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Mobility Rising: How a Cultural Interest led to a Career in Mobility 08.6.2020 | Luba Davis

Luba Davis Mobility Rising

This month’s guest author is Luba Davis, Workforce Mobility Counselor in our Texas operations center, who transformed her passion for language and culture, and her experience as a translator, into a career in relocation.  

As a child growing up in the Soviet Union, always had an interest in foreign languages and meeting people from different cultures. However, in those days of the USSR, that was not always a good thing. In fact, my mother, who worked as a nuclear scientist, had to agree not to speak to any foreigners. 

By the time I graduated from high school, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and speaking a foreign language was no longer considered “suspicious behavior.  

earned Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics with an emphasis in Spanish, English and French from People’s Friendship University in Moscow, and then earned a Master’s degree in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication. From school, I embarked on a career as a translator for an oil company, where I translated financial reports, contracts and meeting notes. 

I felt comfortable in my role, and felt I was putting my education to its highest and best use. But life had different plans for me. 

I met my American husband through my job and within one year, found myself living in the United States. My career came to a screeching halt, but after taking some time to lament, I came to the realization that I had to reinvent myself. I looked at a few options: becoming a schoolteacher of Russian or Spanish, doing administrative work or getting into the immigration field 

For me, immigration looked like the best option, and I completed my paralegal certificate with honors. I held a few temporary jobs until I saw a posting for aInternational Counselor with a relocation management companywasn’t sure what to expect – the concept of a “relocation management company” was a mystery to me – but the job functions aligned with some of my skillsI applied and got the job; the rest is history! 

I now live and work in Houston, Texas, and have personally relocated twice for my job. I have been with Weichert for over six years, working with a variety of international clients.  

What I love about my job is that I get to draw upon my passion for foreign languages and cultures and immigration every day.

 I also leverage my own experiences as a trailing spouse and a mobile employee, which gives me a rich understanding of and empathy for what the employees and families I work with are going through. 

I think I found my home! 

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Written by Luba Davis

Luba Davis, GMS, is a Workforce Mobility Counselor in our Houston, Texas operations. She brings over 17 years of experience in the international and multicultural environment and has personal experience as an expatriate. Luba has earned her Global Mobility Specialist (GMS) designation from Worldwide ERC.

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