Big Life Changes: Moving my Business Back to the US & Rebuilding from Scratch
An update video to share significant life changes, including moving back to the US with minimal belongings, settling into a new home, and reconnecting with community.
I chat all about balancing work and personal life and exploring office setup ideas. And I highlight upcoming business goals, like transitioning operations to the US and developing new service tiers.
Transcript below!
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Hey, welcome back to the Concept YouTube channel. I've got a bit of a different style of format for you today.
I'm going to be giving you a life update because I've had quite a lot of changes in my life and in my business lately.
And I'm always curious about these behind the scenes things with businesses, but full disclosure, as part of the really big changes that my business is going through, I don't have a proper office set up. 00:24 I'm currently in the business center for my apartment complex, which means there's probably more noise than I'd like. You might hear the odd thing, um, got my AirPods in, hopefully they'll do the job.
Um, but full disclosure, my audio levels won't be the same as I have when I have my light and my mic and all the, all the things.
So ready? Let's get going. My life has pretty drastically changed. Um, two weeks ago, just over, we moved back to the US.
If you're on my newsletter, I've been following my social, you've probably seen me talking about this for months.
Because it's huge, it is huge to completely close down one section of your life, sell all of your stuff, um, close all of your accounts, subscriptions, everything, move across the world, find a place to live and start completely over.
That's what we've done. We came over with, we'd sent four boxes, one guitar, and then we moved over with four bags.
A lot of that stuff was sentimental, like in that, in those boxes there were four of blankets, one of them being quilt, uh, two being collectible wool blankets from the place I grew up.
So, there's a lot, um, there's a lot of stuff, and a lot of clothes, which is so funny, we didn't even have that many clothes, but even just, even just the bits that we have, uh, took up quite a lot of room.
So, we have moved into this gorgeous apartment building, um, it's got such lovely facilities, we debated back and forth between a two bedroom and a three-bedroom.
First we just jumped on this really cute chair. Two bedroom, and then we were like, hmm, do we both want an office, and while that's still definitely in the mix, especially after the day I've had, uh, trying to get down and record this video, um, I think we've fallen in love with our two bedroom, because we have this gorgeous south-facing, uh, window, and we get to see every single sunset, and we're on the top floor, and it's just, it is really, really nice.
The facilities here, I'll walk you through a little video in a moment, I'll do, show you a little bit, but we've got and a gym, we've got this business center, we've got kind of a community room, uh, there's a little backyard where there's a cornhole, and, uhm, yeah, it's really lovely, there's a basketball court, not that I play, uhm, so we are, we have fallen in love with this little place, uhm, and, yeah, it's just been interesting as we go through the decoration struggle, uhm, this is a really small town, there's pretty much a Walmart, and some other little locally places to buy things, but not a whole lot, like I went through every thrift shop in town one day, and came out with nothing, there was 03:10 one floor lamp I kind of liked, uhm, so when you're quite picky, and have an aesthetic you're trying to go for, it is difficult, however, we're going to be going to Portland to visit some family and friends in a couple of weekends, and we're going to do a little thrift shopping there, uhm, also, so we're just trying not to get everything from big box stores or for Amazon. But it is a bit of a struggle, because we're fairly limited in a small town here.
We're also trying to go slow, we want to fill our home intentionally, uhm, and not just fill it up with stuff, and not just take every hand we download the family, my family will give out, which I'll get to in a minute, uhm, so that's interesting, it's also, you know, some of these purchases, a good desk, a good bed, nice furniture, they really add up, so So we are trying to, that's another reason we're trying to go a little bit slower is of course we could probably kit up the house immediately like that, even with the nicest stuff in the world, if we wanted to just blow our entire savings, which we don't, so we are going slow and steady around all of that. That said, the most important thing to me, uhm, isn't necessarily having all of our stuff in place, but it's that we are able to find everything in the few weeks that we were moving, and like, before we moved and a couple weeks right after we moved, it became impossible to find their names.
We're half-packed and we're living out of bags, uhm, so I'm really grateful that we now have clothes, you know, in a closet, and I've got these gorgeous under the cupboard troller pull-out things to organize under the bathroom in the kitchen so all of our closets, all of my makeup, all those things are really really organized and that feels so good to my little system soul to have a system for how we find things.
Of course, not everything's unpacked yet. We haven't unpacked so much, like a lot of our sentimental stuff, a lot of our decor because we don't have anywhere to put any of it yet. We're really getting there still, but I've been so happy with decorating the place slowly, surely, but making sure everything's organized, has its place, all those kinds of things.
Uhm, but we have gotten some really good things on Facebook Marketplace. so we've got a sofa that we like. Uhm, we don't love, but it was very new, it's very cute, it's not the best quality, but it will definitely do this for a while. I've gotten some really gorgeous pillows, got myself a really cute little writing desk that will help me, uhm, until I get, I need a bigger one when I have two monitors and all the things.
So we're getting there, we're really getting there. The most interesting thing is I have, it's been a hot minute since I've lived in a place where I have community. Look around Paul's friends, look around Paul's family for a while, but not like super, super close even. Uhm, college, obviously I had loads of friends around, my mom didn't live too far away then, so that was probably the last time for me, but I haven't lived in this little town that I grew up in for 15 years.
15 years, and I, it's been really weird and really good. So like, I went to my dad's house over the last couple days and helped him do canning for all of the vegetables in his veg patch, we made loads of pickles and salsa and that was really, really fun. I hadn't done canning before. It's not that hard, and I knew it wouldn't be that hard, but I just, it's something I'd never done and kind of always wanted to.
And I've gotten to see my little goddaughter a couple of times, and she was so mad at me when I came home, she's nine, she's like, you always leave me, and I was like, I'm here to stay this time, and she's like, I don't believe you, honestly, you can come see my apartment, and like, can I? It's gonna be really good being around her more and being able to a part of her life, and especially now that she's old enough, she's really gonna remember those moments, and I'm gonna be able to help shape her development in her life, and give her just that extra perspective, uhm, different adult that she trusts that isn't her mom, you know, that kind of a thing. Uhm, so that's been really cool, and I'm gonna go to the carnival with her tomorrow, we're gonna go ride some rides, uhm, and she's gonna, she's gonna get me on all the scary ones, I am less convinced.
Then I get to another weird, funny, little community thing, there's just loads of them, like, uhm, my, one of my teachers from high school and I are going to lunch tomorrow, and it's a bit of a favor and a bit of a catch-up, so she is going to help me get my Irish citizenship application finalized, because you have to have somebody who knows you, who's in a notable profession, teachers, doctors, nurses, vets, clergy, like people in those roles. Those types of positions, and so she is going to sign this paper saying, like, I am who I say I am, and all this stuff for me, uhm, so that I, the Irish government will issue me a passport. 08:01 Uhm, so that is really, really good, I'm very excited, and just catching up with people, she shaped my life quite a lot. She had a science fiction and mythology class my senior year that I took, and because of her, I love Doctor Who. Because of her, I saw Torchwood in a book. I watched it over again, and Doctor Horrible's sing-along blog, and Buffy, and just, like, there's so much of my life that she has, that was a lot of, uhm, Weedon things, and then Doctor Who, but my point is, is there's a lot of my early love of science fiction that she had formed, uhm, she also just has a really clear, expansive frame of reference, trying new things, you don't always have to be right, things are allowed to be messy, uhm, things that I don't always embrace super well, Uhm, she's, she's really great that way, uhm, she's definitely the Weird Kids champion, and she's a beloved fixture in the high school here. Almost every single one of my siblings has had her in school, uhm, she's fantastic.
And then I'm just also looking forward to local events right now, where it is the rodeo in my hometown, uhm, it's called the Roundup, and it happens every year, in the second week of September, and, uhm, Yeah, it's just cool to be a part of the rodeo kickoff and to be back for, uh, we've been home for 09:19 a couple of them since I've moved, but, we're going to the parade tomorrow, and, uhm, I've got friends coming in town that are gonna crash literally on my guest room floor because I don't have a guest bed yet, uhm, I'll probably get my dad's airbed, but still.
And so, just going to these kinds of events that happen, and, yeah, I'm just, I'm looking forward to getting more involved here in my hometown.
And finally, life-wise, I'm excited me and my system's brain. I'm just really excited. I'm excited that our routine has turned into formula, we get up, we're able to go sit on our balcony, I water my little plants that I've put out there, yes, I have plants, but I haven't even gotten my bed yet, well, we've ordered it, but it hasn't come, uhm, and, we make coffee, and we get around in the morning, and we start a little bit of work, and then we maybe take a break, and we have some breakfast, and run some errands, and then we get back to work, and those kinds of things.
So, speaking of work, let's talk about with this message. Aside of what's changed, uhm, I don't know how many of you know, but for a while, in the start of the year, well, between April and August, I worked a part-time job, my business, with everything looming with the move, just felt heavy, and it felt really hard to just focus, I guess, so I got a part-time job, and of course, as soon as I got a part-time job, the business started taking off, I got a load more clients, those kinds of things, so I was really full-on with the move, and I really enjoyed it, and now, I'm back to being full-time with the business, and I put that in air quotes because I've never worked full-time hours.
I believe in the systems that I preach, so I believe in having robust, repeatable, automated systems, and in outsourcing, so I've never been, uhm, a 40-hour-a-week kind of business, uhm, so, but I am back, back, back, and I have clients, I've already started my first website project, and I have a Simplicity Solution client starting soon, and I've got some clients coming back for some bits and pieces, And then, uhm, I'm getting to start to plan out my office, and we've had a lot of thought, especially because we've decided to probably stick with our two-bedroom, about how we want to do that, if we want to share the big bedroom and make that a two-person office, which looks highly possible, but I've done some research, and we're both on a lot of calls, and we both do a lot of recording and these kinds of things, so it makes it a bit tricksy.
I'd love to hear your opinions. Do you share your office with your partner? Do you, you know, live and work in the house? How does that work for you?
The other option is to use part of, or all of, the dining room as my office. I did that in Belfast. I did that in our last house. I liked parts of it, but it does mean two things. It means that my husband can come in and work to me pretty much anytime. Not that he couldn't if we were sitting side-by-side in an office, but it just means, like, mine is part of, like, the main area, which means that my work has come to kind of just part of day-to-day life, if you will.
And then the other thing is, what was the next one? Oh, the other one, the other thing is, is really just that I miss being able to have people over for dinner, because I had the whole dining room and the dining table with it, and that situation was actually my desk.
So, I'm looking at some options. There's some really nice, sort of secretary-style, mounted desks where you can have your monitor inside. And they flip up and down and you can, you know. But it does get tricky when you have a professional mic, and you've got a professional light, and all these things.
So, any ideas for space-saving, uhm, apartment-style, professional office setups for recording, send them my way. I'm currently, like, deep into Pinterest and YouTube about it. So, let me know.
Uhm, other things going on with the business is I'm starting to try, and I'm a really social person, I'm an extrovert. I also found over seven. Seven years in business that, I think it's seven in January, uhm, that it's really hard to do this kind of thing alone, uhm, if you don't have people to bounce your ideas off of and all that. And yes, my two VAs are so good that way, but there's times where you just need to get strategic with people, there's times where you need to do things in person and get things, like, just workshop things.
And so, my brunch club back in Belfast was so good for that that I created and I was also part of other networks. It just weren't valuable throughout my business, uhm, so I'm going to a couple of networking events over the next few weeks here through the Chamber of Commerce.
I'm also making a list of people in town that I went to high school with or that I knew personally that run their own business. And I'm really thinking about starting my own little, maybe another lunch brunch club situation where we can all get together and be supportive of what it's like to be in your, to work for yourself, to be self-employed, you know, work with clients to sell products, like all those little things that can get a bit sticky sometimes. And then I'm also looking into local, like Oregon or Pacific Northwest business retreats, because I just feel like I, I'm energized, but I need some clarity.
There's some ideas that I'm working on for Q4 or early next year that just, I feel like I need, I need something for. So some, some help with that would be really, really great.
Which brings me to my last thing I want to talk about.
So I did my quarter four planning recently, um, I did some of it at the top of the year where I set out what I want to achieve in quarter four, but some of it obviously needed to, again, when you get a little bit closer.
So the things that I have coming up, I really want to, um, well, first off, I need to finish moving my business to the US, which means, um, one of my goals next week is to go and get my US bank account.
I've got my Oregon business registration now and my tax ID number, uh, for the business all set up. I, need to then move everything into US dollars, some things are and some aren't at the moment. Um, I need to, like, do some things with HMRC in the UK. I, like, there's just loads of these little business things that need to move. I need to change over. I changed my and things, but I need to change things over in so many of my places. Um, so that's a big one.
Um, I do have in my business, I have like three tiers for business, for website work. I have like the power hour. I have the one day. Website regression that I have a full work with me business, like one-to-one, I do your whole website custom, right. And then, but I kind of want the same three tiers, um, for systems.
So right now I have, I pick my brain session and I, you can come and I can help, you know, solve your business or your little problems. You can ask me questions. Um, it's all recorded and I can help you get strategic about the systems in your business. I also then have my three month simplicity solution. Program. I definitely feels like there needs to be something in the middle. I also have my toolkits, which is another low level price point that people can get some done for you templates and tools around their systems and their business.
But I'm looking for what that mid-level thing is. And I've got a few ideas, but I'm going to hopefully either launch something in Q4 or Q1 of next year. So that's coming up. So I've got a lot of work to do on that regardless in Q4.
And finally, like I said, I just, I feel some things brewing, some changes, some rooting, some grounding happening in my life in the business.
So I have a lot of reflection to do in Q4 to just dig deep within myself, within the business and get clear. Um, I thought I turned off reactions, but that seems like a really great way to wrap up the video. And this has been helpful. Let me know if you've got ideas around any of the things I shared. I'd love to hear them, um, like comment, share. It really. Helps me out and helps, um, calibrated concepts. So all YouTubers it's, it's a, it's interesting place to be.
So thanks for hanging out with me and catching up.
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