Good day, everybody. I am very happy to post this week’s interview featuring one of the loveliest and amazing woman I have had the pleasure to (e)meet. Her blog has a lot of readers and her latest interview series, Greatest Women in Translation, is very empowering and inspiring. Ladies and gentlemen, Caroline Alberoni of Alberoni Translations! Caroline, the floor is all yours 🙂

Introduce yourself, but tell us a bit more about your personal life.

I am Brazilian, living in Brazil (Rio Claro, São Paulo). I am 31, single, the oldest of three sisters, living by myself. I have two cute nephews (the youngest is my godson) and a niece (the youngest of them all, newborn).

You strike me as a very determined person, someone with a plan. Has your personality influenced your career choices (e.g., specialisations, branding, online presence, etc)? Can you tell us how?

Definitely. I have always been a determined person. I always know what I want and do what it takes to go for it, no matter what people say. Apart from my specialization (it kind of chose me, actually), everything else is influenced by my personality. For example, the color of my logo. I love pink, but I thought it wouldn’t look very professional, so my designer (who is my cousin and knows me pretty well) thought of this light purple. Another example is my preference for not using any automated social media managers. I think it is too impersonal, so everyday I chose what I will publish that day on all my social media channels. If I’m on vacation, no posts.

Which are your unique professional features?

Readiness, attention to details and feedback advocate. In spite of what most people say, I keep my email open throughout my business day and promptly answer to all important incoming messages, especially from clients. They really appreciate it. Being open to feedback and attentive to details come actually together, because I learn from my mistakes, and tips and guidelines the clients offer, and never make the same mistake twice.

Your blog is very popular and full of interesting posts. You also listen to the voice of other translators and publish it on your blog as guest posts. We might say you take a step back and throw the spotlight on somebody else. What a bold move. How did you come up with the idea? Is it helping you in terms of visibility?

I have a lot of friends and colleagues that work at the most diverse areas in translation, and some of them do not even have a blog to show their knowledge. I thought my readers could benefit from this wealth of information, so I decided to start my guest post series. The idea behind it is to invite people to write about different and interesting topics in translation. So if you have a look at all guest posts so far, it’s hard to find repeat topics, they are all different somehow from one another. And this year, I had the idea of creating an interview series with women only. I must admit the guest series and the interview series are sometimes even more popular than my own posts. They help a lot in terms of visibility, because people who I don’t know, but who know my guests, get to know my blog and start following it. It’s pretty awesome!

Do you think you’re giving your clients, project managers or colleagues the chance to see the real Caroline by following your social media profiles and/or your blog? Or are you keeping something to yourself?

In part, yes, because I’m always showing myself in everything I do. From my logo to the way I communicate, everything speaks and mirror my personal self. However, I do think it’s extremely important to behave professionally when doing business. My party self among friends, my family self, my auntie/godmother self and my business self are all different from one another, and that is how it should be. You should not behave in church the way you behave with your closest friend, right?

Showing your true colours and being yourself as a marketing tool. Do you agree? Do you think it is ultimately a game-changing factor, or do you find irrelevant or detrimental?

As I said above, to some extent, I do agree, but only to some extent. You should definitely be yourself, especially because we are one-person entrepreneurs and our brand is ourselves; one reflects the other. However, we should be extremely careful with what we show.

Wrapping up, please answer these simple yes-no questions and justify your answers with a couple of lines:
Do you feel professionally unique?
Yes, I do. Of course there are plenty of English to Brazilian Portuguese specialized in IT out there, but what makes me unique is all my educational, professional and personal experience, my love for my career and all its consequences: loving what I do makes me do everything with passion and willingness to increasingly overcome myself and be better.
Are you happy with your life/job balance right now?
Yes, I am. Totally and fully happy. I set my own business hours and strictly follow them. I exercise everyday and follow a healthy diet. I don’t work on weekends neither on holidays. Those are days I take care of myself and enjoy my family and friends. I take one or two holiday periods a year and travel. So whenever I need to work on weekends or on a holiday for a special client, I do, because I know it’s an exception.
Is there anything you would like to do or plan on doing to shine more?
That is actually an ongoing project. I am always having new ideas for my business and implementing some changes here and there.

THE UNIQUE ID

Bio: Caroline Alberoni is a Brazilian freelance translator. She has an MA in Translation Studies with Intercultural Communication from the University of Surrey, UK, and a BA in Translation Studies from UNESP, Brazil. Caroline has five years of experience translating IT materials from English and Italian into Brazilian Portuguese. She is the head and heart behind Alberoni Translations, has a blog Carol’s Adventures in Translation, and can be found on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram (@alberoni), Snapchat (@calberoni) and Periscope (@Alberoni).
Website: www.alberoni.com.br
Blog: caroltranslation.com
Book(s) you are currently reading: Hateship, friendship, courtship, loveship, marriage, by Alice Munro
Book(s) you recommend: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
In my spare time I like to: Now that it is summer here, go to the pool and sunbathe.
Share a song: Ironic, Alanis Morissette

Thank you very much, Caroline, for sharing your story with us. I also would like to thank you for inviting me a couple of years ago to write a post for your blog! It really opened my eyes and I got a glimpse of what the wonderful world of translation bloggers was like 🙂