My background makes me familiar with the terms and language of a broad range of fields, which increases my translation capability. I am particularly experienced in legal, financial, business and marketing – in terms of professional/work experience, translation and some legal academic background.   

Qualifications, experience/career:
- BA, English & Philosophy majors, +Afrikaans/Nederlands I, +16 LLB subjects, from UKZN https://www.ukzn.ac.za/
- Worked for three years as an attorney's articled clerk.
- Graduate marketing trainee at Lever Bros (Unilever, R.S.A.).
- Account director in global ad agencies like Grey (South Africa) and Lintas (Sydney), founded Lintas:Direct Sydney, managed Wunderman Sydney then transferred to the Amsterdam office (Wunderman was then the world's biggest interactive agency, today it's in the global top 5). 
 - Remained in Amsterdam, becoming an independent consultant/interim manager with long term clients in (mobile) telephony, cable, advertising agencies, etc.
- I added translation to my current service offer about 10 years ago.  

Language proficiency in my pair:
My home language is English (UK). I also translate into non-native US English. Dutch comprehension: As an ex-South African I was fluent in Afrikaans and therefore quickly became fluent in Dutch when transferred to Amsterdam. Familiarity with the nuances of Dutch was essential for my interactive communication work in the Dutch market while at Wunderman and later as the manager of two other Amsterdam agencies and as a consultant in the Netherlands.    

Broad fields of experience and translation expertise:
In addition to my English studies, additional legal subjects at university and legal work experience, I was fortunate to manage the advertising accounts of a wide range of leading global brands during my advertising career. From Land Rover to Lanvin and from Tesa to Toys 'R' Us. Clients require deep immersion and knowledge of their business from full-service ad agencies. As a result I am on intimate terms with the terminology, cultures and language of very many product and service categories. In my work as managing director of ad agencies in the Netherlands I also became familiar with Dutch legal, financial and management terminology and language.

Why translation:    
This was a natural progression from enjoying writing and having managed translation, transcreation and localisation processes since the start of my career in ad agencies. These processes are part of the role of full-service ad agencies in helping international clients migrate their successful brands to new countries. Working for these agencies also gave me the opportunity to manage multi-lingual and multi-cultural campaigns in markets with a high degree of diversity, like South Africa and the EU.

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DYNAMITE COTTAGE INDUSTRIES 

Business continuity advice, communication strategy, concept, copy, translation.