GiveWP’s Digital Content material Advertising Supervisor on staying current, appreciating tech, and the way a love of tales drives her work.
Taylor Waldon runs on journey and tales. “I’m a narrative junkie,” she says, “and I like to dwell them. Typically, this will get me into hassle, however it’s all the time definitely worth the story I can inform in a while!”
Waldon spent her childhood in Southern California in a small nation city within the suburbs of San Diego. “I used to be shocked the primary time I noticed a horse crosswalk button. They’re about head-height above the traditional button,” she says. It was a spot the place everybody knew everybody, and highschool sports activities had been a town-wide occasion.
An avid soccer participant at elite SoCal golf equipment, Waldon spent a lot of her youth coaching or taking part in in tournaments. Then, as a teen, she obtained her first style of selling whereas working part-time at her mother or father’s restaurant. “My first true advertising and marketing job was as their social media supervisor,” she says, “again when social media advertising and marketing was model new.”
Finally, Waldon earned an undergraduate diploma in English Literature and a Grasp’s in Worldwide Relations. After college, she labored in advertising and marketing in a wide range of industries together with meals service, RV gross sales, and plumbing provide.
Now at GiveWP, Waldon will get to place her love of tales to make use of. “I get to see a ton of tales from fantastic nonprofits, folks, and my coworkers,” she says. “That is my favourite a part of my job.”
Waldon is the Digital Content material Advertising Supervisor at GiveWP. “I clarify my position to folks exterior the tech trade as both ‘I do advertising and marketing’ or ‘I’m a author,’ relying on who I’m speaking to.” It’s a job that provides glimpses into the tech world, which Waldon appreciates.
“I like the entry that I’ve to be taught new applied sciences and coding languages,” she says. “I’m not a developer, however working intently with them is one among my favourite issues. I could make extra knowledgeable advertising and marketing selections by understanding the know-how behind our merchandise. It surprises me how a lot advertising and marketing and improvement have to work collectively to create a product that individuals need. With out that connection, there are gaps in options customers need, or entrepreneurs can promote. Earlier than working in tech, I by no means thought of this connection.”
In her profession journey, one among her proudest accomplishments has been receiving her Grasp’s Diploma in Worldwide Relations from the College of Worldwide Service at American College. One other spotlight got here from her temporary profession in worldwide applied sciences when Waldon spent a month in Africa together with her former employer. “The GiveWP 100K get together in January 2021 was probably the most enjoyable and profitable occasions I’ve ever helped put collectively,” Waldon says. “We held it in Collect City, a digital house the place folks join in a Zelda-like ambiance together with Zoom video integration. This was additionally after we launched the GiveWP Swag retailer. This mixture of occasions helped us preserve larger gross sales within the first few months of 2021.”
When requested about influences on her profession journey, Waldon says it isn’t a matter of who a lot as what. “Turning into completely disabled on the age of 18 restricted a lot of my choices,” she says. “I needed to be an intelligence agent, which is why I obtained my Grasp’s in Worldwide Battle. To do that, I might be a part of the navy as an officer after grad college. Nonetheless, my again harm prevented this and made it in order that I wanted to search for a job with flexibility and stability. Fortunately, I discovered my means there with the tech trade, which was rather more accessible for a distant employee the place folks had been already used to this working setting.”
Waldon tries to remain current and dwell every day to the fullest. “I had an epiphany once I was in faculty. After spending my whole faculty life preventing a again harm, a health care provider sat me down and informed me my high quality of life would solely deteriorate from that time on,” she says. “He needed me to dwell my life to the fullest earlier than my mobility declined much more. So, I did. I bought my home, purchased an RV, and hit the street once I was 22. I dwell for the second since you by no means know when the moments will cease.” Waldon lives in an RV with two canine and is at present writing a memoir. She additionally has a podcast known as “The Legend of CA Man.”
As for the way forward for girls in tech, Waldon doesn’t doubt that the alternatives are wealthy. “Almost each occupation that has been male-dominated prior to now has finally change into extra of a women-dominated trade. For instance, promoting and advertising and marketing was a person’s world. Now, the bulk are girls. The identical goes for instructing and philanthropy. As extra girls enter this workforce, there will probably be extra alternatives for different girls.” She encourages younger girls to discover tech and science fields. “Even in case you don’t go into the sector of know-how, having the data and the skillset to get began is a bonus in any profession path.”