Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Taylor Crow. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Taylor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My business’s mission is two-fold. In regard to clients, I aim to empower them by unlocking new pathways of movement in their bodies and to inspire new values behind fitness in their lives. As a woman, and personal trainer, I’ve had many people impose reasons onto me as to “why” I should workout. Most of which have negatively impacted my mental health and relationship with myself. I see this as an opportunity to change the narrative behind women’s fitness. Empowering women to move in order to heal their relationship to their bodies is what gives me purpose as a trainer.

Women are expected by society to be submissive, undervalued, and underpaid. As an employer, I pay 90% commissions to all contracted trainers my business employs. I don’t believe in underpricing professional services, and I aim to inspire other female, queer, and minority professionals about the value they bring to the world (and that it deserves to be compensated generously).

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Taylor Crow Studio is a small business in Seattle that brings personal training to your home. It started in my childhood, when I began training for martial arts. I trained with a coach who taught me yoga, Pilates, and free weight training, and she inspired me to become a personal trainer around age twelve. Throughout high school, I continued to broaden my spectrum of fitness practices. I began studying sports medicine. I joined a couple of my school’s sports teams, learned how to power lift, dabbled in CrossFit, barre, dance fitness, HIIT, and more. At age sixteen, I became a certified Zumba instructor and invested much of my time and money into dance.

For years, I pretty much just learned as much as I could about movement science and nutrition, hoping that it would one day lead me to owning my own personal training business.

Taylor Crow Studio was born in 2022, with a passion for client empowerment and education. What really sets me apart is my vast understanding of anatomy and kinesiology, aside from my understanding of different fitness practices. I can apply my knowledge to help any type of client– complete beginners, elite athletes, dancers, elderly folk, etc. This is what makes their training truly personal. No two clients have the same programming, and I plan to uphold this high standard indefinitely.

I’m most proud of the accomplishments my clients have made. Some are reaching new personal records, some are touching their toes for the first time in their lives, some are healing their relationship to their postpartum bodies. My clients teach me new things every single day. They are not taken for granted and I am so grateful for the trust they put in me.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Upon graduating from the University of Washington in 2021, I got a full time corporate job making $15 an hour. It was a very challenging customer service job–answering 60-80 phone calls a day for eight hours. I worked so hard to get a promotion as fast as I could so I didn’t have to answer calls all day. I got promoted after 4 months for a $1/hour raise. That’s a $33,280 salary with a strict unpaid time-off policy, unhealthy attendance expectations, a few sh*tty “benefits, and general disrespect from senior managers.

Even so, I always exceeded expectations for performance, was loved and appreciated by my immediate bosses, and was determined to make the most out of the position. That is, until I had to come into the office one day and HR tried to deny me pay for a few of my hours worked. I spent two months fighting my case, getting support from my three closest managers to prove that I should in fact be paid for those hours.

I was absolutely appalled at the resistance I got from HR. How do you not pay an hourly employee for time they were literally in the office?

It was in that moment that I decided to start my own dog sitting business. Once I found out how much more money I could make from watching pets, I gave my team a month’s notice resignation and fully embraced the self-employed lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, it certainly has its challenges… but to make my own money, on my own time, with a healthy work-life balance is so valuable to me. Since then, I’ve reinvested that dog sitting money into my personal training business, which currently employs me full time.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I’m a little bit of a hard a*s as a manager… But as an employee, I always wanted to take on more responsibility and to be trusted with important tasks. I’ve always wanted to be a hard worker and be *appreciated* for it. That’s what I expect from my team: 110% effort, showing up on time every day, communicating professionally, and putting their best foot forward. And I hold myself to making sure they feel appreciated for their work, time, and expertise.

I love celebrating my team, rewarding them for a job well done, supporting them emotionally, ensuring they’re paid well, and always helping them to learn and grow. I have a responsibility as a leader to never get complacent with a team’s growth and praise. In return, I ask that they never get complacent either.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://taylorcrowstudio.com
• Instagram: @thetaylorcrow ; @taylorcrowstudio
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetaylorcrow/

Image Credits

Sophie Haegele
Taylor Crow