Breaking the stereotypes with steering wheel

Hi, I am Divya Swati Dixit. I am a Driving Instructor. I started a small setup called Drive Yourself on 3/4/2018. I have done my Masters in Commerce, and as everybody else I was doing job at Infosys.

Everything was good but I was not happy with whatever I was doing with my life. Every single day I used to ask myself a question that, “Is this what I really want to do for the rest of my life?” But I never got an answer. Then I got to know about a Facebook community named PuLa, where I have seen people doing business with unique ideas. I started posting there about my driving training.

I started with two-wheeler and four-wheeler both. Scooter, bike and car training for ladies. I provided training on client’s vehicle. So this was a totally different idea, to teach driving with their own vehicle. Initially people didn’t trust me that a girl can teach how to drive. Of course, in a world full of ‘Male drivers’, how can a girl even drive? Then the struggle started and after 6 months of doing this as part time work, I decided to choose this as my career!

My parents were not so happy with my decision of leaving my job and starting a business. That too when you have at least one Driving School at every chowk. But I stuck to my decision and started two-wheeler and four wheeler training. As I said, we live in a male dominated society. One of my client’s husband took my test if I can really drive well so that his wife can learn from me. He took me into a very narrow lane and told me to take a U turn. Then he was convinced with his wife’s decision and allowed her to take training from me. That’s how it started during my initial time.

Then people started giving reviews and they named me as Driving Queen of Pula! Last year I was felicitated by the Ishwari Foundation on the occasion of Women’s day. They have called 10 different women from 10 different fields. Also on the occasion of Navratri, my article was published under their Navdurga segment.

I have trained more than 400+ women and men. At present, I am covering 18 main areas and 20 sub areas of Pune.