"Is this a scam?"

When you're a child of immigrants, you become the family translator early - not just of language, but of intent. I'd read letters, forms, mailers for my parents in English, trying to figure out: is this legitimate? Are they trying to help us or take advantage of us? I'd look for typos, check if the offer seemed too good to be true, read the fine print twice.

That's how I learned that trust isn't built through what you say - it's built through how you say it. The small choices matter. The clarity matters. The honesty in the details matters.

It made me obsessive about language in a way that goes far beyond translation. I care more about getting it right for the reader than for the brand manager. I want my mother, my neighbor, my bus driver to understand what they're actually getting - whether it's a political candidate, an employer benefit, or a new financial product.

If you can't explain it clearly enough for everyone to understand it, you haven't earned the right to ask for their trust. That's the standard I hold myself to in every piece of brand voice I build.

That's why I do this work.