Francheska Santos: On this premiere episode of the Driver's Seat, join Isaiah Mostafa and me, Francheska Santos, as we transport you to Hollywood under the guidance of one of LA's savviest rideshare drivers. MUSIC: Now you've been a lot of places, always on the move. You take one step closer to the life you choose. Isaiah Mostafa: Today's guest, Shaka Tafari, has been driving TMZ, better known as the Thirty Mile Zone around LA, for eight years. If you get into his ride, you're definitely on a special voyage. Shaka Tafari: I always say, welcome to Shaka's Lyft Lounge. Now I'm in the club, right. Now I'm in my club. Francheska Santos: Today you'll learn his greatest secrets. Shaka Tafari: This is the best I've ever done on tips, and this was a tangible thing. If you need a hardcore thing. Isaiah Mostafa: Buckle up and join us in the Driver's Seat. For drivers, by drivers. MUSIC: Where we going, mmm. Isaiah Mostafa: Oh my goodness, Francheska, we really made it. This is crazy. This is crazy. Francheska Santos: Oh, my. Isaiah, this is so exciting. It's day one of this new podcast and we are the hosts. I'm so excited. Isaiah Mostafa: This is honestly such an honor. The Driver's Seat. Francheska Santos: The Driver's Seat. I just love the name. It has such a ring to it, right? Isaiah Mostafa: For drivers, by drivers. I'm so ready. Francheska Santos: I'm excited to dig in and just get to know people who have been doing this for a while. We're new drivers. I've only been driving since September of last year, so I'm pumped to just talk to the best of the best. Isaiah Mostafa: I started in October and I definitely am going to benefit from learning a little bit about people who've been doing it a little bit longer, and might have some tips or techniques to make a little bit more money. Francheska Santos: I know that tips are never guaranteed with Lyft, but it's exciting to just see how do some people maximize their tips. It always feels good to get that extra cash at the end of a ride. Isaiah Mostafa: Absolutely. Well, if we're sitting here, we talking, I want to know a little bit about you. Tell me about Francheska. Francheska Santos: So Isaiah, I am from a small town, Holyoke, Massachusetts. I love my town. A lot of people don't know it is the birthplace of volleyball. Isaiah Mostafa: I love that so much. I would've never known that. Francheska Santos: Yes. The second you get into Holyoke, it says birthplace of volleyball. And so I live in Springfield, which is right next door, and it's the birthplace of basketball. So how is it that I end up in two cities right next door each other with huge, known for two major sports? So I think that's really exciting. I'm also a mom. I homeschool two little girls, Anaya and Alina. They're my entire world. They're the reason why I do what I do. And I also help manage our family bridal boutique. Isaiah Mostafa: Wow. Francheska Santos: Which is so fun. I deal with so many different people on a daily basis. And either they're looking for their wedding dress or a prom dress or a sweet 16 dress. I love being a part of that entire process. It's fun. How about you? Tell me a little bit about you, Isaiah. Isaiah Mostafa: My name is Isaiah Mostafa. I'm a singer, songwriter, producer, emcee from Berkeley, California. I just moved to New York. I just drove across the country like a week and a half ago maybe, to chase my dreams. I'm here. I felt the call. I've had some trippy experiences that have pulled me to New York, but out here I just feel like it's so vast and wide. The ceiling is so high. If you make it in New York, you make it anywhere. So I had to test it out, you know what I mean? Risk it for the biscuit. Francheska Santos: I love that, Isaiah. I love that mentality because you've been driving in the Bay Area, and now you're transitioning to the East Coast. What's that going to look like for you? Isaiah Mostafa: I signed up. I'm on the wait list here. Starting in Jersey. I can already feel the climate driving outside is completely different. There's so many more people driving. When you're in traffic, if you don't move the moment the light turns green, you're getting honked at. It's a different pace. So I'm excited to just be leaning in and starting to flow with that pace. Francheska Santos: Yeah, yeah. I'm interested to see how different it'll be for you. For me, I'm just in one area and that's what I plan to do for a while, but you're actually making this move, so you'll be able to see how different it is from what you were doing prior to that, so that's cool. Isaiah Mostafa: Okay, so Francheska, I know you're busy. You got so much going on, but at a certain point you were like, I want to add more. I want to do Lyft. What was that for you? What made you start? Francheska Santos: I am my own boss essentially. I get to make up my own schedule. I have all these goals in mind, and I figured that doing something like that with so much flexibility would help me get to my goals. Isaiah Mostafa: So what are some of those goals? Francheska Santos: I have started writing this incredible book that I've put on the back burner for a long, long time. Isaiah Mostafa: Okay, author? Francheska Santos: Yes. So just being able to work on my own time creates that space to be able to say, "Okay, I'm going to sit down now and start writing my book." I'm in it to win it. I'm excited. I'm on my fourth chapter and I'm so pumped. Isaiah Mostafa: Wow. Francheska Santos: Yes. Isaiah Mostafa: Super mom vibe. So for you to be striving forward with so much on your plate is commendable. Francheska Santos: Thank you. And I want to hear a little bit more about your goals and how driving with Lyft is helping you accomplish those goals. Isaiah Mostafa: Yeah. Driving with Lyft is definitely, absolutely 1000% enhanced my experience, just because I'm an artist. I have videographers to pay, I have photographers to pay, I have to pay for studio time or engineering. There's so many different elements. I can drive with Lyft for a few hours, boom, get that money, and now I have that guaranteed money to give to this photographer or this videographer or whatever because I'm working on an album. So I came out here ready to make an album. I put out so many singles and I've done challenges and some cool series, and I've had so much fun with that and I've made so much music, but I'm really getting excited about creating a super beautiful body of work. Francheska Santos: Come on. We want to hear something. Isaiah Mostafa: You got me blushing in here. Francheska Santos: Yes. Isaiah Mostafa: Okay. Well, I like singing together. That's one of my favorite things. So I feel like in my mind I'd be like, [SINGING] << If I keep my faith, it's always a way >> and then I'll hear other people singing with me and be like, [SINGING] << I know I'm not alone. If I keep my faith strong, it's always a way home, I know, I know >> can that be all? << I know, I know >> Francheska Santos: I love that so much. And Isaiah, something that's so exciting and I can't wait for our listeners to find out, is the fact that you just landed a really exciting gig, your first gig since moving to New York. And it is the theme song for our podcast. My goodness. That's huge. Isaiah Mostafa: I am so honored. I was asked, I was like, "What? Yes, come on. Of course." And especially to have only been in New York City for a week and a half, and now I get to make the song for the Lyft pod. You know what I mean? Oh my goodness. Yeah. MUSIC: Now you've been a lot of places, Always on the move. Francheska Santos: Yes. Talk about a hell of a first gig, right? Isaiah Mostafa: Yes. Francheska Santos: How exciting is that? It is just so exciting to listen to. It gets me wanting to dance. Isaiah Mostafa: Good. It's supposed to make you dance. It's working. Francheska Santos: I'm loving that. I'm loving that. MUSIC: Where we going, mmm. 6:35 Isaiah Mostafa: Francheska, when you first started driving Lyft, I'm sure you probably had certain ideas in your head of what was going to be the best moves, techniques, stuff like that. I'm wondering what some of those were. What did you think was going to make you the most money? Francheska Santos: I really thought that keeping my car super neat, organized, clean, smelling good, I thought when a passenger gets in my vehicle, they're going to be like, "Ooh, this girl keeps her stuff nice." I'm a germaphobe and I'm all about a clean space. So I initially thought that that was very important. Yeah. What about you? Isaiah Mostafa: I mean, yeah, of course the clean car. And also I think there was a certain point where I started to feel like maybe I should be a certain way. I was wondering, "Oh, am I supposed to cut myself down? Maybe dim my personality a little bit." But no, I'm me, and that's what makes this experience what it is. They're them, I'm me. So yeah, I think it is a lot about personality. And I've only been doing this for a little bit of time though, and I know we have somebody here who's a veteran, been doing this for a minute, knows what they're talking about. So I want to pass it over to Shaka you with us right now. Shaka Tafari: Yeah, man. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. 7:34 Francheska Santos: We have Shaka from LA. He's been doing it for eight years. Thank you so much for being with us. I'm excited to dive into some questions with you today. Shaka, you're an experienced driver and with Isaiah and I being a little new at this, I know there's a lot we can learn from you. Shaka Tafari: And I agree with everything you guys said. I mean, the squeaky clean car was a big deal, you know what I mean? To me, and I also am a germaphobe, and I experienced dimming my light and then trying to bring it back up. And I think it's all part of it. So I wouldn't say you guys are rookies at it. If you've done more than 10 Lyft rides, it's like paying rent in LA. If you paid rent and been here two weeks, your ass is from LA too. You know what I'm saying? Isaiah Mostafa: And so you're from LA? Shaka Tafari: Yeah. Well, I wasn't born in LA, but I moved to LA about six weeks after I was born. Isaiah Mostafa: Can you describe LA in two sentences? What makes LA, LA for you? Shaka Tafari: We have the best tacos. One sentence. You know what I'm saying? So that's what makes LA actually LA. You know what I mean? Tacos are God. What makes LA unique is, it has the worst and the best public transportation system on earth. For as prominent a city as it is, it should have a better public transportation system, but that's where the best Lyft drivers come in. So I will do a little bragging about us that way. And we have the landscape and the wide opportunity to drive you everywhere. That's the culture. Whereas places like New York and even DC, smaller cities, the culture isn't so much driving long distances, but you can drive 35 miles and still be in LA. You know what I mean? There's not a lot of cities where you can drive 30 miles and you're still actually in the city limits. 9:23 Francheska Santos: So I'd love to hear different tips on how to create really awesome experiences with your passengers. Shaka Tafari: Whenever someone gets into the Lyft car, you have to acknowledge that you're the most interesting person in there because you're the unknown. If they get in there with a group, they know everybody in the group, they're comfortable with those people. You're the driver and you're the unknown. So I always treat that experience like, how do I break the ice and then create the environment I want to be in? And I always say, "Welcome to Shaka's Lyft Lounge." Now I'm in the club. Now, I'm in my club. Francheska Santos: I feel like that really breaks the ice. So now they're like, "Oh, I'm in this cool space." Isaiah Mostafa: What I love is how much you're thinking about it. I feel like your approach to it is very like, "I'm going to create this environment." Rather than, I'm going to build off of whatever energy enters into the car. Because this is your space. This is a space. This is your sacred space. And so I really appreciate that because that's really beautiful. 10:20 Francheska Santos: I would be curious in knowing if you have any specific tips that have helped you maximize your earnings. Shaka Tafari: Being a sponge is the best way to make tips. Being a sponge and being able to deploy those little nuggets of information at the right time is probably your best, is the best tip I can give you. I try to evaluate everybody as they walk up to the car. Somebody got their good clothes on. It's like, "I see you got your good clothes on. What award show are we going to right now?" You know what I'm saying? So then you tailor all your responses to the things that people really think about, dream about, or think about LA about. You know what I mean? And those have always made a very easy opening, interesting hello for everybody to interact with. Stay calm, courteous and clean car, all of those things all work too. 11:19 This is the best I've ever done on tips, and this was a tangible thing, if you need a hardcore thing. When I was very early in my Lyft journey, I was like, "Man, I want to make as much tips as I can. I'm willing to do anything." You know the Big Gulp cups? Francheska Santos: Yeah. Shaka Tafari: I had a wide middle console, so I would literally put the Big Gulp there, and I had a sticker on it. It said, "I accept change, any change." I would have literally people at the end of the night just drop all their change. Literally girls tipping their clutches with change into my bill cup. Francheska Santos: Wow. Isaiah Mostafa: That's so smart. Shaka Tafari: I remember I paid for a flight to Europe on that- Isaiah Mostafa: Come on. Shaka Tafari: ... in a month. Francheska Santos: Wow. Shaka Tafari: You know what I'm saying? In a month it was like people will empty their change in your car. And at that point, once it's coins, they don't care how much it is. Isaiah Mostafa: Right, right. Shaka Tafari: They dropped $5 on you. You know what I mean? Francheska Santos: Yeah. Shaka Tafari: I don't do it anymore just because I got tired of lugging the change. It just felt a little tacky too. I was like, "No..." Isaiah Mostafa: You might call it tacky, but I'm going to start doing that, man. That's so smart. Bottom line is you're doing this to make money. Shaka Tafari: Sure. Yeah, of course. Isaiah Mostafa: I love that extra aspect that you added. Are you more of like a morning driver, a late night driver? Shaka Tafari: I would say I'm probably a late night driver, and LA is a very interesting place at night. So you're either trying to take them to the after hours place that they know of, which is in some hidden factory downtown or some place in Mount Olympus where all the big Hollywood Hill houses are, where all the celebrities live. Francheska Santos: Have you ever had any celebrities in your car? Shaka Tafari: I've had a few reality TV people, but I don't actually know them, but they told me that they were on reality TV shows. You don't get as many celebrities as you would hope, but I've had so many incredible interactions. One of the funniest stories I've ever had was a young woman got into my car and she put me on the spot. She was like, "I'm not going to listen to my headphones and I don't want you to play any music. How would you make this ride unique?" Isaiah Mostafa: Whoa. Francheska Santos: Wow. Shaka Tafari: And I was like, "So she's going to listen to me the entire time." At that time, I had just got out of grad school and I had went to grad school in England, and when you're that close to Europe, everybody just travels together, like strangers traveling together. So I was like, "We have 38 minutes, let's be strangers and let's go on vacation. You look like a cabernet lady to me. You know what I mean? What kind of wine are we getting and everything like that." So for 38 minutes we were on vacation together, traveling through Barcelona and Italy and all of these random places in 38 minutes. It was like a dream. It was funny because by the time we got downtown and the end of the ride, I got this feeling where I didn't want it to end, but she said, "Hey, I'm getting lunch with a friend of mine. Do you want to join? I don't want my vacation to end either." So literally me, her and her girlfriend, I joined them for lunch. It was great. I mean, we had a couple of margaritas. My day was done after that, and then she left an incredible tip. A tip that I just didn't even anticipate, but it was a good time and they paid for it. Francheska Santos: Ooh, even better. Isaiah Mostafa: It didn't just maximize the tips, she paid for your lunch that day. Shaka Tafari: Those are the kind of experiences you love and they stick with you. MUSIC: Mmm, da, da, da, da, da. Da, da, da, da, da. 14:56 Isaiah Mostafa: I hear that you have a master's in journalism, and now you are a professional podcast producer for a pretty big editorial podcast. And apparently Lyft had something to do with you getting there. Can you tell us a story about that? Shaka Tafari: What happened is my best friend in the world, who is a 82-year-old Jewish white lady from the west side of Chicago, who has lived in the same apartment in Venice since 1973, I met her on the beach when I was five. There was this competition on the local radio station, NPR, and it was called the 24-Hour Radio Race. And for whatever reason that made her think like, "Oh, this is Shaka's calling. I don't care how much it costs. I'm putting you in the competition. You're going to tell one of those wonderful stories that you tell on Lyft." It was $20. I was like, "Just chill. I got the $20. I will enter this race for you so you can relax." You have 24 hours to make a four-minute podcast piece. So I might've spent 12 hours just like YouTubing GarageBand to learn how to cut tape and everything like that. I ended up placing fourth in this competition. Francheska Santos: Wow. Shaka Tafari: It's a very terrible piece, but people seem to have liked it. Isaiah Mostafa: Sounds potent though. Shaka Tafari: And I'm still mad that I didn't win first place, but that's... Isaiah Mostafa: Right. Shaka Tafari: I got a master's in journalism. I went to undergrad, did all the things. But most of that time felt like people talking at me, you know what I mean? Teaching me, talking at me. That 12 hours it took me to put this piece together and figure it out was the first time I taught myself anything and was infatuated with it. So after that, more and more jobs came my way to write for podcasts and things like this. I credit Lyft for giving me the ability to figure out different ways to deliver a story. Francheska Santos: I love that Shaka. I oftentimes think that people might think that when you're a Lyft driver, you're just a Lyft driver. No, here you are, master's in journalism, professional podcast producer, and you drive with Lyft. There's just so many different facets to your life professionally, and I think that's so cool. That's so awesome. Shaka Tafari: Lyft drivers are actually some of the most intelligent people. Francheska Santos: Yeah. Shaka Tafari: I feel like there are no very mundane Lyft drivers. You feel me? We're all a very interesting bunch. If Lyft actually did a conference and invited everyone there, you know how many interesting people would be there? Francheska Santos: Oh my goodness. How cool would that be? Isaiah Mostafa: From all around the world too. Francheska Santos: Yes, yes. Shaka Tafari: You know what I mean? We are all a very interesting bunch, and I'm proud to be a part of the clique. Isaiah Mostafa: Thank you so much, Shaka. I feel so much more knowledgeable about how I'm going to get this money now. I got some techniques. I'm excited to try them out. Thank you so much for just talking and bringing so much free game. For real. I know that I'm not the only one that is going to benefit from this, so thank you so much, man. Shaka Tafari: It was a pleasure being here. Isaiah Mostafa: Thank you so much, man. Safe driving, see you. Peace. Shaka Tafari: Peace. Safe driving. Francheska Santos: Bye. 18:00 Isaiah Mostafa: Wow. I feel like I just read three books. I feel like I just soaked up so much game. I know. I imagine you probably are feeling similar. Francheska Santos: Absolutely. Isaiah Mostafa: Is there anything specific that you're just like, "Wow, I'm taking that with me?" Francheska Santos: Yeah, one thing that stood out for me, Isaiah, was the fact that he said that he reads his passengers when they walk up to his car. To engage in that initial conversation with them, depending on maybe how they're dressed or something like that. So that was a key takeaway for me. So now I feel like I'm going to be more observant when I pull up to someone's house and they're walking over to my car, I'm going to be like, "Ooh..." Like their sneakers. Oh, I like what they're wearing. So that as they get into my car, I can compliment them. So I feel like he was big on compliments, and that's a big takeaway for me. Yeah. Isaiah Mostafa: The compliments always do it. One thing that stood out for me, which is a little bit random, I guess, but I really like it. The way he had a name for his space, the Shaka Lounge. That was so cool to me, just because it's like claiming that space. This is my space that you're entering into and welcome to it. Francheska Santos: Yeah, that was incredible. I really enjoyed that as well, Isaiah. MUSIC: Where are we going? Where are we going? Mmm. Isaiah Mostafa: Drivers are super generous with their tips about making tips. Along with Shaka, we've heard from a bunch of other drivers who want to be on the show too, and here's a sample of what they told us. Speaker 5: The filter that I live on is the stay in area filter. I always do like a 10-mile radius in the area that I live in to save gas, and I also know the area really well. Speaker 6: I normally set a destination filter up towards the very far east part of Cleveland. Generally my first few rides go to the airport, and then once I find myself in the city, I'll shut off the destination filter and put on a location filter so I stay within a certain zone. Speaker 7: I'll always look at to see if there's other drivers around. If there are, I'll try to space myself out. One of the features I really loved having recently is the, see other drivers nearby. I don't want to compete too hard with anybody who's in the neighborhood. If we're all clustered around some places. It doesn't give us good coverage for our riders. MUSIC: Mmm, da, da, da, da, da. Francheska Santos: If you drive with Lyft and have a great story, we want to hear from you too. Isaiah Mostafa: You can upload a voice memo with your favorite tips, wild stories, and passenger adventures. Francheska Santos: Head over to lyft.com/driver/podcast to share your story. Let's keep this conversation rolling. Isaiah Mostafa: If you didn't catch that URL, don't trip, you'll find a link in our show notes on your favorite listening app. Francheska Santos: So Isaiah, what's coming up on our next episode of The Driver's Seat? Isaiah Mostafa: I'm honestly super excited to talk to him. Our next guest has been crowned the top conversationalist for the last six years in a row. Brian's from Vegas, and he's going to reveal some of his favorite ways of connecting with riders. Bryan Iniguez: Oh, I'm giving you everything, from the food places, to the places to party at night. That same steak, that's $150 in your hotel is $ 15.99 downtown. And I hit them with that. Right away they're already like, "Wow." Francheska Santos: Wow. Speaker 8: Boom. I'm that Lyft driver. Francheska Santos: I cannot wait to talk with Brian about all his Vegas adventures, and that's coming up in just two weeks. 20:59 In addition to bringing all this wonderful information, I also am so excited to talk about what our goals are. Do you anticipate maybe any roadblocks within the next couple of weeks? Isaiah Mostafa: Always. Any roadblock that's ever happened on a freeway, it's a detour. You know what I mean? You might have to get off the exit, go over there, but we're still going to the destination. Francheska Santos: That's right. Isaiah Mostafa: I'll take a roadblock. Francheska Santos: So we got this. I'm excited. Isaiah Mostafa: Come on. Francheska Santos: Yes. MUSIC: Yeah, you've been a lot of places, Always on the move. You take one step closer to the life you choose. Francheska Santos: Be sure to follow the Driver's Seat, and if you're enjoying the show, feel free to share it with friends, fellow drivers and passengers. Isaiah Mostafa: The Driver's Seat is produced by Janice Jensen and Elaine Appleton Grant. Alexis Hazelwood serves as executive producer. Our engineer is Kevin Klein. Francheska Santos: And music by my co-host Isaiah Mostafa. And I'm Francheska Santos. Thank you all so much for joining us today. We will see you next time. [music] Where we goin’? Mmmm..mmmm.