How many times as a mom have you looked at your calendar and panicked because it is full of drop offs and pickups. One child needs to be somewhere at “X” time, another child needs to be on the opposite side of town at, you guessed it, the same time. The amount of time we spend in the car going and coming, chauffeuring our people around can be insane. Now add in if you are a full time outside the home working mom, or a single mom, or a mom who travels for work. Crazy train rider ticket for one please!
Feeling the pain
John and Sarah Wright, local Vestavia Hills parents, felt this very way. It was a crazy time in life for the Wrights two years ago. Work was incredibly demanding and their kids were of the age that they were involved in all sorts of after school activities. On top of that, all three were in different schools. They were discussing their calendars over coffee one morning and were officially feeling the pain of how their week was going to work. Everyone in the house needed to be somewhere different. John, a successful entrepreneur, who had moved his family to Birmingham to start his last business, knew there had to be a solution. After praying for months about what the next season of life would hold for them, that morning over coffee it came to him. An app that helps us as parents get our kids rides. He even had a name, Coolbus! Sarah said, “that’s it John, that is what we need to do.” The rest is history.
Coolbus didn’t happen overnight. John and Sarah polled their friends, held focus groups, and continued to walk through how this would even work. With each step the why became more and more obvious. Their vision was clear. They wanted to be able to help parents quickly find rides for their kids, help moms make a little extra money by doing something that they were already doing, and lastly, just to connect people so that they could work together to help solve a problem each parent faces every day. John and Sarah are not natives to Birmingham and don’t have family as a support here, so they were actually living this need out in real time.
Getting on the Coolbus
So how does this app work? It’s so simple! Once the app is downloaded, there are just a couple of steps you need to take to get going! Creating a profile is the first thing to do. Nothing fancy there, just simple information, such as email, home address, etc. Pretty basic. Next, sync your contacts that are already on your phone. This way you can “trust” the people you feel comfortable driving your kids. Lastly, post a job to the job board. Create the from and to, time, date, and if you are wanting to trade or offer money. Trading means you will pick up the ride the next time. The job is posted on the job board, showing the information necessary to the job but not your kids names or pictures. Safety is our first priority! Once someone is interested in your “job” you will get a push notification letting you know. Then you can use our in app chat feature to talk, discuss details, etc. Easy Peazy!
I personally love when new technology shows up that makes my life easier and Coolbus is just that. Working full time, having a husband who travels for work, and being a mom of four can get very dicey. Coolbus has saved my sanity more times over the last couple of months than I can count. I have also gotten to know other people in my community who without the app I probably wouldn’t have. We are all in this together and now we have Coolbus as another tool in our mom book of tricks.
