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

Teresa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

We are the first driving school in the Raleigh Frayser community. We are black owned and woman owned. I started Caswell Group Driving School in the Frayser community intentionally because I feel the residents in this community deserve the same opportunities as other communities.

Students come to us and many times they have went to other driving schools. One had been to three, but we have a way of reaching our own. He wasn’t able to pass the knowledge test to obtain his permit. We present the curriculum in many different ways understanding people learn differently. In addition, we know students don’t have transportation to get to the DMV to take the test, so there has been times we have rented a bus, loaded up 15 students and took them to the DMV to pass.

We keep the mindset of serving. When you serve, you know your reward will come from above… not man. That is how our blessings keep flowing.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a native of Decatur, IL. I moved to Memphis, TN because I knew there were more opportunities for minority businesses. I have always had a business mindset, but I needed to be around like-minded people who could help cultivate that.

I started the driving school when I realized there was not one in our community and also after hearing horror stories about how some driving schools treated people in our community. I wanted to create something that is affordable and accessible to our resident in our community. I started the process and it took about two years to get it going, but eventually we received our approval from the state. What sets us apart is we try to treat people the way we wan to be treated. We thrive on providing excellent customer service, and it not always easy. People see our website and see we are black owned with black students and already have an impression in their head that we are ghetto. When they call us, we intentionally turn that thinking around by speaking to them in a professional manner, following up with emails in a timely manner, and greeting them like family when they walk through our doors. Everyone is family and we love who we serve and the work we are called to do.

I never had a desire to own a driving school. I don’t have a desire to own a driving school for the rest of my life, but I did want to get one started for our community, and hopefully someone will come and keep it going. Until then, I will continue to do what God has called me to do.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

It did get difficult at times. Finding a good instructor that you trust to put in a car with students who have never drove is hard. At one point, it was just two of us doing 6 hours of driving a day during our peak season. We were both walking out by end of the day bending over in pain. At the end of summer, our health literally took us down and we were in the bed for days, but I lean on what God told me in the beginning. I got you. He has never let me down. He carried me through till the end of summer and then he said rest…. help is on the way. Now I have the best team. A team of six instructors and three admins who all have a heart to serve like me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.caswellgroup.info
• Facebook: @caswellgroupdrivingschool