Smart Habits for Business Storytelling with Joachim Lepine and Ann Marie Boulanger

Episode 86: Smart Habits for Business Storytelling with Joachim Lepine and Ann Marie Boulanger

Have you ever thought about how the art of business storytelling can be helpful in your business? It's not just about clear communication to market your services or network with others. Not only is it important to be aware of how we translators and interpreters tend to talk about our professions and the value we offer, but it's just as vital to understanding what our clients’ experiences and expectations are. Whether you’re a seasoned translator or interpreter or someone who is just starting out, weaving a compelling narrative that resonates with your clients and helps foster your business relationships is an important part of marketing your business successfully. That's why we’re excited to discuss this topic with our guests and welcome Joe Lepine and Ann Marie Boulanger to the podcast.

Joachim (Joe) Lepine was born into a French-speaking family in Belgium and grew up in the U.S. before moving to Quebec in 2006. When he took his first translation course—on a whim—he knew he had found his calling. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in translation and a master’s degree in education. In the ensuing years, he translated for a myriad of prestigious clients in Quebec and abroad.

To share his passion for the craft, over the past 15 years, Joe has taught French-into-English translation and related courses at Université de Sherbrooke and trained for NATO, the United Nations, the European Commission, OTTIAQ, Magistrad, Editors Canada, the Translation Bureau, ITI (UK), Training for Translators (USA), and many others.

Today he is the cofounder of LION Translation Academy, which offers training to help translators and translation teams to thrive in every area of their practice.

Ann Marie Boulanger was born in Montreal, Quebec, to an anglophone mother and a francophone father. After earning a college diploma in liberal arts, she heard about an acquaintance who was studying translation… and that’s when the lightbulb went off!

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in translation from Concordia University, she was hired by start-up translation firm Traduction Proteus Inc., which she eventually bought in 2005. The business continues to thrive today. A life-long learner, Ann Marie later earned an MA in translation studies from Concordia in 2018.

Her other hats include co-founder of LION Translation Academy and part-time lecturer in translation at McGill University. When Ann Marie isn’t translating commercial texts, she can be found working on children’s books, with more than 45 translations to her credit so far. Her first literary translation, The Woman in Valencia, by Annie Perreault, was named a World Literature Today Notable Translation of 2021.

Tune in to hear our conversation on:

• What services Joe and Ann Marie offer

• How their careers have evolved over time

• What smart habits have been crucial in their careers so far

• What habits they had earlier in their careers that they no longer practice and why

• Why it is important for translators and interpreters to be aware of the stories we tell the world—and our clients—about ourselves

• What constitutes a good business story and how we can utilize it as a marketing tool

• How negative experiences can be used in business storytelling

• Other tips on how to consciously craft narratives about the value of our work

Resources we mentioned in this episode:

• Joe’s translation business, Traductions LION

• Ann Marie’s translation business, Traduction Proteus

• LION Translation Academy

• Connect with Joe and Ann Marie on LinkedIn

• Get the free Client Win storytelling template from Ann Marie and Joe!

• The Story Advantage: Unleash the Power of Storytelling to Engage, Inspire, and Influence by LJ