therefore it must never be neglected and placed in the background compared to work.

What are your social media links?

Barbara Bertagni:

• Instagram –  https://www.instagram.com/ladybb___
• TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@ladybb___?_t=8Z9wHHDtmT8&_r=1
• Blog – https://www.ladybb.it/