—Hello Tatiana! I am extremely happy to welcome you at the Immigrant Platform! Please introduce yourself first, and we will go from there.

—Absolutely! My name is Tatiana González-Cestari. I am a mother, a wife, a daughter and a friend to many good people. Originally I am from Caracas, Venezuela. Professionally, I am a pharmacist and a pharmacologist. I am also a medical interpreter. I currently serve as a Director of Language Service Advocacy at  Cloudbreak Health [Cloudbreak Health, LLC is a leading telehealth and video remote interpretation solutions provider]. 

—Please tell me more about your occupation in your home country, what did you do before you moved to the United States?

—I was involved in the research in the fields of pharmacology and pharmacy. I haven’t had a chance to practice a lot as a pharmacist. And before that I went to school for awhile [laughs]. 

—Did you intend to pursue a career in science when you immigrated, or you thought it would be tough to prove your Ph.D. degree here?

—Well, I did go that direction. That’s the reason why I came to the United States. I had already graduated as a pharmacist in Venezuela. And almost instantly I got accepted to the Ph.D. program in the graduate school in my country. I started all my coursework there. When it was time to start working on my dissertation, I was invited to do my research work at the Ohio State University. 

—Oh, I understand your reason for immigration better now. You came to continue your scientific research. Was it your dream to move to the United States or it happened out of the blue?

—I have never imagined I was going to move to the United States, but I have always loved traveling, so I knew that, at some point, the graduate school could get me to other places, even if it was just to visit. I was open to many opportunities back then. That’s how I got to Ohio. And then I did all my research work there, and graduated. But my Degree is from the university in Venezuela. I had two advisors: one was in Venezuela, one was here. When I was graduating from Venezuela, my advisor from the Ohio State University offered me a position as a postdoctoral researcher at the Ohio State. I stayed in the field of research for many years. And when I was about, probably, two years into my postdoctoral fellowship, then I started looking into the field of languages and interpreting as my potential career path.

—It must have been a challenge to move from sunny Venezuela to gloomy Ohio in means of climate and cultural differences. Do you remember your very first impression on the U.S.?

—It was interesting. At first I flew from Caracas to Miami, Florida. All because my mother lived there at the time. I was very excited to see her, because I haven’t seen her for about two years. We spent about a week together. Then she helped me transition from Florida to Ohio. I guess the most unforgettable memory I got was when I landed in Ohio. It was the first week of January 2005, and a winter storm just passed. Everything was white and cold! First week there made me think: “What am I doing here?” [laughs]. But thankfully, I made great friends in Ohio: not only my advisor’s family and coworkers at the laboratory, but also friends I made living as a tenant in a house next to the university. It was a big house, there were five housemaids. We became such close friends! All these people helped me a lot, made it possible for me to survive the first week in Ohio. 

—Did you come on your own or with your family?

—I came over to the United States on my own. I left most of my family in Venezuela. I got to Ohio all by myself. 

—Tatiana, it seems like you had a pretty “smooth landing” in the United States, but I wonder if you have ever felt overwhelmed by knocking at many doors, and none of them would open? How to stay motivated? 

—Let me put it this way: yes, I have been there. Many doors did close in front of me, but I think it happened for the better. Probably, I didn’t need to follow that direction,  or take that path. I experienced the feeling when studying in high school. I liked so many subjects: from law to design. I wanted to be an architect, a pharmacist, a medical doctor, a dentist. I took a bunch of tests to get into various programs in Venezuela. For example, in one of them I did well, in another one I did well too, but it didn’t feel right. I just took the path that opened up, not because it was easy, but because it suited me better at the time. I didn’t fully planned it. I think that another situation where I faced the challenges was after I graduated. Two months before the Commitment Ceremony one of my professors talked to me about the graduate program in the Ohio University. And I thought: “ Okay, let’s check it out!”. I attended a few meetings about it, I really liked the idea, and I went that road, without seeing...[ paused, searching for words].

—You took some risk, stepped in the unknown.

—Yes, definitely. But you know what? Even though I see now that those were certain risks, I didn’t feel like I took risks back then. I thought: “ Let’s take whichever option opens up. Life will take me wherever I need to go”. That’s what happened.

—We truly never know what is in store for us! Do you ever wonder how your life would unfold if you stayed in Venezuela?

—Oh yeah...I thought about it many times! After I got married my husband and I went back to Venezuela to visit the family several times. At that time we considered whether we wanted to go live in my home country or stay in the United States. We had options to choose from. But the situation was getting worse in Venezuela, so we decided to come to the States, and wait and see when things would get better in Caracas. Anyway, I did think of how my life would be in Venezuela many times. I don’t know what it would be like, but I am sure, if it ever happens, and we move back to my home country, we would be fine. 

—Do you stay connected to your motherland? Do you follow the news from there?

—Yes, I have a lot of relatives and friends who live there. I try not to follow all the news, because otherwise I would go crazy! [laughing] But I hear what is going on through some family chats that we have. I keep myself up to date on the situation in Venezuela. 

—Sounds good! And now, let’s talk about your, so to speak, professional family of Cloudbreak? What types of services your company provides?

—Yeah. Cloudbreak is a company that addresses healthcare disparities, especially through language services [ website is https://www.cloudbreak.us ]. It has developed from the company called Language Access Network, which was specifically founded by Andy Panos. It was intended to provide the video remote interpreting services in healthcare. That’s how the company started. He developed MARTTI —a language service which stands for My Accessible Real-Time Trusted Interpreter. He is really good at creating those type of names! When we saw that the secure network has been established through the connections we had with many hospitals in the United States, we realized that we are ready to offer Telehealth. It was almost like an umbrella service. That’s when Andy Panos and Jamey Edwards founded Cloudbreak Heath. It covers more only only language services, but also digital solutions that include both: language services and  consulting. 

—Do you have any competitors or rivals in the field of telehealth?

—Well, of course, there is a competition out there. And I think, it’s healthy. It’s important to have competition. But I think each company is different. I don’t like to talk bad about our competitors. I am very Venezuelan in that sense. I should tell you one interesting fact which I consider important: when politicians are campaigning in Venezuela they are not allowed to badmouth other contestants. And I think it’s great, so that each of them has to focus on their own campaign. I mean, surely, there are ways to override this rule indirectly, but it doesn’t happen as openly as in the United States. The other part concerns TV commercials, promotional videos. In no commercial, can you mention your rival, for example: Pepsi can’t mention Coca Cola, or this restaurant can’t say anything bad about that other restaurant, and so on. When I moved here and I saw the freedom of speech in its full motion, I thought: “ What? Why are they doing it?” So I personally try not to focus on the competition. Although, we do have to collect data on what our competitors are doing. This information helps to grow our business  and maintain high quality of our services as well. But that’s the way I see it.

—I am asking you as a professional in the language access industry, what a LEP immigrant should do if they need an interpreter?

—First, one thing we need to do here (and that’s why I think that your Immigrant Platform is a great idea) is to educate people on the fact that they HAVE the right to ask for an interpreter. They have the right to communicate. I think we need to do a better job in general to provide that type of information, to tell people who are coming to this country and who are not fully proficient in English or deaf, that they have the right to use the interpreting services for free, especially for medical or juridical appointments. First and foremost, LEP people have to request an interpreter. Organizations and entities have to start seeing that [the issue of language access] from the consumer’s, or client’s, or patient’s angle. So don’t be shy to ask for language assistance: “ I want an interpreter! I need to translate this long document!”. When we think about the deaf community in the United States, they have been more empowered. They have more knowledge, they are more active in the communities to make sure that everybody knows that they have rights to ask for a Sign Language Interpreter. The more people ask for oral language interpreters, the more help is going to grow.

—Is it a good idea for a family member or a friend to interpret for the patient?

—I think it’s not such a good idea. To me, if I have to interpret for a family member, it would only be in case there is absolutely no one else available. I understand how bias can interfere with the interpreting standards. I also understand that if I interpret for my grandmother or my mother, they have things that they may not want me to know, so I don’t want to interfere in such a private communication. But if it’s an emergency, no one else is around to help interpret, then I will do it by all means. Many times I had conversations with people about this issue. Sometimes they say: “ Well, I know my mom, while an interpreter is a stranger. So it is better if I interpret for her”. Even though the daughter may know her mother better than anyone else, that is not what is really needed when it comes to the interpreting services. That’s a point where all the code of ethics and the professional guidelines start falling apart. Most likely, a relative will not understand or follow certain prescriptions, or medical related information, failing to provide an effective communication between a healthcare provider and a  patient.

—What is one piece of advice you could give to immigrate facing all types of barriers and to those who have hard time adjusting to their new lives in the United States?

—Regarding a language barrier, I would advise to improve your English language skills. Go for it! Although there are cases when learning English isn’t not easy. I also understand that if my 80+ year old grandparents move to the United States, they would have to rely on family members or interpreters to communicate, because at that age it’s difficult to start learning a new language. Most likely, they wouldn’t learn much. So in a nutshell, if you able to work on your language skills—go for it. That’s great! And don’t feel like you need to speak and sound like “a native”. Don’t get stuck comparing your pronunciation to someone else’s. Don’t get unmotivated because of your accent. Don’t ever think that you are less than other people because of having it. That’s one thing that I would recommend to new immigrants. 

The cultural barrier is a very complex one. I think I would go back to what I have mentioned earlier: simply go with the flow. If life puts you in a situation you need to go with it, and see what happens then. If you need to go to another country, whether you want to or you have to, be open-minded, in the sense, that you have to be flexible gaining a new experience and learning new things. You need to be open to new opportunities. All that has to do with adjusting to the way things work in another country. At the same time, try keeping your own values, practices and your culture.