Ruth Ayala-Quezada never dreamed that she would be back in the taxi business.
After coming to the U.S. from Peru in 1986, Ayala-Quezada immediately started working for her father”™s taxi company in Mount Kisco, first as an office staffer and later as a driver once she was old enough to get her license.
But after graduating from Westchester Community College with degrees in business administration and human services, did she ever see herself starting a taxi company of her own? In a word, no.
“If you asked me then, I hated it,” Ayala-Quezada said. “But I guess it”™s in my blood because I got right back into it.”
Recognizing the need for a local taxi service in Carmel, Ayala-Quezada founded Carmel Taxi and Car Service with her sister in 2006.
Now with a dozen cars, 14 drivers, three dispatchers and a full-time office manager, Ayala-Quezada says she is looking into buying a stretch limousine so that Carmel Taxi would be able to expand into higher-revenue business areas.
The process, however, has been far from easy, with Ayala-Quezada struggling to grow Carmel Taxi despite one of the worst economic periods in decades. In a tribute to her perseverance, just last week the Putnam County Chambers of Commerce honored her as one of eight 2011 Entrepreneurial Spirit Award winners.
“What helped us out in this economy is the fact that we are one of very few taxi companies in this area that are doing the right thing.”
Before Ayala-Quezada and her sister founded Carmel Taxi, local residents were having to call for cabs from Brewster and were getting charged significantly more as a result.
“So I figured, why don”™t I open Carmel Taxi,” Ayala-Quezada said.
Making a name for themselves proved difficult. “For us, it was very difficult because the fact was, it was just us. We had to stay up very late, work 16-, 18-hour shifts between covering the train station and driving the cars around. You had no calls, it was just getting the word out there,” she said.
In 2007, Ayala-Quezada”™s sister was forced to back out of the business because of personal financial difficulties, leaving Ayala-Quezada to fend for herself. But by building relationships with residents and clients, she said Carmel Taxi was slowly but surely able to market itself.
For Ayala-Quezada, gaining the trust of clients was of utmost importance. Because Putnam County has no Taxi and Limousine Commission, she requires all of her drivers to be licensed by the Westchester County TLC ”“ that, in addition to requiring that her drivers have a clean driving record and a Social Security number and are drug-tested each year.
“We can bring that to the public ”“ that reassurance that you are getting into a car that is fully insured and that the drivers are drivers ”“ they”™re not just anybody or somebody that has two DWIs that is driving you around,” Ayala-Quezada said.
Shortly after taking over sole ownership of the business in 2007, the Putnam County Department of Social Services approached Ayala-Quezada with a proposal ”“ for Carmel Taxi to take on additional work as one of the county”™s Medicaid transportation providers.
“Putnam County DSS gave me the opportunity to work with them, and that gave people a way to try out our services,” she said. Later, Carmel Taxi also began contracting for the American Cancer Society, transporting local residents to the Putnam Hospital Center for treatments.
Even then, every day was a struggle to gain traction in a difficult market, particularly with payments for Carmel Taxi”™s Medicaid transports slow to arrive.
“Right now I am married to my second husband. He helped me ”“ we worked together to grow this. When we started with Medicaid we didn”™t get paid at first and we were eating rice and beans for 30 days,” Ayala-Quezada said. “When we finally got paid, instead of going crazy, everything we made we invested back into the business.”
Along the way, the process has been a case-study in entrepreneurship, she said, attributing her confidence to her father and to the experience she was able to garner in the taxi industry from an early age.
“Here I am, a Hispanic short girl, standing at the Southeast train station with a new taxi company and here are these other taxi companies that have been in the area and they”™re looking at me thinking, ”˜What is she doing here?”™”
But by picking up the phone and talking with business development advisers and insurance company representatives, Ayala-Quezada was able to build up a legitimate, competitive taxi company.
“I went to college, I have a degree in business administration, so I think that that helped me with learning how to pick up the phone and call people and say, ”˜This is what I want to do; what do I need?”™” Ayala-Quezada said. “I”™m a fighter ”“ it”™s just my character basically.”
