Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Marie.
Hi Taylor, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I love numbers and processes! At a very young age, while working with my dad, is when I learned the importance of processes! It’s almost like having your daily routine locked in! You know the outcome based on certain steps you take throughout the day, and by the end of the day I find myself asking, “What did you do today that’s INCOME PRODUCING?”
Well, I became obsessed with this concept and ever since college, I knew I wanted to be the brains and driver behind meaningful brands! I didn’t know at the time I would begin to own my own creative agency, let alone work for some of the biggest companies out there! To name a few: Fashion Nova, Beautycon, 911 For Kids, and my present job Sloomoo Institute where I work full time as their Brand Strategist and Influencer Manager… So basically, my entire life evolves around strategies and processes, lol!
During college, I knew I would be a forensic psychologist until one day, my new counselor pulled me in the office to let me know that my previous counselor had me taking classes towards the wrong major the entire time! So at that time, I was already 4 years in and just wanted to get out. I told my counselor, “Put me in any major that will get me out of here the fastest!”… that major ended up being in Media Studies with a concentration in social media.
By the end of my senior year of college, I had written an entire book on The Evolution of Marketing, got offered to be head of Marketing at Fashion Nova, and fell completely in love with my accidental career! From 2016 to even now, my company Our Sisters Our Time kind of fell into my lap with all of the creative requests coming in personally, so I just decided to make a legal company out of it!
I learned most of my lessons just by setting up my own company. For example, do I want to be an LLC, incorporated, or a nonprofit, and what does that look like in the long run? Well, I chose to be incorporated because I knew Our Sisters would eventually have sister companies tagged along to it. But the hard lesson with this was the tax filing and the bookkeeping. I now know that if I financially do not have a cash flow then it’s probably best I wait to incorporate my company as it’s not cheap to maintain!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Owning your own business is the ugly part of it all! I remember a time that I had 3 women on payroll and I was paying them through my 9-5 job until we received funding. Well, layoffs began at my job and I was one of them! So I took my very last check and paid all of my employees with what was left between that and what was in my account. I wanted to ensure Our Sisters’ writers and operations team had a buffer check while looking for new gigs in the meantime.
Why did I give them my last instead of looking out for myself? Because I valued the relationships I established with my team and wanted every single one of them to return to my company the moment I had new cash flow!
Working in corporate, I’ve been laid off so many times with no REAL explanation, no heads up, and no final check to help us get through the next week or so…it never feels good being left behind so my goal is to never let my team feel that way!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I was born and raised in Sacramento then moved to Los Angeles California for college, and currently reside in both Los Angeles, California and Brooklyn New York. I am a Media Studies graduate from Marymount California University who has a forward, yet creative, thinking approach to media and design infrastructure. I am a professional whose experience in business-to-business marketing techniques and strategic planning, has allowed me to travel the world reporting on industry trends happening with our culture.
To name a few of my accomplishments, I currently hold the title of, Miss Black Teen Sacramento 2009, Miss Black Talented Teen California 2010, Miss Miracle Mile USA 2018 and more!
Leveraging my unique experiences in leadership, media, and public relations, I intend to use my experiences to continue a path forward with marketing as my stronghold.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Work smarter, not harder. It seems as though the younger generations get caught in feeling like they gave their all not keeping in mind the hard work only amounted to so much in the eyes of an employer or professional industries overall. The real focus should be to ensure that whatever the job at hand is, that it is in fact INCOME-PRODUCING and not just busy work.
Contact Info:
- Website: oursistersourtime.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesistersorority/
