00:06 Speaker A
The biggest names in business and in Hollywood all call one woman to teach their kids to drive. Shanti.
00:15 Speaker A
Her story and those of her clients, including the Murdoch, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Wall Street bankers, are featured in the short film, Shanti Rides Shotgun.
00:24 Shanti
Don’t breathe yet. You’re not having a baby yet. So you don’t need to hyperventilate. Okay, signal. Yes. Mom, step on the gas pedal.
00:36 Speaker A
It’s one of the 20 standout documentary shorts by Yahoo and the non-fiction hot list, and is streaming now on yahoo.com/nonfictionhotlist. And our own Brooke De Palma got a ride with Shanti. Take a look.
00:46 Brooke De Palma
So, what did your kids think when you started this school? Did they think you were like crazy for doing this, or?
00:53 Shanti
Yeah, I was crazy, but I made it though.
00:55 Brooke De Palma
You made it.
00:56 Shanti
Yeah, I did. I did.
00:58 Brooke De Palma
And not only made it, but now you’re one of the most sought out driving instructors there is.
01:02 Shanti
Yes. In New York City.
01:04 Brooke De Palma
Yep. All right, well I gotta go around this person, it’s going to be a second.
01:07 Shanti
Go left. Brook, you’re funny.
01:10 Brooke De Palma
Oh my god. I swear, I drive. I I really, I don’t know.
01:13 Brooke De Palma
So how much is a typical driving lesson?
01:17 Brooke De Palma
Do you do you charge by the client? Are we talking like, here I give you a thousand dollars. I’m going to have a little bit of trouble with you.
01:21 Shanti
I, you know what? Um, I was teaching this guy named Dash Wasserstein. And he’s like, Shanti, in your kind of business, you could charge whatever the [bleep] you want. And he’s right.
01:36 Shanti
People will pay to come and sit.
01:38 Brooke De Palma
So how much, how like what, or do you negotiate?
01:42 Shanti
No. Like I have a lady. Shut up. Left turn. I have a lady that’s trying to negotiate prices. And you know what I told her? I don’t bargain.
01:54 Brooke De Palma
So you give them the price and that’s it. Take it or leave it.
01:56 Shanti
Yeah, yeah, there you go. She took it. She called me back.
02:00 Brooke De Palma
How much would I have to pay, Shanti?
02:02 Shanti
Um the the lessons… Take a left, right?
02:05 Brooke De Palma
Yeah.
02:06 Shanti
The lessons um, I charge anywhere from 100 to $150.
02:11 Brooke De Palma
Per an hour?
02:12 Shanti
Yes.
02:14 Brooke De Palma
Wow. So you’re typically in the car with the student though for how many hours?
02:20 Brooke De Palma
Two?
02:20 Shanti
Each lesson is two hours. Look, I have this girl that I’m teaching right now.
02:26 Brooke De Palma
Shanti, so you’re bringing in like $1,000 a day?
02:29 Shanti
Yeah. Or more. Look, I have this girl I’m teaching right now. Her her name is Emily. And Emily, Emily, Emily’s here again. Emily, you see her?
02:46 Brooke De Palma
So you’re doing a lesson for two hours every day five days a week.
02:49 Shanti
Yeah. Yeah, look, she’s all over my book. Emily, Emily.
02:53 Brooke De Palma
Do her parents think she’s like the worst driver in America or?
02:55 Shanti
She knows she’s hard to teach. Cut that, cut that.
03:00 Shanti
When they’re in the car with them, it’s like we’re best friends.
03:02 Brooke De Palma
Yeah. No, it’s like I I genuinely feel like I have a friendship with you already.
03:06 Shanti
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, and we just met.
03:08 Brooke De Palma
And we just met. What time do you start in the morning? What’s your first thing?
03:10 Shanti
Like tomorrow morning?
03:11 Brooke De Palma
Tomorrow morning, what’s your schedule?
03:12 Shanti
5:30.
03:13 Brooke De Palma
You leave your home at 5:30. Where’s home?
03:16 Shanti
In the Bronx.
03:17 Brooke De Palma
Okay. First lesson what time?
03:20 Shanti
I got to pick them up at 6:30.
03:22 Brooke De Palma
6:30.
03:23 Shanti
And then I got to take them for their driving test.
03:26 Brooke De Palma
Oh, you’re taking them for their driving test tomorrow.
03:27 Shanti
Tomorrow is their driving test.
03:29 Brooke De Palma
So what is that like? How many people’s driving tests have you taken to?
03:32 Shanti
Like today I did one.
03:33 Brooke De Palma
Did they pass?
03:34 Shanti
Of course. Of course.
03:36 Brooke De Palma
You have a 99% pass rate?
03:39 Shanti
Yeah, you could even even the DMV will tell you about me. It’s like when I go to that test site, I get so much respect.
03:48 Shanti
They’re like, Shanti, what’s up?
03:49 Brooke De Palma
Okay, so how do they find you?
03:51 Shanti
Shanti. They just find me.
03:53 Brooke De Palma
Word of mouth?
03:54 Shanti
Yep. And I don’t go on Yelp to advertise me. I don’t do none of that.
03:58 Brooke De Palma
No.
03:58 Shanti
They just find me.
03:59 Brooke De Palma
So, do you get a call from random numbers all the time?
04:01 Shanti
All the time.
04:02 Brooke De Palma
And do you always have your phone on high to answer these calls?
04:04 Shanti
All the time. all the time.
04:07 Brooke De Palma
How do you find talent that’s like you, Shanti?
04:12 Shanti
You know what? you I don’t know how this happened to me, but I am so famous. It’s unbelievable.
04:22 Brooke De Palma
Okay, so how then do you match an instructor with someone who is as famous as you or someone who could be the next Shanti?
04:32 Shanti
No, there is no next Shanti. You can’t compete with me.
04:36 Brooke De Palma
You can’t.
04:36 Shanti
No, you cannot.
04:37 Brooke De Palma
So how do you find other drivers if nobody can compete with you?
04:40 Shanti
But they they’re not they don’t teach like me. Like
04:42 Brooke De Palma
What made you start Empire State Driving school because
04:45 Shanti
I used to work for all these different driving schools. And it’s like every school I worked at they would fire me.
04:53 Brooke De Palma
Not because you didn’t pass, but just because
04:56 Shanti
Because I was doing my own thing. I was getting people were calling me and when you work for a school, they don’t want you to work privately. They want you to give them the clients so they could be making money off you.
05:08 Shanti
The owner went to the road test line and he saw me. and he says he calls the office, he goes ‘what did Shanti have in that car? Did she have a driver?’ It’s open. Oh, sorry guys. And then he fired me, and then I decided to go and open my own school.