Thomas Phillips left the UK to run a business from the US.
Courtesy of Thomas Phillips
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Thomas Phillips, 33, a business owner from Southampton, England, who left the UK in 2024 and now lives in Austin, Texas, while running his SEO agency. Phillips is on a E-2 Investor Visa. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I'm originally from Southampton in the UK — it's where the Titanic set off from. I think that's the only thing Southampton has going for it.I've been doing search engine optimization for the last 20 years or so. I now run DTC SEO Agency, we do search engine optimization for direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands.I always wanted to live in the States ever since I was a young kid. Growing up, my dad was really into American cars and we used to go to Huntington Beach, California, to see all of his friends and check out the car scene. It was always a big draw for me to see the car culture and the awesome people and how passionate Americans are.I'd also done so much research, and I know so many people who live in the US, so I just knew moving was the right option for us.When we actually decided to move, my wife and I were looking in Huntington Beach. One of my best friends in California called me up three months before we were going to move and he said, "My wife and I are moving to Miami now."I said, "All right, well, we're not going to move to California then if you guys aren't even going to be there."
