"Nobody told her to get a licence, nobody told her she has to drive."

Toula Valmas imitates her husband Angelo's reaction when he gets jibes from his old-school Greek friends on why his wife drives a taxi.

Valmas, one of the city's rare female taxi drivers, boasts of surviving 17 years in a male-dominated profession. "Everybody is surprised and 98 per cent say I'm the first woman driver they've had. Customers are so nice with women and polite. I've never had problems."

When she came to Toronto from Athens for a vacation in May of 1974, Valmas had no clue she'd be still here 30 years later.

The first night here, she met the man she would spend the rest of her life with at a Greek baptism party near the Danforth, and never looked back.

Was it love at first sight? She laughs and says, "He was okay."

The 54-year-old genuinely likes her job and takes pride in what she does.

When on the road, Valmas takes care to present herself professionally, wearing long, floral skirts, blazers and feminine, beaded T's.

She's a conscientious driver for Maple Leaf Taxi, making all her signals and driving at responsible speeds. Tips are generous and passengers say they feel safe in her car. Perhaps the only real annoyance has been the odd time men have tried to make advances.

"Sometimes, men tried to pick me up, but I ignored them. I didn't make a big deal of it," she says, laughing modestly.

Valmas approaches driving with the same nurturing instinct she has as a mother. When she sees a woman waiting for a bus late at night, she will often offer a free ride.

"Why not? We need to help each other," she says with a wave of the hand. "I like helping older people, disabled people. I like to help people in the taxi industry."

Angelo, also a taxi driver, brought her into the business unintentionally back in 1987. They had two young daughters and only one car, which he drove for work.

Though she only got her driver's licence so she could drive her kids and make grocery runs, she soon realized how liberating it was for a housewife.

"I'm not a typical Greek woman. I can't stay at home. I have too much energy, that's the problem."

Her girls Irene and Stephanie are now grown up and attend York University. She doesn't have to drive, but she chooses to continue, despite her husband's objections.

Working in the taxi industry, she says, has taught her she can hold her own in a man's world and wear a skirt at the same time.