Starting over ... does it ever end?

It seems like it never will...

Before I graduated with my M.A. in Conference Interpreting, I thought building a career from the ground up was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I gave it my all. I accepted low rates to gain experience, took on assignments I wasn’t particularly aligned with just to build a portfolio, and spent countless sleepless nights working on projects that barely covered a day’s expenses. All the while thinking: this is just a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

And then the big break came - smashing through barriers I never even knew existed. I accepted one assignment after another, joined a renowned group of professionals (shoutout to HOT SAUCE INTERPRETERS), honed my skills, practised relentlessly, and worked harder and harder to make a name for myself. Soon enough, I was booked months in advance, barely had a weekend to spare, and still wanted more.

So, I opened my company in Algiers, Glossic Language Solutions, for which I had no big prospects, just a small business to help me better manage my career and finances. Yet within a year, I was coordinating international projects, working with the government, managing multiple teams across states, travelling from one country to another, and meeting wonderful professionals. I thought I had it all, and that the road ahead would only go uphill.

Then came another big break: the opportunity of a lifetime to move across the world: from the sun and breeze of the Mediterranean to the crisp and cold winters of Canada. That’s when I realised that everything I had achieved on the other side of the globe meant nothing here, faced with new rules, new laws, new players… new everything.

It hit me like a ton of bricks: I had to start over. It took time to accept my new reality, to draw up a plan, and work toward it & in an effort to stay positive, I reminded myself: "I did it once, I can do it again".

So I networked, reached out to past and new clients, forced myself into new challenges, and embraced opportunities as they came. For one year straight, my calendar was filled with assignments. I finally felt like I had made it—that it would be smooth sailing, that my career was finally going upwards, and no matter the winds, I had a strong boat. I believed that all I needed to do to help it grow was to keep steering in the same direction.

Well, that was until I had a baby and went on maternity leave.

Becoming a mother has been, and continues to be, the greatest blessing of my life; one I never knew I could experience. It brought me joy, peace, and most importantly: a whiplash into stillness. Yet it also came with the hard realisation that I had to put on hold the career I had fought so hard to build, just when it was about to take off. I had no choice but to embrace it and do so with patience.

At first, I believed it would take forever to rebuild, especially after dropping everything in the middle. I felt I had no basis to stand on and was completely lost. But then again, if I did it once, and did it again, a third time won't hurt. In fact, a fourth time won't either, nor would a fifth, or a sixth, and so on. Because nto only do I know the way, and how to get there and through, but every time, I discover a new road, every time I build new prospects, and every time, bigger and better opportunities come along.

Sure, the challenges are harder, the roads are longer, but the reward is much, much better.

If there’s one thing I learned, and would hope to let you, dear reader, know, is that starting over in life never ends, and is never the end. It is the beginning of something bigger. Every "reset" has only made me wiser, sharper, and more determined and stubborn than ever!

And while the roads ahead may be tougher, I now know that every step, every obstacle, and every pause only paves the way to a higher climb. When it feels like all the progress disappears… and you’re back at square one, that’s when growth is quietly happening. So embrace the reset, because, and in the words of the great Miley Ray Cyrus:

“There's always gonna be another mountain, I'm always gonna wanna make it move. Always gonna be an uphill battle, sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. Ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb”

Anyway, this post is my come back post, and hope to, (will) post every Monday, when the new week begins , to share with you my new challenges, reviews, and experiences with the great world of conference interpreting

See you next week!!!