Episode 130 -- Taylor Windley -- A Little Corner Of The World

Growing up in an entrepreneur business life with her parents, she learned early on to smile, be happy and bring in a ray of sunshine. Today this guest is running a women’s program at Tect Center in Eastman, Georgia— which is a gym focusing on MMA and jujitsu through Jimmy Barnett— Taylor Windley found her group of people and she loves her job and life.Meet Taylor. You’ll immediately hear her encouragement and confidence. We talk about having a voice on the mat and loosing the intimidation one can have when going in to train in jujitsu. She got advice while in the jiujitsu community to overcome her insecurities, become a good leader and increase her own game. She realized that how she felt would spill over into her students and she wanted to bring the best forward. Taylor has a heart for women who have experienced domestic violence to give them power that she too found — with personal connection— that leads her to be comfortable in her own skin and presents opportunities to share her skills. According to Taylor, jujitsu is empowering in that you can use skills you learn that can protect you—you don’t have to worry or look over your shoulder, it can make you be more comfortable in day to day living.We talk about relationships and working together with your partner like she and Jimmy do every day. Learning to put away on the shelf some issue while they work -- yet sometimes they take it to the mat. She jokingly says that it is terrific couples therapy.When we talk of their specific gym feel, Taylor says that it is “slow is steady, steady is smooth, smooth is fast” as people just try to blast through life. She says they focus on technique. You will find sayings to encourage on the walls throughout the gym. Life lessons are sprinkled throughout the programs they hold on every level.Taylor is fascinating as she talks about the benefits of the stable and steady aspect of gym life. Team building and coordination are elements that translate off of the mats.You’ll hear Taylor talk about challenges that affected her that she thinks of as learning experiences which landed her in places to share or give to others. She would tell her younger self that "she is worth more than the situations you put yourself in." Great advice and encouragement.Taylor is a reader and can recommend both serious business reading and reading for pleasure. On the business side she and partner Jimmy are reading like Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark Winters that explores the visionary and the integrator in business and the roles they play. You then might see Taylor pick up a mystery and lose herself in some fiction writing. Tune in!Music “STOMP” used by permission of artist Donica Knight Hoidman and Jim HuffMusic "STOMP" used by permission of artist Donica Knight Holdman and Jim Huff