Notes from Abroad
Lost in Translation: Why Direct Copy Never Works
I’ve spent enough time in countries where I don’t speak the language to know that Google Translate is a liar. It will give you words. It will not give you meaning. A direct translation might be technically correct, but it almost never lands the way you want it to. Meaning lives in context, in tone, in the gaps between words. What works in one language often sounds hollow or strange when carried straight across.
Three Countries, Three Languages, and One Lesson About Brand Voice
I have lived in Thailand, Germany, and China. Nine years across three countries, where I arrived speaking almost none of the language each time. You learn quickly that communication is not about knowing the right words. It is about reading the room.
Kurt Vonnegut's Asterisk on My Hand
I have a tattoo on my hand. It’s a small asterisk, the kind you might see at the bottom of a page pointing to a footnote. Most people don’t notice it. The ones who do usually ask if it is a star. I tell them it is a reminder.
Why I Read ‘Lolita’ to Learn Empathy in Marketing
I first picked up Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita because of my 100 Greatest Novels project. I knew its reputation: beautiful prose, impossible subject matter. I assumed the experience would be academic. I would admire the sentences from a safe distance and return it to the shelf. Instead, it broke something in me.