He’s not just the co-host of the region’s Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Labor Day Telethon — Taylor himself has MD. When he’s not raising funds to help find a cure, Taylor, 33, is a principal at homeland security consulting firm Catalyst Partners, and serves as a motivational speaker. How did you get involved with the telethon?
I was diagnosed at age 8, and I used to go on telethons as a child. I’d go through my neighborhood and ask my friends for donations. But when I moved out to D.C., I started to get involved more and more. I started doing pro bono advocacy work for the association. They said, ‘With your personality, you could even co-host.’ They liked the idea of someone with MD who could talk about what it’s really like to have the disease.
How much are you hoping to raise?
Locally we’ve been able to raise several hundred thousand dollars a year. Nationally, in the $15 million range, I know it’s a tough economy, but I find it impressive that despite the hardships people are going through, the number of donations doesn’t go down. Sometimes the amount goes down, but the number doesn’t — and that shows you people want to be involved and want to help, and they’ll continue to do so.
What’s the best advice you give as a motivational speaker?
The fact that we can each [person] develop this personal excellence within ourselves: Despite obstacles, we all have intrinsic abilities to overcome and achieve, but we have to make a conscious effort and decision to succeed. Doctors told my mom, ‘He’ll never go to high school, he’ll never go to college, don’t expect much from him.’ My mom said, ‘Maybe that’s your prognosis, but not mine.’ She set a level of expectation, and my success has really reinforced the truth of that statement to me.
