Virginia is our newest Chapter Manager, she has just launched the Argentinian chapter last month. Reading about her and her entrepreneurial spirit is inspiring. Every time I read about a woman who has accomplished a lot and still managed to have a family, to be a mom and enjoy both her professional and personal life, I feel we are one step closer because we have one more role model. How exactly does Virginia manage to be the COO of her company, manage the household and two kids, play tennis, do an MBA and be our chapter manager? And all of this with perfectly done hair….. You’ll have to read on to find out!
About Virginia
Virginia Minhondo graduated as a Spanish translator from the National University of Cordoba while working as an in-house technical translator and interpreter for Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina. Later, she moved to Miami, Florida, to complete an internship at Precision Translating Services Inc. Upon her return to Argentina, she founded delsurtranslations, a company that provides translations and localization services to clients worldwide. Her company is one of the funding members of Translated in Argentina, the first non-profit association for the localization industry in her home country. As COO of delsurtranslations, Virginia actively participates in different industry associations, attends conferences and seminars all around the globe, and is now a full-time MBA student at Universidad Siglo 21. Mother of two, a pationate tennis player, a lively sense of humor, and a strong belief in people’s potential are some of her traits.
1. What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Virginia Minhondo, I am the founder, owner and current COO of Delsurtranslations, a translation and localization company based in Córdoba, Argentina.
2. Where do you live?
I live in Alta Gracia, a beautiful mountain town located only 25 miles South of Cordoba city. It is a very old city that used to be one of the many missions across Argentina. The plaza, old buildings and other areas have been declared Human Heritage by UNESCO. It was also home town of Che Guevara, the legendary revolutionary leader of the 50s/60s.
3. How many countries have you lived in?
Two, Argentina and the United States.
4. What is your global footprint? This is our way of measuring how global our group of women is. so, you can tell us in how many countries you have lived, you have visited or you have traveled to.
I started travelling when I was 17 years old. I moved to the United States where I lived a whole year as an exchange student. Since then I have always travelled across America and Europe, either for pleasure or for work. I have visited over XXX countries.
5. What did you study?
I studied translation in college. I took a five year program and got a liberal arts degree in English-Spanish translation. I started working as a translator even before I graduated, both at corporate level and as a freelancer. When I started my own company I took a few courses on sales, strategic planning, human resources and of course I attended and participated actively in several industry events such as a Loc World, GALA, ALC, Translated in Argentina, which is the first non-profit association for the localization industry in Argentina and my company is one of the founding members.
This year I started my MBA. It is not a regular MBA as it has an orientation on technology, which I thought was way more applicable to our industry. It is a big challenge, but I am very happy and inspired by what I’m learning and what we share with the teachers and other students.
6. What do you like about your job?
People. Leading people and learning something new from my team every day. Realizing that what we do builds bridges across cultures, brings us all a little closer together.
7. What surprises you in the world of localization?
Thinking about the exponential growth of technology and how that’s impacting our everyday life.
8. How did you get involved in WL?
I learned about this organization back in 2010, when I attended LocWorld in Seattle. And I have just been amazed at the growth and importance it has achieved over the years.
9. What is your role in WL?
Right now, I am the Chapter Manager of the WL Argentina chapter, and I feel very much honored because it’s the first WL chapter in South America. I hope I can be up to everybody’s expectations 🙂
10. In which direction would you like WL to develop in the future?
Raising awareness of our industry at the local level. Argentina stands out as a leader in the supply of Spanish translations. However, this is well known internationally, but it is ignored within the country boundaries. And 80% of the people working in this industry at the local level are women. Argentinean women are key for the Spanish translation industry and this is not recognized locally.
11. Are you planning a WL event? If so, please tell us about your event and you can add a registration link if you want or a FB page link to promote your event.
I think that due to the time of the calendar year in which the Chapter was finally created, our main objective is to create awareness about our existence and our mission. So we are thinking about 2/3 networking events to inform people about WL. One will be in Cordoba, where I have most of my contacts and colleagues. The chapter already has members and my fellow assistant managers in other parts of the country. I think it is important that we have presence there as well, so we might be holding other NW events in Buenos Aires or Rosario, or both!!! Date and venue to be announced soon. Stay tuned!