Community and Connection: Taylor Harrington
“If I didn't have my Ground Truth, I would not have been able to tie my story together in a way that I felt confident saying and repeating. It allowed me to connect the dots and say this is why I do what I do. Nothing about my experiences are random because they're true to who I am. And they're part of my path forward.”
-Taylor Harrington
Taylor Harrington is the head of community at Groove, an early-stage start-up paving the future for working together online. She describes herself as a people connector, seeking to better understand people and relieve loneliness.
In 2017, Taylor was a junior at Penn State University and attended a public workshop I hosted as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week on identifying your Ground Truth. She used her stories of when she felt most like herself to identify the core idea, the core Taylor-ness, that each experience represented. From there, this language emerged:
I seek to better understand people. I love building relationships, making people smile, and promoting inclusion.
While younger at the time than most of my clients, and with far fewer hours shared between us, Taylor engaged the work in a holistic and extensive way. She used her statement as her compass through graduation. Anytime she was offered a chance to volunteer to be a part of a club to lead a club to take an internship, she went back to the Ground Truth and asked, “Is this a way for me to grow? Is it a way for me to be even more true to my ground truth? Because if it isn't, then it's not the right thing for me to say yes to. It was a difficult lesson because I like to say yes. But I needed to say no in order to grow in the ways I wanted to.”
And having that compass allowed her to pull together the story of Who am I? And how do I explain all of my random interests together? Because on paper, they might seem random. But when she explained her purpose and aligned that language with the opportunities she pursued, people saw her and wanted to be part of it. It led to many of her summer internships and the experiences that shaped who she is now as a professional.
In her senior year, she spoke with a mentor who asked about her post-graduation plans. She wasn’t sure she’d find a job that aligned with her Ground Truth. But she shared what she knew about who she was and what she wanted and how it informed her experiences on her resume. Every single thing on that resume can be explained by seeking to better understand people. And her mentor said, “I know the perfect company for you.”
And that is how she met Seth Godin, the father of modern marketing and his educational startup Akimbo.
Harrington’s story piqued Godin’s interest and he created an internship for her to complete during her final semester. After graduation, they brought her on full time as the Director of Digital Marketing & Special Projects. During her tenure at Akimbo, Harrington founded the Emerging Leaders program for students like her with so much potential and access accelerated growth.
She has now moved onto new opportunities bringing people together. Her language for her Ground Truth adjusts with more experiences and self-understanding. Today, she explains her work for Groove as:
Building community at the intersection of connection and productivity to create the opposite of loneliness and help others achieve their goals.
Through one event and one sentence, Harrington opened a world that allows her to define what she wants to do and who she is. She continues to pursue opportunities that allow her to be herself. If it doesn’t, then she embraces that it is not the opportunity for her.
Her confidence and clarity led her to her new role with Groove and the opportunity to be on the ground floor of gathering humans in a beautiful way.
You can follow Taylor’s work and contributions via her LinkedIn profile and her website. She’s often hosting gatherings and events and I always meet someone fascinating at them!