A former British soldier and police officer in the UK, Mark moved to southeastern Brazil in 2003 after obtaining the Cambridge CELTA teaching certificate and spent his first five years teaching at a private English school. After being asked to translate a student’s CV into English, Mark became interested in Portuguese–English translation. What began as a fun hobby quickly became a thriving career as he built a network of clients across local industries. Mark began interpreting in 2008, obtained the CIOL Diploma in Translation in 2011, and is now a Fellow of the institute. As a freelance translator and interpreter, he has worked at major events including the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, led a team of linguists responding to a 2015 mining disaster and collaborated with a TV channel at the Rio Olympics in 2016. He now focuses on text translations and occasional simultaneous interpreting, both remote and in-person.