We are proud of our members and how much they have grown personally and professionally.  Meet ROBERT GEBHARDT of Lugano Translations.

Unlike many coworking facilities, we consider ourselves a community and love getting to know them, their goals and their passions ….. we think you will too!

Tell us about your background, family, education: I was born in New York, but grew up in      Switzerland with an American father and an Italian mother, so different languages have always been part of my life. Looking back, my career was pretty much chosen for me from the start.

What is your business and who are your customers? My company is Lugano Translations, and my customers are anyone who is expanding internationally, looking to export, import or “spread internationally” in any sense of the word. We currently work with banks, law firms, corporations, consulates and private citizens.

How did this venture start? I started off as an Italian-English translator, and the company pretty much grew organically from there, as I started working with other translators and offering associated services.

What do you actually do on a daily basis and why?  Most of my days are spent waking up early, dealing with emails from Europe, where our head office is, and then taking my one-year-old daughter to daycare. After that you can find me either working from these offices, from home, or attending any international event I can find around the Charlotte region.

What’s your past life? How did skills and background that got you here to where you are? Languages have always been a huge part of my life. In addition to Italian and English, I speak Spanish, French, German, Korean, Japanese and Chinese (at varying levels!)

New customers are you targeting? New services being offered? Lately I’ve been working with some great service providers, like programmers and web designers, so we can partner up and they can offer translations in addition to the services they already offer. By the way, we are also the only translation company that offers help for Freelance Translators, from coaching, to online profile reviews, to an online course and book all helping Freelance translators getting started in their career!

What are your personal and/or professional goals? I find I operate best when I envision that I’m connecting two different countries/people/organizations/etc., that otherwise couldn’t connect. The truth is, however, that the thing that makes me get up and strive to do more each day is probably my daughter. I know it sounds a bit wishy-washy, but that’s what keeps me going!

Other than your work, what are you most passionate about? It may sound like I have a one-track mind, but I really do love languages! In my spare time I find myself learning various languages, reading about linguistics, or a lot of works in translation. My wife and I are also trying to use different languages with our daughter (my wife is from Taiwan), although we’re probably just confusing her for now.

Why did you initially come to LOOM?  I visited quite a few co-working spaces and offices in the area when I first moved to the Carolinas, and LOOM really just felt more relaxed, transparent and easy going. I think I just felt like it clicked right away!

What do you want to MAKE SURE to cover before we close? I don’t really have to MAKE SURE I cover this, but the most common question I get is: “Isn’t Google Translate making your business obsolete?”, so here is a blanket answer: NO.

Remember how Google Translate works. It doesn’t really translate anything but scours the web to find and learn from past translations. This is great, but it also means that anything you copy and paste into Google Translate will be publicly available (including the IP address and time that it was pasted into Google Translate). As you can imagine, most law firms, corporations, consulates, etc. aren’t too keen on this!

Where can we find out more about you on social media and online?  Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter

What is the best way to contact you? Feel free to email me: Robert@LuganoTranslations.com

Want to explore the benefits YOU will get from coworking and joining the LOOM network of professionals?

Reach out via our Contact page to come in for a free day of productivity (and coffee)!