ECP Team Spotlight — Taylor Aldredge
When Dos Equis made the decision to retire its “Most Interesting Man in the World,” perhaps it was because the company knew he just couldn’t compete with our Taylor Aldredge.
To say that Taylor is a man of varied interests would be an understatement. From exercise to musical talent, Taylor — who serves as one of our Relationship Managers at East Coast Product — seems to dabble in a little of everything.
“I’ve been crossfitting for a while now and I actively cycle — fixie style,” said Taylor, a 28-year-old Flemington, NJ native and current Boston resident. “I participate a lot in the startup/innovation community here in Boston. I play a djembe — an African drum — to relieve stress. I used to play saxophone and a ton of other instruments. Oh, and I love to go antiquing and buy old stuff.”
Maybe it’s those varied interests that help Taylor build solid and meaningful relationships with our clients; or perhaps it’s his tireless efforts both in-house with our team members and out in the community when it comes to maintaining and growing the our network of satisfied customers.
“My job is to build relationships for ECP — hence my title. The way we find clients is by building an awesome referral network, so my job revolves around all of that,” he said. “Throughout the day I have meetings, coffees and calls with people to talk about what they’re working on, and I’ll usually attend two-to-three events a week.”
In the crowded landscape of the startup world, standing out can be a challenge. But Taylor said being part of our hard-working, dedicated team committed to outstanding customer service really sets us apart from the competition.
“I love the team. I’ve met a lot of promising startups that would have been fun to work for, but had glaring red flags when it came to how the business was run. I didn’t get that vibe when I met the team here,” he said. “Although my job is to find clients and manage relationships, customer service is key for us as we grow. It’s how we differentiate ourselves from other organizations — with superior customer service.”
When it comes to challenges, Taylor said the threat of becoming stagnant is one he always meets head on, which helps him relate to each of our clients in unique ways.
“I dislike complacency and wasted potential in the world,” he said. “I think tech is an avenue for people to feel empowered to start anything they wanted, regardless of what the system tells them to do. Anyone can create a business right now. I hope tech can pull people out of the negative spirals they can get into when they feel lost about their careers.”
Speaking of complacency and feeling lost, Taylor said he’s got a bone to pick with the guys over at “Big Hoverboard.”
“I was told we would have hoverboards in October 2015,” he said. “It is now 2016 and no hoverboards. At least give me a consumer-level jetpack.”
And if the hoverboards and jetpacks are a no-go, being granted the power of flight or teleportation would be a fine substitution for Taylor.
“I think we all want to fly,” he said. “If we take that as a given, I’d love to teleport. It’d make traveling so much easier.”
