Liverpool Uber driver Nathalie Molyneux, known to passengers as “Auntie Nat”, has built a reputation for her “crystal cab” — a taxi filled with crystals that many riders describe as a safe space. The 51-year-old from Netherton, who has driven passengers around the city for seven years, said the job feels less like work and more like “heading out to see her mates”.
From call centre to cab
Nat told the ECHO: “I used to work in a call centre and I’d see the taxi drivers coming and going in the sunshine and just thought, ‘That’s what I want to do!’. My husband is also a taxi driver and he’s done it for years.”
“I love people and I love chatting away, so it just made sense. It doesn’t feel like a job, I always joke with my husband and say, ‘I’m just going out to see my mates’, when I go to work.”
Overcoming bullying with comedy
Life as a female taxi driver has not always been easy. When Nat first entered the industry seven years ago, she said she faced bullying from other drivers and had to fight for her place in what she calls a “man's world”.
She said: “It was a bit tough for the first couple of years because I did get bullied by the other drivers. I’ve had people screaming and shouting at me. It was because I was a woman. It's very much an old-fashioned man's kind of world. But now I don’t care. I’ve had to learn to stand up for myself. I’m not letting them push me away. I love this job.”
Instead of letting those experiences push her out of a job she loves, Nat — who is self-employed and currently works with Uber — turned to comedy. She took to the stage at Liverpool's Hot Water Comedy Club and began turning her experiences behind the wheel into stand-up material.
She said: “Comedy kicked in, and I decided I wasn't going to let them make me sad. They couldn't take the job because I love my job.”
Turning encounters into content
Nat now shares her stories with thousands of people online through her TikTok account, LiverpoolNat, which she started because she felt the things she experienced as a taxi driver were “too good not to share”. She said: “I enjoy it, and I do weekend lives where I get over a thousand people sometimes. Then I did the Hot Water Comedy Club in front of 250 people, and I was buzzing. I wasn't scared. I got up, and I felt like I was doing what I should be doing, because I've got that many stories.”
The TikTok account has also given Nat a way to turn difficult encounters into something positive. She said: “I've been called every single name under the sun. But turn it around into comedy. When they're having a shout at me, I'm staring at them thinking, 'What can I talk about you on my TikTok later?'. And that's how I handle it. That’s how I get my own back on them. They recognise me now, so they don’t pick on me as much as they used to. But the job itself is an eye-opener, you don’t know what you’re going to get in the next job.”
A safe space on wheels
Away from the rows and funny stories, Nat has become known to many passengers for her car filled with crystals, earning it the nickname “crystal cab” among regulars. She has also given herself the nickname “Auntie Nat”, as many of the students she picks up open up to her, particularly when they are away from home and finding their feet in a new city.
She said: “I call myself Auntie Nat with them. When all the students come to the city, and they're coming away from their mums and their dads, and they're in this big city, and they're going for exams and stuff, I give them crystals out of the car for good luck. It helps them, doesn't it?”
Nat said being a woman behind the wheel can also make a difference to how some passengers feel. She said: “Loads of people have told me they felt more relaxed when they realised a woman was coming to collect them. A lot of young girls feel better that I'm driving them, and a lot of people in the LGBT+ community too. I'm just like someone's auntie, so we have a good chat, and sometimes people really pour their hearts out to you. It's quite an honour.”
One passenger even described her taxi as a “safe space”, something Nat said she was particularly proud to hear. She said: “I had a guy say to me, 'Oh, this is a safe space’, and I thought, 'You know what? Yeah, it is’.”
Falling back in love with Liverpool
Her seven years behind the wheel have given Nat a new appreciation for the city itself. Driving down streets she'd never previously visited and meeting tourists from around the world, she said she has “fallen back in love” with Liverpool.
She said: “I go to places that are off-track, off the bus routes, and I go, 'Oh, I didn't even know this was here’. I get all the tourists getting in and I can drive them around talking to them about everything that I've learned about Liverpool, but I've actually learned it from the other tourists.”
She delights in showing visitors the city's best views, particularly when they emerge from the Mersey Tunnel and are greeted by the Liver Birds. She said: “I take the customers on rides to go to places that I know are going to make an epic picture for them. I tell them, 'Get your camera ready, because this is the best picture in the world’. It's dead corny, but it is my city, my heart. It gets me tearful.”
She continued: “I've been in this city for 50 years, and I've seen the crap that's been thrown at it. And we just dig down and get on with it. When I pick up tourists, and they see Liverpool, so they, ‘Oh my god it’s lovely! The people are lovely!’ and I say, ‘See, we’re not scary, we’re just fun!’. I feel like when people come to Liverpool, they relax and just enjoy the city. People tell me they feel safe and cosy here. It really touches my heart because I want people to come here and enjoy the city. I want to bring a little bit of happiness to people who are having a rubbish day. And if I can do that with my little silly stories, I'm happy.”
