You’ve read our stories, seen our bylines and maybe even hung out with us at an event or two, but who are the people behind Club Solutions? Faces Behind the Features is a series to help you better understand the writers who bring you industry news and best practices daily.
Taylor Brown is an assistant editor at Peake Media, who mainly focuses on Club Solutions. She also works for other Peake Media brands as a writer, social media manager for Community Rec and Campus Rec, and social media marketing for all Peake Media events. When she’s not at the office you’ll likely find her running, hiking a trail or spending time with her dog Harlem.
Here, learn all about her in her own words.
How long have you been with Peake Media?
A little over three years. I joined the Peake Media team immediately after graduating from Franklin College in May 2019.
What is your favorite story topic to write about?
Above all, any story where I get to learn someone’s “why.” Whether that be why a facility is implementing a new program or why leaders got involved in the industry in the first place, I love learning about what lead to where facilities are now.
Additionally, I love stories that teach me something. As a lifelong-learner I love being able to learn something new, especially when it comes to DEI work, medical fitness and even how VR technology is making its way into the fitness industry.
What is your favorite thing about the community recreation and health and fitness industry?
Living up to my Gen Z status — I’m a cause-driven person. I naturally gravitate towards changemakers and those who want to make a difference. It’s no surprise I’ve found myself in an industry that does that every day.
From watching the community recreation industry rise to the call during the pandemic — providing essential childcare, handing out food to the community and so much more — to the health and fitness industry rallying together to help gain political advocacy and change the narrative that health is only physical — there’s so much to love about both industries I write for. Making connections, learning how each leader got to where they are today and how they are improving the lives in the communities they work for truly fills my cup up.
How do you live a healthy lifestyle?
I’ve never known a life without movement. I played organized sports from the age of three, all throughout school and even was a collegiate cheerleader. Now I mainly stay active by visiting the gym, running — I recently completed my first mini marathon — and hitting all the hiking trails I can with my 92-pound pup, Harlem.
However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that ‘healthy’ is more than physical activity. Every day I take a mindful walk and journal. Without a healthy and clear mind, nothing else matters. I’ve also been a vegetarian for five years and love cooking nutritious, yummy food.
What’s your process for turning a bad day into a good one?
Music helps me a lot. I have created a playlist of all the songs that make me happy, even on the bad days. Popping in my headphones, turning that on and taking a walk around the office building or town can really help turn my day around. I mean, can anyone really be upset listening to Hooked On A Feeling?
I have also found there isn’t a problem too big that a bowl of pasta and cuddle session with my dog can’t fix.
What’s are you currently reading?
I like to read one book to help me grow personally or professionally and one for fun at the same time. I am currently reading “Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A: How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand.” I am slowing making my way through all of Colleen Hoover’s books, I recently finished “Verity” and “Heart Bones.”
What’s your go-to podcast?
I am an avid podcast listener, and my genres are all over the place. Some of my favorites include:
- Maintenance Phase
- How to Save a Planet
- A Slight Change of Plans
- Dolly Parton’s America
- Morbid: A True Crime Podcast
- How to Be a Better Human
- Last Day
- The Happiness Lab
Share the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you.
Don’t shrink yourself. My entire life I’ve been described always with the word “too” in front of it — too loud, too assertive, too much, etc. In today’s society, I’ve found, we’re expected to fit ourselves in boxes of how others label us. Thanks to a mentor and college professor, I now challenge that. Instead of running from the word “too,” I’ve leaned into it. I’m not afraid to ask the hard questions or be overly passionate about the things I love and care about. I strive to live authentically every day and own the space I take up.
What is something people in the industry may not know about you?
I’m an ice cream fanatic. I worked at my local mom and pop ice cream shop for seven years through high school and college. I have tried over 30 flavors of Ben and Jerry’s — Half Baked is still the reigning champion in my book — and attending their Flavor Graveyard in Vermont is on my bucket list.
Be sure to connect with Taylor Brown on LinkedIn.
