Kind of a Big Deal

How to Own Your Impact: Embrace Being a Big Deal

• Kristin Belden • Season 1 • Episode 3

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Think you have to be 100% ready to lead? Not so fast.

In this episode of Kind of a Big Deal, I chat with Monica Nainsztein - an accomplished entrepreneur and the driving force behind a global translation and localization company. 

Our conversation dives into the challenges women face in leadership, the subtle power of recognizing one's accomplishments, and the importance of embracing our unique strengths. 

Monica reminds us why it’s time to stop downplaying our impact, and declares why owning your wins is not just a confidence boost - it’s essential. Hear her story of growth, grit, and game-changing mindset shifts that helped her transform from hesitant speaker to empowered entrepreneur. 


You'll Learn: 

⭐ How to face your fear of public speaking
⭐ How mentorship can change the game

⭐ Why human connection matters more than ever in an AI-driven world

⭐ Why delegation might be a make it or break it decision for what you're leading


Key Topics Discussed

  • Women in Leadership: Exploring how women often downplay their achievements and the cultural shifts needed to embrace their roles as influential leaders.
  • The Nature of Success: Reflexivity on how societal pressures (like impostor syndrome) affect women's perceptions of success.
  • Career Journey: Kristin's transition from subtitling for movies to running her own translation and localization company.
  • Personal Growth: Kristin's experience in overcoming her fear of public speaking and her journey to becoming more confident in expressing her ideas.
  • Localization Industry: Insights into how gaming and technology intersect in the translation field and the importance of human involvement in the localization process.

Timestamps 

  • 00:00 – Introduction 
  • 03:15 – Discussion on the impacts of impostor syndrome among women
  • 05:40 – Kristin shares her journey in the subtitling industry
  • 09:15 – Kristin discusses her transition to entrepreneurship
  • 15:50 – The importance of recognizing and voicing one's ideas
  • 25:10 – Tips for overcoming public speaking anxiety
  • 30:45 – Kristin talks about the future of her company and industry
  • 39:30 – Building a legacy and prioritizing human connection in localization

Relevant Resources

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review! And if you're interested in more stories and tools for women leaders, sign up for my newsletter at Beldenstrategies.com. Let's continue to empower each other in our journeys!

Hi. Hi Kirsten. I always laugh. I always say if we act like we weren't just chatting for a bit before we get on the call, you know, like would rather it in. I know. I would rather just record all that we were just talking about. 'cause that's brilliant. I'm like, if we could do the outtakes, then it would be based on our prior conversation, like the setup.

The real, real, like the real, real, real. The real. Yeah. I still think we're real, real. Like this is me. That's you. We're good. We are ready to roll. I'm absolutely comfortable talking to you in any way, shape or form. Any room, any space, anything. Absolutely. I love that. Well, thank you for coming and sharing your.

Story with kind of a big deal. I feel really excited to chat with you. Um, okay. Have we talked about the name? Is that why when there was like a Yeah, like the, the really big deal? I, I'm, I'm like, oh my gosh, you think so? Great. Okay. I think so too. Let's do it. I do, I do think so. Um, and it's actually probably helpful because as I'm kind of getting this going, so people have a foundational awareness of, of why I'm calling it that.

So we as women in leadership. From what I have seen anecdotally over the years, tend to kind of brush off our impact and tend to kind of do the tongue in cheek, like, oh, you know, I'm kind of a big deal. Like if anything, if we ever say anything, it's usually with a, but pushing it off or brushing off the compliment or not really owning our wins or accomplishments.

And so it's. Kind of my tongue and cheek nod to that, but also with the recognition that it is a big deal. Like our, our journeys are a big deal and the impact that we are having is a big deal. So hence the name and, um. Hence why you're here. I love it. I love it. And I'm going to just use this as my, like my ringtone, so that my daughter understands that every single time it rings, I'm a big deal.

She doesn't, she doesn't believe it. She's 13 and she's like, yeah, whatever, mom. But hey, I, I blow her mind all the time. It's like, and then, and then she's like, oh, I can't get that image outta my mind. Good. Remember it. It is funny that you, that we start this way because I just got back from the PBWC conference, so it's the Professional Business Women of California conference.

It took place at the, at the, at the, not the compound, the campus. I work in language, I should know better, uh, at the campus. In Microsoft. At Microsoft. And we were just talking about that. I mean, the impostor syndrome is still real, and it is, you know, I, I need to be 85% ready, 93% ready. And you know, a man comes along and he is like, oh, one two.

30% and I'm like, I'm ready to go. Let's do it. Give me the job. We've seen it, we just saw it happen. It's been happening for a couple of months now, and you're like, no, this is time for us to step in and be the really and own. Not be own the really big deal that we are. Mm-hmm. I love that. Yes, absolutely. Um, so I usually start off with like a little tiny intro of the person that I am having a chat with.

And it's funny because we don't know each other quite as well as some of the other folks that I've had. Uh, two minutes. I know, but it feels like I've known you for forever. Mm-hmm. And I think that is. Part of just how your energy is and how you show up in the world.

So we met as I was casually walking by her at a coworking space and she's like, oh, I like your outfit. And I'm like, oh, I like your outfit. And our love match was made like that way forever. Forever. Um, and you know, as I've gotten to know just in our brief encounters. You are a savvy businesswoman. You are a lover of all things, woo and energy similar to me, which always leads to really fun and deep conversations.

Um, and I'm just really excited to get to know more about I. Your business, what you've built, um, a little bit more about maybe why you started your company. Um, but let's start with the present day. What, who is Monica? What do you do and what is, oh, who is beautiful thing you've built, um, that you share with the world?

I. Okay. Who is Monica? That's another podcast. Yeah. For another day. That's like a life story is another one. It's a, it's a big one. So, uh, let's see. Uh, Monica is a mother, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna go with the personal first, uh, owner, um, of two cats that she doesn't want. So anybody wanting to adopt two cats

Um, Monica's an immigrant. I, uh, naturalized as a. Citizen in 2014. Um, and Monica is a speaker of languages.

English is my fifth language. So I was born in Argentina, lived in Brazil, lived in Israel, lived in the United States back to Argentina. It's like this whole big story of internationalization, which kind of leads me to who I am as a business owner. I, and how I started, I, I kind of stumbled into my line of work.

Mm-hmm. Uh, I, I was studying filmmaking in Argentina. Met, met two women randomly at a workshop that we were doing together. One of them calls me one day and says, Hey, you speak English. Really welcome and help me. I'm like, okay. And we were in Argentina at the time, and I show up at her house and she has, this is how old I am, she has a VHS connected on her, on her tv and.

She's listening to this gentleman speak in English and she has to do the subtitles for Spanish. So for anybody that doesn't know, like there's a person, although now it's a lot of AI doing the subtitles for film. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and workshops and, and webinars and whatnot. And so. I am dictating to her as she's sitting with headphones and, or I'm, I'm using the headphones, sorry.

And, and, and I'm dictating to her and she is not typing fast enough. Mm-hmm. So I'm like, Cody, just get up, like move, get out. And I put on, get outta my way. So I have the headphones and I'm typing away on her computer directly from English into Spanish. My words are coming out on the screen in Spanish. And she's like, how are you doing that?

I'm like, I don't know, but it's happening and it's faster than you, so we're gonna do. This way. Um, and that kind of led me into the world of subtitling. This is like 1997. Wow. Argentina. I got to work on exceptional movies like, uh, Magnolia and uh, oh oh seven. The World is Not Enough and, uh, my, very, very favorite, um, is Motorcycle Diaries that I got to translate.

Oh, yes. That was my own project really from VHS, from vhs. Wow. It was a three hour long movie mm-hmm. That they cut for Hollywood. Mm-hmm. To, you know, everybody's loss, in my opinion, because the character development that you can do in three hours of film versus 90 minutes mm-hmm. Was, was insane. Yeah. Funny story that many people probably don't know when a movie is shot.

Like there's no background audio. So I got to see people dancing and talking and laughing with no music. And it was the most eerie thing because you hear the clap. Clap. Clop. Clop. It was creepy. It was creepy. Yeah. So cool. I mean, okay, so we had a moment recently when we were in a conversation. We were like, who?

Are you, and now I feel like I.

Like this is so cool. And I, and I do have a pilot that I'm writing. Okay. Who are you? I'm, I have a pilot that I'm writing for TV that is going to disrupt the way we watch television or whatever we watch now.

Uh, screens, let's call it that. 'cause TV is so antiquated. Yeah. So the way we watch, can you talk, can you talk about it? Or is this like a We can't go there yet. We can't go there yet, but it has, this is the part two. Once we get there and when we can talk about it. So we'll, we'll talk. There you go. There you go.

And then you'll say, I knew her when she was just writing it. Uh, so yeah, it's, it's, it's all in my head, which is a big problem. Uh, but it's now it, or it was all in my head. Now it has like big diagrams on paper of what it will look like. Uh, I'm actually, I'm putting it out there. I'm looking for a screenwriter 'cause I don't wanna write it.

Okay. I'm not, I'm not that person. Okay. Okay. I'm, I'm the, you know, when you ask who is Monica, I'm the ideator, like I have ideas. Mm-hmm. You know, you talked about woo woo and ideation. They're, they're some of those strengths from StrengthFinder. I don't know if you Oh yeah. If you've done the Gallup. Right.

So I have Woo and I have ideation. And for those of you that dunno what ideation is, it's the ability to go from A to Z without stopping at B, C, D 1, 2, 3. I'm like. I am not that person. I need somebody to organize my life, my head, my business. I'm, you know, you talk, you know, you want, you wanted to like talk about the leadership journey.

I'm like, I don't know. I'm like the fire shoot, aim, I'm, I'm, or shoot, fire, aim. I don't know. Like, it's, it's, uh, it's, it's, um, you know, ready? What is it? Ready? Shoot. Like English is my fifth language. Help me out here. What? I don't even know the order it should be in, like, ready, aim, fire, like that, that one.

Shouldn't and shouldn't fire. Same thing. Right. Oh my God. That's amazing though. I mean, I definitely feel like. There's gotta be somebody awesome that would want to jump into this project with you. So we'll absolutely put that out there. I mean, it's so funny though too, though that you mentioned StrengthsFinder. 'cause it's been talking about it a lot lately as people are asking me kind of where, how I landed, where I am at and honestly mm-hmm. It was. One of the key inflection points for me was taking that and recognizing that I originally, when I was building my business, had had kind of.

Maybe I was out of touch or forgotten or not connected enough to myself. But when I took that and I saw my top 10 strengths, like three quarters lived in the relationship building bucket and I was building a business completely away. Wait, no. The surprise emoji.

I don't, you don't think about these things. So literally when you're thinking about yourself mm-hmm. And where you might be best of service, right? You're like, I'm just building this thing. And so anyways, it totally changed. The way I was thinking about where I wanted to go and how I wanted to build intentionally.

So for anybody, I know there's so many different versions of these things out there, whether it's Myers-Briggs or Enneagram or whatever, and everyone has a reason for loving what they love. But strengthening, mm-hmm For me was really eye-opening because I feel like it goes like a few layers deeper into really how you operate.

Well, I mean, I don't know how many combinations you could have in Myers-Briggs, but what I know is that. Uh, StrengthFinder has 34 strengths, right? And what I love about it is that none of, none of them are weaknesses, right? They're called strengths for a reason. It's not a SWOT analysis of your life. It's what are your strengths?

And what I loved about it was that, for those of you that don't know, and here we go, StrengthsFinder, Gallup, uh, Institute, uh, if you'd like to be a sponsor of this podcast, I'm sure that you can reach Ms. Belden and. Through her website. Um, what I loved about it and what it, it helped me see is that, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna go a little bit into what, what I feel is the culture also of the United States and, and, and others.

We, we strive to be the best. Sure. Like that's the culture, not we strive. We have to strive to be the best. We have to be the best. That's inculcated from, you know, all, all like children. Mm-hmm. And, and, uh, everybody wins an award, but come on, like we, we know who really deserve be number one, right? Yeah. You better be number one.

So what I, what I really love about it is that it, it goes really deep into who, who you are and who you can be, because those are natural strengths that you are born with.

Like some would say God-given gifts. Some would say, you know, your, your natural propensity to be that person. And strength finder also helps you hone in on how. To make that into your true power. Yeah. Because you might have that gift, but you don't know how to develop it. So there's a, there's the book that shows you step by step why you are not being in the case of ideation.

I'll give you an example of, of how it came about. Um, I can see A to Z. And usually I was the one in the room that blurted out the answer and nobody got it. Yeah. Right. Nobody could follow. Nobody was there yet. Mm-hmm. And then 45 minutes later, and I'm gonna say it, a, a white man came up with the idea and he was brilliant.

Mm-hmm. Right. And I'm Latina, I'm Jewish, I'm, I'm, I'm, I am kind of like white, but you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a woman of color in the United States, which is a whole other segment that we can do. Yeah. Because I was never Latino when I, until I. Moved here. Mm-hmm. Um, see, I opened up another can of worms, but basically I blurted out the answer, right?

Yeah. The solution that I could see forming in my brain, and it took people 45 minutes to get there and somebody else let them better. Mm-hmm. So through StrengthFinder I was able to see that this ideation was great, but I had to number one. Check in with someone and see what the holes were in my theory.

Mm. And number two, have somebody introduce me and validate me before I gave my idea. Mm Oh, interesting. And once I learned that I. Once I learned, and the, the, this was, this was the Ombudsman for Sacramento and we were in that pyramid building and it was a, i, I think it was like the, the GSA conference and, and people were like talking about, you know, small businesses and all of this, and the ombudsman comes in and says, Monica has a great idea.

Oh. So when the leader of the pack says, let's listen to Monica. Everybody listened. Oh, interesting. Yeah. And honestly, can we curse on your, on your podcast house, please? Yes, it sucks. Sucks. Is that a, that's a curse word. Oh, girl. I mean, I have a 13-year-old. I try, I try to show her, you know, that sucks. Is is already good enough.

I have a story about that one. Uh, but that, that, that's so demeaning and so, but you have to learn to play the game as well until you are mm-hmm.

You know, I think old enough, mature enough, wise enough, and that can be a 24 as well. It's not necessarily age related where you stand up and you say, no, no, I need you to listen because this is a solution. And you're like not paying attention. Yeah. Oh my gosh. You're totally missing the mark. That's so hard to do.

I think in so many ways. I think so many of us too, as women maybe, or don't even realize. I've had these experiences where I almost don't even know that I was the one that said it first. Does that make sense? Like where I'm like, wait, I think I, I feel like that's what I was saying, but did I say that or did I?

But that's also, I have to say, that's also part of the gaslighting. I know, I know. But like, it's one of those things that you start to, and we gotta light ourselves. I know. It's awful. It's awful, isn't it? Like I, I do feel like there is something. It is not age related necessarily, but I do think. As you have more and more experiences and you start to kind of accumulate and stack these different, you, you do, you learn things through so much of these different kind of moments, and then you start to see the patterns and, you know, you can't necessarily see that when you're quite a bit younger.

It takes a bit of time, um, to, to walk through some of that to see it. But I think if I could share anything with my own daughter, it would be. Know yourself well enough to know, you know, that you really are standing on a foundation that's strong and mm-hmm. You don't have to wait for everyone else to voice into that for you.

I do wanna, so I wanna bring you back also, we have shared our neuro spiciness with each other and so. For both of us to be trying to track anything that's happening right now is I have, I, I have my notebook and, and it's not helping, but No, let's go.

I think you wanna bring me back to who is Monica and what I do? Well, what I loved is how you were sharing a bit of the, let's go back to the late nineties and you know, kind of how you landed on where you're at now. Mm-hmm. But you have built your business and when did you start your own business? Well, my first business, I started at the age of 19 in Argentina.

Okay. And, um, it was a business where we taught English as a second language to, um, folks in Argentina that needed to learn. I had some of my clients that were Fortune 500 clients.

But my, my company name, you're gonna laugh, was, was very, very classy. And I still have one of those cards. It was exec. Executive languages. Oh, yeah.

Um, at, at that point, I had, I ended up having about five people that, uh, five um, trainers that worked for me. At 19, uh, so at age 19, yeah, I was gone. Wow. Wow. Um, and I, and one of the best jobs that I had was working, with, , the Fal LoDo Foundation. Uh, I started with a, with a partner.

Then my partner moved abroad. And, um, I inherited the client un, un just like I inherited the cats. Like they come and, and. The first doctor to, do a heart transplant. So that Fa LoDo Foundation was renowned and people from all over the world travel there to learn, uh, how to, how to do this stuff.

Like That's incredible. Yeah. Yeah. So 19, and you are already a successful entrepreneur, and I thought you were gonna say, and you are now 68.

I, I, yeah, I think I am. Okay. No, I am a really big deal and a successful entrepreneur. Um, I have teams, um, in Portugal, in Argentina, in Mexico that do, what does Monica do? I have a translation, localization, transcreation and interpreting company. Mm-hmm. So that's a mouthful to say that we basically. Move pieces from one language into another.

Mm-hmm. And those pieces can be visual, they can be oral. So we do, uh, interpreting for conferences, 500, 5,000, seven languages, 20 languages, however many people. And, and the fun part is that you can have your phone and you just basically, um, grab a QR code, put in your headphones, and. You are connected to a hundred languages.

That's incredible. So that's, that's our business. My favorite part of it is the creative part. Mm-hmm. The transcreation where you have to disassemble an idea, a concept, a campaign, and reassemble it in another language so it hits. The, the cultural marks. Culturally. Yes.

I love the the connecting.

I love connecting people. I've always done that. Yeah. Like, I think you should meet this person. Right. That's also ideation. I see. Yes. That relationship, that can happen. Yeah. Sometimes I have to hit them over the head and say, no, no, you really have to talk to this person. Lemme tell you why. You're also incredible at seeing.

When someone could actually use support or when somebody could actually use a service, like your ability to very quickly say, oh, hey, X person does this. You should support over here. Or, Hey, my company actually does this thing. Like, do you have this thing? And I think mm-hmm. As business owners, it can be hard to know how to voice into that at times.

Where you're like, oh, should I say I do this thing? And uh, and like. To be around you and watch you do this with such confidence is so cool. It's like really amazing. It's kind of like, thank you. It's true. I love the word magic and, and I have been called a witch more, more often. A good witch. I dare to be a little sassy Witch.

Or maybe mostly. Mostly good. Mostly good one. One of my friends will be like. Like, she'll text me because I texted her and, and her response Iska. Mm-hmm. 'cause she was just thinking about me. But yeah, I, at this conference, I, I got to meet the, author Allison Regal. Is a, pH PhD and, she wrote, uh, a book called Likable Badass.

Oh my God. Sorry. Tell me, tell me. No, please. I bought that book literally, probably six months ago because somebody else mentioned what an incredible book this is, and I it is Alison, a shout out for you. I know I'm writing it down so we can link out to her book, but I mm-hmm. I have it on my. In my, you know, the term Sodoku is a Japanese term for your pile of books that you haven't read yet.

Like I have, it just continues to get bigger and bigger and it was sitting on my little shelf in my room and my 9-year-old. She's like, oh mommy, likable, badass. I bet you really like that one. Oh, absolutely. She should be a guest on your podcast. Like, I'll make that connection happen. Oh my gosh, why not? I mean, hello.

Yeah, we talked about her. So yeah, let's make it happen. Well, I look at the author, um, and, and I, you know, I mentioned to her, well, I looked up, you know, the title of the book in Spanish and I. I have some feedback and I said it.

Why number one, it's what I do. Right. And like you said, I mean I'm good at, at finding those connections and I'm not shy anymore. Mm. And that's one of the keys anymore about saying, I am that person that can support you. Because I don't like how it was, you know how the title is translated into Spanish?

Yeah. Um, and, and she has no control over that. I mean, we have to understand how the book industry works. Totally. Which, you know, the publisher gets to choose and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so I give her my card, but I'm like, I, I'd love to support you. And she walks off stage and I was still there with, with my friend and we're still hanging out and she comes off stage and she's like. Oh, you actually do this? 'cause she saw my card and mm-hmm. It has a little tagline of, of who we are and what we do. Which by the way, I'm going to, because we are all leaders and because everybody needs to know this.

It's not enough to have a card and to have your information and your photo and your name, you need to say what you do. Mm-hmm. I just created. I just created these with a little tagline that actually says what we do. Because if you look at the name locum, you're like, what is that? Okay, great. What is that?

And I can explain it 'cause it's a great name. But what is that? So when she walks off stage, says, oh, you actually do this, I'm like. Yeah, I, I do that and this is why I'm, I'm sharing that it can be better. Yeah. And why do I want that? Why do I want that? Because I want her to succeed. Yeah. So the name, the name that was chosen was a name that would very much potentially hit the mark in Mexico, or among the Mexican population within the United States.

And my thoughts were that it is bigger than that. So unless you wanna have, you know, you want to tour Mexico and just focus on that demographic, then you kind of have to expand the title to showcase a Spanish that is more international rather than So locale? Yes. Locale based. Yes. I love that. I, I wanna come back to something you said, 'cause I think this is so.

Interesting. You kind of touched on, you're not shy anymore. Um, what does that mean to you and has that journey kind of been part of your story as you've been a business owner like what has that looked like for you? So I can tell you that now it looks like I can walk on a stage, kick off my shoes and do a keynote.

Practically without practicing.

I read the energy. I read, I kind of read what people need mm-hmm. From, and, and, and that's what I give them. Like what? What do they need in that moment in time? However, for the longest time I could not speak in public. You put a microphone, you put a microphone. In front of me and I froze, stuttered, had hyperventilated, and I did something about it.

Now why did I do something about it? And how and what was that kick in the butt that I needed? I was at a conference, it was Latina style, a conference over a decade ago. And I got to ask a question because here's a tip. The best way for people to know that you're in a room is to ask a question.

Mm-hmm. And to show that you know what you are talking about. So then people will come up to you to find out more. If you. Are truly interested in knowing the answer too. It's like, don't just come up with a question, just, you know, for the outcome and, and my voice cracked and I, was nervous and I could not put an idea together.

And the woman, I'm not gonna say her name stood up and said it breaks my heart to see someone as. Smart, intelligent, eloquent, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. As Monica not be able to speak in public. Wow. Oh my God. And not be able to convey her ideas. Yeah. At the time it was Swallow Me Earth, that was like the meanest and rudest thing you could do to me.

Yeah. And it was the best thing you could do for me. Wow. And I was like, oh yeah, I'm gonna show you.

So I signed up for Toastmasters. You did okay. The next week? Yes. That following week. And I did my research and I landed at the Toastmasters that was held at the Capitol in Sacramento. Mm-hmm. In a conference hearing, like in a senate hearing room. So. If you can speak there, you can speak anywhere. Yeah, anywhere.

The fact that it took me almost a year to get through the first 10 speeches says a lot to how far I was and how much I really needed to work on this. So a shout out to the lady that called me out, um, as embarrassing as that was, and as angry as I was at the time. Uh, it really did change the trajectory of what I'm doing now and the fact that I can speak here. I think this is a really important point for some folks that might be watching or listening, because I think I struggle with that personally.

I, I used to literally. Hide. My husband would make fun of me. I worked, my very first big girl job was at McKinsey and Company, and I was the receptionist and I had to announce somebody that was giving a speech or something in front of a, you know, group of people. And my husband called me and I was hiding in the bathroom because I was oh, terrified.

And all I had to do was get up and say the name for God's sakes. Like, this was not like I even had to give up and give a speech. It was. I can talk one-on-one with literally anybody, but if you all of a sudden shine the spotlight on me and I'm on a stage of any kind, or I see people looking at me and I can feel that so deeply and I do wonder how much this is about just being a highly sensitive person too.

Like you just, you take on so much of other people's energy and it, it is just. Awful. And so I, I, I know there's so many more women out there that have a similar fear, and so to know that there's a tool you actually use that we could, you know, say, Hey, this is something to look into.

So one tip, one tip I'm gonna put out there. Have you seen how people just, um, at the microphone just try to be louder and louder and louder? Yes. So people will hear you? Yes. The secret is to go lower and lower and lower until you're silent. Mm-hmm. Yes. And you're. Standing there. Yes. And people are like, why is she standing there?

And I'm like, because I'm waiting for you to shut up. I have actually, that's why, why I'm standing there. I have witnessed this as an audience member. There's a brilliant coach. Gina Martin got a, shout her out. She was part of the program that I was in last year. And um, she did that and she literally was like, just waiting.

And you have to really be. Comfortable with yourself to stand up there and just like allow for silence because mm-hmm That's everyone's biggest fear is the silence, right? Like people don't wanna be standing in silence typically, especially if you're the one that's up on stage. So I think to just have that and be able to claim that is a really brilliant hack for anybody.

Do you know how hard it was to discover that being Jewish and Latina and to implement? I'm like, and then, and the other secret that I will share with those that are not comfortable standing in silence until you are is, um, just basically say, if you can hear this, start clapping. Oh, I love that. That's great.

And then there are 10 people in the room that could hear, and they'll start clapping and people wanna know why they're clapping. Like, what did I miss? Right? Yeah. And so the, the FOMO is real. Yes. And, and then people will stop to, you know, pay attention to the next one.

Do you see any really specific, like when you think back to who you were as a very young entrepreneur at 19 and to the way you lead today? Do you feel like you could point to any really significant kind of ways that you've developed in ways that you are proud of?

I mean, of course you're proud of who you were then. I mean, that's an incredible feat and I, I think we'd all do better to, to be kinder to the younger version of ourselves. But for who Monica is as a leader today, um, what are some kind of interesting evolutions that you've seen? I think the first one I'm going to to, I mean, the first thing I'm going to say is you didn't ask this, but to my younger self, I do need to give her some advice.

If I get to live this life over again, don't spend the money I. Don't spend what my Oh, the money that you're making. The money that I made back then. Yeah. Like my boyfriends had the biggest teddy bears and the best colognes and all of this don't spend the money invested. Like buy, I could have bought half of Buenos Aires.

I know, I know. I was making a fortune back then.

I also learned from my team what they need and how I can be a better leader because I. I've never considered myself the really big deal and a leader and the owner of a company. What does that mean? Mm-hmm. If I think about it, right when I was at the PBWC conference and I'm like, okay, corporate business women, that's not a businesswoman owner, right?

So there were a lot of corporate in there, and I'm like, wait a minute, Monica, you own an escort. You are corporate. Yeah. Yeah. What, what? Like you're corporate. I'm like, Ooh, I'm corporate. I belong. Right. I think some of the biggest strides, um, I've seen in shifts and changes have been over the last.

Six or seven months. Oh my. When I started working. I know, I know. That's like what, but wait a minute. Uh, big disclosure moment. I started working with a mentor. Mm-hmm. She's not a coach. She's a mentor. Uh, she's exceptional. It was love at first sight. I met her through a Zoom call. And this woman just, just like us, right? Just like, just like we're matching. We're both wearing blue. I'm like, I didn't get a memo about it. Right. Um, but, but that energy and, she took me under her wing and she's like.

Yeah, Monica needs me. Oh, Monica. And she's been supporting Lo, alyssum and Monica as, the leader. And I've, been taking on more the role of leader. I'm really good at delegating. I don't mind it, but I don't know what to delegate, so. Oh, sure. One of the big, like, here's a big aha moment, and it's not even 14 or 20 years ago, it's.

Like I say, seven months. I was sitting down to write a deck for a client at 11:30 PM 'cause that's when I do my best work. And all of a sudden I'm like, I don't wanna do it. Yeah, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, and I'm a great procrastinator. Like I work really, really well under pressure. Same under deadline.

I am. I get it done. Yeah. And all of a sudden I said, I don't wanna do it like a little girl, you know, a little whiny 3-year-old and. And I just sent a message to my team and I said, Hey, hey, we need this deck. And I said, I need the deck by nine 30. And guess what? It's done. There was a deck by nine 30. Yeah, right. See, and then I had to like. Look and give it my ideas and I'll share it, was, it was a deck for, um, Nintendo.

Oh wow. It was a deck for Nintendo. Mm-hmm. And I'm looking at it and we have like the different personas of who we can provide as team members. And I was like. Wouldn't it be fun to put a character from the Nintendo games that represent those qualities that are needed in that space for the project manager, for the Qua Linguistic Quality Assurance guy?

And so we did so, so cool. So our deck had Nintendo characters representing every single one of the, that's the cool, the so cool. And so that's, you still get to be part of the creative part of it, which is what you're saying you love, like, and that is the beautiful benefit I think of building. A business that also brings in other people with great skills, right?

What's the point of that? If you can't bring them into that and have them build the thing that you also get to put your stamp on, right? But I do, I agree with you. I think a lot of times the trick is not I could delegate like a MF or like, I'm like, great, go for it. Take it go. But like I need to know, like to be able to recognize.

When those, because you're just so used to doing it and you're so used to just, you know, hustle, get it done. That to take a minute and go, wait a second. Is this something that somebody else could hold? That's a big skill I think. Not, not only that some, yeah. And somebody else can hold and somebody else potentially can do even better.

Even better. Even better. A whole lot better whole, that's a whole lot better. So, so I, I love what you just said. Yeah. And I still have that creative moment, right. So right now there's two big projects that are happening.

Um, so I came up with this great idea where it, it's gonna launch soon, so no, I can't share it yet. Um. You know, cliffhangers.

Here's another part of it where you were asking me, you know, you're good at saying, you know, this is what I want and I want your business. I mentioned for the first time in my life, this is my idea. And when the program, if the program launches, I wanted to say that it was Ideated by Monica at Look Ellipse.

Oh, I love that. That's a great idea. I want, I want the credit. Yeah. And I've never said that. Wow. Yeah. I want that percentage for the introduction and I haven't said it, so now I am saying it. Good for you, you. So that's one project. Yes. Where I'm stepping out. And the other one is we are. Working on a new website, our kind of third, um, because our tagline is work humans working with humans, which in the translation industry, AI is decimating the industry.

Yeah. But we hold still and, and it was right before chat GPT came out, even before then that we were like, okay, are we going to a machine translation? What are we doing? I'm like, Nope, humans working with humans. Mm. And everybody in my, on my team was not very happy about it, but I. Holding steadfast and then chat GBT launches, and they're like, now are we pivoting?

I'm like, Nope. Still no. Nope. Holding steady humans working with humans, we're not stupid. We leverage ai of course, we use it as a tool. We, it helps us when we have to translate. 5 million words. There's no human possible that will get it done in that timeline. Right. But then we do all the reviews by a human, right?

So we are launching, it's like the third website in two and a half years. That's incredible since we rebranded. Yeah. With a strong tech, uh, outreach and component. 'cause we have the three main verticals, which are tech, hr, and gaming. Okay. So, yeah. And not, not gaming and casinos, this is like video games and the very creative work that goes into it. 'cause I feel. When my team brought me the idea of going into the gaming industry and localization, what I loved about it and what I said was it's, it feels like it's the last standing best of humanity translating because a developer.

Wants you to feel something when you're playing their game. Totally. And AI cannot, you can't remember yet. Not yet. That's right. Yeah. Emulate, emulate that human experience. Right. I want to create experiences for, for people. I love that. And you're, there's no better person to do it. That is for sure. Um, thank you. We are gonna run out of time, so I will link to all of the places to find you in the comments for the clip. Thank you.

I do wanna end on, if you can share, um, what does building a legacy mean to you as you think about your journey and where you are now and what you're building toward? Um, well, how is that defined for you? Oh, I wish you had sent me the questions in advance. You know what, this is a big one. This is a big one.

This is a big one. I, I feel like we can also do a part two because we still have so much to dig into. Like I could talk to you for, and I also think it's okay to say. I don't have that answer at the tip of my tongue because I, but wait, I, I had all my questions for you too. Like, I haven't gone around.

You're such a great, you're such a great podcast host. Like, I have not even felt, what is it? An hour 45? Like 35 minutes. How much went by and, and you're. Oh my goodness. I, I, I am We'll, I want, I want to No, no, I, I have an answer and it'll be like 45 seconds so we don't run out of time. I see the discontent in the people that are doing the localizing, especially video games. Mm-hmm. I see the unhappiness within the industry.

I see that. Part of the unhappiness comes from not being recognized for their work because it's just like subtitles. Mm-hmm. You are part of a machine, right? Mm-hmm. And I wanna disrupt that. Mm-hmm. I really, really do. I wanna bring nobody, nobody brings the team. To the kickoff call with the client.

Everybody keeps everybody hidden. Yeah. Talent is hidden. I wanna highlight the talent. I wanna say these are the people that are working on the game. I want the developers in your Oh, I got, I got my validating chills, like my hair's standing on it. Um, I want the people in the room. I want them to hear from the developers what they were dreaming of when they created the game, because then that will make it for a better experience for the Localizer Sure.

To do his or her job. Yes. And then for the experience of the player to enjoy that game. Mm-hmm. There's, there's no other way about it. I want them to, to have profit, I want them to get profit sharing for a game where we're, you know, we do a killer job. I want them to get a part of it. I want them to get credit.

I want them to be a part of the team where. We record sessions and talk about the issues within localization, like the stress, the mental commitment, and unfortunately the, you know, the I have to say it like the bastardizing of, of the industry. Mm-hmm. Where lowest, lowest rate gets the job. And you can't do that.

I mean, you, you shop at different places, right? Mm-hmm. Depending on where you are shopping, you get that experience and you get that quality. Yeah. And if you're okay with something that will fall apart after six washes, that's on you. But I'd rather invest more in something that will be a legacy and long standing in your closet.

Yes. Oh my. I love that parallel. It's so good. Um, I just appreciate you so much and I love your energy and I love that you just put that out in the universe 'cause it will happen now because that is Absolutely, absolutely. Kristen, this was. As I said, such a delight and it went by so quick. And now we have three, at least three different sponsors for you.

Again, putting out the universe, we're just gonna throw it out there. Why not tag, tag them? I mean, absolutely. Tag the Gallup Institute, at least, at least. Um, appreciate you so much and I'll see you soon. Thank you. It was an absolute delight. Bye bye.