Celebrating International Women’s Day in OKC

Meet Stephanie.

Stephanie is a mother of five, involved with nonprofits in Oklahoma City, and prefers to drive at night so she can give people a safe ride home when they need it most. We met Stephanie during a recent visit to the Greenlight Hub in Oklahoma City. We were immediately inspired and knew we wanted to learn more about why she drives with Uber and how she gives back to the community.

About Stephanie:

Stephanie is actively involved in nonprofit and volunteer work in the community. When things got tough financially, she needed something that was flexible around her day job. Growing up, Stephanie saw firsthand the negative effects of alcohol and now chooses to drive at night so she can help people in OKC get home safely when they need it most. As a mother of five, she has her hands full and she tells us, “my kids love hearing my stories about taking riders around.”

Why Stephanie drives with Uber:

Like many people, Stephanie partners with Uber for a variety of reasons. She enjoys driving to help people get home safely, make some extra money, and because she likes meeting new people. Raised by an alcoholic parent, Stephanie feels that if she can help people get home safely, then she’s doing something good for the community.

“I wanted to find something to make extra money to pay medical bills because one of my kids needed to have surgery. We’ve been paying medical bills with the money from driving with Uber and had some extra Christmas money. With five kids it can get kind of crazy around Christmas.

I mainly started driving to keep my family out of a bind and to pay for medical bills. Sometimes I’ll get a really good ride and I’m able to do something special with my kids because of it.

I’m also a big people person and I like the social interaction of it and I like meeting new people — it’s kind of addicting!”

Stephanie’s advice for other women drivers:

“I get a lot of questions about being a female driver. At first, I wasn’t too sure how it would go but once I got my first rider, then my second, I knew that I could totally do it. If somebody wants to have that extra income on the side, they should just try it.”