((PKG))  TULSA REMOTE   
((TRT:  03:46)) 
((Banner:  Moving to Tulsa))  
((Reporter:  Julie Taboh)) 
((Camera:  Jeremy Gosset))  
((Adapted by:  Zdenko Novacki)) 
((Map:  Tulsa, Oklahoma))    
((Main characters:  1 female;  1 male))  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Text from Tulsa Remote website on screen:   
Hi, remote workers! 
We’ll pay you to work from Tulsa. 
You’re going to love it here.)) 
((Stephanie Robesky, Participant, Tulsa Remote))  
I first heard about Tulsa Remote, I felt like it was 
kismet.  I was thinking about leaving the Bay area 
where I was living in San Francisco.  And so, I was 
searching around for, you know, different locations 
like researching where, you know,  
((Stephanie Robesky, Participant, Tulsa Remote)) 
what's the cost of living like?  What is the quality of 
life like in different cities?  And I looked at all the, 
kind of, obvious things that I think people migrate 
from California to, which were Portland, Austin, 
Seattle.  And, you know, I just kept coming up with 
the fact that those cities have, kind of, been 
overplayed at this point.  And when I was doing this 
research, an article for Tulsa Remote popped up in 
my news feed, and I thought, like, that's super 
interesting.  Ten thousand dollars to move 
somewhere. 
But then I was also, had to, like, take a step back 
and go “Where is Tulsa, Oklahoma?”  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Ben Stewart, Interim Executive Director, Tulsa 
Remote)) 
Tulsa Remote is an innovative program which seeks 
to bring remote workers from across the country with 
various diverse skill sets in order for them to have an 
opportunity to join our community.  The program was 
created as it's truly an additive talent program which 
brings people with jobs to Tulsa in order to see a 
better life for themselves and their families. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Stephanie Robesky, Participant, Tulsa Remote))  
I made this list and I said, you know “What do I 
need?  Do I need 700 restaurants?  No, I probably 
need, like, three restaurants.  Do I need all of these 
bars?  No, but I do want some culture.  I do want a 
sense of community.  I would like, you know, a 
reasonable cost of living, the ability to buy a house.” 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Stephanie Robesky, Participant, Tulsa Remote))  
I never anticipated even when I was flying out here, 
that it was something that I was seriously 
considering.  I was, kind of, like, “This is interesting.  
I'm going to go with an open mind.  I'm going to see 
what this is about.  But probably, like, this is 
probably not going to happen.”  And by the end of 
three days, I was sitting there with another 
participant that had come to visit and we looked at 
each other, we said, he was from New York and we 
said, “Are we doing this?  Are we actually going to 
move to Tulsa, Oklahoma?”  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Ben Stewart, Interim Executive Director, Tulsa 
Remote)) 
Over half of our applications come from California 
and New York.  And those folks are looking for a 
higher quality of life.  They're looking for more 
space.  They're looking for the ability to purchase a 
home.  They're looking for the opportunity to engage 
more deeply with the community.  They're looking for 
that presence where they know people by their first 
names.  And that's something that Tulsa can 
provide.  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Stephanie Robesky, Participant, Tulsa Remote))  
I rolled into town and I immediately had 50 plus 
connections.  I can't imagine, like, trying to make 
that solo move to a new town as a remote worker.  
And how do you even start making those 
connections, right?  I mean, we had instant 
community built-in already for us.  They helped us, 
you know, even with simple things.  “I don't know 
how to change my driver's license.”  You know, like, 
people from the program would help us with this.  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Ben Stewart, Interim Executive Director, Tulsa 
Remote)) 
The ten-thousand-dollar headline number for Tulsa 
Remote grabs attention.  However, the 
disbursement of the checks really just de-risks the 
proposition of moving to Tulsa.  We found that 
people come for many different reasons.  Cost of 
living, quality of life, ease, lack of pollution, all kinds 
of reasons.  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Stephanie Robesky, Participant, Tulsa Remote))  
I felt so at home that I have now purchased a home 
here because it is affordable.  I purchased a home.  I 
got a boyfriend.  I mean, I feel like I'm the Tulsa 
Remote success story.  
((NATS/MUSIC))