We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Taylor Coffman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Taylor below.
Taylor, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
The definition of resilience recently took on a whole new meaning.
When my last article in Voyage LA came out, I was pregnant. I worked in podcasting up until right before my baby’s due date. I planned for a three month leave and was eager to get back to projects. I had begun producing and growing my audio career, but life had other plans.
I gave birth and it triggered a rare idiopathic disease almost killing me. It was a haunted house of Jordan Peele level living nightmares. Four days after giving birth, I finally met my daughter before she went home, without me.
After having my baby, I endured three rounds of ICU intubation, multiple abdominal surgeries, a body full of blood clots, heart failure and kidney failure with a dash of severe sepsis and pneumonia and a long list of scary other conditions. I was a forever-changed half-dead person.
But I survived and made it home to my beautiful girl after five long weeks.
This challenging time was a teacher. I got a reprieve from ambition and my only goals were to walk, to live, and to be a mother.
Six months later, I went back to work part-time while still on dialysis for kidney failure multiple times a week. The projects I was excited about had moved on without me, but just surviving and coming back to work felt like a massive win.
Sure, I was disabled and had a baby, but I found within me so much resilience and appreciation for my life.
Suddenly I was thankful for every step, every sunrise, every smile. Like someone lifted the veil of life and everything became much clearer and more vibrant. Gratefulness in the past had been an effort or a practice. Now gratefulness was as ever-present as my breath.
So just a reminder, setbacks happen in life. But most setbacks are simply speed bumps, slowing us down. But I’m proof you can get knocked down… all the way down, where every breath is a blessing, and still recover.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I come from a creative background. I’ve got a theater major and I’m a trained actor. But I’ve always been drawn to essentially the power of storytelling and how it can impact the community.
On Valentine’s day of this year I began my blog Rare Disease Girl on Substack. It’s a memoir and practical guide to facing life’s inevitable challenges: from illness to parenthood to navigating health systems.
And 50 posts later, the blog helps supplement my income. It’s read everyday across the world and I get beautiful notes from people about how it makes them feel not alone and gives them hope in the darkness.
In June, I met another crossroads as I was part of a large layoff at my podcast company LAist Studios.
It’s another uncertain time, but I do feel this resilience I’d fostered helping push me onward. I’m not sure what the next chapter will be, but Rare Disease Girl’s audience continues to grow, and so do I.
I’m proud to spend my time advocating for patients and empowering them by sharing my story.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Strong writing skills have been essential. It’s a skill I’m always continuing to hone. I’ve learned a lot about powerful writing by reading great writers.
Beyond storytelling writing, the ability to share my story in a public speaking setting with humanity and candor. The skill to connect and speak with people and not at them. This comes with practice.
And finally, emotional intelligence has been such a valuable trait for me. Especially during the COVID years. As workplaces ventured into our homes, I think we all had to become more sensitive to one another. But it translates to productivity, respect, and workplace joy.
When people feel appreciated, connected, and valued, they are more likely to commit and hold on through times of challenge.
I do think people can learn EQ skills through therapy, reading articles and studies about workplace satisfaction and productivity, but also by taking an authentic interest in the people and coworkers around you by building healthy relationships. Because in the end, relationships matter.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
I don’t know if I have a decade left to live, to be honest. It’s certainly not promised.
Frankly, I wouldn’t do anything differently. I feel like I’m on a beautiful path.
Although, I might travel a bit more and always get dessert.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://taylorcoffman.substack.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorcoffmanmade/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-coffman
Image Credits
1. Becca Murray 2. Becca Murray 3. Selfie
