Bio: Tiffany lives in Utrecht with her husband and their dog. Originally a performer in the United States, Tiffany now runs her own company and does some freelance writing on the side. Any spare time is devoted to singing, crafting, and studying Dutch.
1) Starting with the basics…how did you become an American expat living in the Netherlands?
Simple: like so many women living in the Netherlands, I came for love. Friends introduced me to this really cute Dutch guy and before you could say “go” we were married and I was on a plane to the Netherlands!
2) You write, you knit, you perform, you teach and you’re entrepreneurial. Tell us about all the things that you keep busy while living life abroad. Is there one thing that you’re more passionate about or are you equally passionate about everything you do?
The thing that keeps me busiest is my fledgling company Little Broadway. As an avid theater-goer and performer with dreams of Broadway and a Musical Theater degree, I was shocked to find the lack of musicals and musical theater performances (and performance opportunities) in the Netherlands. So, I started Little Broadway. At the moment Little Broadway only offers an afterschool program at international schools in the Netherlands, but I would like to expand that to include adult classes as well.
My other love is writing. My goal is to work as a writer by day and teach after school through Little Broadway. There are a few magazines here in the Netherlands I write for and I write my own scripts for Little Broadway. I’ve also discovered a love of blogging about my expat adventures.
Performing and crafting take up what down-time I have. As far as the placement of my passion – that’s a tough one. I think, really, my passion is creativity and self-expression. Everything listed above has some element of those two things.
3) How did you become so entrepreneurial? Did you look for ways of creating business opportunities from doing the things you love or did business come from just doing what you’re good at doing?
Little Broadway was created simply out of necessity. With a degree in musical theater and little work experience, I didn’t really have much going for me as far as getting an office job. Add to that the fact that I hardly spoke any Dutch and the poor economy, and I was having a tough time finding employment. When one of the schools I interviewed for suggested that I do an after school club, I took the idea and ran with it. With Little Broadway, I have free reign to do the three things I love: teaching, writing (I write all Little Broadway scripts), and performance. I make my own hours and have a great deal of flexibility. Best of all is that I adore my job!
4) How has social media been a helpful to you as an expat and as an entrepreneur?
Social Media has been outstanding in both respects. Through Facebook, I can easily keep in touch with family and friends, and share pictures, videos, stories, etc that help them continue to feel like a significant part of my life. And vice versa.
Twitter I’ve found to be more helpful from a business standpoint. I’ve gotten several writing gigs in the past few months from contacts that I’ve made via Twitter. My followers get immediate updates on both Little Broadway and my writing endeavors and, in return, my work gets an immediate response.
Although I do have a LinkedIn account and would certainly recommend having one (it’s a bit more credible than Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace from an entrepreneurial standpoint), I haven’t found it to be quite as helpful as the other two mediums I use.
The multitude of expat forums and communities are also fantastic for advice and finding others who really understand what you’re going through.
5) What advice can you offer to others about promoting themselves, their products or their services locally or online?
The best advice I can offer is NOT to promote yourself online. This can make you look spam-y and people will automatically ignore you. Do join various social media sites and do keep a blog for your business, just don’t scream from the highest rafter that you’re there to sell something. Instead, give things for free. This doesn’t have to be anything physical nor does it have to be monetary. It can simply be a gift of your time and expertise. Promote others in your niche and concentrate more on meeting the needs of people than getting potential clients. If you meet people’s needs and prove yourself useful, those people will become steadfast clients.
Business Website: http://littlebroadway.webs.com
Personal Website or Blog: http://clogsandtulips.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/amercancloggie
How/Where can people purchase your work or commission you: americancloggie@aol.com (all writing queries), littlebroadwaynl@gmail.com (all Little Broadway queries), stuffmadewithyarn@gmail.com (to commission any knit or crochet work)
