Terrence Taylor Media
Company Profile: Terrence Taylor Media
Terrence Taylor started his journey in entrepreneurship about five years ago. When he first started his business, he looked at it as betting on himself, and now years later, that bet has really paid off. Terrence got his start in the food industry in Charlottetown, PEI. He founded TNT Food Experience a meal delivery and preparation service, seeking to provide healthy meals to Islanders. He credits this experience with teaching him the ins and outs of how to run his own business. However, overtime Terrence began to feel restricted by the creative limitations of the food industry. He wanted to create more and have a larger impact on his community. He decided to take everything he learned from his first business and put it into something that also celebrated his creativity, and so, he founded Terrence Taylor Media.
About his experience owning his own food business, Terence said “I had to think about all the not cute stuff and the not so sexy things about being a business person because I was mostly in a kitchen chopping vegetables for hours and hours… That’s not the entrepreneurship dream... but I learned how to do it properly.”
When he transitioned into making videos, he already knew a lot about business, which meant he could focus on developing his skills in media production. Terrence sought funding through the CBDC Blue Water to get started. Before reaching out to the CBDC, he was borrowing other people’s camera to do his film work. However, relying on the availability of someone else’s equipment was limiting the work he could take on. With the funding he received, he was able to buy a camera of his own, a computer and all the other equipment he needed to start his media business.
Terrence has worked with the CBDC, Neptune Theatre, Halifax Regional Municipality, Taking it Global, and many other well-known organisations in Atlantic Canada. He also hosts, and now produces the podcast, Changing the Narrative, a podcast featuring stories about young entrepreneurship, and growing up as black person in Nova Scotia. Through his work on the podcast Terrence has become known to Haligonians and Nova Scotians as an expert in this arena, and he has been able to channel his passion for the podcast into new projects as his business grows.
While Terrence does have a Bachelor of Education, he does not want to work in public schools. Instead his work in film media has led him down a path of teaching. Terrence does consulting with organisations in Nova Scotia looking to produce podcasts, or other digital media for online consumption. His work has remained in high demand during the Covid-19 pandemic as many businesses begin to look for ways to connect and communicate with their clients online. He is also teaching youth through the McPhee Centre for Creative Learning. He teaches courses on film and podcasting as a means to empower youth to pursue projects themselves in creative fields. He teaches youth the skills they need to produce films and other media. In his own words,
“I did my Bachelor of Education and didn’t want to teach in schools because it’s red tape everywhere.” But his experience at McPhee Centre for Creative Learning, has been more rewarding, “You’re telling me, I get 9 youth that we can just go where ever and I can teach them how I want because we get to just be out in the community. That’s a win, right?”
His impact on youth, especially young black men, has been a driving force that has changed his business from just producing films and other media, to consulting, training and workshops.
Terrence is a new dad, his son is just over a year old, and being a father has truly made him think about what the future will look like for his son.
“I have a 13-month-old little boy... If here is the same when he is my age, and we stayed here and this is the work that I do, I have wasted my time. If I haven’t done something to change how black art is appreciated, how business is conducted, how black boys can think about something other than sports as a means to success...” With this perspective Terrence has framed his motivation for continuing to grow his business, “I have to make art to help create change. That is my job.” And if that isn’t his purpose, then he asserts it is, “to teach people how to create change using art.”
Terrence has some amazing projects laid out in his future. He hopes to continue to partner with larger organisations to create bigger, longer film productions. Terrence Taylor Media continues to grow and create beautiful art that is being heard and played throughout the province. Terrence’s confidence in his business and his ability to always strive for growth shows in the passion that floods his words as he talks about the future. He says “I’m 3 years into something, I will do for the next 50 years.” And behind those words is a wave of assurance, excitement, and gratitude for what is to come.
You can follow Terrence Taylor at: