Here’s a cross-post from Speaking of Translation, the podcast I co-host with Eve Bodeux:
Running a freelance business and raising a family can be a great fit, but combining those roles can result in a lot of stress, and requires planning, prioritizing, and of course flexibility and a good sense of humor! For this episode on being a freelancer and being a mom (stay tuned for our next episode on being a freelancer and being a dad!), Eve and I spoke with two moms who balance their significant family responsibilities with extremely active professional lives:
Elena Langdon is a Portuguese-English translator and interpreter and a former chair of the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters. She grew up in Brazil and now lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three children, ages 2, 4 and 7. Elena specializes in medical, legal and social science work and is an active interpreter and translator trainer.
Jennifer Nielsen is a Spanish-English translator and interpreter and the immediate past president of the Mexican Translators Association. She is originally from Colorado and now lives in Guadalajara, Mexico with her husband and her twin sons who are almost a year old. Jennifer works with Mexican businesses that are expanding into the US market, especially in the areas of law, marketing and academia.
We pulled Jennifer and Elena away from their extremely busy lives and asked them for their insights on:
- Maternity leave: how long to take off and how to talk to your clients about it
- Child care: what their child care situations are, and whether they try to work with their kids at home
- Managing the uncertainty of freelancing with small kids: what happens when the kids are sick, or the babysitter is sick, or there’s a snow day?
- Client relations: how much their clients know about their personal lives
- The boiling point: how do they avoid being overwhelmed by stress and exhaustion, and what do they do when they are overwhelmed?
If you’re a freelancer and a mom, we think you’ll really enjoy this episode!
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Being a freelancer and being a mom