Formed in 2014, downtown-based HopSkipDrive has spent nearly a decade filling in transportation gaps between schools and their students.

With a network of vetted drivers, the company offers transportation to a variety of students in all sorts of schools whose needs do not translate well to a typical bus route. HopSkipDrive prides itself on its claimed reliability, affordable cost and safe transportation of students.

According to the company’s website, it has completed more than 3 million rides across 46 million miles for students at more than 16,000 schools in 14 states and Washington, D.C. It is the Business Journal’s second fastest-growing business in Los Angeles County.

Chief Executive Joanna McFarland co-founded HopSkipDrive with fellow mothers Carolyn Yashari Becher and Janelle McGlothin. McFarland attributes the company’s fast growth to its ability to fill a large need, offering “innovative solutions” to help with transportation.

Why has your company grown so quickly?

HopSkipDrive fills a vital need for school districts, government agencies, nonprofits, parents and caregivers by arranging safe, reliable transportation that supplements existing options. We offer innovative solutions to address many of today’s biggest school transportation challenges, like bus driver shortages and chronic absenteeism. Everything we do is powered by technology and data-driven insights, to create a safe, reliable, and consistent experience for kids, families and the local community.

What are your particular challenges of fast growth? Recruiting enough skilled people? The drive to expand supply chains? Acquiring enough space for your expanding needs? Other things?

The biggest challenge we encounter is shifting the perspective on school transportation from a one-size-fits-all approach to a multimodal transportation system, where school districts leverage multiple modes of transportation to get their students to school most effectively. It’s clear that different students benefit from different transportation methods, and safe, reliable rides are key to ensuring a student arrives at school happy, calm, and ready to learn.

Growing companies often relocate out of California. Do you think that trend will continue? Are you tempted to do so?

My team and I are tightly connected to California. We’ve been headquartered in Los Angeles since the beginning, and I’m committed to raising my family in this great state. As HopSkipDrive grows, we’ll always maintain a strong home base here while adding to our staff across the country to power our partnerships with more than 600 school districts, government agencies and nonprofits across 14 states and Washington, DC.

There’s been a longstanding prediction of a recession. Do you believe one is coming soon? If so, what have you done to prepare for it? How do you project it will affect you?

Regardless of whether or not the economy goes into a recession, kids must get to and from school – and the way they do this impacts their families, our schools and our communities.

There have not been enough resources in traditional school transportation structures for some time now, with the current system’s shortcomings contributing to the crises in chronic absenteeism and causing inequities in educational access that are affecting the welfare of millions of kids each day.

A recession won’t – and can’t – get in the way of our work to fill gaps and facilitate the transportation of kids who may not be served well by the existing options. Often, that means kids experiencing homelessness, in foster care, and with disabilities. These student populations are most impacted when transportation options become limited.

Finally, HopSkipDrive is also proud to provide earning opportunities for CareDrivers, providing a flexible way for parents, former teachers, babysitters and more to not only earn, but support, kids in their own communities. Being a CareDriver helps many people fill income gaps, including during changes to the economic environment and labor market. 

If you could go back in time, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently at your company?

HopSkipDrive now fills a gap that busy parents and school leaders know all too well by arranging safe, reliable rides for kids who need them to get to and from school, support services, extracurricular activities and more.

That was still the case in 2014 – I knew how important it was to deliver an option for consumers.  But if I could go back in time, I would jump sooner on a transition to our B2B business. There was no need to fear shifting away from a consumer-led offering.

Knowing then what I know now, and having the hindsight of going through the difficulties of the pandemic, I am so deeply appreciative of, and inspired by, the culture we’ve built and am certain that it has led to so much of our success. I would also double down on that aspect even more.

What’s the most important piece of advice you’d offer to another leader whose company is experiencing fast growth?

Enjoy the ride! The highs are high and the lows are low, but not many leaders have an opportunity to steer a rocket ship, and while it’s challenging, it’s an exhilarating experience.

Also, as you grow, it’s super important to maintain the spirit and essence of your culture. Your team is what drives your success. The right team, aligned around the right mission, values and vision can do incredible things. Stray from that and it’s really hard to course correct.