From Google Staffer In London To Lisbon Entrepreneur
Clara Armand-Delille is the founder of Third Eye Media in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo: Nina Roberts
Published in Forbes on May 3, 2017
New York City, San Francisco and London are dynamic cities with robust ecosystems for entrepreneurs. These centers of innovation and venture capital attract talented high achievers from around the globe.
As glorious as these powerhouse cities are, however, they can also be crippling for a budding or bootstrapping entrepreneur. The prohibitively high cost of living and daily grind required to meet financial obligations can zap the energy, not to mention dreams, out of a would-be entrepreneur.
While some of these city dwellers cope by squelching their entrepreneurial desires, others have relocated to more livable cities, even if it means moving to a new country. That’s what the founder of Third Eye Media Clara Armand-Delille did in January 2015, when she left London for Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
Armand-Delille is a French-American who speaks seven languages and grew up in Normandy, France. She decided to leave London after eight years of working staff positions in the tech sector for companies like Google, the venture capital firm Accel and iZettle, a Swedish payment company for small businesses.
Within the first year of Armand-Delille’s arrival in Lisbon, in her early 30s at the time, she launched Third Eye Media, a strategic communications and PR consultancy for startups and venture capital firms and Clara Yoga and Wellness, a yoga and wellness coaching business based on Vinyasa yoga. Since France and Portugal are both in the E.U., no work permit was required.
In this Armand-Delille Q&A she explains why her “hamster wheel” lifestyle in London no longer worked and why she relocated to Lisbon, where it’s possible to be an entrepreneur and smell the roses—or orange blossoms, as the case may be.
Nina Roberts: What was the driving force behind relocating to a new country and starting over as an entrepreneur?
Clara Armond-Delille: After eight years working in-house at Google, Accel Partners and a few startups, I was ready for a structural change. I didn't know what shape or form it would take, but I had a strong desire to "do things my own way" and shape my life around my own priorities. The next step to grow was not just get a new job, but use the skills I had built up in a different way.
Roberts: Why move to Lisbon? Why not stay in London?
Armand-Delille: I feel more focused and creative in Lisbon than anywhere else I’ve lived. Lisbon has 2,800 plus hours of sun per year, easy access to the beach; the lifestyle is incredibly healthy. I believe the clean iodized air from the Atlantic play a role in lifting people’s energy. I had visited Lisbon a few times for work and holidays; I felt it was the right environment for me to develop my own business.
The cost of living in Lisbon is about one-sixth the cost of London, which took the financial pressure away. It gave me the headspace to think about what I really wanted.
Roberts: Is there such a big price difference?
Armand-Delille: In Lisbon an Uber to the airport costs between €9 to €12 [$10 to $13]; it’s about £55 [$71] to Heathrow from central London. I paid over £2000 [$2,585] for rent in London; my first flat in Lisbon was €400 [$436]—but prices have gone up since then.
I was saving ridiculously small amounts and it took me three or four years to feel like I had a small financial cushion.
Roberts: So you arrived in Lisbon, not knowing anyone, how did you launch your businesses?
Armand-Delille: I didn’t know if my move to Lisbon would be for three months, three years or 30 years. But I knew it would consist of a mix of yoga and communications, two activities I enjoy and practice actively.
When I moved, I was receiving many industry related requests–advice, introductions, information related to press relations, communication strategies and new market launches. There was a demand, so once I got my bearings after a few months, I launched Third Eye Media.
The same goes for my yoga business. When I moved here I struggled to find a yoga class I liked. I decided to teach the class I wanted take; it’s now filled to capacity and I’ll be starting a new class before the fall.
Roberts: What have you done to grow your businesses?
Armand-Delille: I get all my clients by word of mouth through my personal and extended networks. 100% of my PR clients are remote, based in the U.K., France, Germany and the U.S., also in Italy, Spain, Russia and elsewhere.
Roberts: How has Lisbon’s lower cost of living impacted your business?
Armand-Delille: Lisbon’s calmer pace allows me to be more strategic. I try to work with people who inspire me, products that have a positive purpose and impact in the world.
Roberts: What is one of the most challenging aspects about being an entrepreneur in a new city?
Armand-Delille: The most challenging part is not knowing what things will look like next month. I take on a lot of one-off projects—supporting startups to maximize their visibility around key milestones, without the commitment of a month PR retainer. So my activities change a lot from one month to the other. It’s both challenging and exciting, as no month looks the same.
Roberts: How did you create networks, both personal and professional?
Armand-Delille: I think the best way to meet new people is to do what you love. I shape my social life around what I find fun and enjoyable—practicing yoga, Latin dance and going to concerts—I make friends along the way.
I also get together with like-minded entrepreneurs and tech people. I have an eclectic group of friends—entrepreneurs and tech geeks, artists, investors, yogis.
Roberts: What advice would you give someone who feels trapped in the “hamster wheel” lifestyle and wants to launch a business in a more livable city?
Armand-Delille: Most of us don’t take the risk to leave a job or pursue what we love because we don’t know our value. The perceived risk of taking a leap of faith seems bigger than it really is.
Whoever has the courage to step out of the wage system, the insight to understand what skills they can offer and the vision to build a business in response to gaps in the market, is in a great position to succeed.
Think laterally. Your career is not a straight line. Use your intuition, think about what you really enjoy. We are moving from an era of uniform, mono-skilled careers to one of multi-talent and multi-skilled careers. You will see an increasing amount of workers who have two careers running in parallel. Many locals know me just as a yoga teacher, they are usually surprised when I tell them I have a whole other career. Don’t be afraid to invent your own career path.
Roberts: One always hears about crazy entrepreneurs who never sleep or eat. It seems like you have a better quality of life as an entrepreneur in Lisbon than you did as a staff worker in London.
Armand-Delille: Lisbon has brought balance to my life. While media relations, the tech industry, are incredibly high strung and adrenaline driven, practicing and teaching yoga is grounding and energizing. I have worked incredibly hard since I arrived in Lisbon, but no harder than I used to work for my employers.
This Q&A has been edited and condensed for clarity.