We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Georgia Durante. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Georgia below.

Alright, Georgia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

I came to California running from an abusive husband and the mob. I used to drive the get-away cars for the mob back then. I was also the most photographed woman in the country at that time (in the 70’s) I was the Kodak Girl. I couldn’t model because I would be too easy to find. I lived in my car until I found a friend I used to model with back in New York and he allowed me to stay on his couch in his studio apartment. I watched a lot of TV while trying to figure out what I was going to do for income. The only thing I had done from the time I was 12 years old was model and then ended up driving getaway cars (Long Story). It seemed to me every time there was a commercial it was a car commercial. I began to realize you could never see the driver! That was the perfect scenario for my situation. My friend let me know when and where a car commercial was being shot and I would drive to the set and bug these directors. At the time there were no woman doing that kind of work. They were putting wigs on guys. These directors kind of blew me off, and I couldn’t tell them about my experience behind the wheel. I didn’t give up though. I kept running into the same director and he finally got tired of me bugging him and he gave me a shot to prove myself. I guess he was pleasantly surprised and he started hiring me. He told other directors about me and they started using me. Before I knew it, I was turning down work as I couldn’t do it all! That gave me the idea to start my own company, finding and training good looking women who could drive. There was a definite need. Long story short, I went from living in my car to living in a 5000 sq. ft. home.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started my company in 1983. There was more work for men than woman so I brought men on the driving team as well . I came out of the gate with drivers such as Bobby Unser Jr, and Dar Robinson and other notable stuntmen in the business. As a driving team we did what the Blue Angels do in the air in planes, we did on the ground with cars for automobile commercials. Training the drivers to do these maneuvers and coordinating the shoots, I gained respect as a woman in a man’s world. As a woman I had many hurdles to get over but my motto has always been, “Where there is a will, there is a way”. I conquered all the obstacles in my way and my company, Performance Two Inc., became one of the top performance driving teams in the country. We have shot with every major car manufacturer in the country and Europe. We have also performed cars stunts in many of the major movies over the years.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Due to a stunt gone wrong I was forced into an early retirement. So not being away from home on location for most of my life, I decided to adopt a little girl. She was 10 days old when I got her. I decided to build her a playhouse that got totally out of hand costing $60,000.00. Not working now, I don’t have any income coming in so I started doing Childrens parties to pay for it. That blossomed into weddings and events. Then renting my guest house for Airbnb. Then getting on film location sites renting my home out for movies. And now also renting my pool by the hour. The baby needs shoes so… where there is a will there is a way.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

My life journey has been filled with incredible highs and just as incredible lows. But to appreciate the highs you must experience the lows. It has sometimes been a dangerous road, personally and through work as well. I guess I was addicted to that adrialin rush. I never really tried to annalise the why’s of it all until… I was doing a Bugle Boy Jeans commercial in Bodaga Bay driving a vintage Dino Ferrari. The stunt was to execute a 180 degree turn on a narrow mountain road. Half way into the turn the back tire slid into the soft shoulder and flipped the car over an embankment heading towards a 300 foot drop-off into the ocean. As I was somersauling to my death all I could think about was, “Oh my God! I’m wrecking a $250,000.00 car!” The car came to rest 40 feet short of the cliff. Why didn’t I think about my life? Why was the car more important? When I got back from location I went to see a therapist to find out why my life was not important. He suggested I get a journal and write in it every day for 20 minutes, whatever can into my head. That journaling turned into a best selling book called, “The Company She Keeps”. I finally discovered the “Why’s” of it all. People who read it are seeing themselves on the pages and discovering things about themselves that have been buried. I counsel kids on drugs and abused woman in shelters. My biggest lesson for them is to get a journal and write in it every day for 20 minutes. I did a podcast for iHeart Radio about my book. A producer for Sony Pictures heard it and optioned my life story for a Netflix series. I continue to evolve. Just because one door closes it doesn’t mean it is shut forever. If you believe in yourself and you have a will… there is a way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.enchantedmanorevents.com
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/VEmzTmsesME?si=1pidlLWKP-8NPprJ
• Other: I am on all of these sites but can’t get out of this site to look for the links, I don’t want to lose everything I just wrote.