Taylor Duran shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Taylor, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What battle are you avoiding?
I am battling depression from many different traumatic events recently and in the past. I have been super nervous about starting counseling, but there’s really no reason for my to be.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
When I was 14. I woke up with a purpose to affect great change across the world. I always knew that I was going to make it. I just didn’t know the how behind the why. In my 29 years on this planet, I’ve been through a lot of things, but the 2 most notable ones were my uncle, committed suicide and my older sister burnt to death in a car fire, screaming for her daddy to come and save her 8 months after
Going through all of that, with severe depression PTSD ADHD bipolar or borderline personality disorder dodgers can’t figure that one out yet. I made it my mission to become a voice. A voice for all those who feel like they belonged on the island for misfit toys.
With no college degree, no formal literary training, barely even knowing how proper grammar works, still living with my mom and working fast food. I failed my English Literature state-mandated exam, I didn’t even start writing until 4 years ago, when I wrote the opening scene to the manuscript.
My college degree plan was business. Then history then finally a Ph. D in theoretical mathematics where I dropped out because I realized school wasn’t for me. I heard this quote in college. He goes Aut viem, invenium, aut faciam, it’s latin for I shall either find a way or make one. So that’s just what I did.
Every bit of who I am, and what I’ve gone through is going to be woven into the pages of my novels, each novel tackling a different traumatic experience that I have faced Each line thoroughly earned through experience and not knowing if the torture would end or not. It wasn’t born from pure creativity. It was born from pain and tiredness. The type that you can’t sleep off so I’d like to recognize it for what it is. It’s a map for those without one a lifeline, for those who are drowning and a beacon of hope, for those who’ve sat in the dark for so long that they forgot what light looks like, and if it just so happens to save one life, then that is what my legacy is, that will have been what it was meant to do.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Shame breaks the bonds between people, but vulnerability is the action and choice that brings people closer together. To share a part of yourself that is scary and do it unapologetically is what builds connections.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
That no matter how bad it gets, things always have a way of working out. You just have to be patient.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
Selena Gomez, because she had the courage to be vulnerable with the world about her struggles and she did it without apology. It takes a different kind of courage to be honest with yourself, your friends and family, and the world. She truly inspired me to share my own story.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
No, because just because you’ve seen a movie once and knowing that it ends, doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.officialtaylorduran.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialtaylorduran/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-duran-401845100/
