"Servant of God".
For just over a year on LinkedIn, that is the position that appears under the name of Montserrat Medina (Valencia, 37 years old).
Until that date, this Valencian "from the center, with traditional values and a Fallas family" was one of the most successful young people to emerge from Silicon Valley.
Her
startup
, Jetlore, revolutionized
email marketing
and catapulted sales through this Groupon or eBay channel.
Paypal, one of the technology Fortune 100, ended up acquiring her and she, at 34, became a partner at Deloitte.
"It is an unusual age for that range," says a former employee of this firm.
“I know that her decision to dedicate herself to religious life caught them offside,” she adds.
From San Mateo, California, to Sant Mateu, Castellón.
From Jetlore to the Santa Ana de las Agustinas monastery, after two years as head of the data and artificial intelligence department in one of the
big four
[the world's largest consulting and auditing firms].
With two master's degrees from Stanford University and a doctorate in mathematical and computer engineering, her latest creation is today "a computer program for the convent's library," explains Sister Maria Teresa.
"Before we used an Excel sheet," adds the nun.
EL PAÍS speaks with her "because Montse cannot respond to the media until her application is over."
Three years of silence, solitude and reflection.
This is now her priority.
Three years of training, "because both the community and she must know if there is a true vocation."
"It's not that Montse doesn't have it, but both parties must be completely sure that this path is the right one," she points out.
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Except for the hour and a half of training, her new contemplative life is the same as that of any other Augustinian.
Like that of the tech popes (several of whom formed and financed it not so long ago), the day starts early and, from six in the morning until 10 at night, includes seven periods of prayer.
The religious center is famous for its oven and the online
sale
of its sweets.
They are “works in common for the sustenance of the community”, added Sister María Teresa.
Even during this collective work, she remains silent "to maintain the climate of prayer that allows us to listen to Christ."
That was her goal and Montse Medina explained it in her farewell letter from public life: “I want the Lord to be my only God, and not money.
I cannot serve two masters."
In that "confession", published on LinkedIn, Medina quoted a text from the Bible: "How difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
In that goodbye to the networks, after years of posts, headlines, tagged photographs and interviews in media such as
Business Insider
or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) magazine, he said: “My goal was none other than what society taught me since my childhood: study, position myself with a well-paid job, get married and have children.
The idea of serving the Lord was far from my thoughts: I had made a god to my measure who should serve me and adjust to my goals and ambitions”.
Before the faculty, his relationship with the Valencian ecosystem of
startups
was minimal.
One of those who kept one foot in California and the other here, without revealing her name "out of respect for Montse's decision," assures that she "had a genius profile."
“I've met people like Mark Zuckerberg, Sean Parker or top Google people and it always reminded me of them.
You notice that their head is going much faster and, as you speak, they are connecting thoughts.
10 years ago, she was the right person in the right place.”
Montse Medina, in March 2021, with cushions from her 'start up'.
Medina found her new place in the world "through the Internet," according to Sister Maria Teresa.
“Since her arrival, if she had responded to all the interviews that have been requested, I think she would not have done anything else.
That is why this long period of silence is so important.”
Decades ago, nuns could consecrate themselves in just over six months.
Today, "the life and rhythms of 20 or 30-year-old girls are different" and precautions and demands have increased.
The applicant to the Augustinian order continues with her new habits that will shape —or not— the future of what became a Bronze Medalist at the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and a speaker at the WiDS Worldwide Conference.
"I am certain that the merciful Lord will more than make up for my lack with those whom I am leaving for Him. I am not leaving the world, properly speaking, but the worldly," she has wielded.
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