Transcription

• Speaker #0

  Guess what? I'm moving country again. I don't know, maybe a year, maybe more. Where's the phone? The phone's everywhere. I'm an expat. Hey, it's Pauline from ET Expats, and today I am with Shannon, who is an American based in Germany, Baden-Württemberg. She built... her own business and aesthetic center. So she's going to talk to us about navigating entrepreneurship when you are abroad, all this while raising a family. Hi Shannon, how are you?

• Speaker #1

  Good, thank you.

• Speaker #0

  Great to have you. You're welcome. Well, I'll hand it over to you for a quick introduction before we dive into your expat journey.

• Speaker #1

  Okay, I moved here about 14 years ago. from San Francisco, which I know is crazy, from right outside of San Francisco.

• Speaker #0

  Okay.

• Speaker #1

  But I do consider myself a city girl. So when I met my husband, my German husband, we met in Las Vegas. He was on like a guy's weekend. I was on a girl's weekend, and we just fell in love at first sight. And initially, we were planning on him moving to San Francisco because... I didn't even know what Germany was. I was like, what? I was like, where is it? Is there water? I was like, I can't figure out. I don't know. We don't have the best history in America. So we actually just decided I would move here because it was very difficult to do the visas and fiance visas and marriage visas, et cetera, et cetera. So after a year of a long-distance relationship, which... Crazy stories happened in between that year of him trying to get to the U.S. It just was really not going to happen. And we didn't want to wait any longer. So we said, all right, we'll come to Germany. I had visited several times by then. And I'll take a leave of absence. I was working for a biotech company.

• Speaker #0

  Okay.

• Speaker #1

  And I just finished an art school. And I was like, okay, I'm going to Germany. I'll take a leave of absence. And we'll get married. And then we'll move back to San Francisco once you can get a green card.

• Speaker #0

  So the plan was to come back after Wednesday or March.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. And then after a year, my company was like, okay, sorry, you have to go. We can't hold on. Or not after six months, sorry. And I was like, oh, my gosh, okay, well, maybe I'll come back. So after a year, I decided I wasn't going to go back. And we were going to go on a five-year plan because I really love to travel. And it's so easy from here to just go everywhere. So I said, okay, let's travel. Let's stay here. Let's enjoy our marriage, our first years of marriage. I was helping my husband build his career. And I was just traveling and running and doing whatever fun stuff I could figure out. And probably I was lost half the time because in 2011, we didn't have navigation. It built into the car. So I had to use one of those. Just driving around.

• Speaker #0

  I was driving around. Never found that grocery store.

• Speaker #1

  It was not easy, but we managed. Then we were on a five-year plan, and then I got pregnant. And then we said, okay, we're not moving to America anytime soon. So then I just decided to start my business after I had my son. And, yeah, it's been amazing. And, yeah, that's what brought me here to Europe, and I love it. I don't think I'll ever live back in the States. As of right now, unless my kids decide to live there in the future, then maybe I would. But as of now, I'm here and I love it.

• Speaker #0

  Well, let's go back to when you first moved. So you're saying you had visited several times. So you've seen the city. When you moved, was there still that big culture shock and adjustment?

• Speaker #1

  I'm still adjusting and I'm still having a culture shock.

• Speaker #0

  Wow.

• Speaker #1

  but now it's like a really weird thing i don't know i'm sure you know because you talk to expats all the time or like i live in like two alter universes or something i don't know like when i go home i have a culture culture shock when i go back to california and i i also have culture shocks here regularly just the way things are wow being married to raising a family with somebody from a different culture. My background is Latin American. We are just so different, you know,

• Speaker #0

  and yes.

• Speaker #1

  So I actually found a girl on Instagram recently. She's Latin as well. And she married a German and she has like a whole. whole Instagram about it because it is just like crazy different, you know? So I mean, yeah, the culture shocks were coming like regularly. It took a lot for me. I've met good friends through my language classes and we're still friends now. So that's really cool. That's cool. Both of them have moved and yeah, it's such a different culture from the U.S. And from my background, there's tons of things I can mention. Like, there's just so much.

• Speaker #0

  What's the first one that comes?

• Speaker #1

  Oh, just the hello. Saying hello. You walk into a store and you're like, hi, I'm here to buy something. Does anybody want to see? They don't work on commission, obviously. um you're just like okay so i what i've done what i've managed to do over time is i've managed to bring my personality which is pretty big to them so they can't really get away from it so i'm just like when i get to the store if they're not gonna greet me then i just greet them and hi and i smile and if they don't smile i'm like oh my god well they must be having a bad day so i don't take anything personally like i used to i used to be very sensitive about things like that because I come from a hi how are you or yeah oh you look nice i like your shoes or your hair looks good kind of culture to a culture where it's like just eye contact and that's it and no smile and no blinking so that that is probably the people are definitely the biggest culture

• Speaker #0

  shock i would say but i love how you say i've just accepted it but i still you know keep my personality and bring it there but don't take offense it's great so you're still like

• Speaker #1

  blending the two of you know how they work that's it yeah but you're you're staying true to yourself it's part of yourself and that's how it's exactly and I try really hard to to do that also for my kids and my kids are amazing um because I don't want them to I don't want to fall like fall into a way that I'm not I want to stay authentic to myself and then maybe people will learn from me And honestly, not people, but like neighbors and... people in the buildings or whoever will also be like, oh, maybe it's nice to smile and say hello. Or, you know, or like, you know, so I just I learned over the years I have taught myself. They don't mean any harm. That's just a cultural thing. They're not they don't hate you. You don't you aren't offending them. They're just who they are. And I, you know, so when I do go home, especially if I go to like certain areas, I'm always also shocked because I'm like oh my gosh, this person really wants to talk to me.

• Speaker #0

  Or,

• Speaker #1

  you know, or somebody will help me. Like, you know, I have a tendency now that I'm in Europe to carry all of my stuff in my arms or in a box because, you know, you just do it. And at the grocery store, for instance, and if I do that in the US, somebody will come up and go, excuse me, do you need a card here? Or here's a basket. And here people will watch me like stack stuff and drop it and do whatever. And they'll never offer help. So I always have both a culture shock in both homes.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah.

• Speaker #0

  Okay. Well, let's move forward with your business. So you were saying you took a leave of absence. And then when that ended, that's when you decided to build this business. What was your thought process around it?

• Speaker #1

  So the way I have it in my head is I've always loved art. and beauty. Like those are my two passions for everything and everything since I can remember, like those are what I love. When I went to graphic design school, I realized afterwards that this was not what I wanted. It just seemed like it was the right direction at the time. I loved a lot of it, but doing it after it was just not for me. I love to be in touch with people. I love to create what's in my own. create my own stuff as opposed to what other people want. And I love people. So I, when you're in graphic design, you're like in this room. Well, for me at that time, it's different now. But I just, I wasn't having the human interaction. So when I got here and I was like, okay, I'm definitely not going to work for a German company because they're going to like really not want me there. Cause I'm like late probably, and probably wearing way too many bright colors. So I was like, I have to start my, I have to start my, I'm too like, you know, hi. And they're just like, okay. But I was like, I have to start my own business because I definitely want to work. I'm, I'm very ambitious, you know? So I said, I'll start a beauty business because that's what I love the most. And that's when permanent makeup started getting really popular. in 2015 so i went to amsterdam and took some classes in english and courses i should say um and i also went to esthetician school here in germany and um and then i decided permanent makeup was exactly like what i what i exactly what i wanted to do because it was like i got to kind of draw, but also do it with makeup and make. and it makes people happy you know so it's like changing their whole way they feel and every day and yeah waking up if a woman hasn't had eyebrows and you know five or ten years or whatever and then she now she does like these kind of things just made me happy so I started it and I just did a lot of trainings with various um course uh trainers all over from all over um and I got really good at it and I built a my own community here and I got really lucky when I moved here to Stuttgart because there is a huge American community here because of the military okay which I had no idea because I'm from California and out of all 40 of my cousins only two went to the military so it's not like I'm from a state where a lot like a lot of people get out of high school and they go to the military like Washington DC or Virginia and So I had no idea there was a huge base here until I actually moved here. And I realized that those were going to be my people. So I started to market myself to those, to them and built a huge client list. A lot of, one of the downfalls that I've learned to live with is that they leave. They're only here for three, five years. Also with friendships, you know, I make American friends and then they leave. Um... So I have a huge American community here, and that's always been really amazing for my business. Also for my soul, because I get to talk to my American people. And no matter what, like, we're from the same place, even though the country's huge, we're still grew up in this eating the same foods, watching the same TV, reading the same books. Just, you know, it's. Yeah, there's that connection. There's a connection, a cultural connection. Yeah. Exactly. So that's. was a huge thing. I am so blessed that my husband is from this area because of that. And after a few years, after I got really good and my reviews started like skyrocketing and word of mouth, and then the Germans started coming in. And now at this day, I, in 2025, I will say that I have 50% German clients and 50% Americans. Germans, backgrounds, but yeah. And, um, Yeah, so I built by myself from the ground up. I started in my home studio when my son was 10. I started when he was just born. And then recently I decided to rent out a place because I got really busy and I needed to separate home and work.

• Speaker #0

  Home, yeah. Yes.

• Speaker #1

  I'm like. Okay, great. See you guys in six hours.

• Speaker #0

  Great expansion.

• Speaker #1

  So I expanded, and next year I plan on hiring somebody also in the beauty industry and pretty much as a mentor, training her and teaching her how to start her own business. That's my goal. And, yeah, it was very difficult in the beginning, mostly because of the language and the bureaucracy. I don't know if you're aware, but Germany is

• Speaker #0

  I'm not that surprised, but that's... a point I wanted to dig in of, okay, starting a business is hard, but like when you do it abroad with the admin, the bureaucracy, the language, how do you navigate that?

• Speaker #1

  Well, my husband has always been supportive, but I always tell him I feel like he threw me into the ocean and took off with the boat. And I'm like, okay, I'll make it. Because he has his own career to take care of. And yeah, in the beginning of... starting my business, mine was more like a dream. And I don't think anybody really believed that I would actually, you know, get to where I'm at or where I'm going. And I'll never forget when I told my father-in-law and my husband's father that I want to start a business. He's like, oh, Shannon, starting a business in Germany is really difficult. I don't think you shouldn't get into that. You know, you should just get a normal job. And I was like, hmm. Oh,

• Speaker #0

  very encouraging.

• Speaker #1

  And I was like, Dieter, watch. And then like five years later, he was like, oh, my God, Shannon. Like, I'm so proud. I tell everybody, my granddaughter-in-law started a business and she's very successful. And I show everybody your website. And I was like, okay. Then that, at that point, I was like, but it was very difficult. Not so much starting a business, like getting a business license is not that difficult. You just thank God for Google Translator. But more so getting clients, marketing, trying the language. My German, I went to German classes for, I have my B1, which is like conversational German, I guess. But I could not speak at all until I started having German clients. And then when I started practicing and practicing, I can talk beauty in German like a native, but something else probably not so good. But it was difficult, but also fun and challenging. And yeah, so it was definitely.

• Speaker #0

  How did you approach that marketing?

• Speaker #1

  I would say most of it is. One thing I, there's many things I love about Germans, but one of the things I do love is Germans are very loyal. And when you, when one loves you, when you crack that shell on one, maybe it's just the Thwabians, because that's where we are here in Swabianland. But when you crack that shell, like they love you and then they're coming and they're bringing their mother and their sister and their cousin and their friends and their coworkers and their brother's wife. And, and that's pretty much what happened. And I just kind of got into that. the community and now yeah yeah they just word of mouth that's been my main my that's been my only marketing I've never done marketing I've never done I will start now that I have a outside business but I had enough business and I didn't want to bring more at the time but I will start now to do more marketing and not just word of mouth so that should be fun it's always a challenge but it's always fun and I absolutely love love love everything about it yeah Yeah.

• Speaker #0

  Nice. And so did you have any adapting to do in terms of just this, the service or the way of being around the German clients versus your American clients?

• Speaker #1

  Oh, yes, definitely. There's a lot of things, you know, that's why I said I love so much that I have American clients, because I get to use my, I don't know how to say it. I can express myself in a way I can't in German. Yeah. You speak your bilingual or trilingual. I don't know how many languages you speak, but I think in your native tongue, especially when it's English, because English is such a big language. I feel like when I say big language, I mean like you could use so much. There's so many words and expressing yourself in so many ways. And it's like, to me, it feels more emotional. When I speak German, I'm more serious. So weird. I don't know. I don't know why. But I always think about that. I'm like, I have tons of German friends and they're always like, you know, we can speak German. And I'm like, well, why? I don't want to speak German.

• Speaker #0

  I'm going to be a different person.

• Speaker #1

  I'm going to be a serious person. But yeah, I definitely think leaving them is a little easier, Germans, than Americans. Americans were a little spoiled. with convenience and customer service and giant parking lots. And I can think of a million things. We are a spoiled culture. Everybody, I mean, we Americans know that. And I think people around the world know that. But Germans are not. They're used to small and inconvenient. And so it's easier to please them because I want to make them happy. And they see that. So they're always leaving happy and they always come back. And when I say Germans, I'm not only talking about like actual Germans. I'm talking about people who either were moved here as an expat. They could be from France, Spain, Italy. I have clients from all over Europe, but they live here or were born here. So, yeah, I mean, I don't know. I love having both clients. It's hard sometimes when I have to switch. it's really hard when I have to switch between German and English. Like if I, like I had an American client and a German client and then I'm like, that's a bad twisting. And I'm like, Oh my God, the words, I can't find them. And yeah, so, um, but I really do love all of my clients. They make my day.

• Speaker #0

  Anything else you want to add on that piece or on the business?

• Speaker #1

  i mean i would say you just have to go for it and i had to have a good i was very lucky with my support system because i technically didn't have to work um because i spent the first five years of my marriage, like helping my husband build his career and like supporting him and being the home person home and taking care of everything and supporting him and interview, doing his interviews with him. And, you know, just really, I was very supportive. So I supported him in the beginning, which kind of like gave him his lead. I think that's how I feel. And then, And then I got to take my. do my own so start my own business and I had support from him and um yeah it's but it was it's always been hard and it will always be hard but it's worth it a thousand percent I make my own schedule I can decorate my place however I want and um

• Speaker #0

  I have a really cool location now um and yeah I'm loving it yes all right well let's move on to your recommendations in uh Germany then So I always ask for a bar or a cafe and a restaurant that you'd recommend.

• Speaker #1

  Okay, so I live in Bublingen, which is like without traffic, like 10 kilometers or 15 kilometers from Stuttgart city. Stuttgart is a whole different walk in the park. So I would just say go to Stuttgart. Or if you're here. Okay, if you're in Bublingen, I do have recommendations. Cheers. amazing sushi restaurant, Kazumi, love it. And then actually the location where I'm working is Motor World. And this is where all of this is like the biggest, one of the biggest Motor World in Europe. It's like the main one where they have all around here, they have like little bars and restaurants and it's a cool area. And there's tons of cars and to like look at, you know, like just sightsee, I guess. Um, and then Stuttgart. Oh my gosh. There's tons. Um, yeah, there's, um, my favorite, I guess would be a Brazilian restaurant. It's really fun. It's like with churrasco. So they come and they like take the meat off and it's like all you can eat. It's amazing. They play music. They're Brazilian. So it's, um, it's lively. Um, and I re I really love that place. Yeah.

• Speaker #0

  Okay, well, I'll definitely be put in the comments then. And finally, what is your expat song?

• Speaker #1

  Oh, I'll Follow You. Do you know that one? Oh my gosh, it's I'll follow, I'll follow you. Oh,

• Speaker #0

  yes, okay. I follow, yeah.

• Speaker #1

  Probably completely off tune.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, I think it's a little lower or something.

• Speaker #1

  Because I'm so bad with names.

• Speaker #0

  I'll add it. I'll add the link.

• Speaker #1

  Yes. I know what song it is. Because usually when I sing, it's like, oh, gosh. Yeah.

• Speaker #0

  So why that song? I have my own idea, but I don't know.

• Speaker #1

  Because I followed my husband here, like a crazy person, and got in my suitcases and jumped on a plane. And, like, I still have stuff in storage in San Francisco. Like, all of my, like, my keepsakes and belongings and pictures. And. Things that I, you know, inherited from family members. And I still have everything there. And I left it and I just came here and I'm still here. And I never have thought, I think for the last, at least since I had started my business, I've never thought I wanted to move back. Before my business, I used to say I want to move back. You know, I miss my family. I miss my friends. But once I, this is my baby, my third baby. um and um I I don't want to leave it so um so I followed my husband here and or came to him I guess but that was our song that was my song to him when I was living far away yeah sense

• Speaker #0

  all right well thank you so much for sharing for sharing around the business and how you started how you go from American clients to German clients yeah different services And guys, if you liked the episode, you can put a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and follow all the updates on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.