The incredible Story so far and How it all started.
My name is Nadine George and I’ve been a qualified Driving Instructor since 2009 of which back then I was running my driving school called get in gear. Over the years I had built up quite a high reputation, pass rate and rapport with my pupils around the Blanchardstown area which inevitably meant growth and I started turning away a lot of pupils. Couple that with the births of our 3 boys i was now in a situation where i had all the work but no one to help me and no time either to look after my business.
I needed help fast and i reached out to whom I saw back then was leading the way and still today is recognised by fellow instructors throughout the country as the best technical driving Instructor trainer around who not only was an incredible instructor but was also an entrepreneur and saw the industry from a very different viewpoint than anyone else.
Myself and my husband agreed that the man to speak to was Kevin Horgan. A legend in this business and if I was going to make a change myself in this industry then a meeting with Kevin would be extremely rewarding. I called Kevin in 2011 in the hope he would agree to meet me and thankfully 2 weeks after we had a meeting.You won’t believe what the outcome was.
Disappointed and Deflated
I outlined to Kevin my vision for a female driving school with Quality as the main criteria.A quality that only he could have brought. A school that would change other females lives and give them the flexibility to work around family life with school times but still have a nice income and able to achieve 20 to 30 hours comfortably per week. I told him we can get existing Instructors to come to us and build a team of like minded,quality driven Instructors which would set us apart from any one else in the game. I awaited his response excitedly.
Kevin asked me these questions,
- Why have you approached me? I see you have a brilliant business model I replied.
- How long are you qualified? 2 years I replied.
- How many Instructors have you trained? None i replied.
- How do you judge what makes a good instructor? Energy,work ethic, Passrates I replied.
- Why all Female? Because they are easier to work with in a Male dominated industry I replied.
- Why ask existing Instructors to join? Cause they are qualified already I replied.
Kevin’s opinion was that I was too inexperienced still to create the dream I had , didn’t have any experience training Instructors, had a hectic family life, didn’t have an understanding of what it takes to build a business not just train Instructors. There’s a fundamental difference between being an instructor and building a driving school and managing multiple Instructors Kevin advised.
Even though I was deflated I said that’s why I’m here.Can you teach and help me?
Kevin said laughingly, come back to me in 6 or 7 years time when you have more knowledge and experience and we will see.He liked the all female idea but felt it was the wrong time.We became great friends since then and mentioned a new business frequently.
Fast forward 2018
I met Kevin at the test centre and he said I have an idea to go with your plan about the Female instructor driving school if you are still interested ?. Now is the time.
Myself , my husband Mark and Kevin met that Friday and Ladybird Driving School was born.
“Ireland’s Only All Female Instructor Driving School”
Our vision
We wanted to not just change the Industry but fundamentally turn it on its head.We would recruit and train our own panel of Elite female Instructors who independently would each have the highest quality and pass rate in their region. We would not be inheriting poor instructors who are not up to scratch on Kevin’s advice.
We also wanted to give our Instructors the flexibility to work around their own personal lives and we would provide a winning business template in which to follow right from brand , diary management,calling and all aspects of the driving instruction business.
All areas that we identified others fell down we would excel. Business management is a different skillset to training as an instructor.
Phenomenal growth down to Quality of Instructors and Training
We are now 15 months in business and now in February 2020 we now currently have 16 full time self employed instructors. We have a further 11 trainee Instructors at various stages of the adi process.
By June 2020 we will have close to 30 operational and fully qualified Instructors.
As well as Dublin We are now also active in Wicklow,Wexford,Louth,Kildare,Monaghan,Meath and Westmeath.
We have the best ADI training unit in Ireland, our web traffic gets around 9,000 visits per month and we deal with around 100-150 new pupils per week.
Our stats tell us we need a further 14 Instructors to just about fulfill the demand such is the strength and recognised quality of the Ladybird brand. 🐞
We are already recognised as one of the best driving schools in Dublin with a verified and unmatched pass rate with 548 pupils passing their test in 2019.
By 2023 we see ourselves operating throughout Ireland in all counties and estimate 100 plus female Instructors throughout the whole of Ireland driving the Ladybird brand.
We train our Instructors to exacting standards and they can all decide what hours they Work. Post qualification we micromanage our Instructors for close to 12 months and beyond until they have a strong foothold on their business.
We would invite anyone to chat and call me or the team and we will advise you honestly on what the steps are to changing your career and becoming a Ladybird driving school instructor.