We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marissa Dumas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marissa below.
Hi Marissa, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Two years ago PrttyPkUp was registered with the state of Ohio as a new business!!!! We are excited about the growth and continuous support from the community. This business was started due to the lack of safety for women needing reliable transportation services. The CEO is a former social worker and a huge advocate for women and children who are often vulnerable and subject to mistreatment or worse. In many settings women are the primary caregivers for their children, valued daughters, aunts, grandmothers, teachers, sisters, and friends. Women are the only support systems for themselves and their families as head of household. With these major factors and countless others they deserve to make it to work, outings, and most importantly home safely. Having a heart for this population and seeing a need for change PrttyPkUp was created. Our mission is to provide a safety net for women! PrttyPkUp is a guaranteed safe place for women traveling, especially at night. Whether going to work, out celebrating or just need a ride, we are here to meet those needs. PrttyPkUp developed a unique safety model for transportation services in which women drivers transport women passengers! This feature has been successful and once scaled will be a welcomed service throughout communities worldwide. While our target market is women we do not discriminate and offer services to men passengers as well as those in the LGBQT community!
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?
Marissa Dumas, the CEO of PrttyPkUp is from Cincinnati, OH. Raised with two loving parents and two sisters, Marissa thrived early on in life! After high school Marissa went on to obtain a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business management by the age of 26. Having an entrepreneurial spirit, Marissa went on to be successful at varies ventures. One being an award-winning fashion designer complete with her original designs being worn in a movie shown on the popular network TVOne! At one point Marissa worked as a social worker and thoroughly enjoyed this challenging role, which lead to her love of working with women and children. One fun fact is that Marissa enjoys driving and is quite good at it! Once a 5 star rideshare driver Marissa knew she could do this full-time and for herself. On August 15, 2021, Marissa registered Pretty Pick Up (PrttyPkUp) with the state of Ohio, and a star was born. PrttyPkUp’s mission is to provide a safety net for women! PrttyPkUp is an unique transportation service providing women drivers for women passengers. Pairing female passengers with female drivers sets us apart from other companies as we are currently the only company in the tri-state area offering this type of transportation service! This service is especially important at night, to many victims of domestic violence and or sexual assault who prefer and feel safer utilizing this option. This feature alone allows for safety and comfortability for women. Currently PrttyPkUp is most proud of building a large clientele of more than 200 female passengers and is growing daily. One story we’d love to share is about a gentleman from Boston booking a PrttyPkUp driver to transport his wife while she was in Cincinnati for business, which started by picking her up from the airport. The driver was booked to pick up and drop off the female passenger to and from all her destinations safely. This encounter was so successful that the passengers husband booked PrttyPkUp the next time his wife came to town. This speaks volumes about the need of safety for women who are at times solo travelers. PrttyPkUp’s slogan is Prtty Safe, Prtty Fast, Prtty on Time! All of this has been accomplished without an app which is currently being developed and will be launching soon! In final women deserve to be and feel safe in any setting, and PrttyPkUp aims to meet this need in the transportation arena.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
PrttyPkUp’s most effective strategy for growing our clientele often comes from being highly recommended by previous passengers! Often times when passengers ride with PrttyPkUp they are impressed with the service over all . The service includes being picked up on time, the driver being pleasant and professional while creating a relaxing clean environment. PrttyPkUp pricing model also allows for the service to be affordable and our drivers are often left great tips as a result.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
At this time PrttyPkUp’s staff is fairly small and easy to manage. While being a small company we expect to grow substantially and have begun to establish some great managing techniques. PrttyPkUp believe in appreciation and often expresses this through recognition and praise. Through these practices all team members are acknowledged and inspired to maintain such standards and are likely to teach them to new members. At PrttyPkUp the morale is kept high through constant communication and encouragement. Team members are encouraged to offer input as most support what they are apart of creating!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.prttypkup.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/prttypkup/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/prttypkup
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/prttypkup
Image Credits
PrttyPkUp did transportation services for the 2022 Kentucky Derby and all pictured verbally gave their consent as they were made aware that the photos would be used for marketing purposes