I planned to post an updated blog about my experience in Tulsa with Tulsa Remote after my first year was over, but life got in the way, and now it's already over three years since I initially moved to Tulsa. Check out my first blog about the Tulsa Remote application process, our decision to move to Tulsa, etc.

My husband, Sen, and I have left Tulsa. We are now based in Las Vegas for our startup, Evolusen since our company's focus is the travel and hospitality industry. Vegas is the place for us to grow. We lived in Tulsa for two and a half years and really enjoyed our time there. One of my biggest takeaways was the incredible power of community—something I hadn't fully appreciated during our time in LA. Now, I'm excited to bring that sense of connection and community spirit to our new adventures here in Las Vegas.

Here are some updates about my experience in Tulsa, the Tulsa Remote program, and the city from a startup founder's perspective:

Our overall experience with Tulsa Remote:

Sen & I enjoyed our experience overall in Tulsa with Tulsa Remote. We made lifelong friends thanks to the community Tulsa Remote had built. We thought moving to Tulsa and joining TR would just be us moving to an unfamiliar city, meeting their team once, having a co-working space, and going to an office to pick up a monthly stipend. But it's so much more than that. Tulsa Remote has an amazing team that continuously engages this community of remote workers through multiple monthly events to help its members get to know each other and get involved with the city of Tulsa. They are constantly improving the program through feedback from its community and active slack channels.

Tulsa is a surprisingly fun place, with events throughout the year. We attended many events through Tulsa Remote and with many of our Tulsa Remote friends. My favorite event is Octoberfest, one of the oldest and largest in the US, we go every year. We also loved going to local concerts and getting lost while hiking in the mountain trails of Turkey Mountain.

Our original plan and how it had changed:

I can't talk about Tulsa without talking about its startup scene, mainly because it was a significant part of our experience and focus while living in the city.

A lot of people are surprised. "Tulsa is a Tech Hub, really?"

Yes! The US Economic Development Administration and the Biden-Harris Administration designated Tulsa as one of the 31 inaugural Tech Hubs across the country, which shows potential for rapid growth in key sectors.

We initially planned to move to Tulsa for just one year to meet the Tulsa Remote program requirements—to explore the city, check out a different part of the country, and make some new friends. But six months in, we learned about the 36 Degree North Incubator program and wanted to join with our business, Evolusen, which we were restarting since COVID restrictions were easing up. We applied in November 2021 and started in January 2022. Through the incubator, we got into two startup accelerators, Endeavor Heartland and GrowthX, which taught us about the startup space and how to grow our company.

These learnings, experiences, and being involved in these networks accelerated our exposure to the startup space. They helped us make better decisions about how to move forward. Moving to Las Vegas was part of that decision since our startup is focused on influencer marketing for the hospitality and travel industry, whereas Tulsa is focused on advanced air mobility, medical, energy technologies, biotech, and cybersecurity.

Our overall experience living in Tulsa:

A lot of people still ask us, "Why Tulsa?"

Most of their exposure to Tulsa is either with Chandler from Friends having to move there because he fell asleep during a meeting or the Tulsa King featuring Sylvester Stallone. And "Friends" was my first exposure to Tulsa as well. So before we decided to move halfway across the country (just like Chandler did, but on the opposite coast), we visited Tulsa for a week to check out the city and apartment hunt. We found really friendly locals, nice surroundings and lots of trees!

That is consistent with our experience living in Tulsa. Sen and I shopped over 10 apartments and decided on The Edge At East Village during our visit. It's in downtown Tulsa, within walking distance of restaurants, bars, co-working spaces, and parks. And it was just a 5-minute walk from our office at the incubator, which was a huge plus. It has an excellent price for the space (about 100 square feet larger and a little over $1,000 a month cheaper than our apartment in the suburb of Los Angeles).

Sen and I spent most of our days working on our startup while in Tulsa, and we visited the surrounding cities of Tulsa as much as we could since that was our original plan. My favorite trips were digging crystals at the Great Salt Plains, picking peaches at the Wind Drift Orchard, and eating BBQ in Kansas City.

Tulsa Remote now has over 3,000 members living and thriving in the city, and the program shows no sign of slowing down. In a way, I am still part of the community, and I know that when I return to Tulsa for a visit, I will still have people to see and events to attend.

If you are considering applying to Tulsa Remote or have been accepted and are considering whether you should actually make a move, take advantage of their visiting program, and just go and check out the city for yourself. Tulsa may surprise you as much as it surprised me.

Also, check out my interview with USA Today, where I share about the Tulsa Remote program!