I‘m originally from a very small village in Romania in eastern Europe, very close to the Ukraine border. When I was born, the guy who baptised me said, “This kid’s not going to stay here, he’s going to go far away in his life.” Everybody was looking, like, “What is this guy talking about?”

Sometimes I wake up at two in the morning, sometimes three, sometimes four – it depends on my schedule. If I don’t have anybody booked, then I wake up at, let’s say, four or five in the morning, and I’m downtown with Uber, waiting. You’re fishing in an ocean, right? If you’re not there, you can’t catch.

I’m not afraid to work, but I’m very careful. Federal law says you can’t be on the road for more than 12 hours, and I’m the kind of guy that follows the rules from point A to point B.

My business is to be safe. One customer said to me, “Use the hard shoulder.” I said, “Do you know how much the ticket will be? It’s $1,000 or $2,000 and I can be off the road. If you sign me a cheque for $100,000, I will do whatever you want, because you cover my bills.”

You have to feel if the customer wants to talk. But most customers start talking because they say, ‘Wow, how clean is this car?” My car has to look perfect – even if I have to wash it three times a day, I do. I don’t let anybody eat or smoke inside. I don’t care if somebody wants to give me money to be able to smoke. No. If I go in a restaurant, the first thing I do is walk into the bathroom. If it’s clean, you say, “Oh, this is good place to eat.” That’s what I want people to feel in my car.

Some customers don’t talk. Some of them start working. Some of them are upset – I can see it. You have to be careful. Maybe they lost millions of dollars today. But most of the time I try to joke, like, “Oh my God, life is beautiful. I know you work hard today, but try to be happy.”

I have a coffee in the morning. I often stop at the same location. I love the way they serve me. It makes me happy when somebody gives me something extra. I always try to give something extra. I have my coffee, I have my doughnut or whatever, I pick up my customer, I try to do my job perfectly.

It’s a good feeling when I have a celebrity in my car, because I’m partnered with Uber, so I do the top service for black car and SUV. Even if I see them for the first and last time, I try to leave a good impression. I know they’re a celebrity but their life, for that moment, is in my hands.

Sometimes I have a celebrity in my car and they tell me, “Some drivers when they recognise me they start shaking, or swear.” And I say, “Yeah? What’s the difference between me and you?” It makes me the happiest guy in the world when I see comments like, “Wow, I give him five stars, I never met a guy like this guy.” Then I see them the next day on the television and I say, “Oh my God, I had them in my car.”

I believe it’s one of my secrets that I can deal with people in a nice, polite, positive way. I remember I had a very drunk woman in my car, and I was thinking about stopping and calling the police. But the way I talked to her, I said, “Lady, I don’t want you to spend your night in jail, I want you to go home and have a party.”

I try to be focused all the time. When I feel a little bit tired – just a little bit – that’s it: the day’s over. First thing after I’m done, I make sure my car is washed perfectly. I go in the house, I take bottles of water from my refrigerator, or anything for my client to drink the next day. I set up to have everything perfect.

I take a shower. Sometimes, when I’m not that tired, I make food. I love to make soup. I help my wife. I see what my son is doing. But sometimes I’m tired, yes. I check my schedule, I look at my messages and I say, “Woah, tomorrow I have to wake up very early.” I always want to be there 15-20 minutes before the pick-up. I treat my customers like they are my family.

Then I watch TV, some shows, news or a soccer game that I record – I’m a Tottenham fan. I try to read a book if I have time. Sometimes I play soccer with my son in the yard. Sometimes I go to the gym. I meet friends there. We talk.

I call myself lucky, but people around me, my customers, tell me, “You have to make your luck.” But I consider myself lucky.