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Immigrants like Doe Deere see a Version of America that Born Citizens often Overlook…

It’s no secret that born citizens often take the North American continent for granted. Immigrants like Doe Deere, the founder of Lime Crime Cosmetics, happen to see America differently. The title of her most recent piece in Entrepreneur magazine suggests something simple enough; nobody can come along and make America great as it was already great all along! Deere and many others from countries such as Russia seem to view the country in such a light even when the odds are stacked against them.

Like Doe discussed, many immigrants migrate over with visions of Hollywood movie scenes playing in their heads. When they see our real-life cities, they are typically nothing like what was presented within the popular media presentations. Deere contrasts the real-life NYC, that she experienced for the first time at age 17, with the city she imagined while consuming all those books, movies and magazines as a Jewish child living in Russia.

Doe’s story is not unlike those told by other immigrants. After learning how America differed from its media representation, the family soon went broke. What we see during this next part of her story is a theme that is all too common within these stories; Doe’s mother had an accounting degree that the US was reluctant to accept! Because of this, she was forced to remain underemployed cleaning the homes of others.

As you can probably imagine, the cleaning job doesn’t tide them over for long. The family eventually goes entirely broke and must live off of soup kitchens and shelters until they eventually have the cash flow to live in a low income, urban area. The crime is only briefly mentioned by the author, however. In much greater detail she outlines how much the family appreciated having their own apartment with their very own kitchen!

Doe’s story is certainly an aspiring one. As she is wrapping up she ponders how somebody that was once homeless could employ almost 40 people and become a CEO. Mrs. Deere has certainly proven why the immigrant viewpoint/attitude seems to produce a lot more business owners than the viewpoint/attitude that is all too common among born citizens.

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