As a fluent Spanish and English speaker, the late William R.
Martin began interpreting at a young age. The son of Cuban parents, he frequently found it necessary to relay messages for his mother that
were spoken in English, into their native tongue.
“He helped my grandmother navigate the
world,” Martin’s daughter, J. Nicole Martin Lawton recalled.
As
an adult, he saw the importance of language access
for those individuals who prefer to communicate in a language other than
English and thus began his journey as a professional interpreter. He found a
way to help people other than his mom, which brought him much joy.
Bill Martin founded
Phoenix
Language Services in
1993. Following his death in May 2020, Nicole took the helm as president and
CEO.
Since taking
operational control of Phoenix, Nicole has made one of her top priorities, the
commercialization of the company’s Interpreter Management System (IMS)®. IMS™,
first developed by Martin in 2012, is a management and scheduling solution to
facilitate the provision of interpreter services.
“My dad
believed in the value and benefit of our Interpreter Management System®,” she
said. “I owe it to him and to his legacy” to move forward with commercialization.
A suggestion
from a business connection encouraged her to seek help from SCORE Bucks County
mentors. Two years ago, Nicole began meeting with her SCORE mentors, Bill Grant
and Charlie Morris.
“Charlie was a
tremendous source of support for me on our development calls. He gave me sound,
valuable advice and served as my interpreter in the software space,” she said. “Charlie
is a software development expert.”
For Nicole, 2024
and 2025 will be pivotal in establishing a subscription service for IMS™. “I believe in it,” she said.
Grant
provided important financial and strategic guidance with significant insights
into vendor negotiations, and both he and Morris supported Nicole through the
process of further development for the third iteration of IMS™. Their advice
and recommendations, both corporate and software focused, have been invaluable
as Nicole embarks on the company’s continued growth.
As
an owner of four companies, “you must remain current. You must think ahead,” she said. “Bill and
Charlie help me think of different ways to approach growth.”
Since
the days when her father launched the business from their family home, it has
grown significantly with hundreds of in-person interpreters, and more than 15,000
remote interpreters offering language access in over 140 languages. Phoenix,
based in Blue Bell, has many clients in the greater Philadelphia area and its
suburbs, including four renowned, large health systems.
Language
interpretation services are used in healthcare settings and in business within
human resources, in schools, and legal settings such as arbitrations,
depositions and client meetings. “Any setting really,” she noted.
Prior
to assuming a leadership role at Phoenix Language Services, Nicole worked for a
decade as a health care attorney and was a partner at a large law firm.
“I have a
legal brain. That’s how I think,” she said. “That really has helped me a great
deal with being able to manage things.”
Nicole
grew up working for Phoenix Language Services in different capacities and was
most heavily involved in the early 2000’s, while finishing her undergraduate
and master’s degrees simultaneously at the University of Pennsylvania. She
served for a few years as the Phoenix Language Services program director,
located within a local pediatric institution.
“That’s
really what sparked my love and interest in this,” she said. “I was planning
all along to be where I am today. It really is what I was meant to do. I feel
so honored to carry on my father’s legacy.”
Nicole’s
leadership and the company's achievements have recently been recognized with
the prestigious 2024 Eastern Pennsylvania Entrepreneurial Success of the Year
Award, presented by the US Small Business Administration, and she was also an SBA
Success Story featured by WBEC-East.
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 11 million aspiring
entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring and
workshops to more than 375,000 new and growing small businesses. With more
than 70 members across Bucks and Eastern Montgomery counties, SCORE
Bucks County provides over 4,300 free mentoring services
annually to local small business owners through one-on-one
counseling and small business seminars. To stay up to date on news and
happenings, join SCORE Bucks County’s email list. Text SCOREBUCKS to 22828.
