The year was 2005 when I, Cris Barata, and my dear friend Dani Pinaud moved from Rio de Janeiro to Houston because of our husbands’ jobs.
Pregnant for the first time, we found ourselves in another country, trying to connect with a new community and adjust to a new culture. We immediately found in each other the support we needed to go through all the joys and challenges in life as an expat.
Living just a few blocks away from each other, we’d spend endless mornings together talking about family, friends, kids, and work. We both had left our jobs in Brazil, and giving up our professional goals was not an option.
It was in 2008, after the birth of our second daughters, that Idea Studio was born. A graphic design company specialised in branding, flyers, newsletter, stationery, invitations, banners, and folders. Our first clients were local small businesses in Houston.
After two years, Dani moves to another city in the U.S., and I move to Dubai. Although an ocean separates us, Idea Studio remains strong and growing. Focusing on building brands, Idea Studio starts its operation in Dubai.
I move again, but now to Buenos Aires, while Dani returns to Houston. Distance has never been an issue for us two, and we decided that it was time to get bigger. We became a 100 percent online business specialised in creating branding and websites for small businesses worldwide.
By a fortune of destiny, in 2018, our reunion in Singapore made us become neighbours again. Going through all the challenges as an expat-preneur we decided it was time to start helping women like us. So, Idea Studio became the one-stop shop for creating meaningful brands for expats worldwide.
Our uncomplicated process allows us to deliver branding and website in just two weeks. Our focus is to have quality and agility in everything we do. Through a 100 percent online process, we make the whole strategy for developing your business and image.
Who better than we two, who managed to keep a business alive for so long, working in different time zones, different languages, different cultures to help and understand other expatriates? We know the drill.
s. www.facebook.com/ideastudioco
e. hello@ideastudioco.com
Expat Choice is a digital community of registered contributors collectively reporting on local experiences who self publish on www.expatchoice.asia
