Introducing Bill Taylor, CEO, and Brent Taylor, President
You can’t be in this business without having a profound respect for dirty, gritty, sweaty labor and the extraordinary men who do it. D. C. Taylor Co.’s founder Dudley C. Taylor could be counted among those men. While he transitioned from tradesman to president as the company grew, his work ethic never changed.
As a father, he’d take his young son William (Bill) with him to work sometimes. “From about age 5 to 8, he would take me to the shop on Sunday morning. I helped load trucks. I was the assistant-assistant-assistant-assistant-shop boy,” recalls Bill Taylor, CEO, D. C. Taylor Co. “His purpose in taking me was to get help and to expose me to some really tough, hard-working, fearless gentlemen.”
This exposure had a tremendous impact on Bill. When he took over the company for his father in 1985, his appreciation for the work of D. C. Taylor Co.’s crew leaders and roof technicians continued to grow.
“Five years ago during crew training, Bill was giving a speech and he was thanking the crew resources for their hard work and he made a statement. He said, ‘What the company compensates you, pales in comparison to what you do for the company.’ It’s that spirit of gratitude or gratefulness that makes the organization what it is,” says Brent Taylor, the third generation Taylor that’s served as President of D. C. Taylor Co.
Both Bill and his son, Brent, worked on the roofing crew and in sales prior to moving into leadership roles. They know what it’s like to put stale jeans on aching legs and roll out of a hotel bed early in the morning to roof a building with six other guys. Their deep appreciation for the company’s crew comes from walking many, many miles in their steel-toed boots.
“It’s special to me when I come in and see the guys all dirty, soot-covered, and soiled from sweat. I enjoy that because that’s what I started out doing,” says Brent. Summer break in college meant time on a roofing crew. “That’s how I learned about roofing,” he recalls.
Bill’s early years with D. C. Taylor Co. were similar. “I had no formal training. It was all on-the-job,” says Bill, who eventually transitioned from working on the crew to sales to Vice President (and eventually CEO). The business was evolving from masonry to roofing and it was up to Bill to make the transition smooth. “My job became taking care of the existing company and growing the new company. I was learning SO much from other employees.”
Brent, like his father before him, received all his knowledge of roofing and the business with on-the-job training. When Brent joined the company full-time in 2004, under the mentorship of a senior sales person, he learned how to evaluate the source of customer’s roof problems and propose corrective action. While no longer a laborer, his work ethic never changed and his attitude of gratitude expanded to the company’s office employees. Now in his role as President, he hopes to continue the legacy his father and grandfather started – one where hard work and teamwork is valued and employee successes are recognized.
Throughout 2016, D. C. Taylor Co. will be honoring its employees by sharing a blog profile of their experiences working for the company each month. We think our people are our most valuable asset. After you meet them, we think you’ll understand why.
Previous