After only a month of living in West Michigan, Amber, a North Carolina native, already feels at home. Living in North Carolina and later attending college in Florida, one might think West Michigan is an odd place to land. But Amber and her boyfriend yearned for a change of scenery, and found themselves drawn to Grand Rapids, pulled by the lakeshore lifestyle and friendly atmosphere. Before ever considering a move north, Amber visited West Michigan and fell in love with the beauty and hospitality of the cities.

“People here are super nice,” Amber exclaimed. “We were exploring the city one day, and everyone we passed was saying hello and smiling at us, even though they did not know us. That is definitely something that I was not expecting.”

After Amber and her boyfriend decided a move to West Michigan was something they wanted to do, she found a digital marketing position and a project manager position on Hello West Michigan’s job board, and had experience in both. After applying through Hello West Michigan, she interviewed with CQL, a local information technology firm, and was offered a merged role of the two positions that drew her interest. Amber also credits her smooth transition to Greenfield Apartments, where she was able to quickly settle into, on the northeast side of Grand Rapids.

Now, Amber is working as Project Manager/Digital Marketing Specialist at CQL, thanks to the help of Hello West Michigan. “Cindy put me in direct contact with the person I was working with at CQL, and I was able to use Cindy as a contact even though I had never met her,” Amber explained. “If I was giving advice to someone starting the process of moving to West Michigan, I would tell them to connect with Hello West Michigan and network as much as possible.”

Amber and her boyfriend are looking forward to buying a house within the next year; they have been exploring every weekend and finding so many things that they love about the area. “There are so many local restaurants here, and the food is amazing,” Amber exclaimed. “Our favorite spot so far is The Winchester on Wealthy Street in Grand Rapids.” Though the sometimes cold and unpredictable weather is quite different here than in North Carolina, Amber is settling into the atmosphere well, and is finding that West Michigan is where she belongs.