Amanda Catania

Founder and Owner, Kid Ridez

Photo courtesy of Amanda Catania

In 2015, Amanda Catania earned her MBA from Wilmington University and was figuring out her next career move, all while shuttling her kids to school and their activities. That was no easy feat—Catania and her husband Mike have six children.

Figuring that other parents needed safe, reliable transportation for their kids, Catania launched Kid Ridez with five clients and one driver: her. A friend created the Kid Ridez website, another friend did the legal work and Catania distributed flyers to market her services. “Grassroots marketing at its finest,” she says.

It worked. Within one year, Catania landed her first business account: The Goddard School of Wilmington. By early 2020, Kid Ridez had grown to 17 drivers and over 100 passengers, and secured transportation contracts with Tower Hill School and the Brandywine School District. COVID-19 dealt a nearly lethal blow to Kid Ridez.

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But, with federal assistance, Catania paid all of her employees and kept her business afloat. Now, Kid Ridez is operating at 25 percent capacity. That’s better than zero, Catania emphasizes. “I’m not worried about it,” Catania says. “We’re all in this together and we’ll come out of this on the other side.”


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