🌍 The Best Revenge? Keep On Going

Every major publisher said no to Found in Translation.

Every single one.

Random House. HarperCollins. Simon & Schuster. The list went on.

"Not commercial enough."

"Too niche."

"Who would read a book about translators?"

After exhausting the list of every publisher he could think of, my agent actually nullified our contract. For a while, I felt demoralized and took that as a clear sign that my book idea had no merit.

So I did what you do when the gatekeepers say you can't.

I took things into my own hands.

And, importantly, I gave it a bit more time.

And I came up with a new strategy.

I put my idea on "simmer" for a few years. But then, I teamed up with a co-author, pitched an editor directly myself with an InMail, and eventually we landed a deal with Perigee, an imprint of Penguin —one of the biggest publishers in the world.

I found a new agent to help us negotiate the contract.

And the book went on to be a bestseller in its category, exceeding even both my AND Penguin's expectations.

It was later translated into multiple languages.

I went on a multi-city book tour across the United States, doing keynotes and presentations at too many conferences to count. The book was received with major enthusiasm everywhere we went. My co-author promoted it significantly too.

I was delighted to help spread the message of how important the work of multilingual communication actually is in society at large. That was the vision for the book ever since it was a twinkle in my eye many years earlier, one that my co-author also embraced.

Found in Translation even resulted in a letter from President Carter that I'll always treasure, thanks to a talk I did on the book tour that discussed his legacy of work devoted to increasing access for individuals of limited English proficiency, and one of the stories about him, and an interpreter, in the book.

And many years later, my new agent got me a subsequent book deal as well.

My doubters weren't actually malicious.

They were just... wrong.

They didn't believe in my vision.

I had to believe it it even more.

And that made all the difference.

I wasn't out to prove anyone wrong.

I was out to prove myself right!

When People Say You Can't

Years later, when I was pursuing CMO roles, I heard this type of naysayer feedback all over again:

• "We don't need an expert in international business." (that's not all I am, I said to myself)
• "You haven't led a marketing team in a few years now." (ok, but I did that before, and what I've been doing is even harder, I thought)
• "Maybe stick to what you know - localization." (uh yeah, but I wasn't an expert in that either until I began doing that work, I recalled)

"Why are people so negative?" I wondered.

People kept finding reasons I couldn't do a specific job.

But everywhere I looked, I only saw reasons that I could.

I had already been a VP of Marketing in multiple SaaS companies. I had been a C-level executive multiple times, managing very large, complex budgets at scale. I had led Product, Sales, Operations, and many other areas that Marketing touches.

And I had seen nearly every stage of growth, from start-ups and mom and pop businesses to Series B and C rounds of funding, all the way to a multi-billion-dollar public tech company.

To tell someone who has thrived in so many diverse roles and circumstances that they cannot possibly do that again is... confounding.

The pushback and naysaying seemed nearly ironic.

I saw some roles go to people who, in my estimation, were far less qualified, but "on paper," checked certain more "traditional" boxes I did not.

When you work in technology, an industry that supposedly values diverse thinking and fresh perspectives, it's ironic how many people are afraid to break a mold of "what's proven" (in the past) and "people who have done that before" (in a different era than where things are headed).

So often, they have built up the idea in their minds that this is a way to avoid risk.

In my mind, the approach of hiring within such severe confines and limited ways of thinking actually adds risk and prevents diversity of skills at the leadership level, in many cases.

Hiring a person who has done a job before, at a similar stage of growth, in a very different time and context, at an entirely different company, is not actually any guarantee they'll be a great fit for some future that has not even been written yet.

But it does give some people a false sense of security, in that they feel "safer" to justify their own decisions.

But I think the best predictor of whether someone will thrive in a new environment is if they have a proven track record of doing THAT before.

Have they switched environments and mastered them quickly? And succeeded?

(This is one reason why international experience is so vital. It helps you build this muscle!)

The best way to de-risk hiring, in many cases, is to hire someone who has proven that they can grow into new things, and can adapt.

Reinvention is essential to growth.

Businesses have to evolve, and so do the humans who work in them.

Which is why I prefer not to waste time doubting myself or letting others' viewpoints taint my vision of what I can accomplish.

Doomsayers and doubters are often just past-focused, limited by their own beliefs, or sometimes, scarred by past failures of their own.

Choose instead to be future-focused and hopeful.

Sometimes those folks can be hurtful without intending to be:

• "You're not proven in the CMO seat yet," an investor stated, in spite of knowing that every CMO on earth did that job for the first time at some point.
• "We don't need someone with expertise in international growth," said the recruiter, focusing on one tiny aspect of what I can do, while missing the bigger picture.
• "Why don't you look for a role that's less stressful?" said a well-meaning friend, not understanding that for me, career stagnation would be even more stressful.

Here's what I've learned from decades of people telling me what I couldn't do:

The best revenge isn't getting angry. It's getting results.

Today, I'm nearly two years into a job I love at Zappi , as a CMO at a SaaS scale-up, where I pride myself on consistently delivering business results.

I don't advise that you ignore all feedback, but I do think it's important to distinguish between two very different types:

Feedback from people trying to help you

versus

Feedback from people trying to limit you

That difference is everything.

The Power of the Right Feedback

My college advisor changed my life with a single conversation.

I was majoring in music, dreaming of a songwriting career. She sat me down and said something I didn't want to hear:

"You're talented, but music composition isn't enough to pay the bills for most people. You might want to focus more on your Spanish major and business. You have a gift for communication, and the world is becoming more connected."

Ouch. But...

Her feedback wasn't trying to crush my dreams. It was trying to expand them.

She saw something I couldn't see yet—that my real strength wasn't just in music, but in building bridges across cultures and languages through communication. That advice led me to Spanish, then to international communications, interpreting and translation, localization, then to marketing and global business, then to everything that followed.

That feedback came from someone who wanted me to succeed, not someone who wanted me to stay in my lane.

How to Tell the Difference

The doubters who deserve your attention share certain qualities:

• They know your work intimately.
• They understand your goals.
• They want you to succeed, even if their advice is hard to hear.

My college advisor had watched me struggle as I was asked to compose a fugue, and instead of following the typical rules, dared to spice it up with improv sections and jazz chords, angering my rather conservative music comp professor. Meanwhile, I was excelling in language courses and those professors couldn't say enough about my potential.

Her suggestion to me wasn't about limiting my dreams. It was about leveraging my strengths. And that spoke volumes to me.

The doubters who do not deserve your attention also share certain qualities:

• They make broad assumptions without knowing your specific situation.
• They're protecting their own position or worldview.
• They're not invested in your success.

The publishers who rejected Found in Translation weren't thinking about what the book could become. They were thinking about what fit into their existing categories and what they thought was a "safe bet."

They missed the chance to make an even better bet.

The people who questioned my CMO readiness weren't looking at my track record of building global brands and leading international teams.

They were looking to safeguard their own beliefs and hold onto them, versus looking at possibilities for the future I could help to drive.

The Tenacity Test

Here's what proving doubters wrong actually looks like:

It's not dramatic. There is no crescendo. It's not like a movie montage.

• It's showing up every day when the work is boring and unglamorous.
• It's learning skills that complement what you already know.
• It's finding the people who see your potential and learning from them.
• It's consistency, and tenacity, and sticking to it even when it's hard.

It's understanding that your unconventional path isn't a bug—it's a feature.

From Spanish interpreter to CMO might look like a random path.

Every step built skills that make me better at what I do today: understanding different audiences, communicating across cultures, adapting to new environments, building relationships with people who don't share my background.

My doubters saw gaps.

Yours will too.

But I saw something more important: differentiation.

I saw a unique path no one else could claim but me.

I saw a hunger to keep going no matter what people had to say about it.

You're unique and special.

You can do the same too.

Values as Your North Star

The real secret to proving doubters wrong isn't stubbornness.

It's clarity.

• Clarity about what you value.
• Clarity about where you're going.
• Clarity about who gets a voice in your decisions.
• Clarity of purpose.

When someone questions your path, ask yourself this question:

"Is this person trying to help me get where I want to go, or are they trying to convince me that I should want something different?"

One is helpful and recognizing who you are.

The other is dismissive of who you are.

Recognize the difference.

My college advisor was trying to help me get where I wanted to go—she just saw a better route. The publishers were trying to convince me to want something different—a book that fit their existing molds.

And many naysayers tried to convince me that I did not want to be a Chief Marketing Officer. Oh, how wrong they were.

I like making increasingly bigger impact, and have done that over the course of my career. No one is going to convince me to "go smaller." Not when my vision for what's possible is bigger.

Your vision matters. Your values matter.

And your experiences—especially the unconventional ones—matter far more than you may think.

For Everyone with Doubters

If you're reading this and thinking about someone who told you that you couldn't do something you're passionate about, here's what I want you to remember:

The best revenge isn't proving them wrong out of spite. It's proving them wrong because you stayed true to your vision.

It's building the career, getting the job, writing the book, taking the leap of faith, starting the company, making the change in your life that they said wasn't possible.

Not because their doubt motivated you, but because your own clarity sustained you.

People will always say things are impossible until someone makes them happen.

The doubters aren't your enemy.

They're just not your compass.

Ignore the people who focus on limitations.

Trust the people who instead can see your potential.

And keep going in THAT direction.

That is where your compass, and your heart, are pointing you.

Grace Notes

BRAND GLOBAL, ADAPT LOCAL, an Amazon #1 bestseller, is still on fire, and my collaborator and lead author Katherine Melchior Ray will be promoting the book at DMEXCO alongside friends from DeepL this week (say hello to her if you're attending).

Coming up soon is LocWorld Monterey! I am excited to share that sitting down with the inimitable Winnie Heh , who was one of the first female executives I ever witnessed, in my very first job at AT&T Language Line, straight out of college! I cannot wait to see her again, along with so many other localization leaders. I'll also be signing copies of BRAND GLOBAL, ADAPT LOCAL, thanks to a collaboration with DeepL . Will you be at LocWorld? Leave a comment below if so, and I'll be on the look-out for you!

Let's Connect

Here are 3 other ways we can connect:

1. Get my books here.

2. Reserve me for a talk. I often do author talks to inspire teams on various topics. Find out more here.

3. Simply reach out. If you want to collaborate in some other way, let me know. I take on a limited number of consulting and advisory engagements each year.

Message me here on LinkedIn, or email me: nataly (at) borntobeglobal.com.

Thank you for reading!

Nataly