Alumni Voices: ¿Tienes tu cafecito? Welcome to Tertulia.

Author(s): Chelsea Hipwell (2009 Young Scholar; 2014 College Scholar, Lehigh University); Sharmen Hettipola (2008 Young Scholar; 2013 College Scholar, Bucknell University; 2018 Graduate Scholar, University of Oxford)

Interview with Cooke Scholar Alum Emily Hunsberger

Emily Hunsberger (2009 Graduate Scholar, George Mason University)

A native of South Florida, Emily graduated from Cornell University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. She made it through undergrad thanks to a variety of scholarships, but it wasn’t until she decided to apply to graduate school that she discovered the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. She was selected to be a Cooke Graduate Scholar in 2009 (at the time, the Graduate Scholarship was open for anyone to apply, even non-Cooke Scholars) and attended George Mason University, graduating with her Master of Arts degree in Foreign Languages with a concentration in Spanish and Bilingual Education in 2011. In 2014, she founded Tertulia, a bilingual communications consultancy business, and in 2017, she started a podcast by that same name, both of which serve to support the use of Spanish as a vibrant language for culture, commerce, and community building in the United States. A wife and mother of two, she recently moved to Philadelphia, PA from Michigan.

Emily recently spent some time with the Alumni Engagement Council to talk about her life and career, and share her passion for the Spanish language and Tertulia.

What factors drew you to your current career?

I grew up about an hour north of Miami, where the Spanish language is a prominent part of the metropolitan culture. I started to learn Spanish in elementary school, through an educational program called Saludos, which was produced by PBS. I continued learning Spanish throughout middle and high school and ended up choosing to major in Spanish in undergrad. Honestly, a huge part of my language proficiency has come from having work relationships and friendships with other Spanish speakers outside my studies. Since I’m not a heritage speaker, when people ask if I have ever lived in a Spanish-speaking country (implying that it must be how I learned the language), I say that I was born in one and currently live in one!

Over the years, I’ve worked with a handful of local and international nonprofits and have also done some teaching. Most of my academic, volunteer, and professional work has focused on adult literacy, community development, and social justice, and my specific roles have always involved conducting bilingual communications and outreach. When I had my first child in 2015, I decided to shift to freelance bilingual communications consulting and started my own company, Tertulia.

I intentionally use the phrase “bilingual communications consulting” to differentiate what I do from commoditized translation services. The work I do often involves some translation from existing English-language materials, but I try to collaborate with the client to customize their Spanish-language materials to make them more culturally intelligent and effective.

We have a lot of Cooke Scholars who are entrepreneurs, or entrepreneurial in spirit. Did you always see yourself starting your own business?

I’ve always felt like I have two imaginary people sitting on my shoulders: one who’s the serial entrepreneur, always coming up with ideas, and the other who’s risk-averse, that puts the brakes on most of the ideas. That mindset has been ingrained in me since I’ve been financially independent from a young age and have had to take care of myself. However, since I’ve been married to another income earner, it has felt safer for me to take a risk and gave me flexibility to balance work and family on my schedule.

Can you talk more about your podcast, Tertulia?

Tertulia is a podcast in Spanish about how Spanish is used by real people in the United States to build community, transmit culture, reclaim identity, and exercise rights. In Spanish, a tertulia is a gathering of people for conversation. There’s an element of language justice that I pursue in my bilingual communications work, but even more so in my podcast and audio reporting work. I feel a responsibility to share stories that paint a more complete picture of Spanish-speaking culture in the United States; those that celebrate Spanish instead of portraying it only as a marker for disadvantage or discrimination.

It’s a one woman show – I come up with the concepts, conduct research and interviews, edit, write, voice my own parts, find music and artwork, publish on the web, share on social media – so it’s lots of behind-the-scenes work, which is why the podcast is on hiatus during the pandemic. That being said, there are still so many stories and topics I want to explore, including how people are using nonbinary language in written and spoken Spanish.

How has being a Cooke Scholar influenced your career path?

Having a Cooke Scholarship has made me feel like it’s important to be consciously checking in with myself to pay this forward. It’s also been very freeing, because if I had the burden of the debt, I would not be able to have the freedom to spend time doing these things that I do now. There is something about someone externally investing in me and recognizing my potential that keeps me thinking about what I’m doing for the public good.

Can you share a little bit about balancing family and work, especially during Covid-19?

I’ve been turning down freelance jobs because we don’t have in-home childcare due to Covid-19 safety reasons. It’s painful to not be doing work, but I’m grateful that my husband can work so there isn’t as much financial stress. I do hope that something that will continue beyond the pandemic is that we will no longer feel we have to hide our family lives and responsibilities from our professional spheres.

When I think about my own career, I think about the “mommy tax” for women who choose to stay home with their kids: spouses keep making growth in their careers, and the parent at home doesn’t get that same momentum in their careers, even when they return. On the other hand, raising children has opened up more pathways for me to learn about bilingualism, the education system, and issues that families and parents face. But that’s not something that’s tracked on a resume. My career might be on pause, but I’m not. I’m still learning and growing.

Any other thoughts you’d like to share with fellow Cooke alumni?

I definitely still feel imposter syndrome – like, “Who am I to be profiled on this blog?” I haven’t composed a symphony or done any of the amazing things I imagine other alumni are doing!

It’s been interesting observing the dialogue about DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) this year, too. It’s actually made me want to be more engaged with the Foundation. And I would like to thank the current scholars and alumni who have been vulnerable and open in sharing their personal experiences, especially when they rely financially on this Foundation.

Learn more about Emily Hunsberger and Tertulia at tertuliaspanish.com.