A Valley stay-at-home mom turned entrepreneur, Kasandra Merrill spoke to ABC15 on why it's never too late to follow your passion.
"I've always known that I love, and have a passion for, people and connection and I have lifelong friends because of it. But I... to put that in with a business, and you're supposed to make money at this... you know, like I didn't know how that would all work out and it's working," said Kasandra Merrill, Turo host.
Merrill says she had her first child at 19 years old, she would have six more after that which kept her extremely busy.
Now that most of them are out of the house, with their own children, she decided it was time to do something for herself.
"A lot of people haven't heard of it yet and I just say, it's the Airbnb of cars," said Merrill.
At 47 years old, Merrill started looking into Turo, a peer-to-peer car-sharing platform.
"We had some cool cars already and I kind of toyed with the idea of it," said Merrill.
Then in June of last year, she took a leap of faith and listed her first vehicle for rent. She hasn't looked back since.
"It's 100% me that they speak to through the messaging; it is me that does all the detail work around detailing the cars," said Merill.
As a Turo host, Merrill was given the opportunity to build her own small car-sharing business. She says her family has supported her every step of the way.
"Most of our children are entrepreneurs themselves and they own their own. So, it's fun I think, maybe for them to see me do something different and still be with them," said Merrill.
Although it keeps her busy, she believes the small touches matter the most.
"I hand write them a card every single time, and it's very personable to why they're here. A lot of them share why they're here, I ask, and I also leave them a gift in the car," she said.
Merrill encourages everyone to follow what they are passionate about because "you can't put a price on that".
