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

Sophie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents are such a gift! They have impacted my life in the most tremendous ways and continue to do so to this day. Of the many lessons they taught me, the most important was to live my life for God. I was raised in a Christian home and am forever grateful to my parents for introducing me to my Savior and showing me how to walk in His ways regardless of our circumstances. This lesson became especially important six years ago when my dad suffered his first of many strokes. My dad has always been my hero. I was raised in his fearless, determined, faithful shadow and so many of the things that make me who I am today come from him. Growing up, he was the strongest man many of us had ever met. He was a diligent provider, a fierce protector, a loving supporter of my ambitions, and a gifted thinker. After his strokes, despite losing his ability to walk, he continued to teach me about another kind of strength: resilience; the ability to persevere under extreme trails and maintain faith despite hardships. Thanks to God’s providence and my mom’s care of him, my dad has been able to defy all the odds and continue being with us years after we should have lost him. Even without the ability to walk, my dad is still a source of encouragement, wisdom, humor, and love. I thank God every day for allowing me to be raised by parents who know what it is to work hard, persevere through trials, hold fast to God despite hardships, and thank God for all the good things He has blessed them with even if those blessings look a little different than expected.

Sophie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am blessed to be the founder and lead creative of Taylor Design Studio, a custom stationery and event details boutique that focuses on bringing client visions to life and making beautiful pieces that guests will remember long after the event is over.

TDS began when I was transitioning from teaching on-campus courses at my alma mater to teaching on-line (which I still do). I took one lettering course and my life was never the same. When I first started TDS, I primarily offered lettering and signage services within the wedding industry, but also worked with event producers creating unique pieces for companies like Amazon, Laura Mercier, Native, and Goop. Over time, I realized that I was most passionate about creating and producing wedding stationery and have been blessed to develop that aspect of Taylor Design Studio to provide custom and semi-custom invitation design services to my beloved couples.

I think what sets me apart is that my couples can feel how much I love what I do and how special their projects are to me. I feel so blessed to be able to use the gifts God has given me to create beautiful things that my couples will cherish for a lifetime. I think it gives them a sense of confidence knowing they can trust me to bring their vision to life as if their pieces were my own. I labor lovingly over my projects to ensure I am honoring God in my work and I think my clients recognize that.

TDS was recently named Malibu/Ventura’s Best Signage and Calligraphy vendor by California Wedding Day and I was a finalist for Invitations in Los Angeles County as well. I feel like winning this award is affirmation that all the hard work, all the sacrifices, all the hoping and dreaming have been meaningful and worthwhile for my family. In truth, I am most proud of the fact that TDS is a business my husband supports and my children admire. As a Christian, being a wife and mother is my highest calling – a calling I take very seriously and enjoy immensely. Building TDS would not have been possible without my husband’s help and encouragement. The heart behind TDS is being able to leave my children a legacy that they can be proud of too. When they’re old enough, I’d love for them to want to follow in my footsteps and continue building TDS into something our whole family can participate in together and enjoy – whatever that ends up looking like. It has been such a joy to watch the Lord lead and bless my business and I cannot wait to see what He has in store for the future!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is living out the purposes God has for me. He made me an artist. He made me curious and creative and hopeful. He instilled in me a love of learning, a deep respect for beauty, and a drive to make things with my hands. That’s why Exodus 35: 35 is my life verse. In it we learn that even the ability to learn how to make things and the wisdom to make them well comes from God. Being creative is one of my favorite things about myself but I can’t take credit for my skills, talents, or abilities – all of those things were given to me when God decided who I would become.

Sometimes I’ll be working away at something, laboring over its intricate details, and I’ll just stop and think to myself, “Gosh, I LOVE being an artist! Thank you, God, for making me an artist!” There’s always something to learn, ways to grow, skills to master, new things to try, something beautiful to create – I just can’t imagine living life and not making things!

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Two movies that have had a HUGE impact on me as a creative entrepreneur are Iron Lady and Chonda Pierce: Laughing in the Dark. Both movies follow the lives of women who successfully pursued their personal aspirations, but that’s not why I like them. I like them because they are transparently honest about the cost of those pursuits. In both cases, these women were able to accomplish what they set out to do but their families suffered for it. We live in an age when women are told that they can and should do big things regardless of the cost, that they can and should focus on what they want regardless of the impact it has on their family, and that they can and should put their aspirations first regardless of their practical limitations. Women have been told for a long time that they can and should “do it all,” but many women are finding that not only is that unrealistic, it’s costing them the relationships they care most about in life.

The truth is we can’t do it all and that’s not a bad thing. Trying to do it all tends to leave people feeling exhausted, discouraged, and unhappy because they end up doing many things poorly instead of a few things well. My top priority in life is being a good wife and mom. If I’m not doing that, no amount of success as a creative entrepreneur means anything at all. By God’s grace, I am able to be a wife, mom, AND creative entrepreneur. What that means, though, is that my progress has been slow (I wouldn’t have it any other way!). If I sacrificed some of the things that are most beneficial to my family or moved my husband and children down my priority list, I could probably double or triple my income and grow my business exponentially in a short amount of time. But if I did that, I would damage the relationships I care most about.

I will never look back on my life and regret spending time with my kids or working on my relationship with my husband. But if my marriage ends or my children grow up feeling neglected by their mother the only thing I will feel is regret. I have dreams like anyone, I want to achieve things, I like pursuing my passions, but I also recognize that I am just one person and trying to “do it all” is a recipe for disaster.

The solution is to be honest with myself about my practical limitations and embrace them joyfully. My thought process isn’t, “I’m so bummed I have to go slower or do less than I’m capable of because my husband and kids are preventing me from fulfilling my dreams.” No way! That’s not at all how I view my life. It is a joy to be a wife and a mom. It is a blessing to be able to serve and care for my family. It is an honor to be able to spend time with my kids as they grow. The icing on the cake is that the way I’ve structured my business, I am able to nurture my family AND pursue my dreams because I approach my limitations with honesty and gratitude as opposed to frustration and bitterness.

There’s nothing wrong with taking the slow road as a creative entrepreneur. There’s nothing wrong with being a skilled and determined woman who chooses to limit herself for the benefit of her family. There’s nothing wrong with choosing not to “do it all” so that the relationships that mean the most to you aren’t left in the dust of your personal ambitions.

I wanted to build my business. I wanted to win awards. I wanted to earn the respect of my clients and peers and the Lord has allowed me to, but progress has been slow on purpose because I want to live a life that glorifies God, prioritizes my family, and pursues excellence. By God’s grace, I’ve been able to do those things AND pursue my dreams.

Taking the slow road isn’t for everyone, but it has been, without a doubt, the very best path for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.taylordesignstudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylor_design_studio
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@taylordesignstudio
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Sarah Katie Photography