October Earning Partner Spotlights: Ray and Diane B.
This month, we’re highlighting a husband and wife Earning Partner duo, Indianapolis-based Ray and Diane Bridges!
How long have you been working with dlivrd?
Ray: I started late January-early February of 2022.
Diane: I started shortly after in March.
What do your respective journeys into the gig economy/dlivrd look like?
Ray: We’ve both been doing independent contract delivery for around five years with a local event caterer here in Indianapolis. We even worked through the pandemic, pretty much every day, even going to hospitals and delivering there.
January and February, the caterer we were working for said that business would be slowing because of the wedding off-season. So I went online one day and happened to see a Facebook ad for dlivrd, and it sounded like a perfect fit with our catering delivery background. I did pizza delivery many years ago as well. The information we were getting during onboarding with dlivrd was very straightforward and easy to understand. We like getting as much information as possible to complete our orders, and the app is very easy to use.
Diane: I asked, “Do you think I ought to try it?” And he said, “Yeah honestly I do!” I went through the dlivrd onboarding process myself. I enjoy it just as much as Ray does! Since dlivrd knows we’re husband and wife, we sometimes can switch orders off with each other on the rare occasion there happens to be a conflict. We work dlivrd during the week, and then do wedding catering delivery over the weekend.
Do you have a favorite dish from a restaurant you’ve completed a catering delivery for?
Ray: I love pizza – I’m a pizza-holic! Blaze Pizza is always really good, and it’s made in the woodfire ovens and they cook customizable pizzas in literally three minutes or so.
Diane: I recently did a pick-up from Maggiano’s Little Italy, there’s a salmon and asparagus dish that I saw and want to try. It smells and looks like heaven!
What does the #dlivrddifference mean to you?
Ray: The #dlivrddifference to me is letting the restaurants know when they’ve knocked it out of the park – in terms of service and food. We want them to get noticed and we want dlivrd to take note as well. The more encouragement we give to those restaurants and their customers, that in turn will ideally generate more orders due to this goodwill we’re establishing.
Diane: The #dlivrddifference to me is understanding that yes, there is a professional aspect to being in the catering delivery world, but being able to have fun with it! We want to take care of the clients but we also love what we do. We love visiting new places and meeting new people. We’ve had people along our deliveries tell us that when we’re there, it seems like we’re really enjoying it. And we are!
What advice would you give to new Earning Partners?
Ray: We’re our own little business out here as independently-contracted delivery professionals. When we go into any restaurant or interact with a customer, we hold ourselves in a professional way. We’re not only going to bring the food to you, but we’ll set it up and stay there until any issues are resolved and questions are answered.
As a part of this, it is important to invest in yourself as an Earning Partner and it’ll make your job easier and you’ll leave a great impression with the customers and restaurants. Little marketing touches, like taking videos and pictures of the restaurant and the order set-up can have a big impact as well.
Diane: Promptness is key. If you’re able to, try to be at a restaurant pick-up 5-10 minutes early. When you’re there, just let the restaurant know you’ve arrived and that you’re ready to take the order once it’s ready.
Making the investment in your own cart is also important, especially if the delivery location doesn’t have a cart. Then you’re left trying to get all the contents of the catering delivery through a building that could have multiple floors/stairs. It also shows that you’re organized and thorough.
Any fun facts you’d like to share about yourselves?
Ray: I set a World Record for watching TV 70 hours straight back in 2006. It was conducted through Dish Network! After the 70 hours was up, all the participants got to go to the Pro Bowl for free!
Diane: I’m in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (in Canton, OH) and was inducted in 1999 as the first-ever Colts fan – Fan Visa credit cards were starting to roll out, and Visa was choosing one fan per NFL team to represent and I was selected for the Indianapolis Colts!
In our free time, we both are active in our church and currently foster 10 rescue dogs!