Taylor Holiday on How To Build A Creative Team That Never Wants To Leave

Converge: The Business of Creativity Podcast with Dane Sanders

There s nothing better than working with a creative team of people who are the best at what they do. It brings out the best in you and enables you to reach new heights you previously only dreamed of. Imagine for a moment, what might happen if you could build a company full of those kinds of people? It s likely, the growth and innovation your team experiences would be non-stop.

That s what Taylor Holiday and the team at Common Thread Collective are experiencing – and as a result, they ve grown from zero to hero in a ridiculously short period of time (3 years). You’re about to hear a revealing conversation between real friends (as opposed to colleagues, and there is a difference). You re going to hear the process of growth Taylor and his team have gone through – and are still going through – in order to be the kind of team they truly want to be, not what others expect them to be.

I feel confident selling our service because worst-case, our clients break even.

Common Thread Collective is dedicated to helping product sales companies drive revenue through their eCommerce websites. Their clients spend $50K to $1 million per month on marketing and advertising that generates revenue for their brands. They do it by leveraging the new media purchasing economy that operates on daily budgets. That kind of attention enables them to keep close tabs on their client s campaigns because there s always a way to stop a failing effort and do something different.

But they ve added another dimension to what they do – because they care about the start-up stage entrepreneurs, who they were finding more and more difficult to serve as the company scaled. Through their new platform, YourAdMission.co they have created a membership community that equips first-stage entrepreneurs to develop the skills they need at a price they can afford. Listen to learn more.

To build a creative team made up of the best in the world, the mission had to change.

Taylor s company started out with a very different mission than they have today. At first, they were seeking to Be the best in the world at selling products online. But they discovered that they weren t being consistent in carrying out the mission. That realization forced the team to evaluate whether they were willing to do what the mission required – and the answer was No – from everyone on the leadership team.

That began the journey of discovering a new mission that the team was truly behind, to genuinely ask themselves what they wanted for themselves. Once they discovered that mission, it made the behaviors required to attain it much easier – and nobody was left feeling guilty for not hitting a target they felt they should accomplish, but weren t fully invested in.

If I m going to ask you to work for me, I have to be invested in you as well. ~ Taylor Holiday

Early on, Taylor and his partners asked themselves, Why would anyone come work for our little start-up? They were located in Orange County, California so appealing, world-class companies were just outside their door. The team came to the decision that they had to care about their employees more than anyone else was willing to do.

Practically, that means that the trade of salary for time wasn t enough. They had to be invested in the employee at least as much as the employee was invested in the company. They had to ask, What would it mean to help our creative team get where they want to go, personally? As a result – and because of a desire to live consistently with their mission – they spend an inordinate amount of time and budget to empower employees to accomplish their own dreams. Ironically, many of those dreams wind up revolving around Common Thread Collective. Listen to learn how it all happened and how it s playing out day to day, on this episode of Converge.

When you empower your creative team to fulfill their personal dreams, you might create your own competition…

What happens if you work to help a person on your team achieve their personal dreams – and those dreams turn out to be competitive to what you re doing as a company? Taylor says that prospect isn t threatening to him because his goal is to empower entrepreneurs. It doesn t matter to him if it happens because what he sets up in the process is of much greater value than the risk it creates.

Taylor also sees that sort of competition as a good thing for everyone involved. It forces everyone playing the game to improve in their own skills in order to rise to the top – or else they don t stay in the game at all. You ll be encouraged by the abundant, generous attitude Taylor has about equipping his team to be their best selves, and how it s paying off.

Outline of this great episode

• [0:22] Why Taylor s story is great for anyone who wants to learn practical ways to make a difference
• [1:29] The state of real friends in a world of colleagues – and what Common Thread is about
• [4:00] How things have shifted when it comes to using media to promote services and products
• [7:40] Creating an economic model that makes sense for first-stage entrepreneurs
• [12:23] Taylor s empathy for team members and how it impacts his team dynamics
• [20:55] Implementing a mission the team was actually willing to accomplish
• [27:39] The current marketplace and the challenge of finding the best talent
• [31:52] How Taylor has created a company where only one employee has ever chosen to leave
• [34:47] Why Taylor believes entirely that those with dreams can accomplish them

Resources & Links mentioned in this episode

• Gary Vaynerchuk: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/
• Marissa Meyer: https://www.marissameyer.com/

Taylor Holiday s Resources

• Common Thread Collective: https://commonthreadco.com/
• http://YourAdmission.co
• Taylor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/taylorholiday
• Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-holiday-a169b322/

Connect with the Converge team:

Website: www.Fastermind.co

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followdane/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danesanders

Twitter: https://twitter.com/danesanders

Audio Production and Show notes by
PODCAST FAST TRACK: http://www.podcastfasttrack.com

The post S.4 Ep. 006 – How To Build A Creative Team That Never Wants To Leave, with Taylor Holiday appeared first on Fastermind.co.