We were lucky to catch up with Crystal Taylor recently and have shared our conversation below.
Crystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Before I graduated from North Carolina Central University, I just knew I would gain employment at a established creative agency in the area. Become the new fresh project manager for ads and campaigns around the city and state. But I was sadly mistaken. I applied and got farther and farther everytime I applied, yes I applied to the same company several times and still was never offered the job. I felt defeated and overly frustrated and what did I do, go back to school thinking I needed more education to be appeal to them. While in grad school I saw that my friends and I didn’t have a space to go that we felt safe and secure. We were all college graduates and wanted a place to kick back and relax with good vibes and music, that wasn’t the club. So shortly after that thought I attended my first producer beat battle, I was intrigued I’d never been to anything like that before and decided I would host my own. About 6 month later I had curated my very first event in 2012 at The Black Flower in Raleigh, it was the easiest most incredible feeling when the event was over that night. I kept curating events that focused on black music culture, arts and humanities for my community and people kept talking about it, and coming. In 2016, I had a dream, literally that there was a hip hop festival associated with my organization, and why not? Wit all the artists and producers I’d built relationships with – it was a perfect fit. 13 years later, The Underground Collective is now a full functioning creative agency, I’ve worked with the Governor of NC, and traveled all over NC curating events on a high level winning several awards and accolades. Beats n Bars Festival is 9 years old now having been sponsored by Toyota, Coca Cola, NPR and more. This work we do is incredibly important, to protect, preserve and uplift black music art and culture and we’ve done that on such a high scale while also encouraging and empowering creatives to continue building and creating work – they have a community to support them within us. Many venues at the time weren’t providing a cultural space/setting for black creatives so I did that in creating The UGC and Beats n Bars. To see that people still look to us for the cultural safe space for my community is amazing. To have clients like the state department of cultural and natural resources, Duke University, the City of Durham and more seek guidance from me and my agency on how to curate and execute work properly for communities of color is a win to work I’ve been able to do. We unapologetically create space for black and brown creatives to thrive. We make sure other organizations and spaces create equality in community engagement also. What makes me most excited about this work and opportunity is the chance to help organizations, get it right. How we’ve been able to be a incubator for creatives needing a space to thrive and be encouraged, we are that. We started a movement inside of an organization that was just a space for people to come that wasn’t the club. I’m happy I didn’t get the job working for someone else’s creative agency because now I have my own agency, curating and creating on my own terms whats needed for my community and I couldn’t be happier doing it.
Crystal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Crystal Ellice Taylor, from Clinton, NC, 4th generation farmer. I attended North Carolina Central University and majored in Business Administration focusing on Marketing. I have a deep love for the arts since I could remember, and music saved my life. I started my business because I wanted to create a space for my friends and I to build and share in community with one another. I love to plan events and recognized I had a skill in planning and seeing things on a more broad level than normal, I quickly realized I could curate anything. I never thought I’d be able to make a living curating events on a major scale like this. I’ve booked grammy award winning artists to programming and curating for the Governor and First Lady of NC. The organization produces event production support, curating and planning. As an executive event curator I’m responsible for organizing and overseeing high-level events, often for corporations, executives, or VIP clients. My work involves curating the entire experience, from conceptualizing the theme to selecting venues, managing logistics, coordinating vendors, and ensuring everything aligns with the client’s vision and brand.
I often work closely with top-tier vendors, speakers, entertainers, and designers to deliver a seamless and sophisticated experience. Additionally, I ensure that the event runs smoothly, professionally, and efficiently from start to finish.
I’m most proud of my company for being bold enough to address equality issues when it comes to community engagement.
I’m able to see gaps and concerns within corporate spaces that need to be addressed and we help by educating, teaching, and producing the fair way things can go. This helps corporate leaders be more responsible and effective in doing purposeful work within communities of color. There’s nothing I can’t solve, produce or curate, especially for the liberation and equality of my community.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
From 2016 – 2019 my business The Underground Collective was thriving and going great! Then COVID hit. so I had to close shop because well, I couldn’t curate and produce shows anymore. I was also pregnant with my son Mansa in 2018 so it was already a struggle to continue executing events and being a mom. During Covid I almost gave up and closed shop, but I was then asked to be a project manager on a grant project with Duke and NCCU. This project led me to consulting the two schools and researchers in how to effectively cultivate community and organize. I then realized that I didn’t have to just curate events, I could consult high profile organizations and leaders in how to strategically, effectively cultivate engagements for communities of color. The project lasted 5 years and that time was all I needed to learn how to maneuver throughout that corporate, private space. How to present myself and what I was able to help companies do, so the priorities grew for The Underground Collective. Not only are we now a event production company but we are a full service creative agency that helps guide organization in community engagement. We can teach objectives and goals, we can curate experiences and produce engagements that build community and supports the goals of the company.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
When I was just starting to figure out curating events, I didn’t have a real plan – I thought I’d be able to live off the money I would make at the venues but I was sadly mistaken. I didn’t know the business and had to work full time while cultivating my company at home or at any time I could. From 2012 – 2017 I worked on, supported, built and funded my business. I did free work, I was my own marketing, graphics design, AR, all things – I was doing it. I had several friends that would help me manage stages, hosting, volunteer to do work at shows etc, they all helped me move the organization forward. They believed in what I was doing and I would always support them if we made the money during a show. I was fortunate to work a full time job and moonlight at the venue curating shows. In 2017, I got pregnant with my son Mansa(only child) and then covid came afterward in 2019. Before Covid hit, I was still curating and running around making sure UGC stayed alive. But COVID shut it down. My music festival Beats n Bars Festival(est 2016) was operating and doing great, and we became one of the only festivals in NC that still operated after the world started to open back up after covid. I felt slightly defeated because here I am with a newborn, bills, a house, a music festival that needs sponsors to operate, and a business that’s trying to stay afloat during such a uncertain time. I worked hard to build this music festival, I started it with $1500 of unemployment money saved up in 2016, so I couldn’t just quit. I was able to have a phone call with WUNC (NPR in NC), they were super fans of Beats n Bars and thoroughly enjoyed it the year before and wanted details on the next production of it – which I had no information on at the time. I proudly told them, if I didn’t get a sponsor there wouldn’t be a Beats n Bars that year and in return they sponsored the festival and helped save it for that year. We’re still partners today and they’ve been great in helping to advocate for building community and having incredible community conversations. Later in the year I was referred to Duke School of Nursing to work on another project with them to help support Black Women’s health around HIV. That work was new to me as I was the executive producer for a series of shows we created to help support the audience in health advocacy. We are still partners currently and I’m in the process of helping to curate another high end private event for them now. Soon after that work things picked back up and contracts, sponsors and clients rolled in. The experience taught me to never give up, to never fold, I had accomplished so much at that time, there was nothing else for me to do but to keep betting on myself and that’s what I did. Times will get hard, it builds character. My faith and trust in God’s plan for my life is strong, I don’t know exactly where I’m going because I couldn’t have told you I’d be doing everything I’m doing now, but I trusted the process and I’m grateful. I’ve had times where I didn’t have money to eat, bills were due, car broke down, but I kept going. Today, I’m a single mom to Mansa and I’ve raised him in entrepreneurship (how cool is that). He’s never seen me working a job that I have to clock in and out, the laptop is work time to him. When he was young I was terrified to raise a kid alone, but I choose to raise in him a healthy loving environment and God has blessed me to do that without trouble. I’ve booked some incredible talent, I’ve created TV shows for Duke University, I’ve produced events for state officials (the Gov and First Lady). My festival has been sponsored by the state, I’ve been invited to speak on panels and keynotes around the country….because I kept going. BEcause I didn’t give up when it got hard. My pivot game is unmatched just like my faith.
Contact Info:
- Website: crystaltaylor.co (updating at the moment)
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thequeencurator/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crystal.e.taylor.3
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cetaylor12/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUndergroundCollective
Image Credits
Leroy Hamilton
Chris Charles