Shirley Moore opened her language interpretation and translation business in 2016, with a friend, Zoila Bernal. But Moore really started that work in childhood, accompanying her parents and other adults on their visits to doctors, insurance companies and government offices.
The business Moore opened in 2016 with Bernal, Be Moore Interpreting LLC, is aimed at making sure doctors, government agencies and school officials have a professional adult who can do the work of translating or interpreting when a client or customer has inadequate English skills.
Five years after the founding, the small company based in Pawtucket has three employees and a cadre of contract interpreters who have broadened the available interpretation and translation services to include French, Spanish, Haitian-Creole, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Cape Verdean Creole, Lao and Mandarin.
Translation, which applies to written documents, and interpretation, which is an oral skill, require concentration and attention to detail, as well as an ability to make all the participants feel confident.
Initially, the business worked most often with schools, including private and traditional public schools, as well as charter schools and universities. It also works with the federal court system, providing interpretation for detainees at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, for example. More recently, Moore and Bernal have started working more closely with nonprofits, as well as unions that have training sessions for employees.
Moore, who was born in Puerto Rico, said she often acted as an interpreter or translator for her mother, who still is not fluent in English. She started working in the interpretation field at 14. She went on to get her bachelor’s degree in human services, from Springfield College, and a master’s degree in organizational leadership.
In 2016, she and Bernal, a native of Chiclayo, Peru, opened their business together. Bernal, who has a degree in psychology from Ricardo Palma University in Peru, came to Rhode Island about 16 years ago and worked as a social worker and a therapist. She manages the finances of the business, as well as translation.
Moore said she was inspired after participating in an entrepreneurship boot camp. The instructor asked her what she did that she could monetize.
“I said interpreting. I had been interpreting since I was 6 years old,” Moore said.
Moore said the goal of their business is to help people be understood, without relying on family members for support or having to expose the challenges of their lives to their own children.
“I was that kid,” she said. “I was the kid whose mother took her out of school to go to doctor’s appointments. The reason why Be Moore is here is because I want kids to be kids.”
OWNERS: Shirley Moore and Zoila Bernal
LOCATION: 33 Summer St., Pawtucket
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Interpreting and translation services
EMPLOYEES: Three
YEAR FOUNDED: 2016
ANNUAL SALES: $120,000 in 2020