When Sherley Moran moved to St. Louis from Mexico City in 2018, the transition came with a great deal more than an address change. She had left a job that she loved, she had to rely on her husband for transportation, and it was hard for her to make connections, both professional and personal.
“I had a huge identity crisis, [feeling like] I'm nothing here. I don't have a career. I am just someone's wife. I'm not the professional that I used to be — the independent woman that made her own money, that drove herself around, that did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted,” she said. “And you also suffer a lot of isolation.”
A program through the St. Louis Mosaic Project helped turn things around for Moran. “It was the best thing that has ever happened to me,” she said.
The initiative’s International Mentoring Program pairs international women new to St. Louis with local women to help people new to the U.S. navigate life in the region. St. Louisans help newcomers navigate everything from trash pickup to questions about cultural norms.
“And that has spawned the most beautiful relationships,” said Suzanne Sierra, assistant director for the St. Louis Mosaic Project. “We've had so many women say to us, if it hadn't been for their connection to this program, they would have told their husbands, ‘Let's go back to our home country.’ It's really beautiful to see how the mentoring creates [a sense of] welcoming and helping people feel like they belong here.”
Moran said her mentor, St. Louis transplant Christina Lawrence, was instrumental in helping Moran relaunch her career in marketing.
“Our relationship has evolved so much over time,” Lawrence said. “When we first met, I felt a burden of responsibility to give expertise and help Sherley get her career off the ground. I was very focused on, ‘How do I provide her with the resources she needed?’ And at the same time, while doing that, [I got] to know what an incredible person she is. … Then, it grew into this incredible friendship.”
560 women from 67 countries have participated in the St. Louis Mosaic Project’s International Mentoring Program since it launched in 2017. The project, which is part of the World Trade Center of St. Louis under the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, also facilitates the St. Louis Expatriate Men's Club.
Christina Lawrence and Sherley Moran joined St. Louis on the Air to share how the program’s goals have come to fruition in their relationship and what it’s added to their experiences of making St. Louis home. Listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast, or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
