Cecilia Lipovsek

They say that our lives change every seven years; mine certainly has. At age seven, we moved to the countryside with my family and so, I learned what being an outsider is like right before I could spell my full name. I was quickly adored by some and criticised by others simply because of where I came from. Yes, in my own country and only a few miles away from my birthplace! Funnily enough, when we moved back to Buenos Aires in my early teens, I immediately became the ‘country girl’ – an outsider in my own hometown…

By age 24, I was running the training department at an Argentine company servicing the remote interpreting market in the United States. Having experienced my ‘otherness’ first-hand helped me expand my role by adding intercultural awareness to my team’s skillset. During the seven years I worked for this company (yup, seven again), I trained over 200 colleagues while also studying translation full time. I learned about Latin America at the office and to translate for world peace at school. I was very lucky to have had a front row seat to such vast cultures and their myriads of accents, regionalisms, idiosyncrasies, and worldviews; and to do it all in two languages.

After getting my postgraduate diploma in Conference Interpreting, I felt I wanted something else so, encouraged by friends and family, I took a deep breath and jumped. I sold everything I owned (except for a few personal treasures I adore), packed one suitcase, and moved to London.

There I was again, an outsider setting up residence – and shop – across the world. Then as life often has it, and at the turn of yet another seven-year cycle, one morning I found myself interpreting for a Mexican delegation visiting the UK. Just like that, Multilateral was born.

Everything in my life had prepared me for it: my education, my professional background, my personal experiences - even my Sunday walks playing tourist around London!

I have spent the last decade interpreting for hundreds of visiting Latin American delegations to the UK, including diplomats and over a dozen heads of state. This gave me a front-row seat to the nuances of interaction when these two worlds meet. Now, I’m excited to start a new chapter continuing to help professionals like you improve your understanding of the complexity of British-LatAm interactions.

I truly believe success depends on great engagement. Of course, what that looks like can change depending on the situation and whom we are interacting with.

Whether it's speaking to a multicultural crowd, networking internationally, or negotiating for a global project, I rely on simple, practical tools and frameworks that combine expert knowledge with hands-on practicality, delivering strategies that make a lasting difference.

I wholeheartedly believe that getting the support we need doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. International interactions can be nerve-wracking. Getting better at them doesn’t have to be.