#MUMCHAT -MUM OF ONE EMA FULGA CHATS HER LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE

NAME: Ema Fulga

AGE: 37

NATIONALITY: Romanian

LOCATION: Between Milan, Italy and Dubai, UAE

NUMBER OF YEARS BEING A MUM: 2 years and 4 months

TELL US ABOUT YOUR KIDS:

I have a curly-haired, chubby-cheeked, wide-eyed son who’s a little sunshine that always smiles, plays on his own, and loves to eat. I wouldn’t call myself an innate mother, so we’re both learning from one another. He’s learning to be a good man and I’m learning to be the best mom I can be for him.

INSTAGRAM HANDLE: @emafulga

ABOUT ME:

I was born in Bucharest, Romania and I still call it “home” even though I left about 17 years ago. My family is still there, most of my oldest and closest friends are there, so I often fly back to visit them. Since I work from home, I try to go back every 2 - 3 months, so in a way, I still feel like I live there. On the other hand, I lived in Barcelona for over 10 years after University, first working in digital marketing, then going solo as a freelance copywriter and content strategist, and I can safely say Barcelona feels even more like home in certain ways. It’s where my heart is, to be honest. It’s where I felt most comfortable, where I became an adult and made my way on my own, where so many great friends still live, where my husband’s family is, which I consider my own, and where I will retire for good at some point.

After 8 years freelancing, back in 2022, I decided to start a content strategy agency, but also to try to have a baby, thinking it would take a while before it would actually happen. To our surprise and excitement, things moved faster than we could ever imagine and I got pregnant within a month of trying. I was pregnant for the better half of 2023, which is also when ChatGPT became mainstream and I was beyond hooked. After having my son in August 2023, I started rethinking my plan for the agency and in April 2024 decipher. was incorporated in London, UK, as a GEO agency specialising in helping brands appear in searches done with AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc. We then launched in Dubai towards the end of 2025. GEO is something I believe is reshaping the digital marketing space. I’m so passionate about it, I’m writing a book on it; the second one after a children’s book that’s being published about our first dog, a Samoyed. My son is also a character.  

1. What’s one thing you wish you’d known before becoming a parent?

Well, this is going to sound silly, but I actually believed that whole narrative about having it all. I thought having a baby would be a big part of my life (emotionally, THE biggest part of my life), but it would still be just a part of my life, so to speak. I thought I could do that and run my business and do everything.

I don’t know where I got that from. I blame my grandmother; although my parents were very much present in my life, I’ve always lived with my grandmother until I was twenty and moved to Barcelona, Spain, and she was the most positive person ever.

You can’t have it all. You can have one big thing and do it right at a time, and then other things that occupy your heart and use up all your energy, but you can’t do it all, equally well at once.

I worked as a consultant and freelancer for eight years before I got pregnant. Before getting pregnant, I decided I wanted to start my own agency. I kept working until the last two weeks. Thankfully, I felt okay physically, so I could.

My son was born in August 2023. A month later, between postpartum and extreme fatigue, I realised I needed something else mentally. So I started working on my agency seriously around November. By April 2024, the company was registered.

I thought I could manage it all. I think I pulled it off more or less, and I was very present with my son, knowing this is it; we’re not having a second one. But it was hard.

You can have it all in the long term, just not all at once.

2. What’s something you swore you’d never do as a parent—but do now?

He’s still a baby, well, a toddler, so it’s too soon to say exactly, but I know one thing for sure: I will be strict.

I always thought I’d be a cool, relaxed parent. Understanding. Patient. Give him freedom. Now I realise that won’t be the case. There will be structure. This is when we eat, this is when we sleep, this is how much TV you get. When he’s older, especially as a teenager, that structure will matter. And yes, he’ll hate me sometimes and I’m comfortable.

That’s when the Romanian in me will come out. If I say be home by nine, you’re home by nine.

3. What was the BEST piece of parenting advice you’ve received?

Don’t interrupt your kid when he’s playing alone. It’s when he’s developing new neurological pathways, new skills and if you interrupt him constantly with “aaaww that’s great, honey” or you start playing with him, you’re doing him more harm than good.

4. Share with us your biggest “parenting fail” – we promise no judgement here!

I sometimes feel like I don’t dedicate enough time to spending time with him because of my work and my deep passion for decipher.

With the UAE expansion, trying to build a portfolio of clients from Milan, our plan to move there, the current clients, and my continuous desire to learn more and become a better GEO specialist, too much is happening. I work late, he wants my attention, and I don’t always have it 100%. And that makes me sad.

I know I do many things wrong, but this one is particularly heavy on my heart right now.

5. How do you balance life?

This probably isn’t textbook advice, but I balance life by doing a bit of everything.

On any given day, I’m not just working or just being a mum. I’m many things in the same day: student, professional, writer, CEO, mom, partner, friend, daughter, creative. That mix is what keeps me on my toes and motivated. Doing the same thing over and over again would feel like the biggest imbalance.

When I spend too long only in work mode, I burn out. When I’m only in “mum mode” for long stretches, it’s also exhausting. What helps is variety. I also write every day, that’s non-negotiable. I’m finishing a book on the New Way of Search, and that creative outlet keeps me sane and grounded.

So my balance comes from doing multiple meaningful things, and being fully present in whichever one I’m in. When I work, I work. When I’m with my son, I’m with him.

6. One parenting hack you’d like to share with us.

With a toddler, everything is a game.

Trying to force anything is the fastest way to tantrums. So whenever I need my son to do something (brushing teeth, getting dressed, leaving the house), I turn it into play.

Instead of urgency or control, I bring the task into his world and make it fun.

At this age, logic doesn’t work. Imagination does. Ok and sometimes a bit of scarmoza, a kind of cheese he just adores for some weird reason. Maybe it’s cause it’s similar to the Romanian “cascaval” which he devours when we’re in Bucharest.

7. What do you hope your kids say about you when they’re older?

I hope he says I’m the best mom in the world. I’m kidding, but wouldn’t that be nice?

I hope he says I’m optimistic, supportive, energetic, and enthusiastic. Again, all things that come from my grandmother and I hope he’ll remember all the stories I’ll tell him about her.

That positive and enthusiastic mindset helped me achieve everything I’ve set my mind to, from going solo as a self-taught copywriter & content strategist, starting decipher., writing books, moving countries... and I hope he’ll have that too.

And I hope he’ll say “I got it from my mom”.

8. 3 words that describe #MumLife to you

Chaos.

Patience.

I don’t have a word for it, but trying to stay positive and cheerful even when you don’t feel like it.