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Why I Left Louisiana and moved to Nashville

Writer's picture: koeppeljonathankoeppeljonathan

105,000+ people left in 2022. Same story, different day. We all leave for mostly the same reasons: Quality of life, safety, and economic opportunity.


The backstory..

I grew up as a kid on the Westbank of New Orleans, home of MC Thick's famous song "Marrero". The most unusually diverse place i've ever been, still to this day! Apparently there was a time in the 70s and 80s where the Westbank and Greater New Orleans Area experienced some sort of economic boom. There was manufacturing, there were jobs, there was industrial work, and people were thriving (from what i've been told).


Louisiana Crime

Crime and welfare have always been prevalent in the region, but at least you were able to work and make some money while sustaining a family. There were new developments, neighborhoods, and a pretty large amount of opportunities for anyone looking for it. But something was off..


In the 1990s and early 2000s Louisiana started to lose its opportunities to neighboring states such as Texas. Oil and gas companies were beginning to stop expansion and close shop. Crime continued to be a massive problem and then Katrina hits, wipes out the city of New Orleans and takes away a lot of the good things that were left in the region. Construction was the main industry making money post Katrina, and then tourism slowly came back as the city was pieced together again. A lot of people quit what they were doing previously to start residential construction companies since there was so much federal aid and insurance money - and plenty of work to go around.


Fast-forward from Katrina to now..

I end up living in St. Tammany Parish with my family after the hurricane and then graduate from Slidell High with no intentions of going to college. I thought college would be useless because of all the blue collar people I met in Louisiana that were extremely successful with very little, if any, college education. A high school counselor, who later died tragically in a motor cycle accident, convinced me to take advantage of a scholarship program that would pay for my tuition if I would simply apply for it and pass a test. After a bit of arguing with the woman, I took her recommendation. Something about going to college and getting a degree made me think I would be able to earn a really good living while working with my brain instead of my hands (how ignorant was I!). I graduate college ahead of schedule, make the deans list, and expect to find work in my state.


ALL MY COLLEGE CLASSMATES MOVED AWAY.


The entire time I was in college, everyone was talking about moving to states with better job opportunities and higher quality of life - I had no real idea of what they were talking about to be honest. One by one I noticed friends and classmates slowly move away, never to come back home to Louisiana.

Moving out of Louisiana

One of my close friend's dad was from Nigeria and told me that I, nor his son, would be able to make money living in Louisiana and told both of us that we should plan to leave as soon as possible. I remembered that everyone who moved found really great jobs, but those like myself who decided to stay were struggling to find decent paying jobs/work.


After graduating college I end up working in retail with Walmart because no other company offered to hire me, and I truly applied at more places than I can remember! It was disheartening, but also humbling. It made me realize that I wasn't above doing work that was considered lowly by many, in fact I enjoyed working that job for a while... but I knew it wasn't my forever job so I eventually quit to try some other things before ending up as a school teacher.


My degree lent itself towards teaching foreign language, and I knew that. I knew that my degree would always allow me to teach Spanish in school because there was a low supply of certified Spanish teachers and a strong demand for those positions. I become a teacher, I get all my credentials in order, and I stick with it for a few years. Even though being a teacher is a dead end job that has no room for upward mobility, I was enjoying it.


Then COVID hits and changed life as we knew it.


Schools were already mostly left leaning and filled with political agendas, but I didn't plan or want to rock the boat by offering my opinion. BUT eventually I was fed up with the nonsense and started speaking at school board meetings to try and expose problems while offering solutions. This led to me getting fired, which then put me in a position of looking for a job once again. Mind you, while teaching I studied to receive my MBA in international business!


I applied at maybe 100+ local area businesses and only one offered to hire me, it was a new roofing company that was making decent money thanks to a recent hurricane. I didn't think that company would last because of how fast it shot up. But after being rejected so many times I figured I would try to open up my own business, especially if I was going to be doing construction anyways.. Since it was the only thing I could think of that would make money, I bought some tools and got to work building fences for people in my area.


The entire time I was building fences, I looked for opportunity for work outside construction. Couldn't find it. There were jobs working in management with construction companies in the area, but they paid almost the same salary I was making as a teacher and required many years of experience - it made no sense. What further agitated me was that somehow I was able to start a business, get customers, put people to work, and yet most people I tried to find work with had zero appreciation for that.


The second year in business building fences I noticed that my potential clients were low on cash, couldn't afford my services, and incredibly tight with their wallets. This was definitely part of a larger national trend thanks to inflation and political issues, but it hit extremely hard in Southeast Louisiana, an area with very little economy to begin with.


My friends were continuing to leave the state for greener and safer pastures.


I'm building fences, finally land some remote work with a politically oriented non-profit (which was based out of state), and find myself in a position of being stuck. I'm working 80+ hours a week, have no social life, can't find young professionals or young people in general because they've all left the state - and I know my worth. I know my potential. I know what I can do.

Open Carry in Louisiana

Crime is basically out of control, I was open carrying when I had to conduct work in New Orleans as a proactive way of preventing theft or murder on the job.


Potential customers can't afford my services, illegal immigrants are doing the same work, but with horrible quality, for literal pennies on the dollar.


Somehow my hard work and determination allow me to build relationships with the Lt. Governor and current Governor of Louisiana. Small town kid, former teacher, and current fence builder. I made myself available, on more than one occasion, to the most powerful men in Louisiana to help better the economy and improve our state to prevent young people from leaving. Everything fell on deaf ears. No one cared.


Louisiana man in Thailand

I'm able to be known by all these powerful figures, yet still unable to find work outside of residential construction. I find myself being invited to present at the largest company in Southeast Asia (C.P. Group) and work with the Forum for World Education as a consultant.. But still unable to make anything happen in Louisiana.


It became evident to me that moving out of state in search of opportunity and a new life was my only option at changing my present situation. I did not want to be a residential fence builder or construction service guy for the rest of my life. I finally drank the tea and prepared to leave.


Buying and selling items from garage sales, random home improvement/renovation projects, building fences, working with the political oriented non-profit, and eating beans and rice every day allowed me to save up a nice nest egg and finally move. My remote job, at the time, transferred me to Nashville, TN which made for a smooth transition. I did not exactly have a plan in place for once I moved, but I knew that if I took my hard working self to a thriving city I wouldn't have to beg and pander for opportunity - it would find me.


Sure enough, my gut intuition was right. Opportunity in this thriving city is around every corner. My quality of life has increased substantially. There are young working professionals everywhere.. EVERYWHERE! And i've been able to meet more people in 6 weeks than I have been able to meet over the last year living in Louisiana.. It's sort of unbelievable.


Me in Nashville.. it's GREAT.

Since moving here I've been invited to participate on one of Americas most watched talk shows AND present at a very influential international conference taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. Not to mention I've met a handful of successful business owners and investors that are wanting to work together to conduct new business in and around Nashville. It's as if the only thing that was holding me back was bottling up all of my potential and hiding it in a small bayou town where no one could find me or know that I exist.

From Louisiana to Nashville.

I have nothing against Louisiana, well maybe just a little. The crime, the poverty, lack of economy and economic opportunity are the things I dislike the most... the culture is still second to none and the faith community is among the greatest in America.


For now - Nashville is home and I'm loving it. I'm also encouraging every single young person I know thats unable to find gainful employment in state to flee Louisiana and go where opportunity exists. I hope the politicians will work with a sense of urgency to Make Louisiana Great Again. If not, who will be left in the state 10 years from now?


Stay tuned... Much more to come!



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