above: Kallie Branciforte, Caitlin Houston, New Canaan’s Megan Schinella and Charlotte Smith on the set of their new podcast, Room 4 Four.
HOW IT STARTED
Having found herself on a multi-year career hiatus after having children, New Canaan’s Megan Schinella realized when her youngest turned one, that she was ready to go back to work and carve out some time for herself. The mom of three had spent years filling her days coming up with fun and creative outings for her little ones. Schinella was often asked for suggestions and ideas about local activities and events to keep their own kids entertained. “People kept telling me that I should start a blog so that I could share the fun adventures we were going on every day,” says Schinella. Once the seed had been planted, she began to grow her Instagram presence and @campbymama officially took off. “When I first started creating content on Instagram, it was very different. All you had to do was post a pretty photo and people would like it,” she says. “But now it’s an entirely different platform, it’s all about content creation reels and videos. You need to give people some sort of entertainment, make them laugh or provide value or an experience.”
Before kids, Schinella worked in marketing in the fashion industry at Nine West Group and Camuto Group. Even though that work had been on the back burner while she raised her kids, her experience and creativity quickly proved useful in her new endeavors with creating lifestyle content. Some of the first connections that she made back in the fashion industry have now come full circle and Schinella is finding herself able to work on new partnerships with old friends once again.
ROOM 4 FOUR
This past winter, Schinella was approached about being a part of the Room 4 Four podcast, which is owned by Seasons Media. The Connecticut-based media production company was looking to connect four Connecticut moms, each of whom would bring something different to the table. The idea was to create a forum for the women to connect on everyday relatable topics. Reaching out to Schinella made perfect sense.
Schinella and her co-hosts Kallie Branciforte, Caitlin Houston and Charlotte Smith cover a wide array of topics in a relatable and honest way, with just the right amount of humor thrown in. Lighter topics can range from meal planning to parenting fails, but they have also had deeper coverations about things like the feeling of isolation that can come with being a new parent and the challenges of making new mom friends. “Think of it like your group chat coming to life,” says Schinella. “We stay away from controversial topics and really just try to focus on positive things that help people and make them feel good.”
The podcast is unlike anything Schinella has done before and she is finding it fulfilling in ways that she didn’t imagine. “It’s a very different type of creative outlet for me. It feels like something that had been missing that I didn’t even realize was missing until now,” she says. “These girls fill my cup, I always feel good inside after recording with them and spending time together.”
GETTING REAL
Every job comes with its difficulties and when asking Schinella about some of hers, she explained that her biggest challenge has been learning to deal with negative comments or mean messages. “I’ve developed a thicker skin and have learned to brush things off in a way that I might not have been able to otherwise,” she says. Coming to terms with the fact that she’ll never be able to please everyone has helped Schinella build a sense of confidence that she didn’t always have. “It’s true that you really can’t sweat the small stuff and at the end of the day, if my kids are happy and everyone in our home is healthy, that’s all that matters,” she adds.
THE BEST PART
The people, connections and community that Schinella has found through her work are what make what she does so meaningful. “I’ve met so many people through these online platforms and events. And even though the relationships might start off as social media friendships, they very often end up becoming real life friendships,” she says. “Even if Instagram was deleted tomorrow, I’d still have those friends and I’m so grateful for that.”
UP NEXT
This summer, Schinella plans to continue sharing local experiences and fashion brand styles on social media. She plans to continue to make us all laugh with her parenting humor reels while also working on a few hotel partnerships in Newport, Michigan and Cape Cod—documenting fun things to do, places to stay and where to eat. When she isn’t spending time with her family, creating content or in the recording studio, you can find Schinella playing tennis, hockey for “Moms Who Puck” or taking a Pure Barre class. You can listen to Room 4 Four on your favorite podcast platform.
Follow Schinella on Instagram with her updated handle, @meganschinella, formerly @campbymama.
Photographs: Family Photo by Love and Limoncello Photography