LocLife™ returns to reflect and rev back up
LocLife™ came back with a bang this week to celebrate its one-year anniversary with a look back on eight successful events and a look forward to many more.
“Year 1: looking back, moving forward” brought together new and former panelists to offer fresh perspectives on a variety of subjects exploring the human side of localization. Host Javi Diaz led our rockstar panel, which included:
- Rachel Carruthers, head of localization at Canva
- Jan Hinrichs, founder and ceo at Beluga Linguistics and LocLunch™
- Danielle Marcos, localization lead at Tableau, a Salesforce Company
- Daniel Sullivan, senior globalization leader at Shopify
The event covered our favorite topics from the past year, from the power of empathy to the importance of diversity and inclusion. And it ended with two lucky LocLifers winning prizes!
Missed the event or want a second showing? View LocLife™, Year 1: Looking Back, Moving Forward, on-demand here!
Memorable moments
Javi kicked off the festivities by asking our panel of localization leaders what leadership means to them.
“I see my role as a leader as less about telling people what to do and more about empowering them,” said Daniel Sullivan.
Danielle Marcos agreed, adding, “I think this ties to vulnerability as well. It’s leading by example, and then, from there, it’s active listening.”
When localization consultant and former LocLife panelist Renato Beninatto asked if an increased need for empathy has impacted leadership styles, the answer was a unanimous yes.
Rachel Carruthers discussed the importance of having a people-first mindset. “We’re all people and we have things going on in our lives … In our one-on-one meetings, we have a personal section at the top of the agenda to simply ask, ‘how are you doing?’. Because if the team members aren’t doing well, the work’s not doing well.”
Jan Hinrichs pointed out the importance of providing a safe space where people from inside and outside the industry can gather. “For me, it’s about understanding we’re all in the same ecosystem,” he said.
On the topic of diversity and how it comes into play when building or scaling a team, Dan Sullivan noted, “We can’t build a product that’s for everyone if Shopify is not representative of everyone at the corporate level.”
Rachel Carruthers explained, “Understanding and empowering the vast number of realities is what makes localization successful and it’s definitely something that we look for when hiring candidates.”
Inclusion is also key to hiring candidates, according to Daniel Sullivan who said it’s all about “making sure people feel like they’re contributing to what we’re building, they have a stake and a say in it, and that their voice will be heard.”
Danielle Marcos shared, “We do a lot of strength finders to map out where everyone is. Who has superpowers, and do they know they have those superpowers? Then it’s fueling those superpowers and being able to retain those strengths you’ve just hired for.”
The final topic, which explored showing vulnerability in leadership, was summed up simply by Jan Hinrichs. “We need each other to grow. We can’t do everything ourselves.”
The event wrapped up with a special prize giveaway to Jovana Maravic, who won a free hotel stay, and Christian Hoel who won a free flight. Congratulations LocLifers!
Stay tuned for details on our next session of LocLife™ and be sure to join us over at the LocLife™ LinkedIn Community to continue the conversation!
