GO GLOBAL!
This is the word I heard back in 2020 while ‘locked down’ in Zimbabwe thanks to the newly unleashed pandora’s box of corona pandemonium!
GO GLOBAL… from home! I left the African continent and made my way back to the Caribbean where I reactivated the entity registered since 2015 as ‘Interpreting Your Needs’. For over ten years I had been freelancing as an interpreter. It was my side hustle while I was employed in various communications capacities with international organisations across the globe.
It was now time to embrace the side hustle as my daily bread and butter! Sounds crazy? Crazy faith for sure! Yet, it was a brutal transition from flying to work in faraway lands to working from home on the tiny island of Tobago. International borders were still closed but I managed to return thanks to a special exemption. I left a landlocked country where I had withdrawal symptoms from not seeing the sea and flew home to locked beaches proclaimed off-limit due to pandemic restrictions. Non-essential businesses were still closed: construction, restaurants, beauty parlours and others.
This was NOT the ideal scenario to begin a business especially knowing that so many businesses were forced to close their doors and furlough staff. BUT it was perfect for my line of business!
GO GLOBAL! From home.
Thanks to rapidly changing technologies and thanks to Covid, businesses were forced to move their meetings online. After all, the show had to go on! And the business of multilingual meetings did indeed go on in virtual mode.
Interpreting Your Needs was able to capitalise on the new burgeoning multilingual meeting space online!
And so it was that Interpreting Your Needs was able to anchor itself in a chaotic year, in a chaotic space and expand our client base. Former clients from across the Caribbean island chain could now access our services without having to pay the exorbitant price of airfare and accommodation for their meetings. I was now a call and a click away. I was able to interpret their needs and provide satisfactory solutions without leaving home.
No longer did I have to fly to exotic neighbouring islands to interpret for meetings. I was the exotic voice whispering into clients’ ears in North America, South America, Europe and Africa from the comfort of my Caribbean home. My clients and my dogs were the big winners in this new #WFH modus operandi.
Now in 2022, as the world has “returned to work” and businesses are fully open once again, the hybrid mode is still in force in many regards. While I have had the pleasure of flying to work for multilingual meetings in Suriname, it is a privilege to work from home and stay connected with clients thanks to the numerous online meeting options including Kudo, Interprefy, Interactio, Hublot, Hopin, Zoom and Teams. Have you used any of these to stay connected with your clients? We’re happy to show you around!
As we gear up for 2023, I am grateful for the honour to be your bridge over language barriers helping you to connect, communicate and collaborate. Let us help you cross that bridge over troubled waters.
Reach out at: interpretingyourneeds@gmail.com or send a WhatsApp message at +868 762 0266.
Thanks for sharing Gennike! It is amazing how your dream business was birthed during such a challenging time.
Thanks Aisha! God alone knows the plans He has for us. I take no credit. It was not my idea but more of a divine leading to do this. It’s had its ups and downs but I’m content with how it’s going. Let’s see where it leads to next.