"I work full time, so I pay a driver to get my daughter home safe."

Juggling full-time work and parenthood can be tough. Mum-of-two and director of a national recruitment agency, Christy Moses knows this all too well. With her family overseas and a husband who works as a primary school teacher, getting seven-year-old daughter Mackenzie to and from afternoon ballet lessons presented a bit of a challenge.

That’s when Christy connected with Shebah driver Alison. As Australia’s only all-women rideshare, Shebah delivers safe transport for women and kids while ensuring drivers are supported and earn well.

Every Monday, Alison picks Mackenzie up from school and drives her to her dance lessons. The arrangement has empowered both Christy and Alison to succeed in careers they love. And along the way, Alison has become more than a driver – she’s become a much-loved extended member of the Moses family. We heard from both women how it’s changed their lives.

Christy:

My daughter Mackenzie loves to dance. She started when she was four and has added more classes each year. These days she dances on Monday and Thursday afternoons as well as Saturdays so it’s a big commitment. Her afternoon dance classes start at 4pm, a time when both my husband and I are at work. For a while we managed to get her there with the help of a nanny but when the nanny quit to start uni, we were stuck.

Finding a nanny to do a school pick-up and drop-off once a week was hard. I was talking about my situation at a local café and a guy who worked there said, “You should talk to Alison because she does driving specifically for kids and women.” I looked Alison up and got in touch. Back then not many people knew about Shebah, me included.

Alison explained how the Shebah app and service worked. I could select Alison as our preferred driver and book her up to 30 days in advance. Alison also gave me all her details in terms of identification so I could provide it to Mackenzie’s school and dance school. We then organised a face-to-face meeting so Alison could introduce herself to Mackenzie before the first ride.

Fast forward 15 months and Alison has never missed a ride. She picks Mackenzie up from school every Monday and drives her to her ballet class. On the way, Mackenzie tells Alison about her day and Alison talks about her own daughter who is in high school. When they get to dancing, Alison waits for Mackenzie to get changed and even does her hair.

I love the close relationship they’ve developed and I love knowing that Mackenzie is in such safe hands. One day Alison could sense that Mackenzie was upset about something that happened at school. Alison talked it through with her then messaged me so I could chat to Mackenzie about it when I picked her up after dancing. It’s great to have another adult there to support your child because your kids don’t always tell you everything.

I have a huge level of professional trust in Alison. I know that she’ll be there every week. Like all Shebah drivers, she has a Working with Children Check and has been able to organise a full car seat and now a booster seat for Mackenzie. Alison is also so passionate about what she’s doing and I love that our family can support her to work in a flexible job that she loves. We’re working women supporting one another. Without Alison, Mackenzie wouldn’t be able to dance, she’d be in after school care. This way everyone wins.

Alison sent me a message yesterday because it was the end of the dance term and the last drop off for 2019. She said she was really sad that she won’t see Mackenzie until February so I said, “Don’t worry, we will call around and say Merry Christmas.” Mackenzie has already bought her a Christmas present.

Mackenzie practising her ballet at home. Image: Shebah.

Alison:

It’ll be two years in March since I started working with Shebah. I used to work in the corporate world but ran into some health issues after the birth of my daughter who is nearly 14. I ended up with breast cancer and Type 1 Diabetes along with a host of other stuff which meant I couldn’t go back into the corporate world. No offence to pale, middle-aged men because I’m married to one but I just didn’t want to work for them anymore. If I had to stuff one more stationary cupboard, it would have sent me over the edge.

The Shebah opportunity came up and I thought ‘this is perfect for me’. I love driving and I love chatting. I was a bit nervous about being self-employed but Shebah made the whole process so simple and I got lots of support from HQ. The ethos behind why this is so necessary in today’s world just reinforced the decision for me. As the only legal rideshare where kids can travel unaccompanied, we’re helping working parents with the demands of day-to-day life.

Christy got in touch with me and said she had a daughter that needed to get to ballet every week and she couldn’t do it. I met Christy, Mackenzie and her younger sister, Sailor, to set it all up and we haven’t missed a ride in 15 months. I’ve seen Mackenzie go from kindergarten to Grade 2 next year.

When Mackenzie comes out of school, I can tell by the look on her face whether it’s been a good day or a bad day. We have a bit of a chat on the ride to ballet and sometimes she tells me about things that have upset her – like not being invited to a birthday party. I tell her not to worry because my daughter went through the same things at her age. Sometimes Christy rings me at night and asks if anything happened that day and she just says, “Thanks for being there.”

At Shebah we call ourselves an army of aunties. I’m not Mackenzie’s mum but I can be pseudo mum for a 20-minute trip, talk to her and help get her hair in a bun. It’s hard when parents are working full-time,  they just need some extra support. Christy’s family living in America makes it extra hard for her. I hope my help makes it a bit easier.

I absolutely love the flexibility of working with Shebah. I have the freedom to turn the app on or off depending on what’s going on in my life. It’s a great job option for mums because if your child is sick you can turn off the app rather than calling in sick and having your boss get the sh*ts.

Not only is it flexible, the money is good. I get 85 per cent of the fare which gives me a great sense of financial freedom. It’s not a revolution – it’s a societal correction.

Shebah helps two people have a successful work-life. Christy is hiring me as a driver and I’m supporting her to stay in the workforce by giving her peace of mind that Mackenzie is well looked after. And that’s what we all want for our kids.

For more info on Shebah or to download the app, visit shebah.com.au.

Feature image: Shebah