Chris Taylor: From Devil Sticks at 12 to Disrupting a $300B Industry — a Story of Delusional Optimism

Chris Taylor built his first business at 12, selling homemade "devil sticks" at school fairs. Since then, he’s been on a wild ride, from selling knives to crashing hard as a young leader, to rebuilding from his parents' basement and becoming a trailblazer in behavior change and impact measurement.In this conversation, Chris shares the real behind-the-scenes story: the failure that humbled him, the habits that changed everything, and why he believes L&D must evolve from content delivery to driving measurable behavior change.He also opens up about building Actionable (a tech platform now used in 7,000+ programs) and Catalyst (his community for early-stage consultants). Plus, we talk about the power of choosing yourself, building social capital before asking for anything in return, and how living nomadically reshaped his view on success.If you’re in learning, leadership, consulting—or dreaming about what’s next—this episode is full of gems.🎧 Topics we cover:Early entrepreneurial rootsFailing hard as a young leader (and what turned it around)Building tech from a basement with $600How to prove the impact of your workWhy you should create value before asking to be valuedGet to know Chris:Chris founded Actionable.co in 2008 for the express purpose of helping corporate learners applywhat they learned; consistently and measurably. Since then, Chris – and his team at Actionable– have supported the deployment of over 3000+ programs leveraging the Impact Certaintymodel for driving change.Described once by a client as “a curious blend of Boomer and Gen-Y”, Chris is often calledupon to act as a bridge and translator between generations at work, our new state of constantchange and impact technology has on team dynamics. He brings a self-deprecating sense ofhumour and grounded-ness to his keynotes and workshops, ensuring attendees leave inspiredand well equipped to drive real change back in the workplace.Chris is a regular speaker and writer on Learning Impact Measurement, Behavior Change andhow to overcome the challenges of eLearning.Connect with Chris:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjrtaylor/Website: www.actionable.coThe Behavior Change Toolkit(TM): https://actionable.scoreapp.com/Meet your host, Candice MitchellCandice Mitchell is a Talent Development Strategist, CEO of Talent Collective, and USA Today bestselling author of Choose You: For the People Who Refuse to Disappear. With nearly two decades of experience building and leading capability functions inside global and Fortune 500 organizations, she founded Talent Collective, a premium capability-building firm for L&D, HR, Change, and People leaders in high-growth companies.Your host, Candice Mitchell, can be found online at:Website: https://talentcollective.org/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candicemitchelltc/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candice_mitchell_msc/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@candice_mitchell_mscTalent Development Academy: https://courses.talentcollective.org/bundles/talent-development-academyChoose You book: https://chooseyoubook.com/Original music composed by: Paul DeHavenpauldehavenmusic.com