Helena Nicotero

“I’ve been a Conference Interpreter since 2000, when I graduated from Associação Alumni. Before that, I studied other subjects: I have a degree in Fine Arts (Escola Panamericana, São Paulo) as well as Hospitality Management (Johnson & Wales University, USA).

This diverse background, coupled with my experience abroad – besides going to college in the United States, I lived in Africa as a teenager – gave me important skills for working as a translator: contact with different cultures and forms of communication, the flexibility required to deal with unforeseen situations, as well as attention to different intonations, gestures and subtle signals (which are also forms of expression).

Being a channel of communication between speakers and listeners is intriguing and requires a lot of concentration and study. Besides, the work gives me a chance to translate people from various industries, such as Apple’s Steve Wozniak, tennis player Gustavo Kuerten, filmmaker Arnaldo Jabor, conflict mediator William Ury, and former President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso. All of this draws me into my profession.”