Benedicte Holck – Jensen Localization Denmark

In this interview, we want to introduce you to Benedicte Holck, the Director of our first Jensen Localization franchise in Denmark.

• Would you like to tell us something about your childhood?

When I was between 2 to 5 years old, I lived in Tanzania, because my father, who was a civil engineer, was stationed there at a local university on behalf of the Danish International Development Agency. By that time, I used to play with the kids around where we lived and all of them were speaking Swahili, so by playing every day, I managed to learn the language.

I think that this first contact with a foreign language boosted my linguistic skills and unleashed the eager to keep on learning more languages.

Unfortunately, due to lack of practice, nowadays, I hardly remember any words in Swahili.

• What did you study?

From 1997 to 2004 I studied a Master of Arts (MA) in Spanish Language and Culture at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, after that I took a specialization in Foreign Trade, Export and Import at the UNED in Spain.

• Did you always want to become a Director, or did it happen by a coincidence?

My life took many twists and turns before I reached where I am, I have never planned to be a Director, but I am happy with this position. Usually in life nothing happens by coincidence. Where we are, is the result of good or bad decisions made when you start deciding as an adult.

• How long have you been working for Jensen Localization?

In 2008 I applied for a project manager position in the Spanish office, but finally I was offered to work as a translator. I would say that this year is my 10^th work anniversary in Jensen Localization.

• Did you have any jobs in the Translation Industry before you started working for JL?

No, after finishing my studies I worked for several different companies related to Foreign Trade, my first contact with the Translation Industry was in Jensen Localization.

• What are the pros and cons of being in a franchise system?

The main pros are that in a franchise system you are never alone, you have the support and the expertise to guide you through all the processes related to setting up, develop and running a business in the translation industry.

The cons? Well, I have not found any cons yet, the only downside is that when you are willing to grow from a freelance translator to your own agency, the costs increase in order to provide better services and a higher availability, this increase is transferred to rates for clients that, depending on their values, will decide whether or not to continue collaborating with you.

• How many languages do you speak?

My mother tongue is Danish, and I am fluent in Spanish and English. I studied French for 6 years, but I am not fluent because I had no chance to practice it. I can understand Swedish and Norwegian, and I dream that some day I will be able to revive the Swahili that I learned during my childhood.

• What is the most important element to you when working with new clients?

The most important element in any relationship and not only with new clients is to create a trustful relation. The customer relation should be the angular stone to grow any relation with clients, keeping it as good as possible to create strong ties.

• What advice would you give to a person that is thinking of choosing the JL franchise formula?

That he/she should give it a try, it is a good way to grow with the support of someone with 18 years of experience surviving in this fast-changing industry.

• How important is it to work in teams and communicate with other staff members?

It is one of the most important parts of a company. Socially we need to communicate and interact to feel part of the whole. Each of us has different personalities, skills, and anecdotes to share. By having a fluent communication we can all learn from each other to keep on evolving and progressing.

• Do you communicate with the staff from the other JL departments and locations?

Yes, on a daily basis. I am very happy with the flat structure that characterizes Jensen Localization.

• Do you think artificial intelligence will ever replace JL’s services?

I think that artificial intelligence will replace a part of our services, but not all.

What we should do is to adapt and retrain to be able to make the best use of artificial intelligence, to benefit us, to help us in our daily tasks and challenges. Transcreation and creative translations will be the ones performed by human translators. Repetitive and technical translations will be handled by artificial intelligence. The most important is to see artificial intelligence as an ally and not as an enemy.

Thank you, Benedicte Holck, for sharing with us a part of your life and experiences. We are very happy to have a person like you in Jensen Localization.