hi, I’m Tay
Speaker, author and serial founder. I help founders design the life they want first, then build the business that pays for it.
mid-laugh, between calls
11 companies & counting
about
Call me Tay.
At 20, I started my first business. In three years it was a million-dollar brand. I built company after company, earned three consecutive Inc. 5000 recognitions, and was flown around the world to teach.
I also worked 90 hours a week for six years. I worked every Christmas. I traveled 265 nights a year. Then I lost all of it, overnight. And sitting on my parents’ couch, putting together puzzles with my family, I was the happiest I had ever been.
By the world’s measure, I had succeeded. By my own, I had failed. That’s when I realized we build businesses backwards. Now, through The Founder Life, I help founders design the life first and build the business to fund it.
When I’m not working, you can catch me outside, traveling, or with my husband and our son. Sometimes I moonlight as a first soprano with the Houston Symphony Chorus.
- Founded 11 companies, starting with my first at 20
- Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies, three years running
- Co-founder and VP of Sales, Shutter Magazine
- Signed six-figure sponsorship deals
- Directed marketing at a $4B Fortune 500 company
- Top-selling instructor on CreativeLive
- Author, and a soprano who has sung at Carnegie Hall
press play
Get to know me a little more.
on the Street Smart Podcast
speaking
Talks that tell the truth.
Warm, direct and honest talks from someone who has built it, lost it and designed it again. Every talk is shaped to your audience and your event.
signature talk
Stop Building a Business. Build a Life First.
Design your perfect day, then reverse engineer the business that funds it. A practical framework for founders who are tired of hustle and want their life back.
Best for founder, small business and entrepreneurship events
signature talk
Would You Still Call Me Successful?
A million-dollar brand at 23, 90-hour weeks, then losing everything overnight. What success really costs, and how to define it before your business defines it for you.
Best for keynotes, leadership and corporate audiences
from the memoir
Stay Golden: The Gold Is in the Mending
Like kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, our breaks become part of our beauty. A talk on resilience, rebuilding and knowing your worth.
Best for women’s conferences, wellness and community events
workshop
Find Your BFF: Your Best Founder Friend
We’re meant to build together. An interactive session on why real change happens in real rooms, and how to stop building alone.
Best for workshops, retreats and networking events
in her element
formats
- Keynote30 to 60 minutes, for conferences and summits
- WorkshopHalf or full day, hands-on with founders and teams
- Fireside chat or panelConversational, with a host or alongside other speakers
made for
- Founder and small business eventsOwners who are working themselves to exhaustion
- Corporate and leadership audiencesIncluding professionals starting over after a layoff
- Women’s conferencesResilience, worth and rebuilding
- Accelerators, universities and chambers
my company
Life first. Then business.
The Founder Life helps founders design the life they want first, then build the business that pays for it. It’s an ecosystem for building thoughtful, profitable, purpose-driven businesses.
If you don’t define success for your business, your business will define it for you.
- 1Founder Life ArchitectDesign your business around your life, in one sitting.
- 2Business Design WorkshopOne day. One room. A business designed around your life.
- 3Founder CirclesStop building alone. Five founders, every week, for three months.
- 4Founder Life RetreatStep away from the business to see it clearly.
podcasts & interviews
Have a show? Let’s talk.
I love a real conversation about building a business, losing it, and designing a life worth funding. Here are a few stories your listeners might like.
short bio, for your show notes
Taylor Golden is a serial entrepreneur, speaker and author based in Houston. She has founded 11 companies, starting at age 20, earned three consecutive Inc. 5000 recognitions, co-founded Shutter Magazine and directed marketing at a Fortune 500 company. Today she runs The Founder Life, helping founders design the life they want first and build the business that pays for it. She is the author of How to Get the D! A Girl’s Guide to Getting Divorced, and her memoir, Stay Golden, arrives in Q4 2027.
Note
story ideas, for your producer
- A million-dollar brand by 23, and what 90-hour weeks really cost
- Losing everything overnight, and finding happiness on my parents’ couch
- Why founders build backwards: life first, then business
- How to land six-figure sponsorships
- Three divorces, and the book I wish I’d had
- Founder by day, first soprano by night
— Tay
books
Stories worth putting in writing.
STAY
GOLDEN
a memoir
the memoir · Q4 2027
Stay Golden
A true story of love, loss and redemption.
From first love to the slow unraveling of everything I believed, and the long road back to myself. In kintsugi, the cracks become part of the beauty. For every woman who has ever felt broken or questioned her worth: your past doesn’t define you. It refines you.
How to
Get the D!
A Girl’s Guide to
Getting Divorced
out now
How to Get the D! A Girl’s Guide to Getting Divorced
Three divorces made me a low-key professional at the D game. When friends kept calling for help, I looked for a book to send them and found nothing about actually getting through it. So I wrote one: attorneys, finances, self-care, kids, dating again and starting over.
for events
Bulk orders and signed copies for your attendees, bundled with a keynote or book signing.
partners & sponsors
Put your brand in the room.
I’ve spent years on both sides of sponsorship deals, so I build partnerships that work for the brand and feel genuine to the audience.
- Keynotes & talksPresent a keynote or talk series and get named on stage, in promotion and in the room.
- Stay Golden launchPartner on the Q4 2027 memoir launch, tour stops and signed editions.
- The Founder LifeReach founders in the room at the Business Design Workshop, Founder Circles and the Founder Life Retreat.
- Content seriesSponsor a letter, video or social series built around a topic your brand cares about.
Track record: six-figure sponsorship deals signed, VP of Sales at Shutter Magazine, and partnership agreements across 11 companies.
closing a deal, probably
kind words
From people I’ve worked with.
Within two weeks after meeting with her and going through her Business Design Workshop methodology, I was able to launch my company. I had my brand, I had my financial strategy, I knew my floor, I knew my ideal client. And most importantly, I knew the life that I was designing this business around.
Working with Taylor transformed my photography business… I increased my annual revenue by 25% in my first year of working with Taylor, as well as landing my first six-figure contract.
She has been there, done that on probably any scenario that you have. And that just gets you to your end goal quicker. And if you don’t know what the end goal is, she can help you find it.
from the workshop room
- “Powerful, insightful and empowering!” Dana Zambon
- “Invigorating and a major brain tickler.” Twenty-Nine Eleven
- “Great energy, and I felt the sincerity in the offerings.” Evelyn Cayetano, BGO Creative Services
- “Inspiringly positive.” Jordan, J. Alexandra Designs
contact
Let’s make it golden.
Speaking, podcasts, books or a partnership: tell me a little about what you have in mind and I’ll get back to you.
or email me directly
taylor@taylorgolden.com
on my way