Meet the team

The passionate linguist behind Comunica

From the tranquil reaches of Northern Denmark to loud and lively Andalusia

The owner of Comunica.dk Translations, Tina Julsgaard, was born in the North Jutlandic city of Aalborg in 1970, where she spent most of her childhood and adolescence. It wasn’t until an enthusiastic college teacher sparked Tina’s interest for the Spanish culture that she realised what path she wanted to take in life. In 1990, Tina subsequently travelled South to the vibrant city of Seville to continue her Spanish studies. Like all stories of passion, love normally makes an appearance in there somewhere, and Tina’s is no exception! Seville was where she met a Spaniard named Pablo and fell head over heels in love with not only him but the Spanish way of life. Studies at Aarhus University followed, where she graduated in the year 2000 with an MA in Spanish and Religious Studies. Immediately afterwards, she went on to study yet another Spanish Diploma Degree at Copenhagen Business School. The yearning for Spain, its spontaneity and more relaxed attitude to life were the main attractions, which ultimately, after a 10-year long-distance relationship, made the couple decide to leave the comfort and security of Denmark and start a new life on the sun-kissed Costa del Sol.

From journalist to professional translator

For the first seven years after moving to Spain, Tina worked for the Malaga-based Danish-language magazine La Danesa. But after a while, she felt an urge to start up her own business – an urge which became greater and greater until finally, in 2007, she founded COMUNICA. In its early years, the company offered both language tuition and translation services, but after a while the focus shifted to being purely a translation agency. Being a linguist herself, it was more than just the potential of the translation industry that motivated Tina. It was her passion for helping customers spread their wings, take flight, and do business abroad, which lead this change.

The genesis of a translation agency in growth

Tina has always been fascinated by the sheer power languages hold, and she believes passionately that every text deserves a flawless adaptation to help it camouflage into its new surroundings. It’s Tina’s never-ending energy, humour and commitment that rub off on her employees and their common efforts are what have made COMUNICA into the dynamic translation agency that it is today. With 12 employees and more than 300 freelance translators working together from across the globe, you can be sure your global communications will get our passionate touch.

María Luna, Project Manager

I’m a Spanish native and yet a world citizen at the same time, since learning about cultures is something I love. In 2015, I finished my degree in Translation and Interpreting in English, French and Italian at the University of Malaga (Spain). I love languages, and in order to have a good command of them, I have been living abroad for 2 years. Firstly in the United Kingdom (Bath), where I studied at the University of Bath as an Erasmus student for one academic year. Secondly in France (Dijon), working as a Spanish Assistant at the High School Lycée International Charles de Gaulle. In 2016, I continued my studies at Menendez Pelayo International University, where I did a master’s degree in Translation and New Technologies: Localization of Software, Webpages and Videogames.

Since 2017, I have been working, firstly in Madrid for two and a half years as a Translation Project Manager. Then from October 2019 as a Project Manager at COMUNICA in Fuengirola.

I am very happy to be back in my home region as well as working in the fields I most identify with: Project Management and Languages.

My other passions? Sharing moments with my family and friends, travelling, reading, walking along the beach and hiking in the mountains.

Milla Mäkinen, Finnish Language Lead

I was born in southern Finland, and from a young age I’ve always been very interested in different cultures and languages. My parents have always been keen to expand their horizons as well, so as a family we travelled quite a bit. I can say that I’m one of the few people who have visited Soviet Union several times and even been to Soviet Estonia when I was a kid. These visits kindled a lifelong fascination with Russia and the Russian language.

I attended two different universities in Finland – Tampere and Helsinki – and studied Russian philology, English translation, intercultural communication, sociology, Italian and several other subjects. I have a BA in English translation.

I’ve lived in the USA, Russia, Italy and Switzerland and for the past 10 years in London, UK. London suits my personality perfectly with its vibrant mix of cultures and languages; there’s always something new to see and do!

My past work experience includes working for a translation agency as a project/account manager, working as a transcreation account manager for a marketing implementation agency on their Pfizer account and working for Expedia as a localization quality manager in charge of their Finnish website and backend translations. I’ve also worked for Amazon on a short contract helping them translate, test and launch their Amazon Video service in Finland in 2019.

In 2017 I decided to quit my office job and become a freelancer joining COMUNICA as a Finnish Language Lead mainly working on their travel industry client account. Working for COMUNICA has given me the chance to choose my own schedule and be my own boss while simultaneously being part of a fantastic, talented and multicultural team.

Karoline Barra, Project & Account Manager

I grew up in the outskirts of Bergen, Norway. I have always been fascinated by languages, which is part of the reason why I love to work and live abroad. Since 2005, I have lived in different parts of Spain, including Cádiz and the Basque Country, until I started working at COMUNICA in 2012.

I have studied Spanish, Marketing, Administration and Project Management, and during my professional career, I have worked in Education among other fields.

My overall responsibility as a Project Manager involves Scandinavian agencies and direct clients in the Nordic countries, in addition to Spanish customers. Furthermore, I assist in staff training, particularly in various CAT tools that we use in our daily work.

Outside of work, I enjoy exercising, catching up on the latest movies and TV series, traveling and chasing the sun.

Elena Fernández, Project & Account Manager

I graduated as an Interpreter and Translator at the University of Malaga and I am an appointed Translator for the Spanish Foreign Office. Since 1997, I have worked as a professional translator, specialising in technical and legal texts. Additionally, having worked for COMUNICA as a Project Manager since November 2013, I have over 6 years’ experience in international Project Management. I love working with languages, which is why, in addition to my studies in English, French and Italian, I have started studying Russian at the official Language School in Malaga. My hobbies include travel, being close to nature and yoga.

Lone Beheshty, CAT Tools Specialist

Eager to travel and English being my favourite language, my first destination after college in Odense, Denmark, was London followed by Manchester, where I have lived ever since. At Manchester University, I gained my BSc Degree in Computational Linguistics and Modern Languages (German/Spanish); a 4-year course, incl. a year at the Technical University of Berlin, where I worked as a student assistant on the EU-funded machine translation project EUROTRA.

Since 1994, I have worked as a professional translator and three years later also as a certified Trados trainer. In 2009, I additionally became a certified memoQ trainer. My training work opened up many travel opportunities (e.g. to Panama, USA, Singapore, and Spain), which I thoroughly enjoyed. In July 2010, I passed the ITI exam and became a full member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.

In 2017, my husband and I turned our dream of moving to Southern Europe into reality. Our two boys had flown the nest, and when the opportunity suddenly arose, we took a leap of faith and went for it. Beautiful and mountainous southern Spain was our chosen destination, where I since July 2017 have worked as a Project Manager, CAT Tools Trainer and Linguistic Consultant for COMUNICA; a varied job I thoroughly enjoy. In my spare time, I enjoy learning Spanish & Farsi, reading, gardening, and playing badminton.

Guri Poulsen, Danish Language Lead

I was born and raised in the city of Middelfart in Denmark, and I have a bachelor’s degree in international business communication and a master’s degree in translation from Aarhus University. I have always been interested in culture and language, and I have been lucky enough to live in both the United States and South America as part of my studies. It was always my dream to live abroad so when I got the chance to move to Spain in 2015 and work for COMUNICA, it was not a difficult decision. I really enjoy working at COMUNICA where I mainly carry out translation from English into Danish as well as proofreading and copywriting.

Linnea Willig, Swedish Translator

I was born in Göteborg, Sweden. I think my interest in languages got started through literature. When I was younger, I devoured Astrid Lindgren’s works one by one. After that, the interest has only grown and I have up until now studied English, Scandinavian languages, Spanish and Italian, with many more to go. I have a master’s degree in Translation from the University of Gothenburg, and now I live and work in Malaga.

At COMUNICA, I work as a Swedish Translator, and find it very rewarding work, since I get to work with my biggest interest every single day. However, in my free time, I like to spend some time on my other interests: drinking coffee in the sun, going swimming and eating tapas.

Sari Karhapää, Finnish Translator

I was born and raised in Joensuu, Finland. I have always been interested in foreign cultures and languages. That is why I moved to Italy, and then to France, where I lived for two years. After that, I worked at the French Cultural Centre and the Embassy of France in Helsinki. I graduated as a Translator and Interpreter from the University of Turku in 1998. In the same year, I settled permanently in the Malaga area with my Finnish husband and started to work as a professional Translator. Since then I have worked as a Freelancer, providing translation and localisation services for private clients, companies, non-governmental and governmental organisations. I work on various types of projects and in different subject areas. I am specialised in legal and medical texts but have also worked on many commercial localisation projects. I live in the countryside and my hobbies are related to my lifestyle, including long walks with my two dogs, yoga and meditation. I joined the COMUNICA team in April 2017 as a Finnish in-house Translator. I have always loved working as a translator, but now I get to explore it from the teamwork position, and I’m finding it very exciting!

Hanna Sjöstedt, Swedish Translator

I was born and raised in Örebro, Sweden. I have been interested in languages since I was very young. I first moved to Malaga at the age of 19 to study Spanish and came back again to study at the University of Malaga. I have a degree in Translation from Gothenburg University in Sweden. I lived in Dublin for a year and a half after finishing my studies in 2005. I started working as a Freelance Translator upon my return to Sweden. In 2009, I moved to Madrid, where I worked at IBM for 2 years. I have worked as a Translator at COMUNICA since January 2012. I love my work since I get to work with languages on a daily basis!

Tina Kok, Project & Marketing Manager

I was born and raised in Aarhus, Denmark. I graduated from the Export Academy at Aarhus Business College.

At COMUNICA, I am responsible for marketing, various sales activities and project management of sworn translations. Besides, I am the Administrator of our Coworking space, The Cowork Spot, and happy to collaborate with the different Freelancers working there. I speak fluent Spanish and English and have been living in the Malaga area since 2002. I am therefore fully integrated into the Spanish society. I have worked in sales and marketing at several large Danish export companies for 10 years. During my time in Spain, I have worked in Private Banking and as a Real Estate Agent on the Costa del Sol for several years. This all-round background serves as a great basis for being able to handle the many varied tasks in a dynamic language company like COMUNICA.

Juan J. Ramos, IT Manager

Having been immersed in this universe they call the Internet since I was 14 years old, I’ve always been interested in knowing how things work internally.

I’ve also always been interested in languages and been studying English since I was very young. As a keen film buff, I’ve watched all series and films in the original version, if possible.

At College, I’ve studied Computer Science, both Software and Hardware. My passion for computers is not limited to just one field and that’s why I enjoy repairing a computer, setting up a network or developing a website.

Working at COMUNICA represents a constant challenge in a field that has always fascinated me as well as gives me the opportunity to work with an extraordinary team of colleagues.

Pedro Barrantes, Web Designer & SEO Specialist

I am passionate about technology and have a particular interest in all things related to the internet. I always take on whatever tasks I am faced with, for the most part successfully, and I have experience working both alone and in teams. I have learned from my victories and matured through my failings, and when I believe in something I always see it through until the very end.

I studied systems administration and specialised in digital post-production, development and web design. Whenever possible, I always take the opportunity to expand my knowledge by attending specialised training courses, conferences and seminars related to digital marketing.

I have worked as creative advertising in the tourism sector, as a web designer/developer both for companies and in a freelance capacity, and as an instructor on university and corporate courses at the University of Malaga, within occupational vocational training courses subsidised by the Regional Government of Andalusia and on courses organised by the ONCE Foundation.

Along the way, I have learned about a lot more than just IT; I have learned how to engage with people who are very different from one another and how to listen and understand their problems in order to provide them with the help they need.

At present, I am in charge of web design, graphic design, SEO and SEM at Comunica, a translation agency specialised in Nordic languages which helps companies and individuals all over the world to communicate with one another, no matter the distance between them or the languages they speak.

Nicolás M. M. Fontana, Sales and Vendor Manager

I was born in Buenos Aires but I spent my childhood in Ushuaia, Argentina. I lived in Ireland, Poland and I am currently living in Spain. My first contact with languages was during my professional army career where I served as an English-Spanish Interpreter during NATO and Eurocorps manoeuvres in Andalusia (2000-2003). I have been working in the translation industry since 2011. I graduated from Vistula University in 2016 with a BA in English Philology. I was working for approx. 6 years for a mayor MLSP (Multi-Language Service Provider) in Warsaw, Poland as a Localization Tester, Senior Test Engineer, and Language Lead. I combined a full-time job with a freelance job as a Visual Media Translator for the Latin America region. I was the Business Development Manager for a medium RLSP (Regional Language Service Provider) in Fuengirola, Spain for 3 and a half years. I joined the COMUNICA team in March 2020 as Vendor and Sales Manager to oversee freelance translators, share my experience, find new clients and develop procedures. In my spare time, I enjoy learning languages, reading, watching movies and series, playing paddle, swimming, trekking, and exploring.

Natascha Pustelnik, Danish Translator & SEO Expert

I graduated in 2016 from Aarhus University, Denmark, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish and English Business Communication and in 2018 with a Master’s Degree in Spanish Business Communication with a special focus on translation and interpretation studies. After graduating, I worked within the field of digital marketing in a Danish tech company for about three and a half years during which I gained a lot of practical knowledge about online marketing and organisational strategies, website optimization and SEO as well as email marketing and copywriting.

In the beginning of 2020, I decided to move to Spain to realize my dream of living abroad and working with languages and communication. At COMUNICA, I work as a translator and copywriter with a special focus on website optimization and SEO.

Laure Montilla, Project Manager

I was born and raised in France, but started to travel and live abroad in my early twenties, enjoying the discovery of new landscapes and cultures. I love languages and technologies, which naturally led me to work in localization.

I studied International Business at the university along with a translation course. I have been working in the translation industry for 14 years, in software companies and translation agencies, and at COMUNICA since August 2020. I love the diversity of the job, you never get bored!

Outside work, I love reading, walking in the mountains, going to the beach with my family, meeting friends…

Gala Salahovic, Norwegian Translator

I believe that it was the circumstances of life that made me develop a good ear for languages, and the taste for different languages and cultures still follows me to this day. I am originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but moved to Norway at the age of two. At fifteen, I received a scholarship to attend a French high school for two years. After completing my high school education, I decided to go further south, this time to Spain, where I got my bachelor degree in Romance literature, languages and culture at the University of Salamanca. Since then, I have worked in Paris, Brighton and Oslo, and although I have gained experience in different lines of business, I have always been working with localization as a freelancer. I moved back to Spain in 2016, and since I am Spanish by heart, I love living here, and I enjoy working for COMUNICA.

Daniel Schopper, German Translator

I was born in Bottrop, Germany, in 1981. While studying at the University of Essen, I worked as a sales and customer service representative and as a translator for a publishing company specialising in materials for trade fair and exhibition use. I got my Master’s degree in English in December 2010, after living in London from 2009 to 2010, where I worked for a market research organisation. I moved to Malaga in 2010 to work for COMUNICA.