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Meet Mayra Khan of Nova Driving School in Bucktown and Logan Square

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Mayra Khan.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador and graduated from the Catholic University of Ecuador with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a minor in Marketing. While in college, I began working for Nenelandia, a children’s apparel company. To achieve greater economic opportunities and to develop my career, I moved to California in 2002 to work in commercial loans, commercial property management and mortgage banking; Shortly after I came to the United States, my parents emigrated from Ecuador in 2003 and settled in Chicago, where they established Nova Driving School. They ran the business mostly on their own (with a few part-time instructors) during the first five years of operation.

In 2008, I moved to Chicago and started to expand the business. We have always had a positive family and working relationship, which is key to running a family business. In late 2008, I became School Director of Nova Driving School and began looking at ways to expand the business beyond driving lessons for adults. In 2009, established Nova’s Defensive driving Program and combined with the Adult and Teen Program, have grown tremendously during the last nine years; it’s become one of the top programs in the Chicago driver education market. We offer fun classes, convenient scheduling for classroom sessions and driving lessons, and reasonable prices. Plus, our four Chicago locations—Hyde Park, Logan Square/Bucktown, 26th street; and Evanston—make it easy for students to reach us through public transportation options.

I also focused on building partnerships to expand Nova’s operations. In 2011, I entered into a partnership with the Itasca-based National Safety Council through which Nova became a recognized Training Center for both Alive at 25, a defensive driving course for young adults, and DDC 4, a defensive driving course targeted to all drivers. In 2014, I secured approval from the National Safety Council to offer the organization’s “DDC 8/6 Defensive Driving Course,” an in-classroom defensive driving course for adults, that highlights safe-driving practices in both 6-hour and 8-hour formats. Nova also provides classroom training and behind-the-wheel evaluations for employees who work in transportation-related fields.

We’ve also used partnerships during the last three years to expand our Teen Program. We partner with high schools around Chicago to offer our 30-hour, classroom course within the school building after school, which is very convenient for students and parents. Once students have their permits, they can begin driving with our trained, state-licensed driving instructors. We have succeeded by making the process of earning a license as convenient and customer-oriented as possible. I am grateful for the fantastic staff that we have at Nova, all of our office staff members, classroom instructors, and driving instructors. We couldn’t do our work without them!

I believe that it is important to network in order to gain ideas, learn from colleagues in the industry and grow the business. In 2014 and 2015, I participated in the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative sponsored by Goldman Sachs and the City Colleges of Chicago. Through my involvement in the program, I networked with other entrepreneurs and gained new ideas about how to make Nova as competitive as possible.

Furthermore, in July 2015, Nova won the Family Business Award an event created by the Smart Business Magazine, but also Nova participated in the event Latinos 40 under 40 from Negocios Now created for Latino Business.

In September 2016, Nova was nominated in the Inner City 100 list of companies that exemplify more than outstanding growth. Due to a transformation of the community through the creation of more employment opportunities. Additionally, in 2016, I received an award too from Woman of Influence programme that recognizes and celebrates those women from all walks of life who make a positive difference to the lives of their fellow.

I am also grateful for the guidance and professional networking support that I have received from the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) during the last few years as I worked to expand Nova. In November 2016, I participated in the 30 year WBDC Legacy award and in September 2015, I was fortunate enough to receive the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Women’s Business Development Center.

In January 2017, I was named one of the 2017 Enterprising Women of the Year by Enterprising Women magazine. To be eligible for the award, nominees must demonstrate that they have fast-growth businesses, mentor or actively support other women and girls involved in entrepreneurship and stand out as leaders in their communities, according to Enterprising Women magazine. In April 2017, I participated in the Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration & Conference, where I had a chance to participate in workshops and network with other female entrepreneurs from around the United States.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The greatest challenge that I have faced involves finding avenues for continued growth. When my parents, founded Nova in 2003, Nova truly was a mom-and-pop operation. For the first year or two, my parents were the only employees, and they had one vehicle for behind-the-wheel lessons. Their students were very satisfied with the results and Nova’s reputation began to grow. Friends and family members told their friends and family, and steadily, we built up a thriving business. We have also grown by offering lessons for students who want to earn a motorcycle license; earn a Class C license to drive a larger delivery truck, or drive a stick-shift vehicle.

One of the difficult things about running a small business is that no entrepreneur’s success is guaranteed. Our reputation is earned by a satisfied customer experience through experience. In our free-market economy, both success and failure are earned. Businesses that innovate and meet their customers’ needs stay in business while the firms that don’t serve their customers as effectively as the competition end up going out of business. Consumers have choices, and they vote with their feet—and their dollars. I want to ensure that our customers come back and refer their friends, too.

In August 2017, we succeeded in gaining the Illinois Secretary of State’s approval for our Online Adult Driver Education (ADE) course. Since 2014, as a result of a change in state law, any 18-20-year-old in Illinois who wants to earn a driver’s license (and who has not previously completed a driver education course in high school) must take a 6-hour Adult Driver Education class either in a classroom setting or online. During the process of developing the online course, we had to make sure that we prepared a curriculum that takes all of the content that students learn during our classroom version of the course and presents it in an effective, easy-to-navigate, visually-appealing way.

During the road to approval, we had to work with a Web development firm that has expertise in digital platforms as well as meet the Secretary of State’s requirements regarding content, curriculum length, identify verification, data security, and end-of-course testing. We also had to ensure that the software program was user-friendly. In the end, though, our hard work and investment in the curriculum paid off—students can register for the course through our Web site, www.novadriving.com.

Nova Driving School – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Nova Driving School provides a wide variety of classroom courses and behind-the-wheel training programs for adults and teens. Using our fleet of late-model Kia Soul vehicles, our state-licensed instructors teach students to become safe, responsible drivers, often in only four or five lessons. We also provide on-road instruction for students who want to learn how to operate manual-transmission (stick-shift) vehicles; drive Class C (medium-duty) trucks, and ride motorcycles.

We offer many classroom-based defensive driving courses, including the National Safety Council’s DDC 4 and DDC 8/6 defensive driving courses, which provide between four and eight hours of defensive-driving training to adult students, including professional drivers and individual motorists who have received traffic violations. Nova also offers the National Safety Council’s Alive at 25 defensive driving class, which is designed to encourage safe, responsible driving habits among young drivers.

For students between ages 18 and 20 who have not previously taken driver education, Nova offers a 6-hour Adult Driver Education class that allows students to fulfill the State of Illinois’ requirement for driver education classroom instruction. In addition, our 30-hour Teen Program classroom course (combined with behind-the-wheel instruction) allows students to apply for an instruction permit at age 15 and apply for a driver’s license at age 16.

Services:
Behind-the-wheel driving instruction
Written exam (instruction permit test) preparation
Stick-shift lessons
Class C (non-CDL) training
Motorcycle lessons
Winter driving lessons
Adult Driver Education provider (certified by the Illinois Secretary of State)
Teen Program (30-hour classroom program + 6-8 hours BTW)
National Safety Council–DDC 4
National Safety Council–DDC 8/6
National Safety Council–Alive at 25

The main aspect of Nova that sets Nova apart from other schools, I think, is the quality of our office staff members and our instructors. We want every client to feel that their business is valued and that their time is important. Our strong reviews on social media are a testament to our staff members’ hard work; our current score on Google is consistently above 4.5 stars and often is even higher.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I feel that success needs to be earned and involves not just meeting personal and business goals but also exceeding expectations of everyone who contributes to your success.

I believe there are aspects of success that can be tangibly measured that we rightfully put great focus on but one should not lose sight of all the intangibles and a need to help contribute to making others successful. For this reason, I try to do my part by staying engaged and mentoring others that I feel would benefit from my experience and connections and this adds to much greater satisfaction and appreciation of success.

Pricing:

  • Adult Beginner: 8hr BTW + Road Test $500 Includes: Four 2 hrs behind the wheel lessons (Total 8hrs)/ Licensed professional instructor/ Defensive Driving Techniques /Fun and comprehensive/ Safe dual control vehicles /Road Test Exam Preparation /Use of our vehicle for Illinois State Road Test/ Transportation to/from DMV Home pick up/drop off**
  • Teen Program 30 hrs Class 6hrs BTW: $395 Includes: 30 hours in-classroom instruction./ 6 hours behind-the-wheel / 6 hours observation /Obtaining instruction permit 2nd week of class/ Licensed professional instructor. /Pickup/drop-off at Nova. /State certification paperwork. /Certificate of completion. /Alive @25 defensive driving course ($100 value)
  • Stick Shift Lesson: 2hr Package $180 Includes: Licensed professional instructor /Student must present a valid driver’s license./ Many students learn to drive stick in only one lesson./ Proven method of teaching. /Safety-inspected vehicles.
  • Adult Drivers Education 6 hour Online Course $60 Description: Any 18-20 year-old in Illinois who wants to earn a driver’s license (and who has not previously completed a driver education course in high school) is required to take a 6-hour Adult Driver Education class. The online course costs $60; the classroom version of the 6-hour ADE class costs $100.

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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