Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Taylor
Hi Tim, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2016 I was working in the electronic health record space as a project manager, which I really enjoyed. One day, I was abruptly laid off. I had always wanted to try my hand at building my own business, I simply had no idea what kind of business that would be. One night at a Hall & Oates concert, my dad and I were talking about my situation. It’s important to note that my father is Dr. Wally Taylor, a long time ear, nose and throat doctor that shifted to the integrative health space around 2010. He told me “you should really look into this mold stuff. I’m seeing so many patients that are being affected by this and I really don’t know who to send them to that can help them with their environmental issues.” I started researching the industry and never looked back. My colleague and first mentor (I have had several) Dan Yates initially helped me learn the ropes of more traditional mold assessment. I worked with him for about a year and a half. That’s when I decided to and set off on my own and start Toolman Mold Inspections. My second mentor Larry Schwartz of Safestart Environmental was instrumental in helping me get to the next level of knowledge that is so vital in assisting those with more significant mold issues. He taught me about things like PCR sampling, small particle cleaning, proper ventilation and dehumidification, among many others. I have had countless other colleagues and “part-time mentors” along the way. The thing about mold assessment and being an indoor environmental professional (IEP) is that so little of it is mainstream. What would be considered mainstream for mold assessment and sampling is pretty outdated. If you ask 10 mold consultants about how to address a certain situation, you’re going to get 10 different answers ranging from “do nothing” to “bulldoze your house.” I have slowly built up my team to the point where, after about eight years of paying my dues, I am no longer conducting assessments directly. Rather, I am concentrating on training our consultants and expanding our knowledge base so that we can continue to get better and more consistent at what we do. Again, my initial interest was in the entrepreneurship. Mold turned out to be a great way to focus that effort.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The toughest part about this industry is that it hasn’t become mainstream. The kind of mold assessment that most people have heard about. largely deals with basic visual assessment and air sampling. Your typical person doesn’t know much about mold. Maybe it can cause some respiratory. issues but overall, it’s not too big a deal.. But coming at this field from the side of health and being introduced to other healthcare providers and environmental professionals (mostly through my dad), I learned that mold causes all kinds of symptoms, sometimes affecting people pretty severely. It also doesn’t take a lot of mold. People think that there has to be black all over the walls for it to be an issue but most mold is hidden. Inside the walls, under cabinets, etc. is where water can’t dry fast enough and mold ends up growing. Although there are certifications in and (in the state of Texas) licenses that ensure a basic level of knowledge, none of these really address the more advanced needs of most of our clients. So the difficulty has been in scrapping together all of this knowledge along the way and finding my own style of doing things. This region is especially challenging due the to the humidity. By the way, there is more than a 50% chance that you have mold in your HVAC system. Most HVAC professionals don’t even acknowledge this and of course no mold training is required to work in the HVAC field. Because of all of this is so tricky, our consultants are a lot like doctors or detectives trying to solve a mystery. It’s not nearly as straightforward as a lot of people think.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I started to amend mold inspections in 2018. There are four people in our company. We specialize in. thorough assessments done at a reasonable price. We are on the cutting edge of technology. We’re always trying to learn about new types of sampling, remediation, etc. We are often called in to give a second opinion when the first company wasn’t able to help. Or worse: when they tell the client they didn’t have a problem.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I have always had imposter syndrome. I feel like I don’t know that much and that I’m kind of faking it. But clients are constantly telling us how grateful they are for our knowledge and how helpful we were to their situation. And also how much they learned throughout the process. So I just keep trying to learn and share my knowledge.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://toolmanmold.com
