Working With Languages | Multilingual Careers across Industries from Translator and Language Teacher to Linguist and Other Job Types

Today I have a special conversation with Claire Lutton, the US team lead for member support at HomeExchange, a French B Corp company. As a member myself for the past three years, it was a pleasure to delve into how this platform creates such personal and unique multicultural travel experiences. We discuss how swapping homes is not just about finding a place to stay, but about connecting with people, living like a local, and even finding support in unexpected situations.

• A Personal Way to Travel: Home swapping offers a more personal, respectful and multicultural travel alternative to hotels, allowing you to immerse yourself in a local culture and connect with your host.
• More Than Just Holidays: The platform can be a vital resource for more than just travel, providing accommodation for emergencies, family reunions, or even as a temporary workspace with a change of scenery.
• A Strong, Supportive Community: With a very low cancellation rate, the platform is built on a foundation of mutual respect. In the rare event of a cancellation, the support team successfully finds a replacement in over 90% of cases.
• Bridging Language Gaps: HomeExchange effectively supports its global community by using integrated translation tools and a 24/7 SOS service to handle urgent issues in any language, ensuring members always feel supported. I also integrates with a very easy-to-use and helpful chatbot.

Claire Lutton is the Team Lead of the Member Support Team for the US at HomeExchange. Originally from France, she is passionate about multicultural travel and has lived in the US for over two decades and has always worked in roles that utilise her bilingual skills.

• HomeExchange: homeexchange.com
• If you'd like to sign up, feel free to use this referral code to earn some Guest Pints: sonia-daeb9 (or use this link: https://www.homeexchange.com/?sponsorkey=sonia-daeb9)

Thinking about a career with languages? I offer one-to-one career mentoring to help you find your path: workingwithlanguages.com/career-mentoring

Sonia is a translator turned multilingual digital marketer specialising in paid media, and now also a podcaster. Growing up bilingual, languages have been a constant in her life.

In 2025 she launched a podcast where together with her guests she explores the huge variety of jobs and career opportunities open to people with language skills. She is available to speak on podcasts and stages about marketing, languages, work and podcasting.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/soniakampshoff
• Website: workingwithlanguages.com

If you enjoyed this episode please share it with someone who may like it too, and subscribe to the podcast.

• Spotify: spotify.com/show/1boyxxr2sPFC14SIyu4pi0
• Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working-with-languages-multilingual-careers-across/id1833888492
• YouTube: youtube.com/@WorkingWithLanguages
• Instagram: instagram.com/workingwithlanguages

• ✉️ Join my free newsletter
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0:00 Introduction

0:46 Favourite word

1:38 Learning English and moving to the US

5:18 How HomeExchange works

7:15 Her role in member support

9:43 Stories from members

14:20 Supporting members in many languages

17:07 Technology at work

18:34 A multinational team

19:41 Final thoughts

In this engaging conversation, Victoire Galtres shares her journey from a multicultural upbringing to her current role in leadership and culture within a casual dining restaurant chain. She discusses the importance of language, cultural experiences and how her background in acting enhances her leadership skills. Vic also emphasizes the significance of diversity, inclusion, and empowering women in the workplace, while exploring the impact of technology and AI on modern work environments. The discussion concludes with reflections on the power of human connection beyond words.

• Language learning is influenced by age and environment: we discuss how language learning in childhood differs from later in life, and how frequency of use and environment affect not only the language but grammar mistakes and saliva production.
• Acting skills enhance leadership and communication: through acting we can learn the ability to stand in front of a crowd and articulate well , to appear confident when we are not. Vic now uses these skills through role play in her leadership development workshop.
• Diversity and inclusion are crucial for workplace culture: in any organisations culture happens through leadership which in turn creates a brilliant team. And at the heart of every exceptional team is psychological safety.
• Coaching helps women navigate career transitions: through Tomorrow's Daughter Vic supports and empowers women in the workplace, especially through transitions including becoming a mother and how that affects our identity, our perception of life and work, and our priorities.
• AI can improve efficiency in leadership development and private life occasions: from idea generation for leadership workshops to private use like creating creating a wedding celebrant script that merges English and French to accommodate multilingual guests, Vic brings us wonderful examples of ChatGPT use.

Victoire Galtress is the Head of Leadership & Culture a casual dining restaurant chain, and the founder of Tomorrow's Daughter where she offers bespoke executive and life coaching for women one-on-one and in a small group setting. Originally from France, she spent her childhood between France and Australia with her parents and three sisters. She now lives in the UK with her British husband and three sons.

• LinkedIn: Victoire Galtress nee Mazounie
• Tomorrow's Daughters - Vic's bespoke executive and life coaching: tomorrowsdaughter.co.uk

Thinking about a career with languages? I offer one-to-one career mentoring to help you find your path: workingwithlanguages.com/career-mentoring

Sonia is a translator turned multilingual digital marketer specialising in paid media, and now also a podcaster. Growing up bilingual, languages have been a constant in her life.

In 2025 she launched a podcast where together with her guests she explores the huge variety of jobs and career opportunities open to people with language skills. She is available to speak on podcasts and stages about marketing, languages, work and podcasting.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/soniakampshoff
• Website: workingwithlanguages.com

If you enjoyed this episode please share it with someone who may like it too, and subscribe to the podcast.

• Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/1boyxxr2sPFC14SIyu4pi0
• Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working-with-languages-multilingual-careers-across/id1833888492
• YouTube: youtube.com/@WorkingWithLanguages
• Instagram: instagram.com/workingwithlanguages

• ✉️ Join my free newsletter
• ☕ Support my work, buy me a coffee

0:00 Introduction

0:35 Favourite word

1:25 Background and languages

3:36 How a language changes us

7:07 From acting to international business

11:44 Working in multicultural companies

13:28 Coaching women with Tomorrow's Daughters

17:41 How leadership is changing

20:42 How she uses AI

26:47 Final thoughts

In this episode, I chat with Stefanie Mellano, a UK-native now based in Northern Italy, who works as a film and TV subtitles translator.

Stefanie shares her journey from studying law to pursuing her passion for the Italian language and building a freelance career in subtitling. We explore the technical and creative skills required for subtitling, the importance of specialisation, and how she balances translating for large streaming services with working with independent producers.

• The Power of Specialisation: much like doctors specialise, translators are more effective when they focus on specific industries they know well, such as tourism, business, or in Stefanie's case, the creative industries. This ensures a deeper understanding of the subject matter and accurate use of terminology.
• The Subtitling Process is Both Technical and Creative: subtitling isn't just about direct translation. It involves a technical understanding of character limits and reading speeds, requiring translators to find creative solutions to convey the original meaning perfectly within these constraints.
• Pivoting to English: many large companies use English as a "pivot language" for translation. Content is first translated into English from the original language (like Italian) and then translated from English into many other languages, partly due to the availability of translators.
• Human Translators vs. AI: while AI is a growing trend, it currently struggles to capture the nuance, context, and non-verbal elements of language, particularly a language as expressive as Italian. For high-quality, culturally sensitive content, human expertise remains essential.

Stefanie is a freelance subtitle translator specialising in the film, TV, tourism, and business sectors.

• Website: stefaniemellano.com
• LinkedIn: Stefanie-Mellano

Thinking about a career with languages? I offer one-to-one career mentoring to help you find your path: workingwithlanguages.com/career-mentoring

Sonia is a translator turned multilingual digital marketer specialising in paid media, and now also a podcaster. Growing up bilingual, languages have been a constant in her life.

In 2025 she launched a podcast where together with her guests she explores the huge variety of jobs and career opportunities open to people with language skills. She is available to speak on podcasts and stages about marketing, languages, work and podcasting.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/soniakampshoff
• Website: workingwithlanguages.com

If you enjoyed this episode please share it with someone who may like it too, and subscribe to the podcast.

• Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/1boyxxr2sPFC14SIyu4pi0
• Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working-with-languages-multilingual-careers-across/id1833888492
• YouTube: youtube.com/@WorkingWithLanguages
• Instagram: instagram.com/workingwithlanguages

• ✉️ Join my free newsletter
• ☕ Support my work, buy me a coffee

0:00 Introduction

1:13 Background and languages

3:51 From law to languages

7:37 Learning to subtitle film and TV

10:05 Favourite projects

13:01 Subtitles in many languages

15:00 Her clients

16:28 Dubbing or subtitling?

17:34 Theatre and tourism translation

21:46 What viewers don't see

24:38 Where to find Stefanie

In this first episode, I’m interviewed by podcast producer, Lucy Lucraft. We discuss my multilingual background, growing up speaking German and Italian, and how this foundation in languages shaped my career path from translations to digital marketing and then podcasting. I share my journey from being a translator and localization manager to specialising in digital marketing and advertising on Google and social media.

We delve into how cultural nuances are crucial in international marketing, the role of AI in the industry, and my experience working with technology companies. I also explain why I started this podcast: to explore the many ways people use their language skills in their professional lives.

• My professional journey began as a translator and localization manager, which gave me a deep understanding of the technical side of digital products.
• After moving into marketing while continuing to work with my languages, I now specialise in paid media (Google Ads and advertising on social media) which allows me to combine my interest in data and numbers with the psychology of consumer behaviour.
• Cultural and linguistic understanding is essential for effective international marketing, as direct translations for things like SEO often fail to capture local search habits.
• AI has been an integral part of digital advertising for a long time through features like smart bidding and retargeting, long before it became a mainstream topic.
• My goal for this podcast is to showcase the diverse career paths available to people with language skills, moving beyond traditional roles like translation and teaching.

Thinking about a career with languages? I offer one-to-one career mentoring to help you find your path: workingwithlanguages.com/career-mentoring

Sonia is a translator turned multilingual digital marketer specialising in paid media, and now also a podcaster. Growing up bilingual, languages have been a constant in her life.

In 2025 she launched a podcast where together with her guests she explores the huge variety of jobs and career opportunities open to people with language skills. She is available to speak on podcasts and stages about marketing, languages, work and podcasting.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/soniakampshoff
• Website: workingwithlanguages.com

If you enjoyed this episode please share it with someone who may like it too, and subscribe to the podcast.

• Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/1boyxxr2sPFC14SIyu4pi0
• Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working-with-languages-multilingual-careers-across/id1833888492
• YouTube: youtube.com/@WorkingWithLanguages
• Instagram: instagram.com/workingwithlanguages

• ✉️ Join my free newsletter
• ☕ Support my work, buy me a coffee

0:00 Introduction

0:56 My two favourite words

2:28 Growing up between Italy and Germany

3:42 Becoming a translator

7:58 From translation to marketing

14:51 My ideal clients

15:44 How I use AI

19:28 Getting into digital marketing

23:05 Which languages are in demand

24:25 Why I started this podcast

ello, I'm Sonia Kampshoff, and I'd like to welcome you to Working with Languages.

I started this podcast to explore what it really means to build a career with language skills today. It goes far beyond the traditional roles of translation and teaching. I’m fascinated by how languages empower us to connect and achieve specific goals in almost any professional environment.

In each episode, I sit down with a new guest to discuss their unique career path. Here’s what we'll explore together:

• Why languages are a superpower in today's competitive job market
• How they fit into diverse industries and roles you might never have considered
• Where our human skills stand next to the rapid rise of AI
• How you can make languages a valuable and meaningful part of your career

If you're ready to be inspired, I invite you to join our conversations. Listen and subscribe to Working with Languages now on your favourite podcast app!

Thinking about a career with languages? I offer one-to-one career mentoring to help you find your path: workingwithlanguages.com/career-mentoring

Sonia is an experienced, multilingual digital marketing consultant focusing on Google Ads and advertising on social media. She works with small and medium-sized companies, agencies and charities across ecommerce and lead generation accounts, supporting them from strategy and planning all the way through optimisation and management.

Languages are integral to her identity and career, so much so that she launched this podcast in September 2025, telling stories of people who merge their language skills with the work they do - and inspiring many more to learn languages and build a career on these valuable soft skills.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/soniakampshoff
• Website: workingwithlanguages.com

If you enjoyed this episode please share it with someone who may like it too, and subscribe to the podcast.

Listen to & follow the podcast

• Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/1boyxxr2sPFC14SIyu4pi0
• Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working-with-languages-multilingual-careers-across/id1833888492
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/@WorkingWithLanguages
• Instagram: instagram.com/workingwithlanguages

Other links

• ✉️ Join my free newsletter
• ☕ Support my work, buy me a coffee

0:00 Introduction

0:56 My two favourite words

2:28 Growing up between Italy and Germany

3:42 Becoming a translator

7:58 From translation to marketing

14:51 My ideal clients

15:44 How I use AI

19:28 Getting into digital marketing

23:05 Which languages are in demand

24:25 Why I started this podcast