Meet Dez — The Person Behind My Deztination
Dez is an American entrepreneur, long-term Mexico resident, and the founder of My Deztination - a full-service Mexico relocation company that has helped thousands of Americans and Canadians move to Mexico legally, confidently, and without the overwhelm. She has been living in Mexico for over a decade, currently based in Mexico City when she's not on scouting trips across the country. She is known for honest, practical advice, a deep knowledge of how Mexico actually works, and a warmth that makes people feel like they have a friend on the ground before they've even booked a call.
Her path to building one of the most trusted Mexico relocation services online didn't start with a business plan. It started with a $300 apartment and a camera.
The Video That Started Everything
In 2021, a YouTube creator named Jim Kellett stopped by Dez's apartment in Puerto Vallarta to film a tour for his channel, Living Overseas TV.
The apartment was nestled in the jungle, overlooking the Rio Cuale river - ‘ten minutes’ walk to the beach, surrounded by trees, fully furnished, utilities included. Dez was paying $300 a month.
The video went live. And then it went viral.
Over 2.7 million views later, Dez's inbox had completely changed. The comments section filled up. The DMs started. The emails kept coming. Hundreds of Americans and Canadians - retirees, remote workers, families, people burned out on the cost of living back home - all asking the same thing:
How did you do this? Can you help me do it too?
Dez started answering. Every message, every question, every "where do I even begin." And somewhere in the middle of all those conversations, it became clear that what people needed wasn't just information - they needed someone who actually knew Mexico, who could be honest with them about what to expect, and who would guide them through the whole process, not just hand them a checklist and disappear.
That was the beginning of My Deztination as a relocation company. Not a pivot, not a rebrand -just Dez doing what she'd always done, at a scale she hadn't planned for.
She Didn't End Up in Mexico by Accident
Before the video, before the business, Dez was already someone who didn't follow a conventional path.
She grew up knowing she wanted to work with animals — trained as a veterinary technician at 17, put herself through undergraduate vet school at the University of Hawaii while working full time at a clinic on Oahu. Then, instead of finishing the degree and opening a practice, she did something most people wouldn't: she dropped out and flew to Thailand to volunteer at the Elephant Nature Park, working under its founder in their veterinary program.
That decision changed her life. It gave her a deeper understanding of wildlife conservation, of the impact of tourism on animals, of what it means to protect something you love. It also gave her something else — a taste for doing things her own way, on her own terms, in places that felt alive.
She came to Puerto Vallarta looking for that same feeling. And she found it.
She built a life there — an eco-tourism business, a community, a jungle apartment she loved. She learned how Mexico worked not from a guidebook but from years of living it, navigating the bureaucracy, building local relationships, making mistakes and figuring out how to fix them. She became the person in the room who actually knew the answers.
When the relocation enquiries started flooding in after the video, she already had everything she needed to help people. She just hadn't thought of it that way yet.
What My Deztination Has Become
Today, My Deztination is a full-service Mexico relocation concierge covering more than 20 destination cities across the country — from Puerto Vallarta and Lake Chapala to Mexico City, Mérida, San Miguel de Allende, Oaxaca, and beyond.
Dez and her team have helped thousands of people navigate the move to Mexico — retirees stretching their income in Ajijic, remote workers building a new life in Mexico City, families starting fresh in Mérida, couples who had been dreaming about this for years and finally needed someone to help them make it real.
My Deztination holds a 5-star rating on Google and Facebook, earned through real client relationships — not a review campaign. The trust that shows up in those reviews is the same trust that shows up in Dez's approach: honest about what's hard, clear about what's possible, and genuinely invested in getting it right for each person she works with.
The services have grown — residency guidance, housing search, VIP scouting tours, banking setup, healthcare orientation, school research for families, pet relocation, bureaucracy support, post-arrival integration. But the core of it hasn't changed since those first DMs in 2021. Someone needs to make this move. Dez is the person who helps them do it properly.
Where She Is Now
Last year, Dez made her own next move from Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City, where she now lives full time when she's not travelling across Mexico for scouting trips and client work.
She made the drive from Puerto Vallarta to CDMX with her rescue dog Concha and her ginger cat Pinche, who has been with her for years and has, by all accounts, adapted to city life without complaint. The three of them are proof that relocating to Mexico even when it means a major change in pace, city, and lifestyle is completely doable with the right attitude and a decent set of directions.
Mexico City has given Dez a new perspective on the country she's spent over a decade calling home. It's also given My Deztination a presence in one of the most popular relocation destinations in Mexico and a founder who can speak to urban expat life with the same first-hand honesty she brought to Puerto Vallarta.
Why People Choose Dez
There are other Mexico relocation services. There are visa consultants, Facebook groups, blogs, and directories. There is no shortage of information about moving to Mexico.
What's harder to find is someone who has actually lived it — for years, across multiple cities, through the bureaucracy and the beautiful parts and the moments where things didn't go to plan — and who will tell you the truth about all of it.
Dez is not going to oversell Mexico. She's not going to make the process sound simpler than it is. She's also not going to let you get overwhelmed by it when you don't need to be.
My Deztination exists because the people who move to Mexico deserve more than a checklist. They deserve someone in their corner — from the first question to the first week in their new home.
That's what Dez built. And that's what every client who works with her gets.
Ready to Start Your Move to Mexico?
If you're at the beginning of this process or somewhere in the middle and feeling stuck, the best first step is a free 15-minute discovery call with Dez. It costs nothing, there's no pressure, and you'll leave with more clarity than you arrived with.
Not ready for a call yet? The free Mexico Match Quiz will help you figure out which city in Mexico actually fits your lifestyle, budget, and goals. It takes three minutes and it's a genuinely useful place to start.