Carol Taylor
It’s all about soul.
That great Billy Joel song was playing in my head after catching up recently with former client Carol A. Taylor at SoulFood CoffeeHouse and Fair Trade Emporium in Redmond. SoulFood is a throwback coffee shop/gift store/live music venue with big leather chairs, handmade knickknacks, and books all around. It’s a place where "kindred spirits gather to slowly sip a warm beverage and escape the day.” Now that’s good branding.
It certainly warmed my soul to see Carol again. After a long career leading UX design/research, product development, and content strategy teams at Microsoft, DS-IQ, Napster Group, and others, Carol has recently retired from corporate life to explore what’s next. She’s spending more time on personal pursuits and causes she cares about, things she didn’t have much time for during a busy career managing projects and teams she truly cared about. You can tell it’s the right next step for her and she is clearly thriving.
As we caught up, Carol shared some reflections from an accomplished career and what she’s up to now. A few takeaways:
1) UX is a fantastic field for people who like ambiguity and dreaming up something from scratch. Over the years, Carol developed a talent for showing others the way, which gave colleagues the confidence to follow her lead and flesh out the solution. Not everyone is comfortable with that kind of ambiguity. But if you are and can lean into it, the opportunities in UX are immense.
2) The bigger a company is, the more specialized each team or division can be, which makes sense. There are lots of people, so individuals can play a discrete role on a team with other specialists. But if you come from a smaller company and have done many different things, particularly for a long time, it can be a challenge to get hired as a senior leader at a large company. Big companies more often promote from within or look for senior leaders from other big companies. Hmmm. :-)
3) On the issue of social justice, we found common cause. We acknowledged our privilege, first off, sitting there sipping coffee in a cozy suburban cafe, and that most folks like us are all for equality until they actually have to give something up to even the scales. People naturally want to protect their families, their communities, and their way of life. But injustice remains until something gives. The topic can be deep waters churning with ambiguity, but Carol is characteristically stepping in to help where she can. She currently works with a group assisting people in low-income housing. The first thing she’s learned to do is listen. Just listen. Don’t try to prescribe the solution or act like you know what’s best. People will tell you what they need and how you can help. Start there.
Wise words from a woman with heart. And a whole lotta soul.
Thank you Carol for taking time to catch up!
#uxdesign #contentstrategy #leadership #coffee