Welcome back to “The Voices Behind the Words: Member Spotlight” – an exciting new interview series where we shine a light on the diverse stories and experiences of our members.

Each interview will delve into the unique perspectives of industry professionals like yourself, offering insights, anecdotes, and reflections on their journey within the language industry. Get ready to meet the faces and voices shaping our community, one conversation at a time.

Our second interview is with Svetla Marinova from Sofita Ltd:

1. Can you share with us three interesting facts about your company?
   Sofita is a family business that is now in its second generation, run by three sisters.
   We were the 1^st translation agency established in Bulgaria (1989) when the communist regime fell and private entities were allowed here for the first time. Still the largest in the country. An interesting project from our archives: We were asked to urgently translate the Pope’s speech while the delegation was on the plane. The translation had to be completed by the time the flight landed.
   
2. What aspect of your company do you believe sets it apart from others in the industry?
   Our exceptional 35 years of experience in the Bulgarian market. We have 30 people in-house and one particular focus, namely services from/to/in Bulgarian language. Our diversity is in our service range; we cover all possible language services – from transcreation to remote interpreting – as well as all verticals, all domains from marketing and slogans to nuclear power engineering. We also have a unique proprietary joint product with a partner legal subscription-based platform, where we maintain and update the whole Bulgarian primary legislation in English, translating the amendments on a weekly basis.
   
3. What would people never guess you do in your role?
   I regularly update the team on the weather forecast … and even on the planet positions. I have a particular interest in meteorology, astronomy, and astrology.

4. If you could have any view from your office window, what would it be?
   View of the mountain peaks or view of the sea. Because of my love for the mountains, we have started a company initiative where we regularly organize the team trekking tours with a professional mountain guide (who is also one of our best translators) – our families, kids, dogs are also invited. Last weekend we visited a beautiful waterfall near Sofia. We are grateful because we have a mountain almost in the capital and sometimes I even go skiing in the morning before going to the office.

5. What motivates you the most in your work within the language industry?
   My passion for languages. Full stop.

6. What advice would you give to someone starting out in the language industry today?
   To try to figure out if this is his/her passion and to be ready to be flexible, responsive, responsible, and creative in this fast changing meanwhile highly technological industry.

Company name: SOFITA
Company website: www.sofita.com
Name: Svetla Marinova
Job title: Managing Director, Partner