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My adventure across the pond: I've arrived!
2 years in the making and it has now the big day has finally arrived! Check out our latest blog to get an update on the Cube USA expansion...
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This announcement has been a long time in the making, and now I can finally shout it from the rooftops…
2 kids, 1 husband, 1 brother-in-law, 17 cases of luggage = 1 VERY excited Puff crossing The Atlantic to set up shop for Cube USA! (I’ve told myself to keep the exclamation points at a minimum for this post, but it’s going to be damn near impossible because I am beyond thrilled that this long-awaited step in the agency expansion is here!!!!)
I can’t even begin to articulate how happy and excited we are as a family to have a fresh start, and a life adventure to expand our US operations. Never in a million years did I think we’d be doing this as a family when I first became a ‘Mom’ (I’m working on my American English). A transatlantic move across the pond seemed out of the question once I had babies. But this move has been the most organic transition for our family, and I love showing my girls that they can kick ass and do anything they put their minds to NO MATTER WHAT is happening in their personal lives.
I guess to me this feels like a natural progression for us, and whilst at times it has felt extremely daunting. Yes, I have sobbed on my bathroom floor trying to work out how to pack our entire lives into a few suitcases. It’s not as intimidating as you would think, and can actually be done quicker, and perhaps easier than you can imagine.
Whilst we have been planning this for 2 years, like with most projects, there are quite a few big, important milestones in the last 2 weeks of a project! We went from having our interview at The US Embassy in London to packing and moving within 14 days. We packed everything ourselves, but did rely very heavily on family to help us with the kids 😉
We got there in the end and managed to traverse the packing, preparation and pandemic rigamarole to get all our asses (my American transformation is in full effect now) on the plane!
1. Treat your move like a project
If I’ve learned anything during my time at 3 Sided Cube, it’s to have a project plan in place! Looks like our Production Team has rubbed off on me! With my to-do list a mile long, and everything meticulously prioritized, tackling the logistics was straightforward.
Make sure you:
- Plan enough time to get an SSN
- bank account
- driving license
- I94
- EAD
- Load up on SPF 70 sunscreen (especially important for my British skin those constant Florida rays!)
….all the life admin you need to be a fully-fledged adult over here in The US. Fortunately, we’d done our homework and did have this, but going through it right now I can see why this could easily spread out over 6 months to a year rather than the 3 months that it should be done. There is no excuse not to get these items done and dusted so you can focus on what you need to do rather than letting it linger.
2. Map out your clients on a physical map
Big ups to our Head of Marketing, Char for implementing this super helpful tactic. The US is pretty big and we have started to gather quite a few US clients. Mapping these out so we could see where they are sat in correlation with each other helped me plan trips to visit clients efficiently. If you have US clients you’ll be surprised at how useful this exercise actually is.
3. Travel/Health Insurance
Covid has been a huge curveball and has complicated this process massively. Make sure you do your research and you are covered for everything you need to be covered for. Healthcare is SO different from what I’m used to in the UK, so making sure I thoroughly researched and understood exactly what my family needed for proper care came in handy when it came to locking down a plan.
4. Respect different opinions
I’ll admit, life is very different over here in The US, and there are lots of people with lots of different opinions. Some are very different from my own. Owning a gun comes to mind. However, I’m always learning, and just because people have different opinions to my own doesn’t make them wrong. It’s just different and I’m really learning to accept and understand it’s ok to have such different opinions. It’s very easy to assume in The UK. Don’t assume in The US. The old adage of what happens when you assume comes to mind…
5. The USA is a BIG place
I genuinely love the UK, but this past year I have really struggled with the pandemic and not travelling or seeing as many people. I’m booked to travel quite a bit over the next few weeks to meet new people and see new places. Being able to travel again has made me realise just how insular I was becoming. Have a little fun when you’re out here, plan trips to new places and make sure you get the balance right.
I’ve learnt and experienced a lot over the past month, and it’s been a tremendous life change for not only myself but my husband and kids as well. But the truth be told, it’s a big change, but all things considered, it’s gone fairly smoothly (even if it did take 2 years) and whilst it has been hard at times, it’s all possible. I always used to think having a family meant that you ‘settled’ somewhere and just stayed there. But right now we’re doing anything but that, and it’s working, we’re all happy and excited at the new adventures we’ll have. The new people we’ll meet and the experiences we’ll have. It’s really opened my eyes to what flexible working actually means.
If you’re thinking about expanding your operation to The US, or are actually expanding as you read this then please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m doing it and if I can help share some of the lessons I’ve learnt then please just ask!
3 SIDED CUBE Inc is officially open on US soil for business!
Published on September 1, 2021, last updated on April 17, 2023
