Toya has been known to wear several different hats in a single day as a recording artist, business owner, and mother. She’s one of nearly half of drivers (48%) who have children age 18 or under at home. For over 5 years, Toya has run a successful eBay store. Since partnering with Uber, she’s used the money to expand her inventory selling household items, artwork and electronics. Most recently Toya was able to launch a second business catering desserts for restaurants throughout Milwaukee.

While Toya helps fuel her small business, other partners drive with Uber to help them reach a specific goal like a family vacation. Russell from Honolulu visits Alabama with his wife twice a year to see their daughter and three grandsons. Even though being close to family is priceless, being away from work for 6 weeks at a time requires the ability to save a good amount of money. After learning about Uber and that he was able to use his own car to make money on his own schedule, he signed up and began driving shortly afterward. Russell has been able to use his earnings to spoil his grandsons the only way a grandfather can. In addition to visiting Alabama, he’s also taking the whole family to Disney World!

There are many partners like Russell who use their time driving as a way to pursue their goals and passions—some even save up to buy something big. Take James from Maui. Shortly after starting Maui Flyboards, James met Laurie, who was visiting on vacation from British Columbia. Their meeting was pretty much love at first sight and Laurie ended up skipping her flight back home because they hit it off so well!

Once they relocated to Kihei, James found out about the opportunity to drive with Uber and quickly became of the 69% of drivers who partner with Uber on the side of other full- or part-time work. He worked tirelessly in the mornings to build his flyboard business, and he drove to supplement his income in the evenings. Once he realized the earning opportunity, he made the choice to drive enough to buy a ring for his girlfriend. At the top of Haleakala on a Sunday morning sunrise, James got down on one knee and asked Laurie to marry him, and she said yes!

There are many women who partner with Uber. In the past three months, 29% of drivers who started are women, including women like Paige. When Paige moved to Los Angeles from Houston, Texas, the city seemed too big and too far from home. Luckily, Paige found a way to make her new city her own. The connections she made with the riders she picked up as an Uber driver-partner made LA not only a little less scary, but also gave her the extra income she needed to pursue her dreams. For Paige, the flexibility of the Uber platform gives her the ability to go from her band practice to a show or back to Texas to visit her mom, without worrying about a schedule.

For the past three years, Usman has been fueling his passion for fitness and gaining a reputation on the local basketball court. He’s able to fill his free time doing this in between his classes at the College of Staten Island, This year, Usman has taken on 22 credits and plans to explore opportunities to put his degree towards opportunities in Dubai when he graduates next spring. In the meantime, when he’s not playing a pickup game, he spends his free time picking up riders while driving on the Uber platform, which makes him one of the 11% of drivers who are students.

Whether it’s in the classroom, on the court, on in the car, for Usman, opportunity is the name of the game. Since making the switch from driving for a cab company, the 24 year old has been on the receiving end of job offers, new friends, and most strikingly, a refreshing demeanor from riders. It also just happens that Usman plays pickup basketball with 7 of his friends who also drive with Uber. For Usman, being an Uber driver-partner is about moving people—and him—forward.