Editorial
Front Page - Friday, July 24, 2009
Say What? helping businesses reach culturally diverse markets
David Laprad
If you ask Brenda Amaral de Cabrera for the name of her company, and she tells you what it is, you might think she didn’t hear you and ask again. Called Say What?, her firm provides business solutions for clients who want to access markets in which they lack cultural experience.
“I was in charge of some classes for a church in Chattanooga, and most of my students were Mexican,” she says, her words carrying a rich Puerto Rican accent. “They were daring with the language — they weren’t scared to speak English — but when they didn’t understand something, they’d go, ‘Say what?’ I told my husband it would make a great name for a business.”
Today, Say What? provides translation and interpretation services for its clients, which include business, legal and medical entities, among others. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what Brenda, her husband, Robert, and their partner, Christian Patiño, do.
“We’re a consulting company for everything Hispanic,” says Brenda, who has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management. “And while that includes translation and interpretation services, we also equip American companies to tap into the Hispanic market.”
Preparation can include everything from a cultural diversity workshop at a Chattanooga law firm that wants to offer its services to the Hispanic community, to marketing consulting for an American company that wants to sell its product to the 42 million Hispanics living in the U.S. From creative development to media services, Say What? leaves no stone unturned as it bridges cultural divides.
“A company can tell us what they want to do, and we’ll help them from start to finish,” says Robert, who brings 15 years of product management experience to the company. “We’ll tell them how to prepare, pitch and deliver the product. And once they have their rod and reel in the water, we’ll tell them what they’re going to need in terms of customer service.”
The ultimate goal of the company, says Robert, is cultivating cultural diversity. “When we were conceiving this business, for me, it was all about building bridges and tearing down walls,” he says. “It was about helping people realize unity as a world market is vital to our survival.”
Brenda agrees, and sees Chattanooga as a prime example of how cultural diversity can help a community thrive. “There’s more diversity in Chattanooga than people realize,” she says. “Little by little, our society is waking up to the realization that there are other people in our country, and simply speaking another language doesn’t make you diverse. We want to create open-mindedness in people and encourage them to embrace diversity.”
There are barriers, however, some of which result from negative stereotypes. But instead of objecting to unfair labels, Brenda says Say What? conducts business in a way that promotes trust, not just between themselves and a client, but between that client and the entire Hispanic community.
“With stereotypes comes mistrust,” says Brenda. “We want the client to trust us and realize they can have a positive experience with another culture.”
“Sometimes people have negative feelings toward a culture because they haven’t experienced it,” says Patiño. “People are naturally scared of what they don’t know.”
That can include a fear of cultural diversity, which Americans tend to think exclusively involves them making changes to accommodate Hispanics. But that’s not true, says Patiño, who was born in the U.S., but has lived in Mexico and Columbia and traveled extensively outside the States.
“No one culture is better than another, so what we have to do is build on our similarities and enjoy our differences,” he says. “With that in mind, we try to help our clients become culturally competent and understand that cultural diversity is a two-way street. We have to respect each other and one another’s values.”
Patiño, who has a bachelor’s degree in international business, says the strides the Chattanooga community is taking toward cultural diversity are encouraging. “People are ready to embrace diversity and learn more about other cultures. When we talk with them about how another culture operates, and they grab onto the concept and put it to work, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Clearly, Say What? is about more than getting paid for its services. And the expansive worldview and strong cultural awareness of its owners have positioned the company to be a part of the changes coming both to Chattanooga and the rest of the world.
“We believe this company has a purpose,” says Brenda, “and we know we’ll be changing lives. It’s important for us to be remunerated for our efforts, but more than that, we want to make a difference.”
To contact Say What?, call 423-505-9353. A Web site is in the works.
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