Building a Support System so You Can Start from Scratch with Mrinalini Iyengar

Mili and her husband met in the UK, got married, and returned to their home country, India. They led an incredible life close to their family and then had their first child. When their boy was in nursery school, they already felt they were not providing him with the right and enough education, so they decided to try and relocate to the US.

Starting from scratch with zero support system

Mili and her husband both had very successful careers and knew each, separately, could find an excellent job in the US. "My husband was very senior, so leaving his work was more complicated, so I left first, settled, and two months later came to take my son. My husband joined nine months later. It was a rough start."

How do you start a life from scratch?

"Looking back, it was a lack of information. My culture is very different from the American one, and I needed to learn and adjust. I almost immediately recognized that what was hardest for me was the lack of a support system, all of it was left back in India. I started joining Facebook groups, soccer groups, met other moms, built myself a community as some questions I couldn't just ask my colleagues at work. I needed a sisterhood for my well-being".

What was the most significant help to start from scratch properly?

"I credit my resilience with building my personal board of directors. I learned who fills and drains my buckets. You need to be forward-thinking and close the doors that drain your energy, so choosing my support system, my new friendships, was key."