I am a Startup Founder Who Moved From Houston to Tulsa

• Jhonathan Vazquez moved from Houston to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2021.
• The primary-generation immigrant was in search of a extra inexpensive value of dwelling and fewer site visitors.
• Vazquez stated he is fallen in love with Tulsa’s thriving entrepreneurial scene and humanities choices.

This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Jhonathan Vazquez, 34, the cofounder and COO of Titan Consumption, a healthcare referral startup. He moved from Houston, Texas, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2021 as a part of the latter’s incentive program to entice extra distant staff.

I am a first-generation immigrant. My mom got here to this nation when she was seven months pregnant with me and I used to be blessed to be born right here within the USA. We lived in my aunt’s storage for a few years till my father was capable of get us a small residence in Houston.

It was a really humble upbringing. I used to be the primary in my household to have a company job.

I met my spouse in my early 20s. We moved to downtown Houston. Each of our jobs had been within the metropolis, so we lived in a high-rise condo. However there is a large homelessness subject in Houston, and I wished one thing a bit safer for my spouse to have the ability to stroll the canines.

So we moved once more, this time to a Houston space known as River Roads. I began spending a whole lot of time commuting to work. We wished to purchase a home in Houston, however discovering one which suited our way of life that we may additionally afford would have been powerful. We might have needed to transfer outdoors town.

Throughout COVID, my spouse’s firm went underneath. I used to be working in healthcare doing joint ventures and acquisitions, and my boss allowed me to go utterly distant.

My spouse discovered a program known as Tulsa Distant, which is a $10,000 stipend to convey distant staff to town. The purpose can be to extend range within the metropolis’s expertise pool.

To be sincere, we had by no means heard a lot of Tulsa earlier than. The extent of my Tulsa information was when Chandler moved there in a “Mates” episode.

I noticed the acceptance charge for the Tulsa Distant program was low, however I figured we had nothing to lose.

I went via the interview course of and obtained accepted.

The Tulsa Distant program wished individuals who wished to be part of Tulsa’s group. It is not only a stipend. It additionally units you up with all these occasions within the metropolis.

My spouse and I like going to the opera, soccer, baseball, and basketball video games. After we got here and toured Tulsa we noticed town had many issues we appreciated, together with museums and a fantastic ballet.

We made the transfer in January 2021.

The value of dwelling in Tulsa is ridiculously low. Town is loads smaller than Houston however nonetheless has all the things a giant metropolis has to supply. And there is not any commute. Every part’s inside 10 to fifteen minutes of driving.

Considered one of my favourite issues is that Tulsa has all 4 seasons. In Houston, it is simply scorching and humid. However right here, there’s an actual winter, summer season, spring and fall.

Right here in Tulsa, we hire a home with a yard. We simply open the door, and the canines have a yard. My spouse obtained pregnant two years into our Tulsa journey and had our stunning daughter. We might have needed to transfer outdoors town if we had been nonetheless in Houston. However in Tulsa, we are able to afford to remain.

We additionally pay a lot much less for fuel as a result of we do not have to drive 20 miles to get anyplace like we did in Houston. We even have observed large financial savings in our housing, too. We’re actually joyful the place we’re renting, however now that we now have our daughter, we’re trying to purchase a home.

The entrepreneurial group in Tulsa is nice.

Tulsa Distant helped set me up with the connections to start out my firm. A few 12 months and a half after we moved right here, I noticed one thing particular taking place within the entrepreneurship scene and wished to be part of it.

I met my firm’s cofounder, and we began Titan Consumption in Could 2022. We use AI to automate referrals. We have been capable of create one thing particular due to the group that exists right here. We raised our family and friends round right here in Tulsa. An incubator within the metropolis helped us purchase our first purchasers.

Since then, the sky has been the restrict, and we have continued to develop. Due to our app, about 76,000 sufferers have been seen, and greater than 100 medical doctors use it. We just lately closed our pre-seed spherical of $1.3 million.

Tulsa has a whole lot of packages to assist entrepreneurs with non-dilutive capital, from their first thought to the MVP (minimal viable product) section. That group is absolutely robust right here, particularly for minority founders like myself. The group is about collaboration and never competitors.

Tulsa can be taking steps to change into a thriving tech scene. It was designated a tech hub earlier this 12 months. There are a whole lot of packages which are making an attempt to push it in that route.

If folks wish to begin an progressive enterprise, Tulsa is a good place to try this. Town actually helps minority founders get their ft off the bottom.

We adore it right here.

In my wildest goals I by no means thought I’d stay in Tulsa and have a startup and a daughter born right here.

I positively miss the delicacies in Houston. It is so various, and issues truly stayed open previous midnight. I miss my household, too. And we miss the straightforward entry to flights. Now, we now have to drive to Dallas once we wish to go to my household in Mexico.

However we see ourselves staying in Tulsa for not less than 5 to 10 years. We wish to proceed to develop right here.