Language Company Celebrates Mother’s Day

OAKLAND, Calif. - April 22, 2015 - PRLog -- In 1982, when Carla Itzkowich, in her last year at Cal-Berkeley, started International Contact, Inc., a Multilanguage Communications Agency in Oakland, California, she couldn't think of a better partner than Norma Armon, her mother.

Norma was an experienced television producer with doctorates in English and Spanish. She had been the writer/producer of Mundo Latino on KMEX, Spanish International Network’s flagship station in Los Angeles and she could help them secure funding to get things started.

Impressed with her daughter's entrepreneurial spirit, Norma agreed to join the fledgling firm on the condition that Carla be the majority principal, knowing that otherwise, she would never allow Carla to make - and learn from - her mistakes. Thus, International Contact, Inc. was organized with Norma Armon as the Creative Director and Carla Itzkowich as the Executive Director.

International Contact translates, interprets and localizes to and from virtually any language, producing adaptations of print and multimedia materials for many corporations and agencies like Apple Computer, the City of Oakland, Milpitas, San Jose and the State of California.

In the 32 years since they formed this unusual alliance, mother and daughter have worked hard and prospered; in the process their relationship - like their business - has changed and matured. Avoiding the problems inherent in a mother/daughter relationship has not been easy, particularly with the reversal of traditional roles and status.

In 1988 they added Jon Golding, soon to become Carla's husband, to manage the desktop publishing department, and over the years 12 more employees in various production and administrative capacities. Their combined talents have created a boutique with service billings of over one million dollars providing foreign language services to advertising agencies, large and small corporations, and government entities.

"Working with Norma is satisfying at an emotional level. We can speak to each other directly without having to mince words, and there is absolute trust between us; there is a shared history that impels us to seek the same values. Also, when clients thank me for being such a stickler about perfection, I always respond that it's my mother's fault," laughs Carla. “And my mom, in turn, says “you can blame (or commend) her grandmother!””

These strong-willed minority women have turned traditional roles upside down yielding a dynamic relationship that has produced business success coupled with personal growth.

The City of Oakland proclaimed International Contact Day in the city on their 30^th anniversary. They are currently preparing for a video responding to their nomination as a Pillar of Oakland for the Oakland Indie Awards and look forward to more accolades as they celebrate this unique achievement.

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International Contact, Inc. is a multilanguage communications agency helping clients address the lucrative foreign language markets since 1982. They translate, interpret and localize to and from over 100 languages and adapt print and multimedia materials in foreign languages for Fortune 1000 companies and local, state and federal government agencies.