I’m a writer and translator who spent formative years in Madrid. I did a stint in school there and later worked for an advertising company as a member of a crew producing sexy, long, Euro ads. They were mini-films, really. Next, I dabbled in an animation studio translating and interpreting Universal Studios scripts for a bunch of animators. Eventually, it was time to come home.
Back in NYC, adjustment needed. I hadn’t heard of Pearl Jam or other pop culture shtick. And, what the heck with WWW, why were those three letters plastered all over billboards? A visit to the New York Public Library was in order. Logging onto a PC and looking at the enigmatic thing on a screen the day before I interviewed for a start-up dot com raised more questions than it answered. In the interview, they asked “why interactive?” Why. I got the job based on my language skills and then set out to learn front end developing. I’d landed right in the middle of the dot com bubble: Silicon Alley. Venture capital flowed like lava. Times were light and fun, money was flying, IPO parties were happening most nights. Recruiters harassed with direct phone calls day after day offering better gigs at the next start-up; once I even took the bait.
During the web years, the term - broadband - became a focus. We had “talking heads” on the, otherwise static, site/s and knew the future would be interactive, indeed. I wanted to pursue film editing to prep for a promotion to manager of a broadband group. And, went to Cuba to check out a film school I heard of years prior. I enrolled for a month at the EICTV (Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión) in Cuba, outside of Havana. A group of heavy hitters founded the establishment including Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Meanwhile, back in New York, it all came to a head, i.e. 9/11 and the ruin of the dot com bubble. I fled to “the coast” in the wake of it. Los Angeles was warm and calm. I sought a business-like, stable environment for work, and chose … commercial real estate. Developers, commercial brokerage - solid experience, but not a long-term life plan.
The east coast drew me back and solicited some focused career path sustenance. The answer was to combine two loves - writing and language - and enroll in (another) program. In 2014, I received a Certificate in Spanish to English Translation Studies (NYU), and a Literary Translation Award at the NYU SPS 2014 Literary and Visual Arts Festival.
During endless hours translating legal, medical, marketing and literary texts- what hit me on repeat was, I love to write. I love words and weaving a tale, and tinkering with phrases in translation, and not in translation. It took many years to get here. As my resume states, I’m a versatile writer who crafts engaging, persuasive content across a wide range of topics, including: personal finance, real estate, food, how-to, education and sports/fitness.
I’ve aimed to remain relevant by developing business skills and finding ways to advance my career in spite of multiple relocations and caregiving periods. Now I’m focused on funneling energy into copywriting and content creation. Send it over!