The American South, Part 1: The Move

I moved 17 times before I graduated from high school.

I spent my early childhood in the south: the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. In my formative years, we were up north: the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana. The constant uprooting and re-rooting have played a huge part in who I am today. Primarily, I am curious about new places and comfortable with being uncomfortable. And while I believe those are good qualities to have, the lifestyle that got me there was not one I wanted for my own family or for myself as an adult.

Fortunately, for over 20 years my family and I were able to live a geographically stable life in Minneapolis. We stayed curious and flexible through global travel including an extended summer in Hong Kong, but Minneapolis was always that comforting, familiar home base we returned to. Then in 2019, all of that changed.

I was offered a job that I simply could not pass up: the once in a lifetime opportunity to be a CEO for a tech startup in the rapidly growing same-day delivery space. The opportunity was rare enough, but as we all know – even more rare for women in the workforce. In addition to learning and growing professionally, I was inspired to have a broader impact by inhabiting a role that could help shift that space and work toward leveling the playing field. But there was a catch: the job was based in the Birmingham area of Alabama.

Fortunately for me, I had strong male allyship at home – my husband and son were ready and willing to make the move and support me through the process. As excited as I was for this new adventure, I was still incredibly nervous about uprooting my family. However, there were a lot of things along the way that made the transition easier. Here are just a few that really helped us as we embraced southern living.

Southern Hospitality

Southern hospitality is no myth. Whatever you may think of the humidity, accents or swamp-studded geography, the people of this region are warm and welcoming and our new community embraced us completely. Not to mention, they make amazing food and are willing to share.

Small Town Life

Our Birmingham suburb had a completely new way of life for us that included less commuting and more living. Of course, this was gloriously pre-pandemic, but there were many summer nights I could leave work, pick up my family and be at the Barron’s baseball field with a beer and a hotdog in under 20 minutes. Those simple evenings and the extra time together were magical.

Family Decision Making

Our youngest son was truly the most impacted by the move as he was a rising junior in high school the year we moved. This is a tough time to make such a dramatic transition, especially for someone who has spent their entire education in the same town, with many of the same kids and friends the entire time. Fortunately, that flexibility we’d been working on gave him the confidence to give it a shot. He came along for every trip we took to our new town and was involved in all the decision making.

A Place to Call Home

We were so fortunate to find a home in our new town that we immediately fell in love with. It had space for everyone, it was classic with charming architecture and landscaping. There was a pool that we could use year-round – a true novelty for folks from Minnesota. We loved that we could be watching football or hockey on the outdoor TV while taking a dip. Wild! As I often say, good design should create a sense of belonging, and that is what that home did for us.

We are now back in Minneapolis, although not without conflicted feelings. Our youngest stayed down south for college and will likely continue to make that region his home. The first winter back was the toughest. I have a love/hate relationship with snow, and it was a bit of a shock to return to after a few years of mild winters. I miss really good peaches and biscuits and a refreshing late fall swim. So, for now – we’re contemplating the future and what that looks like for us as new empty nesters. We’re staying flexible and open minded, but also digging into all the wonderful things we love about being back in the Midwest. One thing is for sure – I’m staying close to my Bham Zillow page.