- Jonathan Vasquez moved from Houston to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2021.
- First-generation immigrants sought a more affordable cost of living and less traffic.
- Vasquez said she fell in love with Tulsa's vibrant entrepreneurial scene and artwork.
This narrated essay is titan intake, a healthcare referral startup. He moved from Houston, Texas to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2021 as part of an incentive program to attract more remote workers.
I'm a first generation immigrant. My mother came to this country when she was seven months pregnant with me. I was lucky to be born here in America. We lived in my aunt's garage for several years until my father built us a small house in Houston.
I had a very humble upbringing. I was the first person in my family to work for a company.
I met my wife when I was in my early 20s. We moved to downtown Houston. We both worked in the city, so we lived in a high-rise apartment. However, Houston has a huge homelessness problem and I wanted something a little safer so my wife could walk the dog.
So we moved again, this time to an area of ​​Houston called River Road. I started spending a lot of time commuting. We wanted to buy a home in Houston, but finding one that fit our lifestyle and that we could afford was difficult. We would have had to move outside the city.
My wife's company went bankrupt due to the coronavirus pandemic. I worked in the healthcare industry with joint ventures and acquisitions, and my boss allowed me to go fully remote.
My wife found a program called Tulsa Remote. This is her $10,000 stipend to bring her remote workers to the city. The goal is also to increase the diversity of the city's talent pool.
To be honest, we hadn't heard much about Tulsa before. I only knew about Tulsa when Chandler moved there on an episode of Friends.
Although the acceptance rate for the Tulsa Remote program was low, I figured I had nothing to lose.
After going through the interview process, I was hired.
The Tulsa Remote Program was looking for people who wanted to be part of the Tulsa community. It's not just a stipend. We also prepare for all these events that take place in the city.
My wife and I love going to the opera, soccer, baseball, and basketball games. When we came to Tulsa to sightsee, we found that the city had a lot of things we liked, including museums and a great ballet.
Moved in January 2021.
The cost of living in Tulsa is surprisingly low. Although this city is much smaller than Houston, it still has everything a big city has to offer. And there's no commute. Everything is within a 10-15 minute drive.
One of my favorite things is that Tulsa has four seasons. Houston is really hot and humid. But here we have real winter, summer, spring and autumn.
Here in Tulsa, we rent a house with a backyard. When I opened the door, there was a garden for the dogs. Two years after the Tulsa trip, his wife became pregnant and they had a beautiful daughter. If we were still in Houston, we would have had to move out of the city. But you can afford to stay in Tulsa.
Gas costs are much cheaper because you don't have to drive 20 miles to get anywhere like you do in Houston. I also realized that I was saving a lot of money on housing. We are very happy with our rental home, but now that our daughter is born, we are considering buying a home.
Tulsa's entrepreneurial community is amazing.
Tulsa Remote helped me establish connections to start my company. About a year and a half after moving here, I saw something special happening in the entrepreneurship scene and wanted to be a part of it.
I met the co-founder of my company and started Titan Intake in May 2022. We use AI to automate referrals. The community that exists here has allowed us to create something special. We have grown friends and family here around Tulsa. The incubator in the city helped us get our first customers.
Since then, we have continued to grow beyond our limits. Thanks to our app, around 76,000 patients have been seen and more than 100 doctors are using it. We recently closed a $1.3 million pre-seed round.
Tulsa has a number of programs that help entrepreneurs with non-dilutive capital from their initial idea to the MVP (minimum viable product) phase. That community is really strong here, especially for minority founders like me. The community is about collaboration, not competition.
Tulsa is also making strides in developing its technology industry. It was designated as a technology hub earlier this year. There are many programs trying to move in that direction.
For those looking to start an innovative venture, Tulsa is the perfect place to do it. This city is very helpful for minority founders to get their feet on the ground.
we love it here.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would live in Tulsa, start a startup company, and have a daughter here.
I miss Houston food. Very diverse and actually open past midnight. I also miss my family. And I miss easy access to planes. Now, when I want to visit my family in Mexico, I have to drive to Dallas.
But we think we'll be in Tulsa for at least five to 10 years. We want to continue to grow here.