We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Taylor Goodyear a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Taylor , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
My purpose is something that I am still finding and developing more each day, but I know I have a strong drive to create and connect.
One of my favorite sayings and core values is “Connecting Is Key”. I’m a firm believer that there is a take away from every connection, relationship, and person you meet — what you take from it is up to you.
I strive to connect myself with creatives, entrepreneurs, and people who are making a difference in our local community. Each individual has a different purpose that they live for each day — hearing exchanged stories, learning where the person comes from, and what they’re building helps us understand the creative element and perspective from the connection.
With my company, Social Exchange, I spend a lot of time on creating media and social experiences to develop genuine connections. One of our main focuses is to encourage collaboration amongst our network, clients, members, and group. Driving connection and creating opportunity gives me purpose, and I am so lucky to get to explore that in my role each day.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
While I was attending college I worked as Wedding & Special Events Coordinator for a local venue, The Overlook. I was in charge of running event operations from Bridal to Baby Showers, Birthdays, Celebrations of Life, and of course — managing over 50 Weddings each year. I will forever be grateful for this job and the mentors I had to learn beside. However after living in Ohio for 21 years and a short study abroad trip to Italy for inspiration – I felt I had already reached a ceiling for my career field and knew I wanted more after college.
In May 2019 I was preparing to graduate from Kent State University with my Bachelors Degree in Hospitality and Event Management, plus I was finally turning 21. However, I wasn’t expecting to experience a family tragedy that same week. My life had just changed forever and it was never more clear to me, I had to change with it.
By the end of May I decided and made plans to move away. A few college friends had recently moved to Nevada so I connected with them to see if Vegas might be a good fit for me too. I packed my bags, hopped in my car and road-tripped across the country to Las Vegas Baby! It was time to focus on my career goals and move from Ohio. I knew if nothing else I could further my career as a Luxury Event Producer in the Entertainment Capital of the United States.
After living in Nevada for almost 5 years now, I am proud to say that I have made Las Vegas my home, for now — I founded my business here, met my partner, and became an entrepreneur through this journey.
Today my professional focus is on my company — Social Exchange Group. I launched Social Exchange in July 2022 with a mission of exchanging the strengths within our network to provide quality resources to our community, partners, and clients ensuring our local businesses thrive. We accomplish this through Social Media Marketing and hosting elevated social events. Our Exchange Group also focuses on building a professional digital presence, develops real engagement & connects with a brand’s audience. Connecting is key! By connecting I’ve been able to move across the country and now own my own creative agency where I get to produce luxury events for our clients and our own agency productions.
To learn more about Social Exchange and the services we offer, please visit socialexchangegroup.com
In Addition to Social Exchange, my partner and I own and operate The Social Studio off of Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. The Social Studio is a creative space for ideas to develop, and concepts to come to life. Our studio is a place for social connection to thrive and where we host weekly experiences (The Downtown Exchange) for our group to exchange and connect.
To learn more about The Social Studio, please visit socialstudiovegas.com
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?
Looking back, three qualities that were most impactful on my journey were self motivation, my curious personality and my want to learn new things.
Self Motivation is crucial to starting your own business. When you own your own business, there is no set schedule and there definitely isn’t someone there telling you when you need to clock in or out. This is where self motivation comes into play in a huge way. If you are not self motivated, you won’t consistently work on your businesses and chances are you might not get that far. Ever since I have started my life in this city, I have been entirely self motivated and failure hasn’t been an option. I refuse to go back to having a “normal job” and as long as I can always keep myself self motivated, I never plan to have to get one again.
My curious personality allowed me to connect with so many different individuals from all different walks of life. This not only helped with evolving my overall perspective, but it helped open up a lot of doors to new opportunities as well. You never know where a conversation can take you. Be curious and ask questions.
My want to learn new things led me to entrepreneurship. When I started Social Exchange I knew a handful of skills and resources I would need to really “do this thing” and be a business owner. Since working with my first client, my skills have developed and expanded astronomically. Skills such as accounting, business planning, photography, graphic design, video editing, production management, content management, website design, consulting, brand voice development, event coordination, and so much more develop each day from the will to learn. We’re working and growing and it’s truly incredible how far Social Exchange has come.
My best advice, as cliché as it sounds is to never give up, no matter what obstacle crosses your path — your will to learn, grow, and move forward will overcome all. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, there are people rooting for you. You got this! Stay motivated, curious and willing to learn.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
We are always looking for partners to collaborate with.
The types of partners we are looking for are fun new brands in the market (any market) looking to get their story out and creatively develop a strategy for a successful collaborative campaign with our group here in Las Vegas.
If interested — you can connect with me directly via email at [email protected] or visit our website and fill out our contact form.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.socialexchangegroup.com/
- Instagram: @tay_goodyear & @socialexchangegroup
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taylor.goodyear.3/ & https://www.facebook.com/socialexchangegroup/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-goodyear-5b267b157/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/91079810/admin/feed/posts/
Image Credits
@andstudiosagency https://www.andstudios.com/ @socialexchangegroup https://www.socialexchangegroup.com/
