Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Matthew Taylor, founder and CEO of The Noble Story Group, located in Washington, DC, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

The Noble Story Group unleashes leadership potential through the power of emotional intelligence. We do this through coaching, professional development, and consulting grounded in our own applied model of Emotionally Intelligent Leadership theory. Our model—the EI 5 Square—is used as an anchor leadership development tool in non-profit organizations, school leader development programs, and executive coaching programs across the country. Our model is also featured in my new book, The Noble School Leader.

Tell us about yourself

I started my career as an educator and still consider myself a teacher at heart. I taught elementary and middle school for eleven years, then served as the Principal of Amistad Academy Middle School, the Achievement First flagship school, for six years. During my tenure, Amistad distinguished itself as the number one middle school in Connecticut for African American student achievement and among the top ten for both low-income and Hispanic student achievement.

From there, I had the opportunity to start The Residency Program for School Leadership—a partnership between Achievement First and New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport Public Schools to train district school leaders. The program, in which residents served as school leaders for half the year in one AF and on district school, was a unique program that explored what was working in both district and charter contexts. It was during that time I was trained to be an executive coach at the Teleos Leadership Institute in Philadelphia. The training, grounded in emotional intelligence, was personally and professionally transformative. It shifted my beliefs about learning and my approach to leadership development. I increasingly focused on emotionally intelligent leadership competencies in the Residency Program.

Gradually, my approach made its way back to Achievement First, informing the network’s core priorities as the organization strives to build a more robust approach to building people leadership. Over time I realized that all mission-driven organizations needed my kind of coaching and training. I started the Noble Story Group so that I could more broadly impact mission-driven organizations of all types.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I am most proud of the impact that my coaching and training approach has on schools and other organizations trying to make the world a better place. I have trained a group of very gifted people to use my approach, and so that impact is magnified through them. And I have been able to do this while growing the business by over 50% a year in terms of revenue.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

One of the hardest things for me is dealing with taxes and managing increasingly complicated books. As a career-long educator who spent most of his career in a school building, I had no accounting or business management background. Over time as I have grown from a one-person shop to an S corp with three staff and over a dozen subcontractors, I have made a mess of taxes several times and had to pay several hefty fines. I feel like I have that all under control now, thanks to a stellar bookkeeper and business manager, but every time I get something from the IRS in the mail, I have a fight-or-flight moment.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Make sure you have a good accountant and a good lawyer from day one.
  2. Talk to as many people in the sector you are in as possible. Lead with questions. Start by asking them what their needs are related to your product, then connect the dots between their needs and what you. Then ask them for their advice. Then ask them who else may be able to offer you advice. These conversations landed most of my clients during my first year.
  3. Have a robust system for keeping track of expenses and income before starting. If you do that reactively, you will regret it.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

As an educator, I never dreamed I would become an entrepreneur. It has been an energizing new chapter for me. I love the opportunity it gives me to be creative and lean into the skills and purpose that mean the most to me.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://noblestorygroup.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mabetaylor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/matttayloreied

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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