Meet Christine Peake from Bury, Lancashire, who moved to LA 18 years ago. She is the CEO/Founder peakPRgroup in Santa Monica, representing clients such as smartwater, Coca-Cola and the American Red Cross. Her firm specializes in A-list red carpet events working with organisations including BAFTA/LA.
Was there a particular reason you chose LA?
Not really, I actually preferred NYC, but personal reasons brought me here, and the longer I stayed the more settled I became and the more I appreciated what it had to offer. A lot of people criticize LA yet they stay, so I embraced it and adapted to the lifestyle, made some great friends and buckled down. Every time I drove down my street and saw the PCH Malibu coastline I had an instant reminder of how lucky I was, certainly better than a grey day in the rain.
What one thing do you miss from home?
Hands down, the sense of humour. Here I adapted the phrase “just kidding” to almost every sentence as not to offend some Americans.
What do you find the biggest difference is living here versus the UK?
Physically there seems to be an obvious lack of wrinkles here and everyone’s breasts are pert? Dinner reservations are over at 9pm and kids drive terribly! Mentally, I love the energy, determination and basically the “you can do anything attitude”. An ex glamour model would have to fight harder to change a career in the UK, whereas here, anything is possible, for example, Piers Morgan, who’d have thought it? I used to work at the same newspaper as Piers in the UK, now he really is living the dream.
Do you have a hidden gem in LA that you want to share with us?
I get very stressed out with work and the number of hours I put in…so when I need to take some time out, I go to Tikkun Holistic Spa in Santa Monica on 4th St, best facial, massage, body scrub ever, I feel like I have slept for a week when I leave. Plus the infra-red room burns 300 calories in 30 mins, so the gym can be avoided.
What would you suggest to others who are thinking about making the move here ?
Don’t order alcohol at lunchtime, just kidding, actually I am not. I would say “give it time,” Americans speak the same language as Brits although they spell it differently, but the culture is totally different, rather than criticize it, embrace it, work hard, And avoiding wearing Union Jack Tee shirts on the 4th of July is always a good start! BBC America will save your life, HP sauce is available and Brits in LA, are a must to give you that extra help, guidance and extended friendship.
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