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

Hi Taylor, thanks for joining us today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

This industry can be cut throat and unkind a lot of the time. My job is two fold: Senior Creative Manager + First Team Photographer.

Going into my first season in the MLS as a Team Photographer, I reached out to several MLS photographers I’ve admired from afar for years. Truthfully was not expecting to get a response from these people, but three individuals were so helpful and amazing to take time out of their day for me to call and pick their brains: Robert Mora (LA Galaxy), Katie Cahalin (NYCFC), Jacob Gonzalez (Austin FC).

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me came from Robert Mora. He spent 2+ hours talking with me about life, photography, and soccer. He spent time showing me exactly how their archive, player photo delivery platform, editing, metadata/keywording workflow, and all behind the computer aspects of the job worked. People see photographers on the sidelines, but most don’t know everything that goes into being a Team Photographer and all of the work on the backend and the lack of time and sleep one has in season. He really prepared me for exactly what I was getting into and what all it entails outside of match day glitz and glam. At the end of the call, I was panicking about a backordered 400mm lens that had no arrival in sight with our inaugural season kicking off soon. We were set to play his team, LA Galaxy, in our home opener. Out of the blue and unprompted, Robert shipped me the very same $12K lens I needed to borrow along with two wireless transmitters. I used that lens all year long and 90% of Charlotte FC’s match day action images would not exist without Robert’s kindness and love to see others succeed and soccer grow.

Most of the time clout chasing, personal brand building, and do-whatever-to-get-to-the-top mentality surrounds creative in sports. To have experienced complete selfless support from someone I admired so much is an act of kindness I can’t even put into words. The way you treat people matters. I still keep in touch with Robert and my encounter with him was so meaningful to me, I strive to uplift and help others in the way he treated me as often as I can.

Taylor, 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?

My path into sports and photography is unconventional to say the least. I was a collegiate softball pitcher and started internships in sports my Sophomore year. I spent a summer with UNC Charlotte Athletics in their media department. Went on to intern for Charlotte Sports Foundations in sponsorships and operations. There I met Miller Yoho who really poured into me and encouraged creativity. He gave me opportunities to design, create, and connect that I hadn’t experienced elsewhere or in school. My first job was working in Entertainment and Game Presentation for the Charlotte Hornets. I love basketball and learned a TON, but quickly learned this department in the industry wasn’t a good fit for my personality or my strengths. I accepted a job with Raycom Sports/ACC Network as a Marketing Coordinator and got experience on the client services side. As needs grew, I took on graphic design responsibilities during my time there that became the majority of my job. Despite my imposter syndrome, I applied for a Graphic Designer & Photographer job with USA Baseball in Raleigh. I spent nearly two years there learning and growing before taking a leap of faith and applying to a Graphic Designer job at Tepper Sports & Entertainment with the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte MLS 2021. COVID hit shortly after so I spent a season with the Panthers and working on what the world would come to know as Charlotte FC in the background. As a result from furloughs and personnel shifts at TSE, I worked for opportunities to flex my photography skillset from USAB as needed and it quickly became a massive need and part of my day to day. I moved up to Senior Graphic Designer & Team Photographer and in my tenure here, have been really fortunate to become Charlotte FC’s Senior Creative Manager (+ Team Photographer). I used to take my experience as I wasn’t good enough at anything, but was okay at most things and that meant something was wrong with me as a professional. My mindset has since shifted to seeing the value I bring to a company by having a wide array of skills and experience in almost every department and avenue of the industry. I think that helps me see and work through things more wholistically than if I was only skilled in one area.

From a freelance perspective, I provide both photography and graphic design services to potential clients. The most important thing I’d like people to know about working with me is that people and authenticity are what’s important. Helping others is my love language and I love when memories and moments are captured to keep forever.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

In my role as Senior Creative manager, I’m responsible for graphic designers and a photography coordinator. Biggest takeaways I can say are: No one is perfect. You will make mistakes. And even as a leader, there’s always something to learn. Something I strive for in my relationships with the amazing people I get to work with is to over-communicate, trust them to be the expert in their space, always encourage creativity, and respect them as professionals, but more importantly, as people first.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I don’t mean to share this personal story for sympathy or to dampen the mood, but I think it’s important for people to talk about mental health and for others to know everyone struggles. We live in a world where social media is more of a highlight reel and no one wants to show the behind the scenes. During my time transitioning to a new job in Raleigh, I went through a bad breakup with a guy I had been dating for years who ended up being unfaithful while we lived together and it really changed my whole world. Long story short there, I struggled with depression and had a period of my life where I was suicidal and almost no one knew. That was nearly 4 years ago. I can’t explain how different I am as a person now, and how beyond grateful I am for that happening because of the experiences and moments I’ve been able to have as a result of that. Since then, I’ve photographed for the NFL, the ACC, Christian McCaffrey, shot Panthers production day, created and led the first all-female photography team in the MLS that made waves in the media, traveled to more cities than I can count, and became an aunt. I’ve met some of my best friends and gained coworkers that have become family. God is so good and I can promise you there are good things to come.

Contact Info:

• Website: taylorbanner.com
• Instagram: @tay.banner.photos
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-banner-8b7191b9/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/taybbanner

Image Credits
Headshot photo credit line: Adam Armour