Ever since she was born in Mexico to workaholic and entrepreneurial parents, both her nature and her nurture have fortified in Karla Narvaez Hurley, President and founder of Global Bilingual Solutions, the gift of dreaming big. However, her successes in her career and her luxurious office on the thirty-seventh floor of The Mellon Center also exemplifies to us that dreams are not achieved without long hours in the office, running from one meeting to the next, the ability to maintain a high level of customer service with all of these time constraints, and especially a positive and progressive attitude in the tumultuous world of business. 

Global Bilingual Solutions is an association comprised of interpreters, entrepreneurs, educators, and consultants, that derives its singularity from its fruitful business model. G.B.S. markets itself like the “one-stop shop” for clients that need multilingual expertise, and no challenge is rejected. The phones are ringing at all hours, the goal is always “respond in less than five minutes” to the clients and to the members of the G.B.S. team, and they offer aid in more than 200 languages. It is exactly this quality of always being willing to provide solutions in multiple sectors (health, pharmaceuticals, academia, government, consulting, law, just to name a few), that distinguishes G.B.S, and fortunately, its HQ is based in Philadelphia, just a few floors down the prestigious Pyramid Club. 

“You only have to have a vision, and the will to enter the sea and face the waves to reach your goals. You should never stop dreaming, because when you stop dreaming, you stop living.” 

It has been fifteen years since Karla came to the United States, and only six years since her “third baby” Global Bilingual Solutions was conceived, and her tenacity, ambition, and massive vision have elevated her up the rungs of the ladder on Market Street, and now she is- literally -on top of the city. The inspiration began when she realized, working for a non-profit organization, that the collaboration that other ethnic communities needs, more than merely translation, is a multilingual solution. After all of this prosperity, and affiliations with The Big Five and ServCorp, Karla is still dreaming, and her ultimate wish is to be the boss of the #1 multilingual company in the world. Her dedication and her pride of being one of the only women and only Latinas with this position of power is transparently visible in her work ethic, how she regards her team (she calls them her dream team), and her astounding personality. 

“Typically, my meetings consist of 40 businesspersons, and of those 40, there are only two women. And definitely only one Latina. This reality has never intimidated me. I have always been sure of myself, and I have always moved forward. I have never felt discriminated. It’s a mental game… If you think you can achieve it, you will. Like the Mexicans say, sí se puede.” Karla reminds us that, with our dreams and with the drive to become successful, all of us can be future leaders or bosses. And, especially, if we are women or are Latinas. “You only have to have a vision, and the will to enter the sea and face the waves to reach your goals. You should never stop dreaming, because when you stop dreaming, you stop living.” 

As requested by Karla herself, here is the dream team at Global Bilingual Solutions: 

• Karla Narvaez Hurley: President & CEO
• Alfred Perlini: Business Development, Vice President
• Richard Lardi: Director of Operations 
• Christian Maines: Business Development, Consultant
• Michael Esposito: Business Development Consultant
• William Purvis: Coordinator, IT & Media 
• Quyen Nguyen: Business Support Coordinator 
• Masooma Naqvi: Corporate Receptionist 
• Adrian Pedro Carranza: Business Development, Intern
• Devyn Jeremenko: Business Development, Intern
• Craig Silberman: IT Cloud & Support