Account Manager

Maïté René-Watts

Born and raised on the Atlantic Coast of France, Maïté, our newest addition to the team, was trained in both France and Germany. Maïté holds a European Master’s degree in specialised translation for English, German and French. After working several years in Berlin as a translator both in-house and as a freelancer, she moved to Australia in 2012.

In 2014, Maïté was recruited into a project management role in the language industry. She developed a passion for the role, working as a key link between linguists and clients to ensure successful multi-language projects. It was a fast-paced role, never a dull day, and this is what made it a thrilling position for her.

As her career progressed, Maïté realised that her experience in the industry could benefit clients, big and small, by developing a closer relationship to understand their specific needs and provide the best suited services to guarantee outstanding quality and outcomes. This is what led her to assume an account management role. Maïté strongly believes that despite the constant technology improvements in the industry, meaningful human interactions are still the key to successful projects and she looks forward to being personally in touch with all of Absolute Translations’ clients.

In her spare time, Maïté enjoys practising yoga and meditation. She also loves a good book with a cup of tea. Travelling is also one of Maïté’s passions allowing her to discover new countries and cultures. To date her most memorable trip is when she travelled to the Ukraine, where she spent 3 months in a school as a French language assistant.

Maïté lives in Brisbane with her husband and daughter and their purring companion, Millie.

Project Manager

Aysen Bee Baran

Aysen, aka Bee, is our Project Manager. Bee brings 18 years of linguistic experience to our team. She started her language career with book translation services in 2000 and she later moved into translation project management roles, having seen firsthand what difference there was to make. Bee has worked with translation agencies around the world and was finally recruited by Absolute Translations in Brisbane earlier this year.

Bee holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorological Engineering. Her technical background helps her to quickly learn and adopt the latest technologies in order to maintain the high quality of work she delivers. Thinking analytically, Bee finds optimum solutions quickly for challenges arising during project management. Besides, she likes to think having a strong background in meteorology helps her to survive the Queensland summers.

Having lived in Turkey, the Netherlands, Brazil, and the United States, Bee’s insights on different cultures help her cater with finesse to the needs of all of her clients, be they from different cultural backgrounds or not.

Being client oriented, working together with her clients to solve their problems, understanding what really matters and delivering the expected value, Bee is dedicated to creating long-lasting relationships with her clients.

Bee likes reading (a lot), reading/watching sci-fi (more than a lot), acrylic painting, and needle felting. She lives in Brisbane with her husband, two fluffy cats and a cat-sized dog.

Senior German Translator

Andrea Reinacher

Andrea Reinacher is our senior German translator and reviser with native-level English, fluent French, and basic Spanish and Italian.

While Andrea was born and educated in Southern Germany, she went to study in Scotland, she taught German in France and has been living in London for many years where she has made her passion – spoken and written communication – into a successful career.

Andrea holds an MA in French, English and Psychology from the University of Heidelberg (Germany) and the postgraduate Diploma in Translation awarded by the Chartered Institute of Linguists in London of which she is also a member.

In addition to the above, she has a Certificate in Marketing from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Diploma in Arts Marketing and Management from Birkbeck College/University of London.

She also lends her voice to voice over projects and is an accredited German teacher, having taught many students the intricacies of the German language. Furthermore, she acts as a German examiner for several British institutions.

In her free time, she does yoga, goes on countryside walks and enjoys the opera.

Senior French Translator

Emmanuelle Hautbois

Emmanuelle is Absolute Translations’ senior translator and reviser for the French language and is part of our secretariat in-house team.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Technical translation (English/Spanish/French) awarded by the CFTTR (Centre de formation des traducteurs, terminologies et rédacteurs de Rennes) of Rennes, France.

Emmanuelle started her career as a translator and project manager in Paris. She continued to pursue her career in Vienna, Austria and in Winnipeg and Toronto, Canada.

On returning to France in 2007, she began a career as a freelance translator specialising in technical, legal and medical translations from English and Spanish into French.

In 2009 she was recruited by Rennes University to become associate professor in technical translation and oral communication (Spanish<>French), which she continued until 2012.

In addition to her busy career, Emmanuelle is an active member of ASETRAD and IAPTI, international associations of translators and interpreters, which help her keep up to date with all the latest in the translation and interpreting industries.

Having lived in Austria, Canada and France, she’s particularly sensitive to linguistic and cultural differences and always willing to discover language intricacies and share with others the passion she has for her profession.

When Emmanuelle is not working, you can find her practicing yoga and trekking in the countryside and along the coasts of Brittany. She loves to travel and whenever she can she “escapes” to discover and explore new cultures. She’s also a true opera and theatre lover.

Operations Manager

Samuel Pavin

Samuel Pavin is our Operations Manager. He brings more than 15 years of experience in sales, customer service, marketing and management to his role. Samuel is a dedicated and relentless multilingual professional who is devoted to achieving outstanding results for Absolute Translations’ clients.

Prior to joining Absolute Translations, Samuel worked in the tourism, financial, information technologies, education and marketing industries, in roles ranging from sales to marketing, management, operations, customer relations and business development. A wealth of experiences that he brings to the table not only for Absolute Translation but for our clients too.

Some of Samuel’s career highlights include some unique roles and projects. From a one-of-a-kind international sales role for small businesses at Arval (BNP Paribas) dealing with customers all over Europe to building, launching and managing IBM’s initiative for startups (Global Entrepreneur) in France as a founding member of the program or, more recently, accompanying hundreds of startups and founders as part of the ilab Accelerator program (by The University of Queensland).

As a result of having managed complex projects worldwide, Samuel has gained an excellent understanding of clients’ needs when it comes to global market targeting and expansion.

Samuel holds a Master’s degree in Foreign Languages applied to Business and Trade from the University of Rennes II, France. A solid business qualification and background topped with strong translation qualifications, at the core of his diploma, and dedicated work done in both the corporate, small business and startup worlds.

Finally, in addition to his passion for foreign cultures, travel and sports, Samuel is also the founder of Resumption, a sales and marketing strategy agency, a Community Leader for La French Tech Australia, and an influencer in the B2B (Business to Business) world; a jack of all trades who brings all his passions and experiences – and most of all, dedication – to his role at Absolute Translations!

Managing Director

Veerle Vanderplasschen

Veerle is the Founder and Managing Director of Absolute Translations. She has such a passion for what she does, she reckons she hasn’t worked a day in her life.

Her respect for her team is immense and her devotion to her clients is second to none. She believes the company’s success is built on quality, integrity and exemplary customer service.

Veerle holds a European Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and Specialised Translation for the French, Spanish and Dutch languages, awarded with distinction by the prestigious Mercator College in Belgium. Mercator was integrated in recent years into Ghent University.

In addition, she holds the Australian NAATI accreditation for English and Dutch translation.

Her Master’s thesis studied the interpreting decisions made by simultaneous conference interpreters when confronted with inadvertent ‘errors’ and ‘error corrections’ by the speakers. The research received a high distinction.

Whenever Veerle has time off, she can be found MTB riding on hazardous trails, flying off ski slopes in winter and exploring the country-side on horse-back.