I sat down with Michelle Taylor recently — founder of Taylor+Scale, a healthcare communications consultancy based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Michelle partners with CEOs and executive leadership teams to work through complex business challenges and build communication strategy that aligns goals across the organization. She's a solo founder right now, with plans to bring on her first dedicated employee later this year.
I asked Michelle what made her decide to start her own company.
Michelle had spent most of her career in enterprise healthcare communications — leading teams, building strategy, working with executives. She'd always known she was the kind of person who thrives on hard, challenging work and doesn't sit well with status quo. When the timing was right, she made the leap.
"A couple of former colleagues said, well, that sounds great, Michelle — now I've got this project I'd like for you to do."
That first year was about saying yes to everything. The second year has been about intentionally putting together an offering and doing all the business owner things that come with it.
"Every day I think, how am I going to get all this done today? But somehow it happens and I'm never dreading coming to work. It's always exciting."
We talked about her experience building and leading teams.
Michelle has been building enterprise communication teams for most of her career, going back to 2009. She's learned something specific about herself along the way.
"I kind of feel like people are best led by themselves. They're best led by their own self efforts. I tend to be more of the energizer and trust somebody else to manage things."
The person she plans to bring on this year will be a communications manager — someone who's grounded, deliberate, and process driven.
"I think of it as they're the boss, actually. My title might be higher than theirs. But they're very good at managing people, at being deliberate, making sure that timelines are being met and boundaries are being established and maintained in a healthy way."
"I think the key as a leader is to figure out where your niche is and trust it. And then trust other people to lead with their niche."
Her advice for founders:
"Trust in the expertise and smarts of others. I think the biggest pitfall that founders can find themselves in is feeling like they need to have everything figured out. Feeling like they have to make all the decisions and they have to know what the right or wrong answer is. That's why they are building this team and entrusting this team to bring their good ideas and judgment."
Are you a healthcare executive or startup founder working through a complex communications challenge? Connect with Michelle Taylor and check out Taylor+Scale.