Tami McQueen, Co-Founder of 31south

Hi, I’m Tami!

I was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. Jo'burg if you're local or, as a tourist, have previously navigated the streets of Soweto in public transportation while saying your Hail Marys.

As the only child to professional-level athletes and entrepreneurs, tennis became my sweet spot and granted me the opportunity to travel the world. Until I hit U/18 level of play and five-foot-two. For all intents and purposes, a professional career was not within grasp, and quite frankly my wingspan at the net leaves a lot to be desired. And so I pursued the collegiate route, committing to an NCAA D1 tennis scholarship at Murray State in Kentucky.

Today I am the co-founder of 31south, a full service creative marketing and advertising agency focused on hyper-growth companies. Before taking the leap into entrepreneurship, I joined one the fastest-growing a B2B SaaS startups in the U.S. as the first marketing hire at SalesLoft to scale the marketing team and lead branding, customer marketing, content marketing, and lead generation initiatives across multiple platforms.

Additionally, I lead Global Social Strategy at Women Who Code; the largest and most active community for technical women in the world. The award-winning programs support over 137,000 members in 20 countries and 60+ cities to level up in their technical careers every step of the way.

My experience

I have navigated the ropes of relocation on multiple occasions — first internationally from Johannesburg, South Africa to the United States, and across the U.S. three separate times over the course of 15 years. While no two moves were alike, I have learned from many before me and with each uprooting have gathered a collection of new tips along the way.

Immersing yourself in a new ecosystem is intimidating, whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, a rookie or a seasoned digital nomad. Fortunately, networks grow exponentially — one introduction leads to three more, and those three in turn introduce you to three more.