California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Recognizes Sacramento Business woman

Friday, Aug 19th, 2011

The Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Names SpanishOne Translations’ CEO Business Woman of the Year

The Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SACHCC) has named Monica Nainsztein Rodriguez, NAWBO® member and founder and CEO of SpanishOne Translations, Inc., as 2011 Business Womanof the Year, an award that recognizes the innovative solutions and community impact of one local entrepreneur.

“This award reflects not only Monica’s unwavering commitment to build a thriving company, but also that one person’s vision and voice can make a valuable contribution to our community,” says Steve Gándola, President/CEO of the SACHCC. She received the award at the 39th Annual Business Awards and Recognition Gala last month.

Monica defied the odds and made a recession-ridden 2010 the company’s best year to date. It was the year to go big or go home and she definitely went big by expanding services into more than 100 languages, creating a product line and expanding her workforce. “Last year I did what I could to make SpanishOne the most appealing and comprehensive choice for businesses seeking translation services,” she explains. “SpanishOne expanded language translations to include Arabic, Chinese, Punjabia, among others mainly because I was missing out on contracting opportunities. We also began to
offer products such as ready-to-print newsletters, fliers and brochures for a set price, while the industry standard is to charge per word.” By simplifying the quoting process, Monica ensures quick turnaround for projects and ongoing translation needs.

With a natural-born coalition builder at the helm, SpanishOne secured partnerships with influential organizations like the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as additional avenues for business expansion. “This year SpanishOne renewed its women-owned certifiation and added the minority-owned business certification, a distinction of increasing importance as more Latinas than ever before have joined the ranks of entrepreneurs,” she says. “Having this certification in hand opens avenues to the procurement department of large corporations that might otherwise take months to infiltrate.”

Monica continues to place an emphasis on the importance of coalitions and team collaboration. “There is no way I could have grown my business by 100 percent both in revenue and resources if I didn’t put into practice the advice I gave to a room full of NAWBO® women during an educational summit in Sacramento in February 2009,” she says. “‘It’s all about coalitions! It’s about working together and hanging strong to survive this recession.’ Boy, am I glad I was in that room and heeded my own advice!”

At a time where business can be as much about partnerships as competition, Monica believes SpanishOne’s success in 2010 reflects just that. She says, “When you focus on being of service and the good you can do, business success follows naturally.”

Face Time

Q: What does it mean to be named “Business Woman of the year?”
A: “I was really elated to be chosen Business Woman of the Year among so many other dedicated and innovative Latinas. It means pushing the boundaries of commonplace business practices and finding unapparent partnerships, the most cutting edge tools and ways to give back. You can do a world of good by setting an example that hard work pays off.”

Q: Why is it important for you to give back to the community through the HOPE Leadership Institute (HLI) and your own YogaLatina Initiative?
A: “I felt HLI was an excellent way for me to contribute to the discussion on political issues affecting the Hispanic community, such as unfair district lines and teenage pregnancy. As a legal resident, I am not yet able to vote and this was an opportunity for me to have my voice heard and grow my business at the same time. I often try to provide discounts and pro bono work as needed to contribute to those in need in my community-as I know they will support me in return when I am in need.”

Q: What advice do you have for future generations of women business owners?
A: “Don’t be afraid to approach other business owners in your industry or a complementary industry to discuss the possibility of collaboration. For example, the working relationships I have with market researchers and ethnic outreach consultants have allowed me to bring more to the table and work on more extensive projects. Organizations geared toward women business owners, like NAWBOreg;, provide ample opportunities for networking and referrals.”

Found in Translation

Thursday, Aug 18th, 2011

A harrowing journey from Argentina to Midtown

By Jocelyn Munroe

Monica Nainsztein was only 7 when she and her mother were forced to flee their homeland, Argentina, 30 years ago. “I remember the coffee shop when my mom told me we had to leave,” recalls Nainsztein, who now works as a Spanish translator in Midtown. “She didn’t explain much. That we had to leave; I had to leave my friends. I got to keep three markers. I still have the yellow one.”

Nainsztein, now 37, speaks mostly calmly about her harrowing childhood.

Her mother was a social activist agains dictator jorge Rafael Videla and his regime, which was responsive for the murder, torture or disappearance of up to 30,000 Argentinean citizens during the 1970′s and early 1980′s.

“My mom was a warrior; my mom was a hero,” says Nainsztein. “Two weeks after we left the apartment the military police broke into the house looking for her. My mom comes from a very well-to-do family. She was a rebel. She was with the people fighting for civil rights. Typical story: girl with silver spoon fighting for the people. She fought the dictators.

At the first, Nainsztein and her mother fled to neighboring Brazil.

“I had to learn Portuguese,” she recounts. “At age 7, in three you pick up the angle. When you’re a kid, your brain absorbs languages like a sponge and you want to fit in, make friends. At age 7 it’s easier; you don’t have any of those mental blocks.”

After a few months in Brazil, mother and daughter were offered asylum by the Israeli government.

Nainsztein was dropped unceremoniously into third grade. “No preamble, just going to school there, she says. “We were all immigrants: Russians, Arabic, from all over the place. We had neighbors from Holland. That’s how I learned Engllish. I was eavesdropping, listening in on my mom’s and her friend’s conversations.”

“Living in Israel was the best of times,” Nainsztein recollects. “Running all over. We had a German shepherd.” Yet the specter of fear still haunted her childhood. “Every single building had a bomb shelter. [We had] the freedom of running around but knowing every minute you might have to go into the shelter.”

A few years later, Nainsztein was uprooted again.

“We moved to the U.S. in 1981,” she says. “My mom’s family was going to open a hotel in Miami. I was 10. I was sent to a private school that offered full-day immersion in English. In three months I was incorporated into the regular English classes and given an award for quick learning.”

The Nainszteins didn’t go home to Argentina until Monica was 15, after the Videla regime fell during the Falklands war.

“It was hard,” she says. “Especially going back to school with kids who hadn’t been through what I’d gone through.”

Nevertheless, her forced language immersions and natural linguistic ability formed the basis of her career.

“I had my first business, teaching English as a foreign language to Fortune 500 CEOs,” she says. She was just 21. Nainsztein also worked for “corporate” Argentina for about 18 months and hated it, then eventually started translating subtitles for movies and TV shows. Eventually, she had a staff of more than 20 translators from all over the world, many of whom she never met except by e-mail or phone.

Her firm, Spanish One Translations, has translated hundreds of movies and TV shows, from political documentaries like Fahrenheit 911 to TV dramas such as Bones, for Hispanic audiences worldwide. She also handles less glamorous tasks, such as translating human resource manuals and business advertising slogans.

Although Nainsztein’s courageous mother died in 2000, she did get to meet her daughter’s husband, whom
Monica fittingly met online.

A “Venezuelan bear of a man, fabulous cook,” is how she describes him. They were married two years to
the day after they first met in person, and they eventually relocated to the United States. Nainsztein recently held an open house to celebrate her new business location in Midtown. She hired a paella chef from Spain to cook gigantic sizzling pans full of seafood paella, blanketed a table with Peruvian cookies called alfajores and liberally supplied her guests with blood-red glasses of sangria. After the ribbon cutting, she raised her glass in toast and chided the crowd.

“Those of you who know me and just came for the sangria and paella, shame on you!” She paused, then
with a warm and mischievous smile continued: “How could you forget the alfajores?!”