Two former Monmouth University students and Outlook editors joined forces to create a one-of-a-kind digital magazine, The Underground Edit.
Gabrielle Sangataldo, one of the co-founders of The Underground Edit, graduated from Monmouth in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Communication. She began at The Outlook her junior year at Monmouth, and within a year became the Entertainment Editor and then Editor-in-Chief (EIC).
Taylor Memoli, another one of the co-founders of The Underground Edit graduated from Monmouth in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in English. After following in Sangataldo’s steps of being the Entertainment Editor, then EIC, Memoli stayed in contact with Sangataldo throughout her senior year. That contact developed into not just a friendship but a working partnership.
The Underground Edit, which focuses on bringing light to underground artists and authors, was founded on Jun. 10 when Sangataldo and Memoli were unemployed and struggling to find a job.
The New York Times, who used data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reported that unemployment rates for recent college graduates ages 22 to 27 rose to 5.8 percent in March, which was a four-year high. The article titled “Job Market is Getting Tougher for College Graduates” went on to report that according to Oxford Economics, the overall unemployment rate has increased 85 percent since mid-2023, and recent graduate students account for 12 percent.
Communication majors in particular stood at a 4.5 percent unemployment rate while English majors stood at 4.9 percent as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York through a 2023 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community survey.
Memoli explained her idea to bring light to lesser known artists began when she obtained an interview with Ryan Rutter of Sunshine Spazz while still the EIC of The Outlook. Due to conflicting schedules, the interview was pushed back and by that time Memoli’s time at The Outlook had concluded. She had an interview with a band she loved and nowhere to put it. So instead of continuing to look for places to write for, they created their own.
With a passion for entertainment and their experience as editors, Sangataldo said it just came naturally to them, and made sense to wedge themselves into that niche.
Despite the challenges of getting their work out to try and grow their readership and audience, starting a digital magazine from the ground up was an incredible experience, Memoli shared. They have the freedom to do what is best for them and their team, while setting all of the parameters which Sangataldo said takes the pressure off them as they continue to grow as an independent publication.
The female-founded digital magazine is a testament to the growing percentage of women in journalism. According to The American Journalist, the percent of women journalists in the United States has grown 3.4 percent from 2013 to 2022.
Not only is their leadership reflective in the startup of their magazine, but of their accomplishments prior.
Leading an award-winning student newspaper allowed them to gain knowledge and skills that helped them to start their very own digital magazine. From layout and design to finding stories that are worthy of writing about, Sangataldo said, “Being Editor-in-Chief of ‘The Outlook’ has been one of the most foundational experiences of my life thus far.”
They have now taken those foundational experiences into their work life as they are currently leading a team of eight writers with six different sections including “ICW” which stands for “In conversation with” and “Dug in NJ” which focuses on talents that are based locally to The Underground Edit.
As co-founders of their own publication, they have had their own creative freedom which Sangataldo explains as the most enticing aspect of the whole magazine. They try and give that same luxury to their writers as they are lenient on story topics and boundaries, preventing the writers from feeling constrained.
Since June, they have been able to reach out to artists that they love and are fascinated by, while making connections and promoting artists who deserve a bigger platform.
“It’s such a gift,” Memoli said.
They both agreed attending the Sea.Hear.Now festival on press passes was an event to remember. They had access to on-site interviews with three different acts at the festival, including Asbury Park Band, Surfing for Daisy.
That time spent at the Sea.Hear.Now festival inspired Memoli to continue working on their website, “We are already doing such amazing things in such a short period of time,” she said.
