Today our guest is Carla Itzkowich, the founder of International Contact, Inc, which is a multilingual marketing communications company. She sold the business in 2022 and is now the founder of Foresight Consulting, helping business owners sell themselves.
At a young age, Carla started in a selling role for video companies where she learned the ins-and-outs of the business. The role had her selling video production in the early 80’s to events and more. It wasn’t long before she realized that if she wanted something done right, she had to do it herself—and that’s when she went out on her own.
Eventually, International Contact grew into a multi-language video production company, offering their services in over 100 languages. In the late 90’s, they moved into print and offered brochures. At this time, there weren’t any competitors in this space—they were truly pioneers for businesses with international language needs.
Carla never went to business school, so everything she’s learned in business she’s learned hands-on. While luck has a lot to do with her success, it’s really her confidence that’s carried her through. And, if she was going to do something as important as translation, she was going to do it right.
Any agency owner who isn’t offering their services in other languages is missing out, according to Carla. Offering multi-language services can help you expand the reach of your clients, so it’s low-hanging fruit for marketing companies. The best way to go about this is hire a professional—at least until AI manages to catch up.
Translating the spoken word is just a part of what multilingual marketing companies can (and should) do. You also have to know how to translate SEO content, numbers, and more. It opens the door to focusing on offering diversity on a more global scale.
There are still a lot of kinks being worked out when translating foreign languages with AI. There are so many different languages with their different nuances and meanings, and these should always be considered and accounted for.
In 2017, Carla’s dad got sick. She would often travel back and forth to Mexico for long stretches to see him. This is when she started thinking of selling her business so she could spend more time with him. As a micromanager, it was hard for her to get ready to let it go. Over a few years, she learned what changes she needed to make and eventually was successful in selling her business.
When Carla started out in the business, she wanted to work on English-speaking music videos. But over time, her business grew into a huge, multi-million-dollar foreign language company. She also got to support diversity and help immigrants like herself along the way.
If you are an entrepreneur who has started a business, your options are to sell, go bust, or leave the business to your kids. It’s important to consider your plans for your business early on. Being a woman in business in the 80’s and 90’s wasn’t always easy, but she never let anything hold her back from building the business she wanted to.
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