Full Name: Suzanne Deliscar
Company: Treasures Translations
Position: Lawyer-Linguist
Website: www.treasurestranslations.ca
Year Founded: 2002
Tell us about yourself and your business: I am a Canadian lawyer-linguist translating in the Spanish-English and French-English language pairs. I focus on certificate and legal translation.
What inspired you to start a business? I always wanted to combine languages and law.
I started out learning French in Late French Immersion in grade 7 and continued on throughout high school. I also took 3 years of Spanish in high school. During my first year of university I took both Advanced French and Advanced Spanish. I decided to do my degree in History and Latin American Studies. I also spent the second semester of my third year of undergrad in Chile.
Right after undergrad I went to law school, but I never left languages behind. I taught English and Spanish, did volunteer translation, and kept self-educating in French and Spanish.
Share one business goal: One of my business goals is to be the preferred supplier of Spanish certificate translation in Canada. Certificates include such documents as birth certificates, marriage certificates, transcripts, and the like. As a bilingual country, both English and French documents are acceptable for use in Canada for official purposes, so my focus is on the Spanish part of the certificate translation market.
What would you say contributes to your success? Networking has played a huge role in the success of my translation business. The same elements that grew my law practice come into play with my translation services. I have many repeat clients who came about through networking at different events. I truly believe that becoming visible is key to building a translation business. Many people have come to know me as a lawyer-linguist, and as I also learned how to parlay both parts of myself, as a lawyer and a linguist, and how the combination brings added value to my clients. A lot of people tell me that as soon as they hear someone else mention Spanish or French or law, they think of me.
What advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur? Become known! Brand yourself as the go-to person. Like any other industry, there is a lot of competition but there is still a lot of work, enough to go around. If I just said I translate Spanish>English and French>English, I would not stand out. By promoting the fact that I am a lawyer-linguist, that I am a practicing lawyer, and that I am well-connected are just some of the things that have drawn people to me. We are all unique, show who you are and let your clients love you!
As well, it is not always a step backward to take on other work while building your translation business, valuable contacts can be made in-house. As well, become well-connected. Clients like it when you can point them in the right direction when you can’t help them yourself. I keep a list of translators in other language pairs and/or subject matters that I can refer work to.
Anything else you want to mention about your business? Right from the start, my first priority was and remains to fully enjoy the richness of language and translation. I have always loved languages and law, and want it to remain that way. I also made it a priority to use my language skills to reach and help others, and mentor other “double-hyphenates”.
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