Today we’d like to introduce you to Allen Narcisse.
Allen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I moved to Los Angeles from Boston fourteen years ago, I totally fell in love with this city and the people here. The electricity of this place and the feeling that anything is possible in this beautiful city really captured my heart. Case in point: my wife – she was the first person I met during an internship at CBS.
From CBS, I went on to my first job at the LA Times, and moved up to become Director of Operations for Hoy. That position gave me the chance to experience LA in a new way and served as a kind of introduction to all the unique neighborhoods and cultures that make up this place. I would get up at 4am on Fridays with the delivery drivers and we’d traverse the city. That was one of the first ways that I got to see the many facets of Los Angeles and what makes the people here tick.
From there, I went to Paramount Pictures where I held the position of the VP of Strategy. After a couple years, I decided to launch my own media company with my friend from the Times, Bill Momary, called Ebyline. It was a service that connected freelancers with publications that would buy their work. All of these experiences led me to Lyft in a cool way that melds my love for this city with my passion for connecting people. I joined the rideshare world in 2015 and had the amazing opportunity to become part of the Lyft team in 2017. I work out of our Arts District Hub where every level of Lyft employee is represented – I’m really proud of that because it allows us to build an important business where we all come together to help Angelenos get where they’re going seamlessly.
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?
I’ve had my fair share of struggles and uncertainty throughout my career, but one of the most important things I’ve realized from each of those events is that they uniquely prepared me for my next move, experience or job. One example that comes to mind is how dramatically the media industry was changing when I started at the Times and later launched my own company. When my partner and I were trying to raise funding for Ebyline, the first fifty VCs we approached turned us down. I’m not ashamed to admit that each rejection made us question what we were doing constantly, but each one also completely prepared us for our next meeting and the eventual investment we received. That experience truly shaped me as a businessperson – I realized that it doesn’t matter how badly you want something to happen, when you’re truly ready and work harder than you ever thought you could, things will come together in just the right way.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Lyft – Los Angeles – what should we know?
I’m the General Manager of Lyft Southern California – that means I handle the operations for Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and the surrounding areas in one of the most bustling regions of the country. One of my priorities is making sure we’re meeting the needs of our drivers and passengers through our support teams, venue partnerships and relationships with local electives. My mission is to ensure that our drivers and passengers know and feel that they are an integral part of what makes Lyft move. I always want to make sure that we’re furthering that ethos and adding value to their experiences, whether that means supporting their passions or fueling their goal of experiencing more of the city and meeting new people in a safe, reliable way. When I think about all the relationships that are created each day through Lyft, between our drivers, passengers and team, it’s pretty incredible.
Contact Info:
- Address: Lyft LA Driver Hub
662 S Santa Fe Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90021 - Website: https://www.lyft.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lyft/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lyft/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lyft
Image Credit:
Lyft
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