We were lucky to catch up with Carrie Taylor recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Carrie, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

At 27 years old, I moved from Vancouver British Columbia, Canada to New York City without knowing anyone, and got a job as an instructor at The Swedish Institute College of health sciences in Manhattan. I was in the last semester of my 3 &1/2 year 3500 hour masters level degree at RMT school in Vancouver at the West Coast College of Massage Therapy, when I called the Dean of the college Lucy Liben, and got hired on the phone! The College sponsored me into the country on a TN Visa as a specialist in my field, and I taught pathology, neurology, clinical strategies, musculoskeletal anatomy/palpation, and anatomy & physiology.

To make ends meet, I also got a job as a personal trainer at the Harvard and Yale clubs of NYC and Doral Fitness, a private high end gym on Park avenue.

In Vancouver, I had a full client practice, owned a house and a car, and was well established. In NYC, I had to be at work at 5am and end my day at 11pm, commuting from Hoboken NJ to Manhattan NY, some days only having two patients with long idle hours in between…NYC forces even the most established entrepreneur to hustle to survive.

I eventually opened three manual therapy & personal training studios in Manhattan, had 23 employees, started teaching my Taylor Fascial Technique to other Liscenced manual therapists, and providing continuing education credits. I also became a certified yoga instructor and I authored my own textbook of level one training, as well as filming DVDs of my workshops, and have written 40 approved courses in my technique so far. I teach webinars of my work all over North America, as well as certifying 6 and counting level one instructors to teach my technique. I recently started an educational website for manual therapists www.taylorfascial.com and a yoga/wellness website www.tayloryoga.com.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Carrie has been in the fitness & nutrition industry as a Certified personal trainer since 1990, a Registered Massage Therapist in Canada since 2001, a Licensed massage therapist in the U.S. since 2005, and a Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Instructor since 2014, graduating from the 200 hour Lifepower yoga teacher training, and specializes in teaching Ashtanga & Vinyasa forms of practice, in addition to being a Yoga Alliance continuing education provider.

Following completion of a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of British Columbia, Carrie attended the prestigious West Coast College of Massage Therapy in Vancouver in 1998, to complete a 3500 hour Massage Therapy program. She taught at the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences in Manhattan, NY from 2001-2015, where her topics of expertise included; Myofascial Release, Anatomy & Physiology, Pathology, Neurology, Palpation, & Clinical Strategies.

She currently teaches the “Taylor Technique” certification levels 1, 2, 3 & 4 (320 hours) in Myofascial release & Neurological therapy certification, with a focus on myofascial & osteopathic manual treatment for registered & licensed therapists. She is a CMTBC/MTAM & NCBTMB internationally approved provider of continuing education, and is available for speaking engagements. Her Myofascial release certification is taught in New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as well as being a presenter at the annual MTAM conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She is also a Georgia Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Association of Georgia approved provider, and teaches monthly at Gwinnett College in Atlanta, Georgia. Carrie hosts continuing education wellness retreats in different locales, where therapists can learn her work, receive treatment, and practice yoga. In 2025 she will become the western science faculty professor at the Academy of Clinical & Integrated Massage Therapy in Roswell, GA.

Myofascial Release, Scar tissue treatment, Osteopathic & Visceral work, balancing the autonomic nervous system, Core Stability based Personal Training & stretching, remedial exercise, as well as Vinyasa & Ashtanga Yoga make up the cornerstones of her practice. One of Carrie’s passions, is spending much of her private practice time treating other health care providers, geared towards enhancing their learning process, and ability to last in a competitive field.
Carrie has Taylor fascial online educational and taylor yoga online memberships available, as well as a textbook “The Taylor Technique Myofascial release and treatment strategies” (available in pdf & hardcopy formats) www.taylorfascial.com & www.tayloryoga.com (amazon/kindle also features her textbook).

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Other than surviving NYC as an entrepreneur, surviving my youngest child (of four) having stage four cancer, and as a result kidney failure during covid was the most challenging obstacle in my life. I took many months off to care for her, and be her medical advocate, where I couldn’t get her diagnosed even having gone to 4 different pediatricians in the practice begging for a scan.

She was in the pediatric ICU in a coma for two months, endured several rounds of chemo, multiple surgeries to remove the tumors and her ovary, all while enduring kidney failure and dialysis for four years. One year ago on April 19th 2024, my only sibling, my sister Rhea, gave my daughter Lauren a kidney and she is doing great! She has been cancer free since april 21st, 2021 and is finally able to live a normal life.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After my daughter’s illness and difficult journey to recovery, my marriage of 20 years ended in 2024, which has caused a life change that requires ingenuity and flexibility, both as a parent and a business owner. I have a private practice clinic and yoga studio in my home where I live with my two children who are still at home. In addition, I recently became certified to teach online webinars nationally, as an adjunct to teaching in person continuing education courses at Gwinnett college and soon at a new college ACIM (Academy of Clinical & Integrated Massage Therapy) both in Roswell, GA. I plan on expanding my reach to authoring more textbooks and courses for advanced manual practitioners, as well as adding to my online educational platform www.taylorfascial.com and www.tayloryoga.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.taylorfascial.com and www.tayloryoga.com
• Instagram: @taylorfascial
• Facebook: taylor fascial
• Linkedin: Carrie Taylor
• Youtube: Yoga with Taylor Techniques

Image Credits

Isabella Doherty lillibell digital marketing, Alaina michele photography, Arei Creative photos & social media