Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Hello and welcome to Lang Talent, the podcast by Multilingual Media, where we explore the human side of the language industry and the future of work. My name is Eddie Arrieta. I'm the CEO here at Multilingual Media and today we are joined by David Brackett, founder and CEO of Linguava. We're going to be talking about his journey from language professional to leader, and how he's built a company center on equity, culture and meaningful service. We'll also discuss how language access improves patient outcomes, why leadership in this industry demands empathy, and what lessons new professionals can carry into their own careers. David, welcome to Lang Talent and thank you so much for doing this interview.
[00:00:48] Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me, Eddie. It's a pleasure to get to be.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: Here with you today and it's fantastic because we know that a lot of the members of our audience are used to our live events and also now to our podcast interviews. We will be very fortunate to have David in our future live event. So if you're tuning into this conversation, do not worry, we will get also David as a keynote in our future live event. And David, for many in the industry, you are someone who is very well known for your guitar skills as well. I've seen a few videos and I was like, he's a virtuoso. I know those are big words for, for people in music, but you, you, you are really into the guitar as well. I play the guitar. Not as well as you do, of course.
[00:01:33] Speaker C: I see you got a, is that a ukulele back there?
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Ukulele for the kids. The kids, the kids play with it now. The guitar is a bit big for them for now, but yes, same, same thing.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: I've got, I've got a ukulele as well actually right over here. Oh, nice. My three year old son likes to.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: Play with, with that, so that is fantastic. And, and of course we love to learn a bit more about your, you know, your life, but also your professional journey. How did you get started in the industry? And I think it's a very inspiring story for many professionals. So welcome and please, with your own words, can you give us a little bit of context on, on your story?
[00:02:11] Speaker C: Of course, yeah. Thank you so much, Eddie. And I'm, I'm a huge fan of yours personally and, and what Multilingual media is doing as well. So I really, really love to support, support you guys and in any, any way that I can. So it's a, it really is an honor to get to be here with you today and for all those listening as well, make sure you continue to, to support multilingual media with, with these, these, these kinds of podcasts and innovating conversations that they have. And of course they're their innovative magazine as, as well. So it's, it's exciting to be, to be a part of what you guys are doing in our industry.
And yeah, my, you know, my journey is, is interesting in that I started out, you know, nobody in my family speaks Spanish other than, than me and so my, my grandmother used to buy me Spanish cassette tapes when I was about 4 years old. And I still remember to this day like I just for whatever reason was just really drawn to them and I would listen to them and, and, and try to learn, learn Spanish as a, as a four or five year old kid just kind of on my own.
And then I was always drawn to other languages.
Kids in my class that spoke other languages was always, always drawn to befriending them and fast forward all the way through. Of course I studied Spanish in junior high, high school and all that. And then come I went to college and ended up studying abroad in southern Spain, in Sevilla, Spain. Beautiful city, is my favorite Spanish city.
And if you get a chance to go, I highly, highly recommend it.
Went there, had an incredible experience, bought a Spanish guitar while I was there too and ended up learning, learning a lot of Spanish, coming back, finishing college and then I ended up getting a job at the same, it was like a school program, a study abroad program. I got a job there. So it was unexpected. I was just traveling and they ended up needing someone. I was there at a one way ticket and I was like, you know, called my parents, I was like I, I'm not, not coming back and anytime soon. So I ended up staying and living in Spain for five years and that was just a incredible, incredible experience for me. Obviously that's really where I became fluent in Spanish. That's where I learned a lot about leadership to be honest was I was learning from the director there, who, her name is Leslie and she's still there to this day, still a close friend.
And she had a huge impact on me, on me and my leadership. And so hopefully we can talk about the importance of mentorship and being the leader for those people that you're leading because at some point they're hopefully going to be leading other people. So I had that with her and then ended up starting to do some interpreting informally through this program. We had kids coming from all over the world to learn Spanish, art history, things like that. And we would go on these tours and there was no interpreter available. So I all of a sudden just got pushed in. And that was a huge challenge, right? But I was like, I like the challenge. I like the difficult aspect of interpreting. Obviously I love the language. But then the interpretation piece, as we all know, a lot of people think, oh, you're bilingual so you can interpret. Not the case. It's a different skillset. It has to be trained and learned like a muscle. It takes a long time to build it, but. So I was attracted to it. I liked and I started studying on my own.
And when I moved back to the States after that five year stint in Spain and really discovered this huge world of interpretation that we have here in the US that I wasn't that familiar with, started working for another language company based out of Portland, Oregon. Absolutely loved, loved it. I was, you know, just being able to see the impact of the services. I was doing mostly healthcare interpretation and was meet was very passionate, meeting other interpreters that were very passionate. But it was also a very painful experience. Why was it painful? Because I was working for an agency that had zero communication or support with the interpreters. Multiple times I had checks bouncing. I was working full time as a healthcare interpreter, go to get your, your check for your services you've been working so hard for, and the check bounces. You call up this agency, obviously, hopefully they're going to be, be willing to help you out and then they don't even answer the phone or call you back. So. And I was seeing that there was a, it was kind of like everyone was on their own individual islands, right? You had the agency over here, you had the linguist interpreters over here, the healthcare providers over here, and then, and then the, the patients, the ones receiving the services, none of those four individual islands could really understand each other. There was no sense of community being built. And that's really where the idea for Linguava came from. I thought, I thought what, what a beautiful, you know, altruistic service is, you know, language access. And it's so terrible that there isn't really that, at least from my experience, I wasn't seeing that in the industry. That didn't feel like there was a sense of community and how much better would the services be and the culture of the company be if you could create that. So that's, that's what started the initial idea for Linguava.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: And of course the name is. I think that's one of the first messages I sent you over LinkedIn that it got my attention. I was saying off the recording that. The reason why it gets my attention is because my grandmother used to have a guava tree for my children. It's their favorite fruit. So when I saw LinkedIn guava, I was like, wow, this is. It's a great name. And I remember messaging you and letting you know how much I, I like the name.
Where did the name come from? Why in guava?
[00:07:48] Speaker C: Yeah, great, great question. And the name came from my uncle, who is. Is a graphic design artist and has a real creative mind. And I went to him and I was like, hey, I want to start this, this language services company. Obviously, we got. We got to think of a name. So my. Where my mind went was, okay, we got a. I was thinking, you know, all the names that sound very similar to many of the other names that are out there, right? So it was kind of like the way he described it is there's kind of two different sandboxes you can play in. You can go try to build a company that looks and feels like everyone else, right? But you're a new guy. You're coming into this industry. There's companies that have been around already for 15, 20 years. We, you know, we launched link guava in 2010. So why are people going to even look at your business? Like, what. What do you bring to the table that someone has been doing this for 20 years it doesn't already bring? And it's like, oh, that's a good point. So he's like, you need to stand out. You need to be different. So, so we scratched the idea of all the, the, the basic, you know, names that we were looking at that were just very commonplace in, in the, in the market and where Linguava came from. And he had several different, different, really good ideas. Linguava really stuck out. And he, he basically created his own word with Lingua as Latin for language. And then Guava is a very exotic, international, delicious fruit. And so just combining those two, marrying the two, and you get Linguava, and with the logo that also stands out. It's unique, and it's been a real differentiator for us because when you hear the name, it's easy to say. It rolls off the tongue. It stands out. A lot of people ask about it. So it's a great way for us as a company to. To be different, to stand out and start. Start a conversation about Linguava. What's that? I mean, when we first started, some people used to think that maybe we sell, like, smoothies or something, but.
But it's, it's Good. I like, I like the name. And it's, it's been catchy.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: It is Linguava. It is surprisingly easy to pronounce, considering it, the soticness of the name. Right. It's very, very interesting how, how that the language, the language works, works. And it was one of the first words also that surprised me in English that, you know, we have wajava and then you have wava. I was like, oh, thank God.
Thank God. I can get there like with Guanabana, which is very, like tropical. And then you'd say guanabana. And I was like, oh, my goodness. Okay, that's, that's, that's much easier.
[00:10:18] Speaker C: You can't make it too, too complicated where it's, it's, it's good. We're both.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Yeah, it is.
[00:10:24] Speaker C: Anybody can pronounce it. Uh huh huh.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: And, you know, it's also very interesting to get to know what Linguava is doing today.
So before we start talking about values and what you're looking for and, you know, talent and all of that, Lingua has definitely a strong focus on healthcare.
From your perspective as a leader in the industry, how does language access directly affect patient experiences and health outcomes?
And it's a very sensitive topic right now in the United States and across the world, but particularly in the United States and North America, because it has led language access efforts across the world. So seeing it kind of like slow down a little bit, it hurts the companies that historically have fought for language access for so long. So we'd love to hear more about your perspectives on this.
[00:11:14] Speaker C: Yeah, great question, Eddie. You know, we've come so far as an industry, if you think about where we were at just, you know, know, 30 years ago, where the most common thing that happened was providers would have a patient bring their son or daughter or aunt or uncle to interpret. And that still happens today, unfortunately, but it's pretty, pretty rare. And for me and for us at my company, Linguava, you know, our vision for Linguava is, you know, we are passionate about giving every patient a seat at the table so that they can fully participate in, in their health care. And what is, what does that mean? I think language access is a, is a right. If you or I go to the doctor today, we get to understand what's being said if something is shared over the intercom.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:01] Speaker C: We get to, we get to listen to that or, or, and, or not. What. We get to choose.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:05] Speaker C: So language access gives you the ability to choose to make decisions for your health and for your family's.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Health.
[00:12:12] Speaker C: Without that, you don't get to fully participate. You, you're extremely limited in the, the ability to make decisions. And what's, what's more important than your health? Really, there's really nothing.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Right?
[00:12:24] Speaker C: Health, Health is the most important. If you don't have your health, you don't have a life.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:29] Speaker C: And so, so being able to ensure that every individual can, can have that seat at the table, can be able to fully participate, not just, not just half participate.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:41] Speaker C: But being able to actually understand now and it's up to, it's up to us as patients, as people to be able to do what we want with that information. Some people may follow the treatment of the doctor, some people may not, but we get to make that decision. And I think that's when we talk about the fundamental basic human right of having the language access. That's what meaningful language access is to me, is that you get to make those decisions. And I think when we talk about know, health equity, and that's, you know, our, our tagline at Linguava is health equity through language access. And that's essentially what, what that means is it gives, it creates that equal, equal playing field and allows people to have that seat that they wouldn't have otherwise.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: And thank you so much for providing that. So what, what do you see as the biggest challenge to providing that health equity through, through language access? What, what are some of the challenges that you see there.
[00:13:32] Speaker C: There so many, so many challenges. I mean, and obviously right now, like you called out, there's additional new challenges that have just come up.
[00:13:39] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:40] Speaker C: That we didn't have last year. Right. There's significant more challenges this year just with the current administration and that makes it difficult. I think we're in a very uncertain time right now where people aren't sure, you know, how much they should be providing language access. It creates more confusion because it hasn't been.
It was increasing its priority level and then now it feels kind of like, well, should we be doing this? And so I feel like this is just a small bump, though. I don't think that this is going to be derailing any of the progress that's been made. But as an industry, and when we talk about our industry, our industry shouldn't just be the language service companies and the interpreters and translators. It's everyone that's the whole, that's the whole package, right? So it's the patients, it's the, if we're talking about healthcare.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Right.
[00:14:31] Speaker C: It's the, it's the, it's the providers, those who are providing the medical services and of course the agencies as well. So we, we have to be partnering together, really has to be a partnership where their, their goals are to improve the patient health outcomes.
[00:14:48] Speaker A: Right.
[00:14:48] Speaker C: If their goals are to do that, then including language access, ideally every step of that patient journey is the only way that they're going to also achieve their goals.
[00:14:59] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: What's one of the, the most common issues or the root causes for, for death, right. In the US it's medical malpractice. Well, when there's not language services provided, that increases substantially, right. Medical malpractice happens already English to English. So imagine when there's a language barrier, right? How much, how much more dangerous and risky that is. So I think again, understanding and having full, full buy in on what, why are we doing this and what is the, what is the benefit? There's not only is it, is it cost effective for the medical provider to provide. Right.
We just looked at medical malpractice if you're not providing it, but, but also it's helping them achieve their, their goals and it's, you know, lowering the readmission rates, which is also another goal that, you know, hospitals would have. So it's, it's going back to that and then, and realizing the, I think the difference between cost and price. You look at it and go, oh well, I can do this for free or I can do this for a lower, lower price. But ultimately what's that going to do in the long run that's going to cost you more money, right? In lawsuits, in, you know, in increasing the readmission rate. So it's a, if you really think about it and look at, and I know, you know, NIMD's done a lot of great studies on the actual cost of not providing professional language services, then it's actually much, much more affordable and cost effective to do.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: I have to agree with you that this seems like a small bump. And it's interesting because even yesterday, before yesterday, we're working on a video related to the use of artificial intelligence in many different places.
And of course in one of those places, interpretation there seems to be, which is nothing new, but there is like a trivialization of the value of interpretation and it's been for many years because it's misunderstood, because of ignorance, many other things. But even today you put your kids to translate for you, to interpret for you when you're having a medical situation. And then now we're apparently going to be using artificial intelligence. And here I'm thinking as a Marketeer, where we're already expanding, experiencing the risks of hallucinations, where we're pissing off people because we are putting words there that were not supposed to be there and our editing is not there. So now imagine all the things that would happen in healthcare. And of course, I see this as a huge risk of destroying the basic elements of the fabric of the ecosystem. And that can create talent, trauma. And then when you have a lot of people deciding not to engage in this as a profession, then it's really hard to then reconvene people to view it as valuable. So that trauma could take decades to heal just because of a basic misunderstanding. We could say in kind of like the way we perceive that. So I'm really interested to understand how do you approach Adlinguava, building a culture where your interpreters, your translators, your staff feels valued, supported, and sees interpretation and these services as something core to the fabric of our society?
[00:18:19] Speaker C: Yeah, great, great, great point. And there is a, There is a negative ripple effect that happens. And so the hope and prayer is that. Yeah, that it doesn't go very far because like you said, if it.
If in. Linguists are a huge, A huge part of this equation, and if, if we already have a shortage, right, nationwide, there's a shortage of linguists, we actually need many more. A lot of people don't realize that we need many more linguists in all languages. And so there's, you know, even with, with AI, you know, being here and continuing to grow, there's, there's, there's, there's more of a need than ever for, for human, human interpreters and translators. But for us at Linguava, the, The most important thing, and this was something that I made many mistakes as a business owner. One of the things I would say that I did, I did well, was I put a lot of emphasis on company culture from day one. What is company culture? When you walk into a new establishment, right, and you, and you look around, you can immediately within the studies show within four seconds, you can ascertain what, what kind of a company culture that business or company has, right? Do people connect with you? Do people make eye contact with you? What, what is the, what is the vibe? What is the energy of the room? All of those things. So that doesn't happen just through osmosis. That happens through real, real strong intentionality, through training. And for us at Linguava, that happens through our, our core values and, and really having our core values understood by everyone. And I followed by everyone in the organization we hire and Fire, you know, based on them, similarly with our mission and vision. So culture is one of those. It's one of those big words. It sounds kind of vague in a way. Everyone knows it's important. But how do you have that? I think, again, having a company that has core values that really are real, they're not just words on a website or words on the wall or the mouse pad. They're actually lived out. They're talked about what the way I, the way I like to say it is every day we should be mentioning and bringing up and talking about how we're making decisions based on our core values, because then that, that cements the culture of the organization. It creates a culture that hopefully people want to be a part of. And that's my, that's my personal goal as the, as the CEO, is that I'm creating a company that people wake up in the morning and they're excited to, to go to work there. They could go work almost anywhere. So why would they want to work, you know, with us? And, and that's the, that's the goal. We have to create that. And we have to create that every single day. It's not like it got created once and now it's just. It just coasts. It takes real intentionality, but it's founded in, in the core values and in the mission and vision that just help align everyone. So, so that's one of the things I'd say that's, that's unique about, about Linguava, that we really try to do is, is live those out, talk about them, make sure they're not just. Just words on, on the wall. And then what, what that does then too, for the, for the linguists is it. It shows them a path as well, of, of where, where they can go. And so part of creating that culture is making sure that they have the right training, that they are being taken care of, that you are listening to their concerns, what their, their goals and aspirations are.
So it's really, it's really important that that becomes part of, I think, a company's culture, that, that's being embedded into it. Because if it's just about what one person wants or what leadership wants, and you're not listening to the people that are maybe on the, on the front lines and really understanding the impact of the services and what customers are saying, it's really difficult to create that lasting value.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: And those core values that you're mentioning shape the way in which your services are presented and in which your clients perceive and also receive those services. Could you tell us a little bit more about the core values? Because it's going to inform those members in our audience that are listening and saying Linguava sounds already like a place where I like to perhaps looked into, perhaps apply to some jobs in the future.
What are those core values, or if there is one in particular or two in particular that you'd like to highlight, that can inform us on what that looks like internally?
[00:22:43] Speaker C: Yeah, so our core values, typically you want to have anywhere between three and seven, they say core values. So we have five at Linguava. So we have people first, above and beyond customer service, do the right thing, and then we have pursuit of progress, which basically means just getting, getting a little bit, a little bit better every day. And then the fifth one is have each other's backs. So their core values are something that you don't try to create them and then try to live them out. It's kind of more of, it's who you are as a company. So those five core values, I didn't just create them or pick them out.
They were decided on by the company.
So that's something that's really important as well. If you haven't picked out your core values yet or you're wanting to maybe modify or review them, they should be something that the company already embodies. Because if you're trying to do them and let's say you don't actually get there, then that's a challenge. It needs to be who you are already. And now we're just going to really cement them and embed them in the culture. For me, the, the one that stands out, obviously, I, I like them all. Above and beyond customer service is, is one that we talk about a lot. And so that is, for us, that would means going the extra mile. That's going the extra mile, not just for our external clients and customers, but internally for our, our vendors, our linguists, as well as, as our staff. So making people feel a. Appreciated, making people feel special. If, if you've ever received outstanding customer service, you probably talk about it, right? You don't just, you don't, you don't just easily forget that, because unfortunately, today in this world, it doesn't happen that often. Doesn't happen often enough anyway, in my experience. So it's. At the end of the day, you're, you're working hard, you're spending a lot of hours away from family and friends with a particular company.
The cool part about above and beyond customer service is you get to walk, walk away and go home. Feeling really, really good about the service you provided. If you made someone else's day, right? If you showed up and just gave a, just that extra 1% to make, make someone feel a little bit more valued. And, and I think ultimately it's the, it's the right thing to do. Right? It's the right thing to do to treat someone with that level of service and, and level of, of respect, which gets into our other core value of, of people first, right? Of just really being able to treat everyone with, with respect and seeing them as human beings who were flawed and make mistakes. We all do. I make mistakes every day and treating everyone fairly. So just some of the things that stand out for me. But again, it comes down to talking about them and understanding that in order for that you have to breathe life into them every day. Right? They don't just get created and then that's it. They have to be talked about, decisions have to be made. Programs in your company could be built on them so that it's more consistently lived out. And you'll see, as we have seen, a significant change and consistency because ultimately your level of service and your culture, if it's not consistent, then it's not real. It has to be consistent. Like if you go to a restaurant and you have incredible customer service one day and you're, oh, man, this was so great. That customer service was outstanding. I'm going to go back again, you know, next week and bring, bring my wife and kids and family.
And you do. And the service is terrible. You're confused now. What is it? Is it, is it great? Is it, is it terrible? Now I'm confused. I'm not going to go, go back again, probably. So just like quality, right? It has to be consistent.
[00:26:21] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's like culture is one definition of culture I really like, which is like what you do. Culture is really what you do. If you have something written on paper on your website, but you know it's not something you're doing, new team members are going to come in and be like, you were talking about all these things, but I don't see any of these happening. I'm talking about potential new team members, whether linguists or non linguists. A lot of your core values also seem to be or not are to me, some of those that over time you really start seeing them happen.
When you are in the process of attracting talent and interviewing talent, what are some of the things that you see or that you look for in talent that gives you an idea of how do they stand in front of these core values, what tells you that they might have the traits to be successful with this frame of work and the.
[00:27:15] Speaker C: Hiring process, that's really where it all starts, right? When you're bringing someone new into your organization.
For us at Linguava, it's the most important thing that they are a good cultural fit. And for us, that means that they align with our core values. So the best way that we would determine that is asking them a question that aligns with that. So let's say for above and beyond customer service, can you share an example of when you have provided above and beyond customer service and what does that mean to you? Where the direction someone takes that question could be very, very different, but it gives you a window into how important it is to them, how easily they can come up with that, that answer and how they actually live, live that out. So really having targeted questions that align with each one of, in our case, five core values, making sure that those are covered in the interview process. And then the more that we embody it, then innately we're just looking and listening.
Does what they're saying resonate with those core values? Does it sound like this is someone who would do the right thing? Does it sound like this is someone who's going to have their people's back or not?
[00:28:25] Speaker A: Right.
[00:28:25] Speaker C: So it's really just listening and then also asking targeted questions that align with those core values. Because I can tell you, and again, making mistakes in this area, the most important thing that we can do as we're building our teams, it starts with who, not how. Right?
We get so focused on the how. Like, how am I going to go grow? How am I going to go build this? How am I going to, you know, implement this new platform or this new service? It's who first. If you don't have the who. If you don't have the right people on the bus, it's going to be really hard, really hard, if not impossible to get to the destination. You get the right people on the bus first, that might take longer.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: Right.
[00:29:06] Speaker C: And it might mean you have to go on some detours, but you get those people on the bus first and then you will be able to get to that destination much easier. That's a, that's a really strong, strong belief. And again, just a lesson that I've picked up.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: Thank you so much for sharing. Of course, it's super valuable to those that are listening, as we mentioned at the beginning of the conversation, for everyone in our audience, if you came a bit late to the recording or if you moved it forward, remember that we will have live events and David will be there talking to us about more on those or these topics and leadership and professional opportunities. And today, David, I'd like to ask you that the industry is changing a lot and it's more evident now. It's always changing. The world's always changing. It's never still, but it seems to be more evident because of the use of technology in particular. When we talk about leadership professional opportunities, what do you see there as the biggest evolutions that are happening right now and how you recommend leaders and professionals approach this moment in time in regards.
[00:30:12] Speaker C: To building, building other, other leaders. This is something that is so, so important for us as language service companies and really for any, anyone that's, that's leading a team is how are we building up new new leaders? Because if we're not building up new leaders, we're not investing in their growth, then who's going to be carrying, carrying that, that torch late, later on? So I think it's when we're building new, new programs at Linguava, we're always looking at ways in which we can create mentorship programs as well to be able to ensure that that individual that might be, let's say in our scheduling department today, but they want to make it to client relations at some point. Well, that we can help them get there.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:56] Speaker C: And so one of the most exciting parts that I, that I've seen at Linguava as I look think back to, you know, seven, eight years ago, there's a lot of employees that we have that started in one department that were able to get promoted up in that department or maybe promoted cross departmentally to another department and maybe even three departments. Right. Because they went over to interpretive relations and then now they're in client relations or they got promoted to marketing or so it's really cool to see that. And I think that's something that we as, as leaders have to create that, that path. And it really starts with listening, right? What is, what is your goal? Do you want to grow?
Do you want to stay in this position? You know, and there's nothing wrong with that. Do you, where do you see yourself? So I think as, as leaders we owe it to our, our teams to ask them those questions. And it should be not just a one time thing, it should be something that we ask several times a year where, where they see themselves and where is it that they would, would want to be, you know, next year, the year after that, three years from now so that we can help, help them, help them get there. And if they're lacking certain skill sets, then we can talk about that and go, okay, in order for you to be here, these are some areas that we'll need to see improvement on so that you can get there.
What would that look like? Does that mean taking extra classes? Does that mean additional training? How could we help you get there? So it's really having an honest conversation with them on where they want to go and how you can help them. So for other us as leaders, we owe it to our teams to show up and ask them that question. That's really where it all starts. Because the leaders are needed, better leaders are needed.
But it starts with those right now who are in leadership that can be training and making sure that we're mentoring properly to other people on the team.
[00:32:50] Speaker B: That empowering and elevating team members seems to be a theme among those companies that experience success.
And I do understand that a lot of the leaders and also professionals in our audience that are listening to this conversation have been worried throughout the year. I think it's less so this year than it was last year. I think many are now looking into what has happened with technology and then thinking, huh, this is something that I can actually draw, this is something that I can actually use.
Hoping from our perspective that we don't dilute the really raw talent that we see in our industry.
Are you finding it easier, harder, about the same to find the talent that's needed to provide language services in your line of work?
[00:33:43] Speaker C: Well, like we were talking about earlier, there is a real shortage. So the recruiting aspect is as difficult as it's ever been in our industry. There's a nationwide shortage in virtually every language. So we have to get more creative and we are getting, getting more creative, innovative with how we're recruiting, where we're recruiting to be able to ensure that. I mean, there's a major shortage of doctors as well, you know, in this industry. It's just things are things, things are changing and we have to be able to, to innovate and do things, do things differently. And I think one of the biggest misconceptions for newer students coming up, let's say they're in the collegiate age, is the misunderstanding that there's not opportunities. And I know like with the, I'm part of the ALC bridge program that goes out into colleges and talks about our industry and how big of an industry is it is right. 80 plus billion dollar industry. And a lot of people don't know that and don't realize that and they just see on the news, oh yeah, AI is going to, you know, just chew up and swallow interpretation, translation, that's going to be gone. And so they don't, they don't actually, they're not in the industry, they don't see the, that they're, that there are still opportunities, that yes, it will continue to change and no one has a crystal ball, right, five, ten years from now. But, but we believe that there will still be a need for humans. There will still be other roles that are going to be brand new roles, quality review roles that aren't, don't exist now. And there's still going to be a need for humans in like in the healthcare setting.
[00:35:15] Speaker A: Right.
[00:35:15] Speaker C: Even though AI interpretation is there, there's going to be parts of the medical encounter where a human's going to be needed, you know, you know, still, even though AI might be able to help with certain less risky parts of the conversation, say maybe the medical discharge instructions or the health history, things like that at some point, but the human is still going to be important, important part. And even AI companies, AI interpretation companies really believe that as well.
It's not just us putting our head in the sand because I know that's always the thing that's in the back of my mind. I never want to put my head in the sand and go, oh yeah, no, we're fine, there's no threats. There are threats. But I think that ultimately that's what I see is that humans will still be needed. And so for people that are thinking about getting into our industry, whatever age you are, there is a huge, huge need. And it's still an incredible time, better time than ever because there's such a shortage to get into the industry. And there's opportunities in interpretation, in translation inside each of those areas. There's tons of opportunities. And of course there's also many opportunities inside a language service company as well that's helping provide the services.
[00:36:28] Speaker B: It's very interesting because what I've seen across different industries is that there is a huge use of technology, but the moment, accountability and ownership is there needed. A lot of humans right now are kind of like defaulting to oh, but it was the technology. And it's like actually we need the humans to take ownership, to be accountable for things. And I think when we're talking about the biggest topics and we're coming to an end in our conversation, but I'm sure we'll keep coming to this conversation in the future when we're advancing topics like equity and Inclusion, like language services play a huge role. From your perspective, what is that role?
What are we doing in terms of language services to take ownership, to take accountability?
What is the role we're playing from your perspective?
[00:37:20] Speaker C: Well, for me, again, it's similar to what I mentioned earlier, is that language access is a human right and we have to look at it that way. So it's regardless of people, maybe what happens to be the current administration messaging that we're getting in some aspects, it's a human right. So it's not a, that's not an option. It has to be provided. And so we have to, in all different sectors, understand that we play a role in that and we're part of the team that gets to ensure that everyone gets a seat at the table to be able to participate in their healthcare. So we have to stop looking at it as a, oh, this is additional cost. Oh, this is, do we have to do this or not? No, it's a, it's a human right to provide meaningful language access. And the moment that we, we do that, it stops the conversation of should I or should I, should I not? And again, it's just, it's the right thing to do.
[00:38:13] Speaker B: And talking about the right thing, of course, is, is what we like to do here at Multilingual. David, thank you so much for your time. We really hope to see you at our live event later this year.
Before we go, any final messages to those in the industry, to those outside the industry, wanted to come into the industry and any final comments you'd like to make to our audience.
[00:38:35] Speaker C: Thank you so much, Eddie, for having me on. I would love to be there again at future event or at events. So it's an honor and pleasure to be here with you today. My final words would be for people that are thinking about getting into our industry. What I feel is the most rewarding thing that I've done in my life is being a part of this language access industry. It feels so good to go home every day and know that the services that we provided having a direct impact on someone's health outcomes, that it's actually improving people's, people's lives. And there's very, very few jobs where you get to feel that level of accomplishment and feeling so rewarding just by doing what we do every day. And so for anyone that's, that's thinking about getting into a career that, where you really want to, you, you're missing that feeling of like, I go and do this, this tech job or whatever, but it doesn't at the end, what did I actually do? Maybe besides sell, sell a piece of software or a CRM or something like that? Well, this, this is, this is really touching people's lives and it's so, so rewarding. That is why I, I do what I do still and what gets me up out of bed. So hopefully, hopefully that resonates with some of you and you look to join.
[00:39:52] Speaker B: Our industry as well and absolutely has resonated with me and I'm really certain it's going to resonate with those members of our audience. And like that, we have come to an end to our conversation. Thank you everyone for listening to Lang Talent. Once again, a big thank you to you, David, for joining us today. Thank you.
[00:40:14] Speaker C: Pleasure. Hope to see you very soon.
We will.
[00:40:17] Speaker B: And thank you for sharing your perspectives on leadership on language access, on building purpose driven organizations. If you're listening to this and you've enjoyed the conversation, subscribe to Lang Talent on Apple, podcasts on Spotify or your favorite platform. Lang Talent is part of multilingual media's mission to highlight career talent, the future of work in the language industry.
Until next time, goodbye.
