Taylor Thomas Women of Marketing
Taylor Thomas previously known as Taylor Phillips is a WWU Marketing Program alumni who graduated in 2013 with a degree in International Business, Marketing, and a minor in French. In 2022 Taylor went back to school and got a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Oregon. As of 2017, Taylor has worked her way up from Corporate Marketing Manager to Director of Marketing at Forensic Analytical Consulting Services, Inc. (FACS). A national industrial hygiene and environmental health consulting firm.
What does it mean to be a Director of Marketing?
Working for a private, small-to-medium-sized company in my role means I get to wear many hats! Besides getting to strategize and work with the incredible colleagues I have throughout the organization and on our marketing team, I’m able to get my hands wet and am constantly learning new things.
What does a typical day look like for you?
It varies! Wearing many hats causes my days to often look different from one to the next. Most days involve collaborating with different teams and offices across the organization to ensure alignment on strategy and execution, and I’m adamant about starting every day with a to-do list ranked by importance/prioritization. Without it and all the various requests that can come across my desk in a day, I’d be flying blind!
Why did you decide to get a degree in marketing and did you always know you wanted to go into marketing?
For lack of a less “creepy” sounding statement…I’ve always been interested in people. For a short time, I considered a degree in psychology, but from a young age, the business has always interested me almost as much as my interest in people. To me, a large part of marketing involves observing how different groups think and live their lives. What’s more interesting than that?!
Was there a female role model in your life who helped you to become who you are today?
I am lucky enough to have two strong women in my life that I’ve been close with and looked up to since day 1: my mother, Ann Phillips, and my aunt, Margaret Howard. Both have had very successful careers in finance and accounting, and I’ve been lucky to be able to watch them navigate the last few decades of their careers.
What is something you wish you would have known early in your career?
It’s ok to not have the answer to every question/problem. Imposter syndrome is real, and nearly everyone has it.
Is it intimidating when switching marketing from one industry to the next?
Absolutely! But what worthwhile action in life isn’t intimidating at first? While it’s great to have knowledge of an industry that you’ve worked in for a longer period of time, sometimes it’s the fresh outsider’s perspective that’s just what a team needs to mix up a stale strategy.
Was there ever a circumstance where being a female in the corporate world was challenging? If so, how did you address the issue?
Women are frequently sexualized in pop culture and society, which is unsurprisingly reflected in the corporate world and most women-identifying professionals can probably relate to this. I’ve found that being able to exhibit more confidence in my work/craft and carrying that throughout my professional interactions has often organically created some immediate level of respect, which in turn has been able to counteract some of the unconscious bias and sexualization that our society has allowed to bleed into the professional world.
What advice would you give to women wanting to be in leadership?
Speak up - even when it feels uncomfortable. From my experience, women-identifying professionals are often overly cautious about sharing their opinion or speaking up in business settings because of long-standing stigmas and stereotypes. You’re in that room for a reason, and your perspective is at least as valuable as the others in that room.
To follow Taylor's marketing journey, you can connect with her on LinkedIn! You can also follow the WWU Marketing Program on LinkedIn where we will be featuring more Women in Marketing!