How Aussies are realising their career dreams overseas despite Covid

Australians in New York have defied the odds of Covid-19 and gone on to thrive professionally — some have also ended up at Sir Richard Branson’s luxury retreat.

The US and UK have long been magnets for Australians looking to make it big or to simply live the dream.

Before the pandemic hit, more than one million of us were living and working abroad.

Then came the Covid crush and 40 per cent — almost 400,000 people — scurried home.

But for those left flying the flag abroad, there are some serious business stories of success.

Following are some New York-based Aussies who defied the virus downturn and thrived professionally.

ARIANA AND FRANCESCA SQUILLACCIOTTI

Aussie sisters Ariana and Francesca Squillacciotti didn’t expect Covid-19 to bring a silver lining, but there was a significant one.

“We both ended up staying on Richard Branson’s Necker Island,” laughs Ariana.

“It was wild,” adds Francesca.

The Melbourne-born sisters both work in PR for New York luxury communications agency, J/PR, which boasts Branson’s Virgin Limited Edition as a client – a collection of his eight unique luxury retreats around the world.

Covid restrictions meant Virgin Limited Edition’s London-based marketing team couldn’t travel to the British Virgin Islands for a photo and video shoot of Branson’s travel hotspot Necker Island and the newly launching Moskito Island, so Ariana and Francesca were called in to fill the void.

“A week and a half before the shoot was due to start, they came to us and they were like, ‘Can you come and work on the island for six weeks?’” says Ariana, 29.

Australian sisters Ariana and Francesca Squillacciotti at Richard Branson's Necker Island. Picture: Supplied

“It was amazing, but talk about pivoting,” adds Francesca, 26. “We stepped into roles that were not part of our regular day-to-day jobs.”

Jumping in the deep end meant the pair was expected to be everything from stylists to directors to producers to prop masters.

“We went from the world essentially being on lockdown for a year, no travel, couped up in our New York apartment, to then working on two private islands for six weeks (between us!).

As for the big boss himself, Francesca recalls seeing the endlessly-youthful Branson kite surfing between his two islands.

“I’m like this man is 70,” Francesca laughs.

“He came up onto the beach and spoke to me and he was speaking to me as if he knew me, like, ‘How’s the video shoot going?’

“He makes a point to know everything that’s going on. Think about how much he has on – how does he keep track of everything? We were bantering and joking.”

The sisters couldn’t believe their luck. Picture: Supplied

But for all the spoils, there have been challenges; the sisters pivoted to crisis communications during the pandemic.

“Luxury travel was not first on most people’s minds,” says Ariana. “And we were dealing with all sorts of issues we hadn’t had to even think about before – do hotels put in mask mandates? What do we do about in-person service? It was a learning curve.”

Ariana also works on the Iconic Luxury Hotels account, which includes Cliveden House, the hotel Meghan Markle stayed the night before her wedding to Prince Harry.

“Being part of that – I mean, what a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”

The sisters say having each other to lean on throughout the pandemic, has been a boost.

“People are like, you’re sisters, you live together, you work together; you’re on the same work accounts. How does that even work?” says Ariana.

“But our dynamic is very collaborative. I think it’s a really beautiful experience to have a family member with you, particularly when you’re coming from a different country.”

EDDY BUCKINGHAM

Some may consider it insane to open a new restaurant right in the middle of a global pandemic but that’s just what Aussie turned New York restaurateur Eddy Buckingham and his business partners did.

The 38-year-old who was born in Melbourne and spent years in hospitality in Sydney, forged ahead with plans to open Tyger, a Southeast Asian-inspired restaurant.

“We’ve had so many chapters, and so many challenges,” he recalls.

“There was the experience of the shutdown, which now looking back, I have a completely different relationship to. The shutdown at the time was devastating – there’ no other word for it. The nature of my industry, we run on a week-to-week basis, the way our economics are modelled.”

Eddy Buckingham owns and runs NYC restaurants Chinese Tuxedo and The Tyger. Picture: Supplied

Peachy’s cocktail bar. Picture: Supplied

Buckingham, who had already successfully opened the downtown favourite Chinese Tuxedo (with cocktail bar Peachy’s below) in 2016, was ready for the challenge despite regulations and rules changing on a daily – sometimes hourly – basis.

“I remember when the pandemic first started and I said to our staff, ‘Guys, you have to temper your expectations, this might run five to six weeks,’ Buckingham says.

“I look back on that now and laugh. We were told we’d be back to normal by the [northern hemisphere] summer. This is why there have been so many chapters. Weirdly, we’re now experienced in operating in the unknown but there have been so many major challenges and ever-changing advice. But Tyger has been an absolute barnstormer and Chinese Tuxedo is doing better business than we were at the same time in 2019.

“It’s been a horrible period, but there’s been such a bonding among New Yorkers.

“And while there’s still a long road to go until whatever normal is, we’re in an OK spot.”

JUSTIN GIUFFRIDA AND ANDREW GEISEL

“Even in this strange world we’re living in, people still want to get up and have their daily coffee,” says Melburnian Justin Giuffrida of his NYC-based café group, Citizens.

Giuffrida and his Brisbane-born business partner, Andrew Geisel, founded the cafes in 2016 determined to bring an Aussie breakfast experience to the Big Apple.

Four years, and four downtown cafes later, it’s working. New Yorkers are flocking to get a good coffee, coconut yoghurt and avocado toast.

So much so, there are plans to expand to up to 40 cafes across the country.

“For Australians, I don’t think we fully realise how advanced our café segment is amongst the world until you travel,” Giuffrida says.

“Opening these Australian cafes, they bring together so many elements that New York just doesn’t have – the innovative breakfasts, the beautifully crafted coffees and the beautifully designed café spaces with a lot of natural sunlight. They just hadn’t seen that concept before and because it was so fresh and so new, it’s just become a hit.”

Australia's Andrew Geisel, right, and Justin Giuffrida of café group Citizens. Picture: Supplied

Andrew says he was lucky to retain all staff. Picture: Supplied

The pandemic, however, could have spelled disaster for Citizens, which earlier this year launched a historic crowd-funding initiative worth $US1,238,856 ($A1,688,953) allowing customers of the cafes to invest.

“I think the first thing to acknowledge is that New York was one of the hardest hit markets and hospitality one of the hardest hit industries so right from the get-go, it was a really big challenge over the course of the past year or so because the landscape was changing so much,” the 30-year-old Giuffrida says.

Citizens shut down for a few months during 2020 to “understand the safety and the regulation and how to operate in this new world”.

“We transitioned the business to meet the new safety, the new health and the new ways we could interact with our customers in the new world and I think that was a really important part of Citizens’ journey in the past year.”

What Giuffrida and Geisel discovered upon reopening is that their customers returned.

“We’ve been fortunate to not only survive, but to do OK, retain most of our staff, which I’m really proud of and hopefully start expanding again,” he says.