Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendria Taylor.
Hi Kendria, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
My father and mother were entrepreneurs and raised me and my eight siblings to work hard and create something for ourselves. As a child, I always had some type of business! Whether that was selling candy, selling my doll clothes, or getting water guns and selling water straight from our hose so kids could play with their friends right then and there. My background in social services, which didn’t pay much gave me the hunger I needed, as well as my mom and dad’s advice on creating something for yourself. I’m currently a credentialed Meditator in Workplace Dispute Resolution and Family Mediation and have been since 2003. This provides me a unique skill set that allows me to see a different perspective and listen a bit differently. This is great for performance coaching, development, and social emotional learning. In 2017, I wrote a children’s book series called, “The Adventures of Jax and Riley”. There are currently two books in the series entitled “Jax and Riley Meet Their New Brother”, and “Jax Came From Frosting Cake”. The books were meant for children to understand empathy but translated the message through my dogs Jax and Riley. In 2018 I started doing part-time consulting and training for another leadership development company but also during that time, I was also working full-time as a Vice President for Career Development. I managed ten higher education career teams all throughout Texas and found myself constantly training, writing policy and procedures, and overall operations. One of the things that I was tasked with each year was training our campus mid-level and Sr. level leaders as well as presenting my quarterly S.W.O.T to our Principal owner and C-suite executive team. One year I asked my manager if I could present in the morning, and she told me no. Every year I was selected to go after lunch when everyone is over it and doesn’t want to listen. When I explained to her the inequity in this, she told me that I am the only presenter that can re-engage everyone after lunch. After that, the consulting company I was doing some consulting work for told me that clients were giving me great feedback and requesting me. The CEO told me that I should start my own company, and he would mentor me. It wasn’t until 2019 that I truly started to build my company and figure out what I could bring to an organization that they would keep coming back for. I took a page out of my social services days and my children’s books on empathy. I realized that there was not much empathy in most organizations. It is the one thing that made me a good leader when I led people. So, I started building my framework around showing leaders how to provide empathy to their teams and how their teams could provide empathy to their peers and end users. I got one contract with one of the largest financial companies in the US to facilitate a training session in January 2020, and they bought me back to do 16 more training sessions after that. It was enough to jump-start my business! If you are paying attention to the dates, then you know I started conducting business in 2020, I did some consulting in 2019, but my official first training job was January 2020, and two months later, the pandemic hit. Pivoting quickly to meet the demands of my first client, I paid for a virtual platform and started training. Today, I offer in-person and virtual training to meet the demands of my clients all over the country. Regardless of if I’m in-person or virtual my clients will tell you that my trainings are highly interactive and engaging.
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?
Well, as I stated, my first big training gig was in January 2020, two months before the pandemic hit, and I was not equipped to train online because all of my training at that point was in person. I use experiential learning, so being in person is critical. I said to myself, “how am I going to be that engaging via Zoom!” I found a way to still engage my participants virtually, but it was not easy, and it takes a toll on you as you exhaust a lot of energy. Some clients pulled out as they just were uncertain of the landscape, and training became the last priority, especially if they already had a team of Organizational Development Specialists.
During some of that downtime, I enrolled in a Women’s Entrepreneurship course at Cornell University that was free to women. I learned a lot and started doing some foundational work on my company. I took on some consulting jobs to help, some I liked and some I didn’t, but it helped. I didn’t expect it to be completely smooth, but I also didn’t anticipate a Global Pandemic, but it taught me how to redefine my limits. Which is one of the greatest lessons I have learned to date.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
TG8 Solutions Insight is a black and native woman owned and operated training and consulting company that seeks to enable corporate leaders to achieve their business goals and build empathy through fun, playful, highly interactive, engaging, and practical solutions.
We offer 14 signature presentations that cover everything from,
STAFF DEVELOPMENT,DYSFUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS/SYSTEMIC RECOVERY, COACHING AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT,
LEADERSHIP TRAINING, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE FOR LEADERS, SOFT SKILLS FOR ALL EMPLOYEES, to factory audit training and time management.
Our products include our highly sought-after Communication Indicator Assessment (that has been purchased over 500 times) the Empathy Indicator Assessment(E.IA.), the Empathy is a Verb journal and more products to follow in 2023. I also curate and customize presentations based on client needs. We put the FUN back into training! It’s the reason why, my success has earned me the reputation as a “go-to” speaker and trainer to overcome the post-lunch crash. TG8 elevates the power of P.L.A.Y. – Practicing Leadership and Authenticating You – through hands-on, get-up-out-of-your-seats activities that force everyone in training sessions to directly acknowledge their concerns, and immediately practice how to overcome their leadership and communication weaknesses.
Why chose TG8 Solutions Insight?
– We have developed industry-leading, proprietary assessment tools that will allow you to better understand who you are, how you can improve, and what you can do to elevate your skills to the next level.
– We incorporate the power of P.L.A.Y. – Practiced Leadership and Authenticating You – into every aspect of our training and development.
– We get you out of your seats, up on your feet, playing, talking, learning, and practicing.
– We create moments where you discover your secret powers to energize yourself and your team.
– We help you learn that the power to influence change is within you – and around you.
– Our approach appeals to all types of learners – audible, visual, and kinesthetic.
– Through communication and collaboration, we enable you to tap into your authentic self, helping you understand that the solutions you need to make your department, division, and company more successful are within you – and the people with whom you work.
– At TG8 Solutions Insight, empathy is a verb. When you embrace the power of listening and managing your emotions, you will unleash your ability to become a transformative leader – not some of the time, but all the time.
– We will teach you The 3Rs: Retain. Remain. Release. How to retain key information. How to continually practice positive thinking and improve your leadership style. How to release bad habits.
All it takes is a little courage to PLAY.
Alright, so before we go, can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
As any other entrepreneur that has a service or product, I just need to keep my calendar full. As we go back into some uncertain times in our economy, I want leaders to understand, empathy is always the first thing to go if it is competing with other priorities on the agenda, but this is the exact time that we need leaders to have and give empathy. They can do that by continuing to learn how to lead through chaos and uncertainty. They can reach out to me on my website www.tg8solutions.com, there, they can see videos that give them an idea of my framework, facilitation style and schedule an exploratory call. Empathy is going to be a crucial durable skill that leaders and future leaders will need to lead successfully. At TG8 Solutions Insight, we know solutions are closer than you think!
Pricing:
- $1200.00 virtual 75 mins
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tg8solutions.com
- Instagram: Thekendriataylor
- Facebook: CatchingKendria
- Twitter: KendriaKnows
- Youtube: TheKendriataylor
- Other: https://www.speakermatch.com/profile/speaker/kendria-taylor/biography
