(Editor’s note: This is the 50th installment in a monthly series speaking with minority business owners and leaders. Each will be asked their views on minority-business conditions in the state and for ways to improve those businesses’ chances for success. See previous features here.)
Interpretation and translation have been among Shirley X. Moore’s day-to-day responsibilities since she was just 6 years old, when her Spanish-speaking family moved to the Northeast from Puerto Rico.
“I learned English very quickly, and I became my mom’s interpreter,” said Moore, owner and founder of Pawtucket-based Be Moore Interpreting LLC. The need for her language skills only grew from there.
“We were the first group from our family who moved to Rhode Island, and everybody who was after us became my ‘client,’ ” she said.
Still, it wasn’t a task Moore initially thought she would take on professionally. That changed when she was working as an advocate for victims of domestic violence and saw language barriers create an additional burden for people already navigating dire circumstances.
In that role, Moore would use interpreters when working with clients who didn’t speak English, Spanish or Portuguese, which Moore can translate or interpret personally.
“Those meetings with my clients were some of the hardest meetings I ever had because I felt that there was context to their message that I was not receiving,” Moore said. “But the interpreters never cared enough to convey the emotion and the essence of that message.”
Moore saw the opportunity to make a difference, and she set out to build a team that shared her values.
“I knew there were people like me who genuinely cared,” Moore said, particularly among those who took a similar pathway to becoming interpreters. “You do that stuff your whole life. ... It’s second nature, and to them, it mattered.”
After some time providing language services for another company, and sometimes taking on personal clients, Moore launched her own business in 2016. Eight years later, she leads a three-person staff while managing nearly 3,400 interpreters and translators on a contract basis.
On paper, the business can translate or interpret about 25 languages – translation involves written language, while interpretation is spoken – but Moore says she has easy access to providers for additional languages if needed.
Going beyond basic language, Moore says her team works to understand and implement cultural nuances into interpretation, thereby seamlessly preserving the client’s intended message.
“Our goal is really to make our clients feel like we were never there to begin with,” Moore said.
A typical day could encompass a variety of services, from translating a birth certificate or presentation slides to interpreting for clients at medical appointments, school meetings or public gatherings.
Moore works primarily with nonprofit entities, such as school departments, child care providers and municipalities, and she finds her work involving children particularly meaningful.
Moore’s own childhood interpretation responsibilities came with significant sacrifice. The task saw Moore accompanying her mother just about everywhere, on top of helping other family members, and that often meant missing out on childhood experiences with her peers.
Moore hopes that her services can help relieve some of that responsibility for children who are now playing the role of interpreter for their families.
“I am someone who lost a whole childhood,” Moore said. “I had to be taken out from school. While everyone was having fun, I was translating documents. I hope my business [bridges] that gap for kids.”
1. Do you believe racism is keeping minorities from starting businesses in the Ocean State or succeeding when they do? I don’t think racism is keeping minorities from starting businesses. I think most people of color already have some kind of side hustle or business; it’s how we survive. What keeps us from registering businesses with the state is: one, not knowing what to do exactly; two, fear of all the fees and taxes that we’ll have to pay; and three, a distrust of government and its systems.
The statistics show that Black and brown women have launched more businesses since the COVID-19 pandemic than any other group. We’ve decided to take back our lives and our financial futures. I don’t know, I look around and see a bunch of people who look like me and sound like me winning. So I can’t say that racism is not letting people succeed. I think we’re slaying it.
2. How dependent is your business on the support of other minority groups? Is that a sustainable business model? Well, yes, we’re dependent, and no. Be Moore Interpreting works with minority groups. Our services are centered around helping minority populations navigate the world around them. So in a way, yes, we’re dependent on them. And we’ve received tremendous support from the Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Oscar [Mejias, the Chamber CEO] and his team do not miss a chance to share our contact information with folks.
We have learned to get our own clients and lean on our brand and services. So, although the minority community is who we serve, they are not normally the ones that pay us. It’s typically someone trying to provide that community [with] something.
3. What one thing could Rhode Island do to boost the odds for minority-owned business success? No. 1: Lower the $400 annual LLC fee.
No. 2: Increase access to coaching and direct one-on-one support. The cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work for communities of color.
No. 3: Stop offering us loans. We don’t need temporary fixes – we need permanent ones. Create grant opportunities, free money, invest.
4. Have you had to turn somewhere other than a bank for a loan? Do you believe the state’s lending institutions generally treat minorities fairly? I turned to other organizations on a couple of occasions and was denied every time. My credit was never good enough, which is ironic because when you’re launching a business, everything is going back into the business, and personal credit becomes less of a priority.
5. If another minority entrepreneur asked you where they could turn to for support for their business, where would you direct them? Me! I help Black and brown women across the nation launch, develop and scale businesses that leave a legacy for their children and their children’s children.
