Ever Onward Podcast

Winning in Idaho Business: The WNBA’s Billion-Dollar Lesson with Angela Taylor | Ever Onward - Ep. 101

• Ahlquist. • Season 1 • Episode 101

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What can Idaho business leaders learn from the billion-dollar surge of the WNBA? A lot more than you might think. In this episode, Angela Taylor—Idaho native, former WNBA executive, leadership coach, and founder of The Taylor LEAD Foundation—joins us to break down the habits, culture, and mindset that turn underdogs into champions and organizations into movements.

Angela shares the leadership rule that shaped her entire journey—“we don’t quit”—and how it carried her from Centennial High School to Stanford, a national championship, and the earliest days of building the WNBA. We dig into the business principles behind the league’s explosive rise: stronger ownership commitment, real investment in player development, brand partners seeing long-term value, and a national appetite for authenticity and competitive excellence.

Then we bring it home to Idaho. Angela explains how those same lessons apply to local companies, community leaders, and anyone building teams in a fast-growing state. From aligning vision and standards to inviting friction that sharpens performance, her insights translate directly to boardrooms, startups, nonprofit leadership, and family-owned Idaho businesses.

We explore her statewide work through The Taylor LEAD Foundation and iWIN Sports—platforms expanding access for youth, especially girls and underrepresented communities. Her stories show how courage at the local level can spark community-wide change and build the next generation of Idaho leaders.

Angela closes with a practical playbook: do honest self-scouts, surround yourself with truth-tellers, build teams like championship programs, and lead with purpose that outlasts the moment.

For anyone growing a company, leading people, or shaping Idaho’s future, this conversation is packed with the billion-dollar lessons hiding in plain sight.

Subscribe, share with someone who leads, and drop a review with the takeaway you’re applying this week.

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SPEAKER_00:

Today on our Ever Onward podcast, what a guest we have for today, Angela Taylor. As close to an Idaho celebrity as there is, Angela Taylor, born and raised in Mountain Home, Idaho, went on and won a national championship at Stanford in women's basketball, then became a WNBA executive, and is now back in Idaho doing amazing, wonderful things. I've wanted to have her on for a while. You will absolutely love this guest, uh, Angela Taylor. Angela, I am so excited to have you on this podcast. It's gonna be fun. You're you're incredible. You're like the the closest thing we have to a celebrity in Idaho, right?

SPEAKER_01:

I think that would be a future. Not at all. I think that, you know, just I grew up here. So this is home in the Which is amazing to me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I can't wait uh for people that don't know you to have you tell your story today. And um, there's so much to leave. So much to learn from you. So born in Mountain Home.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yes, born and raised. Pretty much all I knew. Um my father was in the Air Force for 27 years, and after a few different um places where they were stationed, I have two older brothers. Uh they came to Mountain Home, Idaho, and I was born. And when I was about three, we went to uh Madrid, Spain. So he was stationed at Torre Hone um Air Force Base, which is about 45 minutes from Madrid. And parents chose to have us stay uh in Madrid because they wanted us to have this immersive experience and cultural experience. And then we came right back to Mountain Home. So Mountain Home is pretty much all I knew.

SPEAKER_00:

How was it growing up in Mountain Home?

SPEAKER_01:

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, we're gonna talk about this. You're like, honestly, like in WNBA and collegiate basketball lore, you're like you're up there. So to come from Mountain Home, it's a big deal.

SPEAKER_01:

It is.

SPEAKER_00:

What was athletics like there? Were your brothers athletic?

SPEAKER_01:

They were. So I have two older brothers, Greg and Gary, um, both, you know, I think that my parents recognized early that the importance for us to participate in whatever extracurricular um activity. And sports was one of those things that was accessible to us, and it was a differentiator. It allowed us to get to know the community, and the community got to know us. Our parents were driving, you know, the kids to Montana for practices or tournaments in in Little League. And sports was it helped us feel like we belonged.

SPEAKER_00:

Um did they play back? Was it hoops their deal too, or were they ever every sport?

SPEAKER_01:

Every sport, anything that we could play, certainly in the summertime. It was you know little league baseball. But uh during the school year, my brother both played football. Oldest brother Greg went to Boise State as a walk-on. Um, and then my uh middle brother Gary played at quarterback at Stanford, was recruited by Jack Elway to play at Stanford and ended up being a running back. Uh, and then uh we all played basketball and we all ran track. So whatever there was, whatever season it was.

SPEAKER_00:

So phenomenal athletes.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. That's true.

SPEAKER_00:

Were your parents, was your mom and dad, were they athletes too?

SPEAKER_01:

My mother was uh a drum majorette. And so we we say we could probably get our athleticism from her, but she was a drum majorette, loved music, loved dance, and my father was an athlete. He played baseball and football, played a little bit of football in college before he decided to join the Air Force.

SPEAKER_00:

And what was his job in the Air Force?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh so he was with the 366 um here in Mountain Home, so mechanic, so mechanical engineer, worked on all the aircraft, uh, and was there for a long time, again 27 years, and we learned so much from him about work epic.

SPEAKER_00:

I was gonna say before we before we go on, um, you know, I've done that, I've been doing this for like six years now. Incredible people come on, but there's always a story behind the story. There's always some influence there that is kind of otherworldly.

SPEAKER_01:

100%.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so what was the what are those things that stick out um from your parents that really are ingrained in you? Uh there's probably some DNA there that's great, but then on top of that, the lessons you've learned. What would you share with us?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, how much time do we have? You know, it's one of those things, you know, when you're growing up, uh, you know, your parents are involved in every aspect of your life. And so you don't appreciate the lessons that you may be learning. There might be something in the moment that resonates with you. But years later, when you leave and you reflect on like how you're able to accomplish something and how it leads back to something that a parent said, a quote, or how they showed up. I'll tell you a story, you know, the thing that that really resonates with me. I think I was in seventh grade, and uh I couldn't play basketball. Basketball was my love and my passion, and I went to the coach and asked if I could, you know, go up to the eighth grade team. And she's like, no, Angela, you know, you have to be an eighth grader to play. But there's math relays. And so joined the math relays team, but that was certainly not something that I was excited about. So the first team I was able to officially play on was the volleyball team. And uh we had about a week of practice. I had never really played volleyball before, so and practices are brutal. You know, just you know, digging the ball and your, you know, your forearms are on fire and getting calloused and all those different things. And so I liked it, but I didn't love it. And uh we had again, so I made it through Thursday's practice and Friday. We were gonna have our last practice of the week, but that also coincided with the varsity football games. And my brother Gary was playing quarterback uh for the varsity team at that time. He was he was brought up to the varsity, and I was like, if I'm going to practice, I might be late for his game. And I love watching him play. I looked up to Gary for so many different reasons. And so I decided I was gonna leave school, go home, so I could be ready to you know head to the game with my parents. So showed up probably about 3 45, got home, and my mother was like, Don't you have volleyball practice? I'm like, Oh, I'm not gonna play volleyball anymore. And she said, We don't quit. Wow. So you said you were the one that said that you were gonna play volleyball, and anything that we say we're gonna do, we commit to. So go get your bag, I'll meet you in the car, and we go back to practice. And I am so grateful to that because I love volleyball. It wasn't my sport of choice, but I loved all the lessons that I learned.

SPEAKER_00:

But the lesson is we don't quit.

SPEAKER_01:

We don't quit. We don't quit. And it was all of those little things that uh I think she's a strong woman. Powerful. Powerful, powerful in a quiet way. Anyone who had a chance to interact with my mother, uh, you can just see the look on their face. Um, she passed away four years ago. And uh so often I'll run into Bullocks in Mountain Home who went to school. She was a paraprofessional in special education in at North Elementary for probably about 16, 17 years. And there are students that were in her class that will find me on the street and say, I was in your mother's class, she changed my life. I was at the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, I spoke on a panel, and a gentleman came up to me and he said that he went to North Elementary, and uh he remembers several times where my mother would would get on him and challenge him. And he said that he wouldn't be where he is today if it wasn't for my mother because she held him accountable. She saw that he had a lot of potential, and that's what she she not only did it for her own kids, my siblings and I, but she did it throughout the community.

SPEAKER_00:

You miss her every day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Every day.

SPEAKER_00:

That's a weird thing, isn't it? It's so final.

SPEAKER_01:

It really is. You're never ready. You're never ready for that.

SPEAKER_00:

And then it's just so it's so final. I I I just uh it's hard. Um as we get older and start losing more of our uh folks and you know, aunts and uncles and loved ones, it's just like it's just uh you you really uh treasure those moments you have.

SPEAKER_01:

You do, and it was a blessing. I I never thought I was gonna move back to Idaho. I thought after I left and went to off to college, that you know, New York City, anywhere but and and I was actually pretty sure that once my father retired from the military that they would move back to Texas, which is where they grew up. Um but they decided this was home because Mountain Home, there's there's family, there's friends that are their community. Um and so I came back from my mother. She was going through some health stuff about 10 years ago, and uh I had an opportunity on a consulting company, so I can do that anywhere. And came back, thought I'd be here for a couple years and then move back on to some big city. But it was the biggest blessing that I ever had to spend those seven years shifting our relationship. And I know that you know this as well. I mean, relationships matter, and and we we have relationships with our peers, we have relationships in in the workplace, we have relationships in the community, and we have these family relationships. And the the more time that we speak or spend with intentionality, uh just to get to know someone as a human being, not just inside the role as a mother or sibling or anything like that. I had the opportunity and the blessing to be able to get to know my mother, not just as my mother, but as this amazing human.

SPEAKER_00:

Amazing. Yeah, and and and cherish in in those moments now you look probably look back on. Uh yeah, that's a you know, it as we grow older, that's that's some wisdom that comes from that. 100%. Taking advantage of those days. Is your father still around?

SPEAKER_01:

He is, he is. Busier than I am. So he is. He's the president of the NAACP chapter here in Boise. That's awesome. Uh and once he retired, uh, you know, I think that he's one of those, what I learned from him is is work epic, right? And committing to something that you um say that you're gonna do, but also that how important it is to get back to the community. And so he's been doing that for he's gotta be so proud of you, Angela. Well, and the feeling is mutual, uh, vice versa. You know, there's and hopefully we'll get a chance to talk about this a little bit. Um, about 10 years ago, my brothers and I started the Taylor Leed Um Foundation. And we did it. Um, my brother Gary and I were being inducted into the Mountain Home uh High School Athletic Hall of Fame, a big deal. Uh, and it was their inaugural class. And so I wasn't living in Atlanta at the time, working with um the WNBA's Atlanta Dream, and Gary was in California, and so we met up here, and we're gonna meet our parents down at the Elks Lodge in Mountain Home, which is where they hold everything. And so on the drive down, we're just talking about how did we get here? We were just playing sports, just something that we enjoy doing. And I know you played basketball, you played sports, and we're in Boy Scouts, and so those little things, it's just what we do. And uh, so we just started to reflect a little bit, and what we both recognized was we would not be where we are today doing the things that we're doing, experiencing the things that we're experiencing if it wasn't for our parents and the support that they had. And so, as we're we're driving to Mountain Home, I looked at Gary and I was like, we need to do something to honor them tonight. So let's let's actually uh start a scholarship in their name that reflects the things that they taught us that were the differentiators for us. And so we did that night, we announced the Alice and Charles Taylor Scholar Athlete LEED Scholarship, and LEED stood for leadership, educational excellence, athletic achievement, and distinguished community service. So we've been doing that for 10 years, and and so you you asked how my dad, he must be proud, is um as we reached our 10th anniversary, and as we're growing that statewide and doing some really incredible things, I I look at him and I just see how he sees his legacy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. Which is a big word, and as you get older and and a guy like that, you know, he looks at his posterity, looks at you, yeah, looks at what what he's gotta just feel that legacy uh and just make him smile. That's great. Well, if you're listening to this podcast, what's his name?

SPEAKER_01:

Charles Saylor.

SPEAKER_00:

Charles. Man, Charles, great job, buddy. This is uh you one of a kind here. So um when did when did you uh was it competitive with your brothers being the little sister in sports? And and listen, we're gonna get into your act your uh your athletic accomplishments. Yeah. Was there a time when you could whoop them?

SPEAKER_01:

There was probably one moment. It took a long time, right? And and they'll to this day let me know that they were not gonna take it easy on me. And I appreciate I wouldn't be here today and I wouldn't have competed at such a high level if they took it easy on their little sister. Um but we love, I mean, just playing out in the driveway and playing hoops or or football.

SPEAKER_00:

Probably some of the most competitive sports you ever played. It was in the driveway.

SPEAKER_01:

100% and in the neighborhood. Like they all knew when I couldn't play, um, I was a halftime entertainment. Yeah. Right. So when they were playing three on three with with the kids in the neighborhood and I was too small, they would take a break and let me go deal with ball handling sequence or something like that. But they saw that I could do anything. They believed in me more than I've probably believed in myself and were my biggest advocates.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Uh when you came out of high school, were you recruited then to Stanford? Is that that that was your first stop, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it was, but uh I was recruited widely by Pac-10 schools at the time and um Boise States and and some um Ivy League schools, but my dream was was Stanford, probably because I wanted to follow in Gary's footsteps. Um I looked up to him and was a was a tag along.

SPEAKER_00:

What was his story for Stanford? How did because it's a I mean that is a very prestigious place to go. It is. And for athletes, I mean it's like like if you're gonna pick a place to go get education, West Coast, Pac-10, Stanford. I mean, it's a big deal. It is coming from Mountain Home.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, I always look at my brothers, like my oldest brother, Greg, uh, is the smartest in the bunch. He's brilliant. Uh, and Gary was the hardest worker, and I just was the efficient. I understood how to work hard, but do it efficiently, uh, and was really curious. Uh so for Gary, he he worked hard his entire life, and I think it was his seventh or eighth grade. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to be an engineer, and there were a few schools in the country that he was interested in going to. And so I remember a conversation over dinner. Uh, he was talking about what his dream was, and his dream was to go to Stanford. So I'm probably in fifth grade at the time, and and I just look at him like, why would you want to go to Connecticut? It's cold back there. Like, I want to go somewhere sunny. And he's like, What are you talking about? Like, you want to go to Stanford, Connecticut? And so he had to explain to me, right, the geography and where Stanford was. Um, but he just worked hard. He always knew that he wanted to go. That was his school of choice. And then when he had a chance, um, he was back in the day of a Toy and Taylor, TNT Express. So um, their football team, he and Maury Toy were legendary here in the Treasure Valley when they played football. And Maury was a running back, Gary was a quarterback, and they both were widely recruited by schools across the country. But Gary knew he wanted to go to Stanford. And when he went to Stanford, he's he's a quiet guy, introvert, engineer. And he went, came back, his his um freshman year came back for Christmas, and he was a change man. He still was quiet, but he just was effervescent. He was, he was, you could just tell he was where he needed to be. That was his place. Wow. And for me, who looked up to him, yeah, was like, there's something special about this place. And so I started to kind of put on my wish list, like, if this can do this for Gary, what can it do for me? And um when I was recruited, I was recruited widely, had a lot of scholarship opportunities. Um, but Stanford didn't have scholarships for me. Like they had already filled their freshman class with scholarships, they didn't have anything available. But Tara Vandeveer, the legendary Hall of Fame coach, uh said, you can walk on and try out for the team. And so that was that was my journey. I uh went there in September and and started uh trying out for the team on the track, running with them, doing preseason conditioning, and doing everything I could to stand out. And uh in October, uh she sat me down. There were probably about three or four of us that were were trying out for the team, and I was the one that um ended up making the team as a walk-on. And um eventually, my freshman year, December of my freshman year, we're in Cincinnati for a holiday tournament. Uh, she and one of the assistant coaches sits me down and they say, We're gonna put you on scholarship. Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

You remember that moment?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my goodness. I again, Cincinnati. Uh, the next day I got a call from a reporter from USA Today that wanted an interview. And um, I had the chance to give my parents a call that night because they had sacrificed a lot um to be able to pay for me to attend Stanford, and uh it was life-changing.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean the value of that scholarship alone, but just like the way it would change your life and allow you to enjoy that time of your life and the financial struggles and burdens go away. That's that's an incredible story.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, that was pretty special.

SPEAKER_00:

So then you you have a storied career at Stanford. Talk a little bit about what you accomplished there and your time there.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so going from a walk-on and you know, uh so much of what I learned during those four years at Stanford are embedded in me and in everything that I do. Um, with the leadership development work that I do with my consulting company, a lot of the principles uh are founded in what we learned from Tar specifically. But walked on the team my freshman years, uh, and that was the year uh, you know, I remember one of the first meetings we had of the season. So uh preseason practice is over, Tar sits us down in the locker room, and she comes in and she says, 1990 NCAA champions, get comfortable with it. And so we're all spread out on different couches around the room, and I'm sitting there like, I'm from Mountain Home, Idaho, right? We never want anything. Like we were a transient team, players were coming in and out, you know, we made it to districts, we were happy. Um, so I'm all bought in. I'm like, I have some a pair of Nikes on, some Nike sweats, I am good. Exactly. And uh my business partner, Stacey, who was a senior on the squad, said she was across the room and they had just been beaten by Louisiana Tech, and she said it felt like it was by 60, but it was probably like a 15-point loss in the sweet 16. She's sitting across the room and she's like, This lady's crazy. Yeah, how are we gonna close the gap, go from 16 to one in that short period of time? And it's not like it's only on our accord. We have to be better than 15 other programs and teams. And Tara believed it, and everything that she did on you know, agendas, on the video tapes, the VHS tapes that we watched, it was 1990 NCAA champions. Just the mindset. She was teaching this the mindset and the belief and the vision. And uh lo and behold, March of uh 20 or uh 1990, we're in Knoxville, Tennessee, and uh playing in front of 20,000 people in Bowling Green Arena, and we win the national championship. So it was incredible. I only played 41 minutes that year, uh, so probably averaged a minute and a half a game, but um it was an incredible journey. I learned a lot about leadership, I learned a lot about what it takes to win and building a winning culture, and then went on that next year, my sophomore year, I was starting in the final four.

SPEAKER_00:

Um talk a little bit about what you learned there, because I think people follow people. And I think you could have had that same group of teammates under different circumstances and not made it. So, what what lessons would you say came from the the culture and the drive and pulling on that all together to make it possible?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think it started with Tar, and it was the vision and her belief uh and her like everlasting energy focused on how are we gonna get this team from A to Z. Right. So my freshman year, we had the the uh I think MOMA Prieta earthquake, so the Bay Area earthquake, and we were basically kicked out of the arena for practice. So we had to practice outside on a hard skate. And uh Tara's like, you know, people don't care, right? Tennessee's practicing, everyone else, they may be in their gym, but they won't care when it comes to March, like what we're going through. Uh we we got stranded on uh a bus on the way from Spokane to to Pullman. Uh there was a snowstorm, so we had to sleep in uh the high school in Colfax, Washington, with blankets from the jail, right? Oh so there were all these things that we had to overcome. And so one of the things that I learned, like it doesn't come easy. Nothing comes easy, but if you understand what your vision is, what your goal is, when any obstacle comes in your way, like right, you're you're willing to get over it.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I I love that you're saying that. And I think when people talk about vision, sometimes I don't think they know how to define what that means. But I think in her case, it was that national championship. That was the goal. It was the vision and the path to get there. Yes. And no matter what happened, no matter what, it would only make the fire burn brighter. It didn't matter where you're sleeping, where you're practicing, whatever. In fact, bring it on because it's gonna make us tougher and even make us better in in the pursuit, right? That that's the so it's about the vision and the pathway, but it's also about the heart and soul and mind of everyone committed to that, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It is, it is. Uh Kara Lawson, who's a coach at uh Duke for Duke Women's Basketball, I'm gonna be the Olympic coach. She says something uh recently at the ACC Media Day, uh, and they talked about you're playing a pretty competitive preseason schedule. Like, why are you doing that? She's like, I want to expose our team. Yeah. I want to expose our team so we know where the flaws are early on, and we can get better. Yeah. And I think that that's what happens when there are obstacles or friction. One of the things that we believe with the Dignitas Agency and our consulting for with leaders is that oftentimes we're we're encouraged to avoid conflict or the friction and the tension. But we believe that if you engage with it, if you actually are able to identify it and to notice how it's impacting you, good, bad, or indifferent, then it's gonna accelerate the process. And it's just like lifting weights, right? If you don't have any any weight on the bar, you might get a little bit stronger, but you're gonna get much stronger when you have more resistance or friction on that weight bar.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think that principle, Angela, is contrary to a lot of thinking when people see successful people. Um sometimes they think, oh, they got lucky, they had this, they had, and man, the longer I'm alive and the more people I meet, there's when you meet successful people and you start digging into what got them there, there's a bunch of this. There is. And it was struggle and trial and challenge, and and they may not talk about it. You may not see it on the surface, but it was there and it refined them, and they came out the other end better and ready to go, right?

SPEAKER_01:

I think so. And that's why I love your podcast, because I think we need to talk about this more as leaders. So many people, particularly young people, see a successful individual, and I think it was easy, right? And and it may not be that smooth or easy for them, and they think that they're not capable. So we need to model this.

SPEAKER_00:

Speak a little bit to that, because I and and I don't want to sound like the old guy here, but um, I do think that um in a in a gener I look at you know, I look at my kids and their generation, and I think it is harder in some ways now. It's just harder to buy a house, it's harder to they're just things that are kind of different now. I think it's the same American dream, it's still hey, work hard, do that. But I think um I think more than ever, they need to see examples of this and hear how to do this and and be driven. Because if it's harder now than it was, well, that just means you have to work harder. Yeah. You know, whatever, whatever the capacity I had to hit to to to become successful, it might be a little bit more, but you can do it. Yes, you can do it. But you can do it. I mean, I think that's the that's the thing. And um I I I think uh the flip side of that is in Idaho and uh we have an incredible heritage here. I mean it's just kind of you've been a large part of that. Work, work, work, work is on our, you know, it it's just so I I think uh I think we're situated well as a community, as a state, um, and as a nation. The the you know, we know how to work. We'll figure this out, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I I agree wholeheartedly. And it you you look at technology and what happened in Silicon Valley, and I think that that is something that kind of shifted the narrative a little bit, where you know, maybe you start this venture and you become a millionaire as a 22-year-old. And so I think that for this generation, it's such a different outlook. We were more local, so your your heroes were the local heroes that you actually had access to, and now you have this global landscape, and things can happen quickly, right? So kids want to graduate from college and become a millionaire the next second.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. I love it. Fond memories of Stanford, then that that was foundational for you, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It was magical, it was magical. And I know you've said this a lot on some of your previous podcasts and conversations like Jim Everett, and it's the people.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I think that any situation that you're in, what makes it magical are the people. So um having the opportunity to go to Stanford, I was around people that had a lot in common, right? We didn't need to be the stars or in the spotlight. We had, you know, concert pianists and you know, um amazing athletes and folks that were coming up with new inventions, but they were normal people and accessible, and uh and and you're able to feed the city.

SPEAKER_00:

I've heard you want to talk on that. The the the for the fraternity of Stanford grads, it is kind of because it is both, right? It's athletics, but it is also world-class research center, world-class PhDs and everything you can imagine, right? Yeah, it's a pr it's a pretty unique group that you're part of, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It is, it is. And in whatever domain that they're operating in, they want to be the best. Yeah, all right, right. And they're seeking excellence in whatever that may be.

SPEAKER_00:

That's amazing. Okay, let's talk WNBA.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So some good times. Yeah, yeah, talk us through that.

SPEAKER_01:

So uh gosh, when I was in Mountain Home, we couldn't even have imagined that there would be a professional league for for women here in the United States that we'd be able to enjoy and have the pleasure. When I was uh coached for about four years in college, the last two at Stanford Watar, and uh I never wanted to be a coach, um, but it was a nice vehicle for me to figure out what it was I wanted to do. And as I was getting ready to go to business school, uh I wanted to run the Chicago Bulls, right? Because we all, the only thing that we all got to see on TV was WD and TV and Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. That was it. So that was my dream. I I can't tell you how many letters I wrote to uh the the leadership at Chicago Bulls.

SPEAKER_00:

That's great.

SPEAKER_01:

It was great, and so got into business school, was gonna go to Wash U in St. Louis and talked to one of my mentors, uh Renee Brown. And so she was asking, so what is it that you want to do? And I said, I want to run an MBA team. And so she's like paused a little bit and she said, You know what, Angela, um, that's fantastic. I can't help you with that, but what I can do is uh I just had a conversation with David Stern, and they're getting ready to start a women's league. And I would love for you to join me.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

And I was like, Oh, that sounds good. I'm like, well, what you know, tell me more. She's like, well, in New York, in the in the league offices, it's like, no, New York stays a little bit too big, Mountain Home to the New York pipeline is a little intimidating. And I was like, no, my mother like would kill me if I didn't get my master's degree. Like, you know, maybe not now. And Renee's like, just think about it. Why don't you come to New York? Um, check it out, talk to a few people at the league office, talk to Val Ackerman, etc. And I went out there and I saw the vision that David had that would not just change my life, but the lives of girls and boys, right? That's a good idea.

SPEAKER_00:

He was a pretty incredible leader, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my goodness. He was just a voracious reader.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

He was the person in the room that knew more than anybody else because he was just so well read. You had to be prepared. Uh, he was a visionary. He was um very rigid in his leadership style. So he was intimidating. Like you cannot not be prepared if you're showing up for a meeting with David, and you can't have him know more than you know about your expertise. Um, but I think his vision for what the league could be, both the NBA and the WMBA, is palpable and it's still ringing true today. Uh, and so I think for so many of us that had the chance to work at the league office and and work under David, learned quite a bit.

SPEAKER_00:

It's amazing. And what a journey it's been on.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, it's incredible.

SPEAKER_00:

Can you imagine what's happened over the last few years?

SPEAKER_01:

I cannot imagine. So, Tommy, like back in the day when we'd be traveling to games, or maybe mom coming to Idaho to visit my family. Uh, anytime I was on a flight and in conversation with somebody and talked to them that I was, you know, with the WNBA, they would pause for a second and they're like, Well, how long are you guys gonna be around?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, is that league gonna be able to survive? And so that was happened in year one, it happened in year five, it happened in year seven, and it continued to happen for the 20 years that I was involved with the league. People just question um if there was any credibility or viability in that league being able to be sustained. And now here we are today where it's flourishing. It's an amazing moment, not just for the WNBA, but for women's sports writ large.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's uh just a really quick story. Uh Herb Simon.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00:

So I've been able to we're we're doing some development in downtown Reno, and he owns the baseball team that's right, the triple A team. So I've been able to meet with him on some development stuff. But but he uh tells a story of how he uh was friends or was in the city of Indianapolis and they had a they had a WNBA team. And he was friends with the mayor, and the mayor said, they're gonna leave, and we need support.

SPEAKER_01:

We need you to do this. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And he said, I don't want to do that. Why would I want to do that? And he kind of they said, You need to do this just to help us out. And listening to him talk about taking that journey of 20 years of of just watching how it's changed, and then Caitlin Clark turns a fee. He was sitting he was sitting there with me and he said, he said, I'll never forget it, because he says, I think God himself looked down on me and said, Herb, you've been working hard for lots of years trying to make this work. I'm gonna give you Caitlin Clark.

SPEAKER_01:

That really, like there were a lot of owners that would have loved that opportunity. I think that commitment from owners such as Herb was so important. Uh I worked with the Minnesota Lynx for two years, and Glenn Taylor at the time was the owner. I think he just uh sold the Timberwolves and the Lynx about a year ago to Alex Rodriguez and their ownership group. And I remember having a conversation with Glenn and asking him why. Like, why this WNBA team mattered, why he was committed to making it work there. And he said, Angela, like if I'm gonna make sure that 14 or 15 young men have an opportunity to pursue their dream, like I have to do the same for women. Yeah. And that's my commitment. And he built a winning program. They didn't win when I was there, unfortunately, for those two years, but uh you know, now one of the winning this um WMBA programs. Um In the history of the league.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and I and you look at the popularity of it, it's just it's it's it's amazing. You it's for someone that's been there since the beginning. Yeah, what do you take away from what's happening right now? What I mean, first of all, why?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

I think there's been some great players over the years, right?

SPEAKER_01:

There have been. It's evolved over time, but right now the game is in such a great place with the players. You look at the collegiate level as well, the skill level, and then this is not to diminish those folks that came before the Lisa Leslie's, the Cynthia Cooper's, the Tina Thompsons. There's a lot of talent. And now, as we see in across all sports, there's just more resources, and these kids are getting better because they're playing at an earlier age, uh, and their skill development uh is much more rapid. So the quality of the game on one side is just phenomenal. But the business is in a good place, and we we look at the revenue streams, so ticket sales, and we see all these arenas, and Caitlin Clark is is is part of that. Um, but we start to see the sponsorships. Yeah, there's so many companies, and before it was a throw-in. NBA would get a sponsorship and they would throw in a few thousand dollars or a hundred thousand dollars for the WMBA. Now companies are coming specifically to the to the WMBA to be partnering with them. It's the valuations, the Golden State Valkyries, the the latest team, expansion team that just joined the league last year, a$500 million valuation.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow. Wow. Why do you think I I don't I don't know if you're willing to talk about this, but it's been interesting to watch. I think when like Michael Jordan came into the league. I mean, do you forget, unless you're old like I am, how he he was one of my favorite? I went back to the North Carolina basketball camp when I was at the Oh did you really?

SPEAKER_01:

What was that like?

SPEAKER_00:

It was amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00:

Like it was amazing. I I'll never forget one night I was I was uh I was like shooting in the gym really late, and Dean Smith came walking through.

SPEAKER_01:

The legend.

SPEAKER_00:

And it was just me and him, and he came walking up to me and said, Hey, where are you from? And I said, I'm from Utah. He's like, What the heck? Are you doing all the way back here in North Carolina? Anyways, he sat so I was a huge, huge North Carolina fan, Michael Jordan fan. He comes into the league, he was not accepted. Like it was it was brutal.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, it was brutal and physically brutal, mentally brutal, everything about it. So I think this whole thing with Caitlin Clark coming in has been interesting, but it's also a little bit like this is kind of what happens, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It is, it is.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it is it being blown out of proportion a little bit?

SPEAKER_01:

I I think to the public it is. Like for the for the players and and those like in the league, it's not like players respect players, but you're gonna compete.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think the irony is that so often um we we hold players accountable. You're too friendly. Yeah. You know, why you're going out to dinner with these guys? Like you, you know, you need to be competitors. That's how we were in the old school. We weren't friends. Um, they are competitors, they're the ultimate competitors at this level. And Caitlin's been great, and I know the players appreciate that, but I think it's the narrative, right? And sometimes it helps, right, with the media pitting people uh against each other. But I I think the same thing is is with with Michael Jordan, is they were not gonna let the young fella think that he was the best. It happened with LeBron.

SPEAKER_00:

That's the part of it. I mean, that's that's just part of it, right? It's like the right of passage. Like we're going to bring it to you.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And you want that. Like if you were a competitor for me, I wanted my teammates in practice to challenge me because that made me better. Iron Shop brings iron. And I think if you're a competitor, I know that Caitlin appreciates that she is being challenged to be the best that she can be. It's going to make her a better player, it's going to make the league a better league.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, it's been fun to watch. It's been fun to watch the rivalries. It's been fun to watch. I mean, you've I find myself like so you know how you have your favorites on your ESPN app right now. So so so I I have I have my teams up there and when they're playing, I I'll I mean, and I would have never done that five or ten years ago.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. That's so good to be here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, and I mean now you're like, oh, there's a game on, I'm gonna watch it. Because I'm a I'm a sports junkie. It it that's all I watch is is sports. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that's why I love hearing is that it feels like we've turned the corner over the last few years, and I think it started with celebrities or and certainly um other players, whether a soccer player supporting the NWSL or NBA players supporting the WNBA, folks that they bring so much credibility when they're saying that this game is being played at a high level. You think about Tyrese Halliburton for the Indian Pacers.

SPEAKER_00:

He's their biggest fan.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, he's their biggest fan. He said he is a better player because his father coached girls' basketball.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yeah. I love that story.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, that's amazing. So um I I do, I know this is going by quickly, but I want to talk about all the wonderful things you're doing now. Yeah. And we better transition to that because this is going so quickly. But tell us about how all of this wonderful experience, time, energy, effort, all you've learned is kind of been bundled into what you're doing now.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know what, um, and you probably have had a similar journey. I I finally have figured out my why.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like I have so many varied interests uh and uh the sharp, shiny objects. Uh but what I'm recognizing is that at the core of everything is my why. My why is to help transform invisibility into impact and silence into strength, and doing that through deep listening and understanding. And so everything, whether it's the consulting I do with the dignitas space.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_01:

You like that?

SPEAKER_00:

Do you guys hear that clip?

SPEAKER_01:

Woo! I mean, it's it took me a while to get to that point. And um, yeah, I'm a listener. My superpower is listening. And you see, you know, everywhere else that you have to be a great orator, all these different things. Um, and I ran from the fact that what was easy for me, um, but also what was impactful to others was the fact that I like to listen. And I and you were the same, you're curious and you're a great listener. That's why this podcast is great. That's why you're so successful, you're a great leader. Um, and there's a big value in that, but I don't think we amplify it enough. When you think about through school, we take all these communications classes and we focus on speech and speaking. We don't focus on listening.

SPEAKER_00:

Powerful.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and so so that's at the core of everything, whether the Dignitas Agency and the leadership development change leadership that we do there, uh, adult boisey food tours and the storytelling that we do through the culinary scene and history and architecture and all those things. Uh, and that's led to the thing that now is uh what I think will be my best work. And I and I've said this all along. Dignitas, I have a meeting with my business partners probably 12 years ago, and we sat down, we're like, this is the best work we'll ever do. And that was certainly the case. But now the work that we're doing with the Taylor Lead Foundation uh and the the IWN sports, the Idaho Women and Girls and Sports platform um will be the best work I do because it's a legacy, it's my parents' legacy.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it. Tell us about that. Tell us, tell us how we can learn more. Um, because I want to I want to get into these. What's what's your URL for that?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so the Taylor Lead Foundation is TaylorLeadscholarship.com.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And uh again, it's an organization we started 10 years ago doing scholarships uh to at least one male and one female scholar athlete from Mountain Home High School that represented all the characteristics that that our parents.

SPEAKER_00:

What are some stories of those kids now that it's been 10 years?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, there's an incredible story, uh so many to handle, but one that is is near and dear and it's close. Um there's a uh she's now a freshman at Boise State and the nursing program. Uh her name is Ava Johnson, and uh I played little league baseball with her father, Jeff. So it's the ties that bind in Mountain Home. But Ava was uh you know two or three years younger than her older sibling, her older sister. Her older sister, the family in general, but her older sister loved playing sports, unfortunately had a couple of ACL tears, and um was not able to compete at the level that she wanted to, and um, you know, had some mental health um situations, right? Some depression and those sort of things. And Ava, as she's witnessing her her, her older sibling, who you know was so outgoing, all those things kind of seep into depression, uh, started an organization and an initiative in Mountain Home called You Are More. And um, that you are more than you think you are. And Mountain Home has had a bout of suicides in the in their you know junior highs and high school over the last few years, and that you are more initiative has really had a profound impact in the community. And now it's not just a small uh initiative, it's it's a community-wide initiative. And uh Bronco Bold at Boise State is now partnering with them. Oh wow. Uh and you're just thinking about probably 15, 14 or 15 years old, and she was able to see the impact not just on her sister, but other colleagues and peers that were in the school system. So those are the type of amazing young folks that we're coming across with a scholarship, and we want to amplify that. We know it's happening in Mountain Home, but it's happening in Rigby, it's happening in Court d'Alene, it's happening in in high schools across the state, and so we want to be able to uh acknowledge these individuals and make sure that they have the ability to go on, whether it's to post-secondary um education or if it's to a vocational uh institution as well.

SPEAKER_00:

It's awesome. Yeah, so we've we found your um your uh website here. Um uh so Leading the Way, Impacting Our Communities, it's uh Taylorleadscholarship.com. Yes. Um for anyone wanting to learn more or uh be part of this. Just incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, there's found me at a Stanford football game, Tailgate. Uh good times for sure. Well, and and one of the things that we're now doing um as we head into uh year 11 with the foundation is uh my siblings, I'm the youngest, so I always uh you know kind of get what I want. But what I wanted to do is to amplify girls and women in sports. So another thing that we are uh right now launching uh in conjunction with an amazing board where you have Michael Ballantine, Jim Everett, Tara Varga, uh just an incredible group of human beings, uh, is the I Win Sports platform. It's Idaho Women and Girls in Sports. And so we are going to kick it off with a gala next February in conjunction with National Girls and Women in Sports Day. And it's called the Changemakers Gala. And we're gonna honor the advocates, the allies, the athletes, the coaches, uh the journalists who have made sure that girls and women in this state have an opportunity to participate in sports because we know when girls have the chance to play, um, that it we all win.

SPEAKER_00:

It's awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Incredible, just incredible. And and I know you give a lot of talks and motivational speaking, and that's for your other company, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yes. So uh Tindall Avenue coaching uh and speaking. Uh I just enjoy, I think just being in conversation with folks, and I learned so much uh in those situations and just being able to share a little bit of my journey and my journey of I've story I've learned so much from others, and uh it's a responsibility to give it back.

SPEAKER_00:

Incredible. What are you looking forward to uh uh then most in the next coming years?

SPEAKER_01:

So many things. I I think that I'm excited about the growth that's happening here uh in the Treasure Valley, and I know that sometimes we're cautious about that because it's the the best kept secret and we all want to be able to continue to enjoy it, but I think with that growth comes a lot of opportunity uh for so many, and you know, whether it is the culinary industry, whether it is in the development um realm that you're in, um whether it is in healthcare and economic development, it's a really exciting time in in the Treasure Valley. And so um I try to be where my feet are, and uh I'm excited about being able to head out into the sun and enjoy some nice fall weather um and uh being able to have an impact.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it. I love it. Um man, this went by quick. Uh in closing, if there's any uh we had a lot of people that listen to this that are business owners, business leaders. Um what are your kind of top top things you tell people as the as part of your keynote speeches or as you're coaching them? What's most important uh to be a leader?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So many things, but I think it all comes down to I truly believe that the best leaders are self-aware leaders. Uh and it it just takes a moment just to surround yourself by people who are gonna tell you the truth. Right? Those folks who are gonna prop you up and be your hype person, but also those folks that um can be honest and give you feedback. Uh and if we can all give feedback and receive feedback, we'll be better off. Um, so if you are self-aware and you just take the time on a regular basis, if if you use the sports analogy, I always say um if you want to build a championship team, um build it like a successful business. If you want to build a successful business, build it like a championship team. Like there's a lot of corollaries there. Uh, and so one of the things that you do in sports, you do self-scouts all the time, right? Your opponents are scouting you, but the the best teams and the best coaches do a self-scout. And so I do believe the best leaders are self-aware. And on a regular basis, whatever that cadence may be for you, some it might be on a quarterly basis, some it might be on an annual basis, but just make sure you do a self-scout.

SPEAKER_00:

That's powerful. I'm just I'm sitting here listening to you, thinking of a story from last night. We're starting another little business with our daughters, and it's gonna be fun. We're starting a little med spa with my three daughters. Oh wow, and it's it's really fun. But we have a weekly meeting and it's been interesting because my wife's involved in this meeting. And last night we're sitting there watching our show, like we usually do at night. She's like, Hey, can I tell you something if you promise me you won't get mad at me? And I'm like, Well, that's a heck of a way to start something. She's like, No, I'm just gonna give you some crit constructive criticism, but I don't want you to get upset about it. I said, Well, I why would I give you a stuff? I can handle it, right? I can handle it, right? But she knows me too well. Yeah, she's like, Well, I've noticed uh sometimes in our meetings you're you're thinking ahead because you've done this before. And so you're already kind of you're kind of like jumping to the next step before you let people kind of fully appreciate and understand the step we're on.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, it's a great observation, right? And she's like, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_00:

And I'm like, you know what? That was great. Yeah, it's true. Yeah, and it just goes to show you that like you do need people that are that are able to tell you that. And and and and like that comment, we probably would have got to the same place with what we're doing. Sure. But it's about the journey for everybody else.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. The experience they were having. It's about the experience for everyone else along the way.

SPEAKER_00:

Which is just as important as the destination.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. It's probably even more. I I think that's the thing.

SPEAKER_00:

The journey we're on is where it happens. Yes, yes. That's where the magic happens.

SPEAKER_01:

That's where the success is. Is the signatures?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it it it is. So uh so many great things today. This has been a great conference.

SPEAKER_01:

You're so good at this. Uh easy to talk to.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, this has been amazing. I uh thank you so much for what you do in our community. I know you're everywhere, and and it means a lot that you'd come on and and spend time with us today.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you know, just grew up right down the road. So it's uh it means a lot to be able to come back and and to be able to have an impact.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, thank you. Uh you're wonderful and uh we we we appreciate you. Thanks, everybody.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks, Tom.