I was incredibly nervous. It had been a long, long time since my last job interview, and I was sitting in the backseat of an Uber, frantically talking to myself and going over practice answers out loud. My hands were shaking, and my mind was racing with every possible way things could go wrong.

My elderly driver must have heard my anxious muttering. He glanced back and gently asked if I was heading to an interview. When I admitted I was, he didn’t just offer standard platitudes. Instead, he adjusted his mirror, looked me in the eye, and said, “Okay, go ahead. I’ll be the interviewer.”

For the entire 25-minute ride, he threw tough questions at me. Whenever I began to ramble or panic, he told me to slow down. When I undersold my accomplishments, he stopped me and said, “Stronger. Say it like you mean it.” He pushed me to find my confidence when I had completely lost it.

When we finally pulled up to the corporate building, he looked at me through the rearview mirror one last time. He gave me a firm nod and said, “You’ve got this. Walk in like you already work there.” Armed with that sudden surge of confidence, I walked into the building, nailed the questions, and got the job. I left him a five-star review and tried to describe his incredible impact in the comments, because that man did more for me in a single car ride than most people do in a year.