Keith G. Prez Asphy Talks Riding in Style With His Presidential Transportation
Photos by Susan Fried
Keith G. Prez Asphy, the CEO of Presidential Transportation, made an appearance on The Day With Trae, shedding light on the evolution of his luxury transportation business. What began with a single vintage stretch limousine has since burgeoned into a fleet encompassing an array of limos, SUVs, Sprinters, party buses, and Charter Buses—a transformation that Asphy heralded as bringing more opportunity to his work.
"That honestly was always a dream, but I never would have thought that [would] become my favorite vehicle to use," Asphy said. "It allows us to do a lot of work with kids, taking kids skiing, taking kids to events; we were able to take the CD Panthers, you know, to the Nutcracker. We take kids to their sports teams. It's a great opportunity to see them growing through their transition in sports in school."
For Asphy, luxury transportation isn't merely a venture—it's the culmination of a childhood aspiration.
"The first time I ever got into a limo was Eddie Murphy's. I was probably 10 or 11 years old, and his driver let us look inside. I was like, 'One day I'm going [to] have a limo,'" Asphy said.
Starting out by driving hip-hop artists like E-40, Too Short, Devin the Dude, and 2 Live Crew to and from their gigs, Asphy weighed the financial cost between leasing and ownership, ultimately opting to invest in his inaugural limousine.
"Once I started doing shows [and] got the opportunity to acquire the first one, I was able to eliminate that expense. I was doing a lot of parties and events, and it became honestly not only my business but [also] my personal form of transportation," Asphy said. "I'd go to the grocery store; I picked up my kids in the limo. So that's just what it was, and it just grew from there.
Since the inception of Presidential Transportation, Asphy has extended opportunities not just to friends and family but also to individuals seeking a chance to prove themselves despite facing hurdles at other companies.
"There's individuals who have the credentials to drive but other companies, due to their background, chose not to employ them," Asphy said. "We'e able to make the decisions and look into whatever someone has had in their previous experiences and make the decision to give them opportunity with us."
Between his drivers and his dedication to exceptional service, Asphy has been providing Seattle clients with an unforgettable experience, which has garnered a loyal clientele who keep coming back for more.
Through his drivers and commitment to unparalleled service, Asphy has consistently delivered excellent experiences to his Seattle customers, a dedication that has paid off with steadfast clientele who continuously return.
"The thing about Uber is there is no platform for Uber and Lyft to give people opportunities who may not be from Seattle. A lot of Uber drivers are not from Seattle; they're just pulling off their GPS," Ashpy said. "They don't know the history of Seattle as well as we do."
He continued, "The relationships that we have—there's so many times we're just dropping somebody off. We'll have a relationship with the venue, and we're able to get them expedited entry or a seating arrangement. We put all of the access and love that we got [and] we extend that to all of our clients. This led to a lot of great opportunities for us to be able to provide that type of service, and it's been a beautiful thing."
In addition to transportation, Ashpy has partnered with various organizations to promote causes such as ending gun violence. Having partnered with the Los Angeles-based brand and nonprofit Shoot Films Not People, Asphy has been actively promoting its message through the sale of merchandise.
"Again, providing opportunities for young people that want to do pop-ups that may not have merchandise yet to learn merchandising," Ashpy said. "They can go out and sell these shirts and bring this brand and awareness to the public."
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"We're going to have some dope events coming, some day trips. We're going to focus on going outside of the city, some Leavenworth trips, some wine trips down to Yakima. We've been doing some incredible work with the Yakima school district," Asphy said. "We'll be updating some events soon. We got some rooftop experiences coming where you'll be able to hop on the bus and tap around the city. We've had so many new rooftop spaces that have opened up over the last couple years. A lot of people haven't made it there, and we want to take them there."
For more stories about organizations shaping in Seattle, tune into Trae every weekday at 11 a.m. on all Converge Media platforms and The Day With Trae YouTube Channel.
