Traveling often with her mother, the owner of Taos Travel Agency, in her youth, Leslie Grainger-Haynes wanted to learn different languages so that she could speak to other people in their language. Today, she attributes much of her success as an adult to her education at Kent School for Girls for giving inspiring her. Ms. Grainger-Haynes served two decades as the president of International Transition Services in Denver from 1990 to 2010, previously serving in the same role at International Translation Services in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1980 to 1986.
In addition to this tenure, Ms. Grainger-Haynes provided translation services to the entertainment industry, U.S. Tobacco and Nissan Manufacturing in Tennessee. Likewise, she provided translation and interpretive services for the entertainment industry in Nashville from 1980 to 1986, and translation services and produced foreign language videos for engineering, household products, medical, mining, OSHA, petroleum, satellite and telecommunication companies in Denver from 1990 to 2010.
Through these roles, Ms. Grainger-Haynes produced an album in French by American country artist Crystal Gayle, a George Gobel video for a Mr. Transmission advertisement in French, Italian and German, and various foreign language marketing videos. Additionally, she produced the John Denver special, “Country Roads Take Me Home,” as well as the Patti Page special, “The Tennessee Waltz Special,” which was broadcasted through Japan Broadcasting Services in Nashville in 1985. She was also a studio interpreter for Baby Records in Italy, for which she produced two records in Italian, and was a translator for Buckhorn Music on the song “One Day at a Time.” Outside of production, Ms. Grainger-Haynes is a guest lecturer in schools and universities, promoting the many exciting alternatives in the world of foreign language and business.
Prior to the start of her professional career, Ms. Grainger-Haynes studied at the University of New Mexico in 1970, the University of Colorado Boulder between 1970 and 1973, and the University of Manchester in England in 1974. She also trained in radio and television production at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in 1972 and Paris-Sorbonne University in 1977. Ms. Grainger-Haynes later attended the University of Colorado Denver in 1990, and received a superior certificate and Bachelor of Arts in international affairs and communications. The mentor who motivated and inspired her most was Marijohn Wilkin, an American songwriter who was famous in the country music genre for writing a number of hits.
When Ms. Grainger-Haynes closed her business and moved back to her home town in Taos, New Mexico, she was contacted and asked to assist families in locating graves of the P-51 pilots that were downed in France during World War II. She never charged those families, and did that from 2010 to 2015. She is also a member of the Human Relations Commission. An ambassador of the Denver and Nashville Chambers of Commerce, she further maintains involvement with organizations related to her field such as the American Translators Association, the Colorado Translators Association and the Colorado Film and Video Association.
In honor of her efforts, Ms. Grainger-Haynes was featured in “Quorum Quotes,” published by the International Quorum of Film and Video Producers, in 1983, Advantage Magazine and the business section of the Nashville Banner in 1985, and the Taos News in 1998. Now in retirement, she spends her free time creating fanciful statues from dried Cholla cactus and fossils, cooking and canning fresh food, and volunteering with the pet food pantry at the Episcopal Church. She was selected for inclusion in the 27th edition of Who’s Who in the West.
