Most people in the language industry would agree that fluency matters. But Sean Hopwood, Founder and CEO of Day Translations, argues that fluency is only the starting point. What builds trust, closes deals, and keeps clients coming back is the ability to meet people where they are, culturally as well as linguistically.
In a recent episode of The Agile Localization Podcast, Sean joined host Stefan Huyghe to talk about how speaking seven languages shaped the way he leads, sells, and grows a company that now supports organizations across 116 languages.
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Localization starts before you know the word
Sean grew up in a small town, but he was surrounded by friends from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Laos. Early on, he noticed that Spanish wasn’t one thing. Mexican, Colombian, Puerto Rican, and Cuban Spanish each had their own words for everyday things like fruits and birds.
Without realizing it, he was learning to localize. Every conversation required him to adjust to the specific person in front of him. That instinct for micro-level differences became the foundation for everything that came later. “You’re localizing in your mind from the beginning,” he says.
Becoming a different person in every language
Each language comes with its own culture, its own way of expressing ideas, and concepts that don’t fully exist elsewhere. Even within Arabic, Moroccan and Lebanese culture feel very different.
Sean offered a relatable comparison for monolingual listeners: speaking Jamaican Patois versus standard English. The words may overlap, but the rhythm, attitude, and expression change entirely. “Whenever you speak a different language, you’re changing the way you talk,” he says. “You’re getting new concepts that don’t really exist in your own language.” Switching languages means changing how you think and carry yourself.
The interpreter’s lesson that became a sales strategy
Before running a company, Sean worked as an interpreter at a law firm and at Moffitt Cancer Center. He saw firsthand how anxious people were when they walked in, and how quickly they relaxed once someone spoke to them in their own language.
That experience became his approach to business.
Whenever you speak another language, and you not just speak to them in their language, but you speak to them in their culture, they really are more comfortable. They’re more comfortable doing business with you.
Sean applies the same principle in English. A nonprofit or arts client gets a different tone than a government client, where it’s “yes, sir” and “yes, ma’am.” Even when clients know you’re adapting, they appreciate that you’re trying to understand them. It’s a big part of why he still takes many sales calls himself.
Sales skills or localization expertise?
Which is easier: teaching a salesperson about localization, or teaching a localization expert to sell?
Sean picked the salesperson. Localization professionals often know workflows inside out, but they tend to overwhelm clients with jargon like MTPE, DTP, and AIP. “Hold on a second, stop using all these acronyms with the client,” Sean says. “They don’t know what that is.” A good salesperson already understands how to talk to people.
Stefan disagreed, saying his experience has shown the opposite. Deep language knowledge is harder to teach than sales technique. The two agreed to respectfully disagree, and the question remains a worthwhile one for any language services team building a commercial function.
Building remote before it was normal
Sean founded Day Translations in 2007, in the middle of a recession he barely noticed. “Sometimes it’s just ignorance,” he says. A strong focus on search engine optimization brought in clients from across Florida and Texas, and working remotely simply made sense. He found translators through online communities, then built out customer service the same way.
Creating culture without a shared office is harder. “I don’t believe you can really replicate office culture.”
Instead, Day Translations focuses on stability and respect for personal time. Nobody is asked to work more than eight hours a day or come in early, and employees are encouraged to spend time with family and get outdoors.
Growth requires processes and letting go
Scaling from a one-person shop to around 50 employees with offices in the US, London, and Japan surprised Sean with its difficulty. “There’s a big difference between managing five people and managing 50 people,” he says.
Small companies can improvise, but global ones need KPIs, clear policies, and consistent service so a five-year client is treated just as well as a brand-new one. “You have to keep treating that client with alertness, respect,” Sean says.
The harder lesson was letting go. Sean admits he has meddled with HR decisions in the past, which only slowed things down.
When you empower people to make those decisions themselves, that’s when you can truly expand.
If he started over today, he’d put processes, automation, and machine translation tools in place from day one. One decision he wouldn’t change: never taking outside funding, which has kept decision-making in the hands of his management team.
Why healthcare is the next frontier
Looking ahead, Sean sees healthcare as the most promising area for language services. It’s now the leading industry across the US, with hospitals, clinics, and university health systems expanding everywhere. The sector also demands rigorous compliance, and Day Translations has invested in meeting those requirements.
Technology is part of that growth too.
If you tell a client, that’s going to be 14 cents per word, or that’s going to be $5 million to translate, they’re going to say no. But now with things like AI, or Crowdin, you can shorten the time, lower the price – and actually make more money, because you’re using these tools.
Technology in service of people
When asked how he hopes to be remembered, Sean didn’t talk about revenue or growth.
I’m a guy who loves humans, loves technology and language. I want so deeply to understand the soul of everyone… using technology to get closer to each other, understand each other’s language, understand each other’s soul.
It’s a fitting note for a conversation that started with fruit names in different Spanish dialects and ended with healthcare compliance – the thread running through it all is the same: technology only matters if it helps people understand each other better.
Sean’s background
Sean Hopwood is the Founder and CEO of Day Translations, a global language services company he launched in 2007 that now supports organizations across 116 languages with offices in the United States, London, and Japan. Speaking seven languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, and Chinese, Sean began his career as a translator and interpreter, working at a law firm and at Moffitt Cancer Center. He built Day Translations as a remote-first company long before distributed work became mainstream and has grown it without outside funding. Today, Sean focuses on healthcare and legal language services, with Day Translations holding the compliance certifications that healthcare and government clients require, and its Day Interpreting app expanding fast.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast are the speaker’s own and may not necessarily align with those of Crowdin.
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Yuliia Makarenko
Yuliia Makarenko is a marketing specialist with over a decade of experience, and she’s all about creating content that readers will love. She’s a pro at using her skills in SEO, research, and data analysis to write useful content. When she’s not diving into content creation, you can find her reading a good thriller, practicing some yoga, or simply enjoying playtime with her little one.