WITH over 16 years’ experience working exclusively with multinational corporations, Corporate Communication and Digital Content Strategist Ty Williams first toyed with the idea of starting her own global mobility business, focused on cultural immersion and relocation concierge services, some six years ago. The proverbial light bulb went off after having worked for a few years in human resources at one of the multinational companies where she experienced first-hand the onboarding process for international assignees (expats or AI).

Williams shared that at the time, she thought it was ‘too novel’ an idea and didn’t actively pursue starting the service-based business; however, the concept never eluded her and in October 2020, the self-proclaimed “happiness advocate” made her business official with Moving Home Consultancy (MHC).

The Moving Home boss describes the business as a cultural and relocation concierge service business that supports international assignees to fully acclimatise into the local market through carefully curated cultural immersion experiences, awareness training and support.

“I have always worked in communications and employee engagement in various forms throughout my career, and when I think about all the mergers and acquisitions, in the last decade, I’ve actually worked for four multi-national corporations,” she said, adding that she was also assigned to work overseas for a period, which further opened her eyes to the realities that foreign nationals experience when they relocate to a new country to live and work. “During the time I was working overseas, the gaps with the end-to-end relocation and cultural immersion process for overseas hires became even more apparent, and it became clearer to me that I was on to something with my idea.”

Williams shared that her vision for MHC is “to become the leading resource for relocation and cultural immersion for international assignees to Jamaica”.

With its suite of specialised services, Williams explains that her business is primarily targeted at HR professionals in multinational organisations who are looking for that added support, expertise and value-added solution when bringing in international assignees. MHC also provides services directly to expats who are seeking local cultural experiences.

Some of Moving Home’s services include customised cultural immersion experiences that are curated to expose international assignees to all aspects of Jamaica’s eclectic cultural landscape; culture awareness training (theory); personalised administrative support for a smoother onboarding (setting up bank accounts, utilities, housekeeping, gym membership, etc); event management and execution (birthday parties, private dinners, etc); finding residential property; work permit application; and document translation.

“Our end goal is to help companies reduce the personnel hours and operational costs attached to managing the global mobility process end to end. Ultimately, we want to ease the administrative burden of situating international assignees in an efficient and empathetic manner…at Moving Home, we connect all the dots for you to ensure a successful integration into the local culture and workforce for your new international hires,” Williams said.

Williams is as dynamic as they come, a travel enthusiast and adventure seeker with an academic background in communication and law, Williams explains that while the idea of working and living overseas may seem enticing, the reality on the ground, at least in its initial stages can be daunting – from settling into a new routine, navigating interpersonal relationships in a new work environment, and the cultural nuances that exists in any new country, the challenges are very real, she shared.

“The cultural immersion and relocation process not only benefit the assignees and their families, but also positively impacts how they adapt into their assigned organisational culture and navigate everyday interactions with colleagues and locals.” Williams also noted that Moving Home’s services are entirely tailored based on each client’s needs.

Williams celebrates her first business anniversary this month and shared that she is “beyond happy and thankful for how well the business has done in its first year; I am getting support and people are seeing the value of the service; I am excited to see what the next year brings for MHC.”

You can learn more about Moving Home Consultancy and its services at movinghomeconsultancy.com.