Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Strollo.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In Control started offering their Crash Prevention Training in 2003 and I was invited to provide some marketing insight as a consultant back in 2007. At that point, they had invested well over $1M and were not excited about the headcounts they were seeing.
I was blown away by how important this training is and easily provided a large list of ways to increase demand. The existing CEO subsequently stepped down and I was asked to take over the leadership role.
We grew dramatically in the first few years, but as the economy got rough, we plateaued. Shortly thereafter we had to close a training site due to a construction project coming in. We were prepared to close down the company, but only a few days before we were to make that final decision we were approached by a family who wanted to keep us afloat and providing the funding to do so.
Shortly thereafter we made the decision to convert the organization to a non-profit 501(c) (3) and we’ve operated as the In Control Family Foundation since 2013.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We’re a very small organization and our goal is to train people to be safe drivers. Everyone thinks they’re a great driver (well, not everyone…but certainly most) and in just a few minutes on our roads…you will see that almost everyone is a terrible driver! We follow to closely, we don’t have our hands in the right position, we drive distracted…we’re just doing it wrong.
What we do is very expensive. We need abandoned airports to drive our cars on. We go through tires every 7 days. And we’re basically selling something that people do not think they need…..until they experience it. Then everyone understands.
The elevator speech can be complicated, we have had many months where in order to make payroll, and I’ve skipped paying myself. I don’t like to brag, but I’m not just the Executive Director, but I’m also the plow truck operator….which is no big deal when there’s 2″ of snow…but when we’re on 10″ plus, your wife is mad that the driveway at home is not clear AND you’re trying to move an airport worth of snow in a little pickup truck…it’s not fun.
But what we do is important and with over 30,000 graduates as well as great campaigns to educate drivers….I rarely go more than a day or two without someone thanking me for saving their life or simply helping them avoid a crash. It makes it all worthwhile.
In Control – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
In Control has one mission divided into two functions. Our goal is to drastically reduce injuries and deaths due to automobile crashes. We do this through hands-on, closed course training as well as community engagement.
Our crash prevention training course is very unique. There really is not anyone else doing this level of training in Massachusetts and as you look across the country, there’s nobody doing it as well as us. We perform real-world emergency drills at real-world speeds. The first drill anyone taking our course performs is a 50-65 MPH panic stop. Whether you’re a 15 year old from NH or the 94 year old graduate we had a few years ago…or any age in between, slamming on the brakes at 65MPH can be intimidating…but it could be necessary anytime you’re traveling that speed. What’s interesting is that those trainees that freak out when performing this drill will pick up their foot off the brake pedal…resulting in taking way too long to stop and hitting a wall of cones we set up….the interesting part is that when they repeat the drill…100% of the time, they stop without any trouble. They’re no longer intimidated by how the car behaves and they just do what they need to and avoid a crash.
That’s what the course is all about…you’re put into emergency situations and you get a chance to learn skills, experience real-world g-forces and pick up instinctual reactions to keep you safe. It’s been going on in many European countries for decades and those same countries enjoy a much lower crash rate than the US (we’re one of the least safe countries in the world for crashes….Boston is one of the highest for crashes in the US…we’re not the highest for deaths, but that’s only because with our traffic you can only go so fast and there’s an amazing hospital on every corner).
Graduates enjoy insurance discounts (new drivers and more recently experienced drivers are saving up to 10% off their auto policy) as well as the peace of mind that they’re less likely to crash with the experience. We see a lot of families train together (our passion is to work with young / new drivers who crash at ridiculously low rates), but more and more we’re hearing from companies that need help controlling their insurance costs due to so many crashes.
Our outreach involves everything from speaking at high schools, civic organization or doing media events focused on distracted driving, driving while stoned, etc. We are well respected by many of the newspapers and TV News stations as well as police, schools and other health & safety related agencies in town.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’ve had more than a few phone calls from parents thanking me from keeping their teen alive. In a few cases they had crashed and the police told them they were lucky to be alive based on what they did to avoid making things worse…in other cases the teens themselves told their parents that they don’t think they would have survived without out help. It’s happened literally hundreds of times at this point…and each time it’s my proudest moment for sure.
Pricing:
- As a non profit we ask those who can afford the program at $350 to pay that
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DriveInControl.org
- Phone: 978-658-4144
- Email: Dan@iDriveInControl.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/driveincontrol/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DriveInControl/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/driveincontrol
Image Credit:
All internal pics, but the screen grab from Chronicle (clearly noted on pic)
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