Brit Pack Interviews
EILEEN LEE

Name: Eileen Lee
Profession: Founding Member of Brits in LA
Current Residence: West Hollywood, LA
Previous Residence: Acton, West London
Left UK in: 1997
Her friends call her the human rolodex. For British newcomers in LA she’s like a resource library, relocation queen and matchmaker all rolled into one. Eileen Lee is a founding member of the expat group Brits in LA, along with fellow Brits Craig Young and Darren Darnborough. Since its inception in 2007 the group has amassed four and a half thousand members, that’s more people than are registered with the British Consulate.
When Eileen first came to LA as an au pair she had no idea she’d become part of LA culture. She’d become jaded with the fashion industry in the UK and hated the structure of a nine to five job. Fifteen and a half years later the kids she use to look after are now going to the same clubs as her.
Although she became a US citizen a couple of years ago she’s passionate about maintaining a thriving British community in LA and helps to plan social events for the group like their recent Jubilee celebration, an annual Christmas party and the Toscars - an award ceremony that parodies Oscar-nominated films. The groups latest initiative, which launches next month, is the UKares Foundation - a community based charity.
When she’s not being a Brits in LA ambassador, you’ll find her on a fashion shoot or supervising the opening of a Brit-owned salon in LA. Most recently she’s been helping someone special through the green card process - her sister. BATP recently caught up with Eileen in her West Hollywood home;
Profession: Founding Member of Brits in LA
Current Residence: West Hollywood, LA
Previous Residence: Acton, West London
Left UK in: 1997
Her friends call her the human rolodex. For British newcomers in LA she’s like a resource library, relocation queen and matchmaker all rolled into one. Eileen Lee is a founding member of the expat group Brits in LA, along with fellow Brits Craig Young and Darren Darnborough. Since its inception in 2007 the group has amassed four and a half thousand members, that’s more people than are registered with the British Consulate.
When Eileen first came to LA as an au pair she had no idea she’d become part of LA culture. She’d become jaded with the fashion industry in the UK and hated the structure of a nine to five job. Fifteen and a half years later the kids she use to look after are now going to the same clubs as her.
Although she became a US citizen a couple of years ago she’s passionate about maintaining a thriving British community in LA and helps to plan social events for the group like their recent Jubilee celebration, an annual Christmas party and the Toscars - an award ceremony that parodies Oscar-nominated films. The groups latest initiative, which launches next month, is the UKares Foundation - a community based charity.
When she’s not being a Brits in LA ambassador, you’ll find her on a fashion shoot or supervising the opening of a Brit-owned salon in LA. Most recently she’s been helping someone special through the green card process - her sister. BATP recently caught up with Eileen in her West Hollywood home;
Why did you move to the US?
My mum had a friend who was working on a film and she had visa problems with her nanny coming over, so she asked my mum if one of her daughters would help out. I was 23 at the time and I thought I’m not doing that! And then I ended up doing it! After that she asked me to come back to LA for a few months while she moved into her new house and I really didn’t think I would stay here. In fact, I cried quite a lot when I did decide to stay because it can be really lonely here. I didn’t have any friends for like the first six months. I moved before the internet so it cost loads to call home. I use to write my mum letters and fax her once a week and she would fax me back.
How did the Brits in LA group come about?
Craig and I had a bunch of British friends, we were all young and having fun and all connected online. We ended up putting the group on Facebook just to be a bit more organized and people started inviting their friends to join the group. At forty members we had our first event and were really shocked how many people came. I think in a year we went up to four hundred members and now we’re at like four and half thousand! We have a breakfast club twice a week and about fifty to eighty people show up.
What’s the best thing about the Brits in LA community?
People are really helpful. It's this little community where people can ask stupid questions. Every day I get an email from someone saying thank you. It might have been something really simple like giving them an insurance company’s number but I’ve already done the research and made the mistakes. Also, I think our members crave hanging out with other Brits, sometimes just to have a pint without someone saying ‘OMG, I love your accent!’ or ‘Have you met Prince William?'
My mum had a friend who was working on a film and she had visa problems with her nanny coming over, so she asked my mum if one of her daughters would help out. I was 23 at the time and I thought I’m not doing that! And then I ended up doing it! After that she asked me to come back to LA for a few months while she moved into her new house and I really didn’t think I would stay here. In fact, I cried quite a lot when I did decide to stay because it can be really lonely here. I didn’t have any friends for like the first six months. I moved before the internet so it cost loads to call home. I use to write my mum letters and fax her once a week and she would fax me back.
How did the Brits in LA group come about?
Craig and I had a bunch of British friends, we were all young and having fun and all connected online. We ended up putting the group on Facebook just to be a bit more organized and people started inviting their friends to join the group. At forty members we had our first event and were really shocked how many people came. I think in a year we went up to four hundred members and now we’re at like four and half thousand! We have a breakfast club twice a week and about fifty to eighty people show up.
What’s the best thing about the Brits in LA community?
People are really helpful. It's this little community where people can ask stupid questions. Every day I get an email from someone saying thank you. It might have been something really simple like giving them an insurance company’s number but I’ve already done the research and made the mistakes. Also, I think our members crave hanging out with other Brits, sometimes just to have a pint without someone saying ‘OMG, I love your accent!’ or ‘Have you met Prince William?'

What’s the funniest/coolest thing that’s happened to you since the group started?
I saw Catherine Tate in a bar once, apparently she’d been living here for a while and been quite lonely. I was telling her about Brits in LA and she’d heard about our breakfast club. Then she went to find her friends and five minutes later she came back and said ‘My friends really want to meet you, they’re all Brits in LA members and apparently they’ve all emailed you at some point.’ One was like ‘You helped me get car’ and another was like ‘you helped me find an apartment’. So that was really nice. But it’s not just me who does it all, the members help each other out. A few months ago the BBC America blog listed Brits in LA as one of the 12 essential blogs for expats to check out when they come to America. We were on there with the British Embassy, the DMV and the IRS. I couldn’t believe that!
What’s the future of Brits in LA?
We’ve just set up a charity called UKares Foundation. We’d like to have an emergency fund that people can apply for if they need to get home. It would be nice to do grants for kids in Britain who maybe didn’t have the greatest start in life but they’d love to get into film or acting and bring them here on a scholarship. People always think that Craig and I are a little bit posh or had a great start in life but we both came from council estates in England and if we can do it and come out here and have a nice life anyone can.
What are some of the biggest differences you found between American and Brits?
I remember I was seeing this guy in New York and when I got back the first thing my girlfriends asked was what car does he drive? And how much was he paying for his apartment? You could see them judging him by what cross street he lived on. My American girlfriends would go out with guys just for a free dinner. I would rather have beans on toast on my own than have to spend the night in a nice restaurant with someone I don’t want to be with. Also, I remember when I was at school and not doing well in certain classes my teacher would tell me I was terrible. Here you’re never terrible, you’re good at everything. I think it makes you go through life a little deluded.
Can you ever see yourself moving back to the UK?
I’ve got no idea what my future holds, which is kind of exciting. I never expected to still be here now. I use to go back to the UK 3 times a year, now I go once maybe twice and for shorter times. I’ve got so many things going on here. Once of the things I love about America is you can so anything you want and no-one says to you ‘what you doing that for?...why don’t you get a proper job?’ LA is full of people who are positive, want a better life and want to try new things. When you see people in England who are fifty years old and still in the same job; they go to same pub; they have the same thing to eat on a Monday night for dinner, I couldn’t bare the monotony of that. I’d rather have the adventure.
For more info on Brits in LA check out their website: http://britsin.la or Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/britsinla
Or follow them on Twitter: @Britsinla
I saw Catherine Tate in a bar once, apparently she’d been living here for a while and been quite lonely. I was telling her about Brits in LA and she’d heard about our breakfast club. Then she went to find her friends and five minutes later she came back and said ‘My friends really want to meet you, they’re all Brits in LA members and apparently they’ve all emailed you at some point.’ One was like ‘You helped me get car’ and another was like ‘you helped me find an apartment’. So that was really nice. But it’s not just me who does it all, the members help each other out. A few months ago the BBC America blog listed Brits in LA as one of the 12 essential blogs for expats to check out when they come to America. We were on there with the British Embassy, the DMV and the IRS. I couldn’t believe that!
What’s the future of Brits in LA?
We’ve just set up a charity called UKares Foundation. We’d like to have an emergency fund that people can apply for if they need to get home. It would be nice to do grants for kids in Britain who maybe didn’t have the greatest start in life but they’d love to get into film or acting and bring them here on a scholarship. People always think that Craig and I are a little bit posh or had a great start in life but we both came from council estates in England and if we can do it and come out here and have a nice life anyone can.
What are some of the biggest differences you found between American and Brits?
I remember I was seeing this guy in New York and when I got back the first thing my girlfriends asked was what car does he drive? And how much was he paying for his apartment? You could see them judging him by what cross street he lived on. My American girlfriends would go out with guys just for a free dinner. I would rather have beans on toast on my own than have to spend the night in a nice restaurant with someone I don’t want to be with. Also, I remember when I was at school and not doing well in certain classes my teacher would tell me I was terrible. Here you’re never terrible, you’re good at everything. I think it makes you go through life a little deluded.
Can you ever see yourself moving back to the UK?
I’ve got no idea what my future holds, which is kind of exciting. I never expected to still be here now. I use to go back to the UK 3 times a year, now I go once maybe twice and for shorter times. I’ve got so many things going on here. Once of the things I love about America is you can so anything you want and no-one says to you ‘what you doing that for?...why don’t you get a proper job?’ LA is full of people who are positive, want a better life and want to try new things. When you see people in England who are fifty years old and still in the same job; they go to same pub; they have the same thing to eat on a Monday night for dinner, I couldn’t bare the monotony of that. I’d rather have the adventure.
For more info on Brits in LA check out their website: http://britsin.la or Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/britsinla
Or follow them on Twitter: @Britsinla