Steve Mochel”™s wife fired him ”“ and then they began a business together.
The owners of Rye-based Fresh Green Light are taking the right of passage known as Driver”™s Ed and flipping it on its decades-old head.
Mochel worked with wife Laura Shuler for more than 20 years at Jack Morton Worldwide, an experiential marketing agency with clients ranging from Subway Restaurants to the Olympics.
Shuler was president of U.S. business, living a life full of first-class flyer miles and fancy hotels.
But, the Great Recession upended the marketing world and Shuler found “that when you”™re part of a public company (it was formerly private) the dynamics change, particularly when times are tough in the economy.”
One such change was the layoff of her husband Mochel, a senior account director.
The couple had been tossing around ideas for a backup plan ”“ one that would satisfy their concerns as parents, but fulfill their professional drive in marketing.
“I became aware of the state of driver education in this country and it had changed dramatically since I was a kid,” Shuler said. “It”™s in less than 30 percent of schools now and where it does exist, in most cases it”™s incredibly substandard.”
The duo had a 16-year-old son who needed to learn to drive and Mochel said, “The options were so disappointing.”
“We thought that there was definitely an opportunity here because it”™s still a mom-and-pop industry for the most part,” Mochel said. “It”™s such a critically important time because it represents freedom for kids and for parents; it”™s the biggest fear in the world.”
Â
After taking a severance package, Mochel hopped a plane to Las Vegas and attended a Driving School Association of the Americas convention to weigh the option of beginning the business.
Â
“Someone asked, ”˜Why are you here? Are you an educator? I said we were marketing people,” Mochel said. “They said, ”˜Oh, you”™re going to be fine. None of these people are marketing people.”™”
With confirmation of the viability of the brainstorm he and Shuler had floated, Fresh Green Light was born last November and Shuler quit Jack Morton.
Fresh Green Light ”“ a driving term ”“ metaphorically fit the couple”™s belief that driving represents a fresh start in a youth”™s life and so, too, fed their desire to create a strong brand.
The company uses all hybrid vehicles.
The Apple store-like driving headquarters, Mochel said, required a $50,000 to $60,000 construction investment.
Also fresh is the approach the entrepreneurs take with educational platforms.
Two, $15,000-a-piece driving simulators were installed by a company that manufactures like machines for the government. Â
Fresh Green Light partnered with Cognifit, which develops software designed to exercise your brain, for risk assessments.
Cameras are installed in the hybrids along with with laptops ”“ for pulling over and correcting teachable mistakes while en route.
“We believe we have a good concept and we know that financially, it makes sense,” Mochel said. “We believe and hope that people see that and sign up. We”™re meeting our target right now, which is good.”
Going back to their branding roots, Shuler noted an offhand comment from a student, which soon became an ad.
“It was, ”˜Who said Driver”™s Ed has to include a sketchy guy in a beatup Camry?”
The website is freshgreenlight.com.
Â
The best and worst parts of entrepreneurial life:
Shuler: “The best part is that there is no bureaucracy. You make the decisions and you live with them. You don”™t have to explain yourself to a committee. The worst part is ”¦ it can get a little claustrophobic because I used to have a lot of people reporting to me. I had a lot of people to talk to, so it can be a little isolating. A little bit of crazy is a good thing.”
Mochel: “The best part is being able to create something not only for our customers, but to employ people and give back to our community”¦ The worst part is I wake up at 4:30 a.m. probably three times a week worrying about something or another that”™s probably not important. I call them my ”˜5 a.m. freak outs.”™ But, I think a little bit of anxiety is a good thing.”
