The Immigrant Gaze

When she moved to the UK, she didn’t wait around for life to happen. Instead, she built community from the ground up.

In this episode of The Immigrant Gaze, we hear from the founder of the Chop Life Gang, a group of women in Aberdeen, Scotland, who meet regularly to explore the UK and Europe, celebrate life, and support each other through the highs and lows of migration. From spontaneous road trips to meaningful friendships, this story is about reclaiming joy, connection, and sisterhood in a new country.

Recorded at Stories and Small Chops in collaboration with The Chop Life Gang.

After losing both her parents, she moved to the UK hoping for a fresh start but grief followed her. In this episode, she shares how navigating loss in a new country reshaped her life and identity.

If you’re dealing with grief or emotional challenges while adjusting to life in the UK, support is available. Contact Mind, Mental Health UK for help.

After working for 18 years in her home country, she packed up her life and moved to the UK, only to realise she'd have to start her career from scratch. In this episode, she shares what that journey has looked like: the identity loss, the small wins, the moments of kindness and cruelty, and how she’s built a new life she now loves.

This is a story of resilience, reinvention, and what it really means to begin again in a new country.

Recorded at Stories and Small Chops in Aberdeen, in collaboration with The Chop Life Gang.

In her first few weeks in the UK, this Kenyan-Ethiopian woman met warm hearts and a few bad apples. In this episode, she reflects on how those early encounters shaped a beautiful experience so far, and why she believes deeply in the power of alignment.

What happens when you leave everything you know behind, armed with little information and a lot of faith? In this episode, a Nigerian woman shares how she found herself as the only Black person in a quiet, freezing village in Scotland, and what it took to adjust, survive, and find connection in the most unexpected ways.

When violence came too close to home, she made the hardest decision of her life—leaving Nigeria to keep her family safe. In this episode, she shares how she went from a thriving career to working odd jobs in the UK, and how she’s slowly rebuilt a life of purpose, resilience, and hope.

✨ Listen, share, and tell us—what are your concerns with starting over?

The Immigrant Gaze Podcast brings you firsthand stories from immigrants as they share why they moved and the experiences—challenging, unexpected, and life-changing—they’ve had since then.

In this first season, we explore the stories of five African women living in the United Kingdom. Recorded during a Stories and_ event in collaboration with Chop Life Gang Aberdeen, these conversations offer a raw and intimate look at their journeys.

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