Three years ago, the promise of a new life in a foreign country propelled Kelise Williams and her family to move to Canada.
The two-year application process would eventually take her, her husband, and their two children – ages one and three – to Alberta.
With no family or friends in the country, Williams, born and raised in Morvant, and her young family left the familiar behind and landed in the Canadian province in May 2019. They headed for a nearby hotel where they had made a booking for their first night.
“We had to take public transport from the airport to the hotel,” she told WMN.
Reminiscing on that night, Williams, 33, said the hotel did not want to take them in although they had a booking because they did not have a credit card and they were unable to pay in cash.
At 3 am, she said, she started to cry and her first night in her new home was off to a rocky start.
However, the memory of that night did not deter her or her family. The couple found help from a church who came together and gifted them furniture free of charge which they used in their first apartment.
[caption id="attachment_932546" align="alignnone" width="576"] Kelise Williams helps make the transition to a new country a little easier. -[/caption]
Williams landed in the country as a permanent resident.
“There are over 80 streams of immigration,” she said. "I came through the federal skills worker through express entry.”
She said it did not take long for her to find work and within three months of landing, she was working at mid-level management.
“Within 22 months, we bought our first home.”
She said there were still many moments of tears during her first year in the country but the family also had just as many wins.
“It proved to be a good decision in the long run. I have nothing negative to say looking back but at the point in time, I was stressed.”
After enduring such a trying transitional period, Williams decided to post her experiences as an immigrant on YouTube.
“People reached out to say, ‘Hey. I’ll be in your city,’ and I met with them. I did that for (nearly) two years. It wasn’t a business or anything. I did it to make connections.”
She said her first pick-up was a month after her family landed when she herself was still new to the experience. She also volunteered to help refugees entering the country where she also connected with people who found themselves in a foreign land.
It was through these volunteering efforts that Williams decided she could make a business model out of it.
“I decided it would probably be good to start a business catering to Caribbean people settling in Canada.”
In June 2021, she registered her business, Settle Successful Services, and became a full-time entrepreneur. The business consists of a three-man team, including Williams’s husband and brother.
[caption id="attachment_932545" align="alignnone" width="500"] The logo for Settle Successful Services. -[/caption
