Meet Slavey Tolev, President

Hello! I’m Slavey Tolev, President and Founder of Translations in Motion. With over 21 years of experience, I lead our team of translators and interpreters to provide expert translation and interpretation services for individuals and businesses.

From Soccer Interpretation to Entrepreneurship

My Dad: “Son, you can’t speak and listen at the same time!”

Me: “I think I will become an interpreter!”

That’s about how quickly I made my decision to enter this line of work. In 1999, I was living in Portland, Oregon. A friend asked me to interpret for two of the teams competing in the 1999 Women’s World Cup. After completing the project, I decided to try to make a living by combining my two passions: soccer and languages. It worked.

The Team Captain of Translations in Motion

Keeping up with the soccer jargon (because I love it), I’m the captain of this amazing group of individuals I get to call my team. As the owner, I wear many hats. Primarily, I take care of sales, vendor relationships and accounts payable, with different responsibilities thrown in daily.

Each day, I enjoy educating our clients on the importance of foreign language translation and interpretation. I also take part in guiding them toward accomplishing their goal of bridging language gaps.

I ask a lot of questions and take a ton of notes. I get to know your issues and do what I can to find a solution. If this means I must advise you that a certain language isn’t a great fit for your goals, I’ll be sure to tell you. I want to partner with you, not against you.

Passionate About Languages

I’m passionate about different languages and cultures. In my daily work, I get to experience both. I also speak 10 languages, including:

Afrikaans
Armenian
Bulgarian
English
French
Hebrew
Italian
Russian
Spanish
Yiddish

I’ve spent a great deal of time in other parts of the world, getting to know people of all backgrounds. I’ve also been involved in some life-changing experiences revolving around language, such as interpreting for individuals returning from Wuhan, China, due to COVID-19 and studying abroad in Mexico. All this fuels my passion for communication, which thereby fuels the continued growth of Translations in Motion.

Who Am I?

I was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria and I’ve lived in many places around the globe: Kuwait, Scotland, South Africa, Israel and Mexico, just to name a few. When I’m not leading the team, you’ll find me reading anything and everything or watching Chelsea soccer.

I currently live in the Washington, DC, metro area with my wife, Meredith, and two kids, Allister and Neve.

Now for Some Fun…

A fun fact others may not know about me: I have a giant collection of argyle sweaters and sweater vests. I could wear an argyle piece for 67 days straight without repeats. My collection also includes a huge number of soccer jerseys, both national and club. Finally, I’m as OCD as they come, and I always separate my gummy bears by color before eating them.
Favorite book: I have two. “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is the first, as my grandfather and I used to read it together. I would give anything to have a moment of that again. The other is “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.
Favorite movie: Don’t laugh…it’s “Love Actually”
Favorite drink: I can’t live without my Diet Coke and Nespresso
Favorite music: I love the opera, especially German opera. I also enjoy Depeche Mode, The Cure and Green Day.
Favorite travel spot: My love of traveling means I have more than one. My favorite places include Berlin, Germany, Deauville, France, Edinburgh, Scotland and Mexico.
I’ll tell you a joke: The past, the present and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.

Let Our Team Help You Reach Your Communication Goals

You can’t get a soccer ball to the goal without teamwork. Our team of interpreters and translators are on your side, ready to help you reach your communication goals. To learn more about our services or to start your project today, give us a call at 833-876-7528 or send us a message.