Why I moved to NYC
“But why would you leave Toronto to move to NYC?”
This is a question I’ve heard so many times that I’ve unintentionally practiced an answer for it. My usual response is “I’m a musical theatre actor” and the questions stop there. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably come to know me not as an actor but as a content creator and fitness instructor. For some reason, it feels harder to explain the reason for our move when it’s no longer necessarily attached to pursuing a career in musical theatre. I wanted to take this chance to explain more about my move, my career and why I’ve chosen to be a tiny fish in the large pond that is New York City.
Before we get into my most recent move to NYC, I’ll take you back to my history with this city. As a child I grew up dancing, singing, and dreaming of performing on Broadway. I am so fortunate to have a family who also loves theatre and they brought me to performances in Toronto when I was young. As I grew older, I continued to dance and ended up going to an arts high school in Toronto. My family also took us on a vacation every summer and always tried to sneak in a detour to NYC to see Broadway shows any chance we could get.
Flash forward to 2012. I was in my last year of undergrad, about to graduate from my degree in classical voice performance. For a career in opera, it is customary to continue training beyond the undergraduate level and obtain a Master of Music degree. I made an audition tour for myself which included schools located all over the US, including San Francisco, Boston, NYC, and Michigan. After all of my auditions I realized that the programs I most wanted to attend were not opera programs, but musical theatre ones. The perfect fit for me was in fact not a school in NYC but the Boston Conservatory.
While I didn’t attend my Master’s program in NYC, Boston was not far to commute and I spent a lot of my graduating year taking day trips to NYC for open call auditions. Like most of the graduates from my school, I moved to NYC as soon as I could after graduating. The only problem was, as a Canadian citizen it is extremely difficult to stay in the US after graduating, especially in this industry. As a graduate I got the opportunity to work for one year on a visa, but then I had to move back to Toronto in 2015. The one year I lived in NYC was spent either auditioning every day or performing on a contract. It was one of the most formative years of my life professionally, and I felt both inspired and challenged by the industry.
In 2017, I was living in Toronto and performing at a theatre where I ended up meeting my future husband, Ryan. What I didn’t know at the time, was that he could live and work in the US without much trouble because of his dual citizenship through his American dad. Without even considering this as an option, Ryan and I went on trips to NYC together when we first started dating because we both were actors and I wanted to show him more of the city I loved so much. We started to dream of what life might be like if we moved there. On one of our trips in 2019, Ryan proposed. In a crazy twist of fate, we happened to be staying in the neighborhood that we ultimately would move to in 2022.
Between 2019 and 2022, a little something happened in the world that changed life for a lot of people. For Ryan and I, we started to change focus. We dove into social media, started a podcast (about our dog parenting tips for Italian greyhound owners) and I started teaching fitness online. My job as an instructor was always the constant in my life when acting gigs were more sporadic. I always thought that my fitness career would be the stable job, but with the pandemic, almost all jobs related to my skills and expertise were on pause. This is when I realized how much I really wanted to pivot - and social media came just in time.
After growing Instagram and TikTok accounts for my dog (@iggyadelaide) I decided to try TikTok for myself in April 2021. I couldn’t believe the community that I found there and still find to this day. On my Tiktok and now YouTube channel, I share my love of athleisure wear (lululemon of course), body positivity, and fitness. I always encourage my community to be themselves, and hope to bring them along on my journey to self love. All of this work goes alongside my love of teaching fitness.
But HOW does this all lead to moving to NYC in 2022?
To be honest, Ryan and I had our doubts about making the move to NYC when we saw the world shutting down and Broadway closed. We worried about the prospects of a career based on ticket sales and large gatherings. When we decided to continue with the process of moving (the green card process for me), we didn’t exactly know what life would look like in NYC. After almost 4 months of living here now I can tell you that it was 1000% the right decision for us. And yet, I still find it hard to answer the question “but why did you move here?” when people ask. The answer is not hard because I don’t know why, but it’s sometimes hard have others understand. Understandably, there are political and cultural differences to living in Canada and the US. Despite the differences, I am excited for this new chapter and open to whatever life throws at us next.
Reasons why I moved to NYC
A FEELING. Living in NYC is an emotional experience. You will experience both the highs and lows, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. There is an energy to this city that I’ve only ever experienced when living here. I love the feeling of being in the heart of a city where so many important things happen in the world. So many companies have headquarters in NYC, even if they are not originally from here. People from all over the world choose to live here, even if it’s extremely expensive and apartments are small. Even if I feel like a small fish in a gigantic pond, I’d still rather be swimming in these waters.
HISTORY. While I am not an American history buff, I love to see how New York is both a fresh and new place, but with old historic buildings and landmarks. This is a city where so many immigrants landed to pursue the “American Dream” and while it’s a cliché, I find it romantic.
BROADWAY. While I’m not actively auditioning for musical theatre, I will always love live theatre and NYC is the birthplace of Broadway musicals. There are also so many ways to see theatre in NYC without having to pay the top ticket prices. By living here, it’s even easier to find those options including rush tickets, lottery tickets, TKTS and Broadway Roulette.
OPPORTUNITY. With so many people living in NYC, there is a lot of competition but there is also a lot of opportunity. Even just by living here I’ve been able to connect with people I never would have before. Living in a city that so many come to for pleasure or business gives opportunity for networking. To give you an idea why an actor might move to NYC - in Canada I was auditioning maybe 3 times a month whereas in NYC I was auditioning sometimes 3 times a day. The more auditions I attended in NYC in 2015, the faster it was before my next contract. When I moved back to Toronto I found myself frustrated and limited by the Canadian theatre industry.
CONVENIENCE. I love living in a city because as a non-driver, there are so many things I can access without having to drive. The subway system in NYC is much more extensive than what I was used to in Toronto (a subway with only 2 lines). The city is also extremely walkable - something I love to do!
FOREVER TOURIST. As someone who loves to be a tourist in my own city, I love that I’ll never run out of places to go or things to do and see. In NYC, there are always new events, pop-ups, museums, tours and more. By living here as well, I can take advantage of finding cheaper ticket prices or getting to see something if it’s only a limited time event.
WORK FROM HOME. Working as a content creator has allowed me to work from home, whether it’s working for myself or freelance for companies. While you can work remotely from home anywhere in the world, by living in NYC, I can take advantage of the city in my spare time whenever I want. If I worked remotely in any other city, I’d probably choose to take a vacation here in my spare time.
NOSTALGIA. I have so many wonderful memories in this city, whether it’s from a family vacation, from living here in 2015 or the trips I took with Ryan when we started dating (or even our honeymoon that we took here in NYC). Being able to live somewhere I always thought of as a vacation spot makes me feel very grateful to get to call it home.
After our first trip together, Ryan and I used to talk about how you can do so much in a day in NYC. Places are open later in NYC, people are ready and willing to meet, you can get around the city quickly and there are just so many things you can do. When we went back home and would have a very full day, we used to call it a “New York” day. Even now, when we have busy days, we still call them New York days. I am open to going where life takes us, but for now I am loving living in NYC and it feels like home.