I became the breadwinner when my family moved to France. I feel like I’ve done my husband the biggest favor ever.

When we moved in 2020, our daughter was 8, and our son was 10

They’re both now fluent in French. My husband is fluent, too. My French is not as good, as I spend most of my time working with clients in English.

I’m in awe of my kids because they left all their friends and the only life they’d ever known. They never complained or cried, and I think the experience shaped them for life.

My daughter is very outgoing, so I was never worried about her, but my son is more reserved. I remember leaving him on the playground one day after dropping him off at school and seeing him standing alone, and my heart broke.

Now, they’re both doing well and have lots of friends.

The hardest part about moving was the French culture of bureaucracy

In filling out our mortgage application, we needed to print out and return the signed papers. In the UK, you do this online, but in France, we had to print 56 pages in triplicate and mail them.

I miss my family, friends, and cultural things like the British Sunday lunch, a weekly staple growing up. I also miss speaking English — it sounds obvious, but everything is harder in a language that you’re learning.

I feel like I’ve done my husband the biggest favor ever

Our roles swapped when we moved to France. He takes care of the school runs, house duties, and admin of the house and businesses while I focus on building the businesses.

It’s great we could make this swap, effectively taking turns, as I did this before when he was a partner in a business working long hours. He’s much happier.

I’ve given him time with his children that he wouldn’t have had otherwise. My children are so close to their dad now, and it’s because of this time.

Moving to France helped my coaching business take off

I didn’t need a special business visa for France because we moved before Brexit.

We went from having my husband’s comfortable salary to it all being on my shoulders. There was no plan B, so I had to put everything into it.

One of the first things I did was start building a Facebook group, which delivered a lot of clients and revenue. I ran ads for the first few months, and after that it was all organic.

Last year, I made $960,000 in revenue

I now have a couple of connected businesses. My coaching business takes up most of my time.

I offer different ways for clients to work with me, including online courses and 1:1 coaching. The rates range from a few hundred euros to five figures or more.

In April last year, I founded a SaaS platform called coachspace.ai. In my coaching business, I help my clients with strategies, tools, and mentorship, while Coach Space gives them the tech to implement those strategies. It also helps them build funnels and generate leads.

I’ve started running retreats for my clients at our chateau. Most clients pay £2,500 for a Monday to Friday retreat with a private chef, biohacking ice baths and meditation, business strategy, and accommodation at the chateau in our converted cognac barns.

French culture is rubbing off on me

Here, people are very focused on family, traditions, and especially lunch — it’s an important part of the day, which has helped me prioritize living well. In the UK, skipping lunch and working through it was normal.

There’s a slower pace of life — part of the appeal and a big part of my business ethos — and less is more. I like that we’ve escaped the hustle culture of the UK, where everything is much harder and faster.

Want to share your relocation story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@businessinsider.com.