The Storytellers: Kimberley Taylor
“You don’t need to know, understand or be good at everything, you just need to decide to have small bursts or bravery in doing things that are uncomfortable.”
KIMBERLEY TAYLOR
YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR WHO DEVELOPED THE DELIVERY TECHNOLOGY FOR CHECKERS 60/60. COMPANY NAME: LOOP.
Kimberley Taylor is the brains behind Loop – an adaptable, intuitive delivery management platform that empowers companies by enabling them to optimise and scale their delivery systems. At only 23 years of age, in answer to a 3rd year Chemical Engineering assignment at Wits, Kimberley wrote an algorithm that has helped to solve some real-world problems in the logistics space. This platform has enabled South Africa’s largest nationwide grocery business to deliver within 60 minutes. Loop connects delivery companies with all the players in their operation, from suppliers to customers.
It allows dispatch managers to make delivery decisions based on efficiency and cost, guided by data from daily operations, which Loop cleverly scrutinises so that businesses can save time and money. It’s a completely customisable app that supports each operational tier from the top down. Her next step is working on an App to streamline the trucking industry.
If someone had to sum up your life story, how will it read?
Bravery & amp. Business.
What story are you telling with your work?
At this point at 29, I think my story has been about finding purpose and meaning through the hard things life throws at us. Being brave in the pursuit of what sets you on fire.
How did your career begin?
Through studying engineering and coming across the traveling salesman problem in a project. That’s what piqued my interest and curiosity in the delivery and tech space.
What has been the highlight?
I remember every moment so vividly, it’s all time highlight to be honest :Signing the shareholders agreement the first time. Winning MTN App of the year award. Landing and testing the tech with every new client
How do you keep your energy going?
I don’t really do anything. I believe I have the energy because it is aligned with my purpose currently. I think when I no longer have the energy for this business and this space then I will know it’s time to move on. Of course I don’t always have 100% energy but I think that’s part of the process... sometimes we don’t want to do things because they are hard or unfamiliar and it’s an opportunity for growth.
What is the hardest thing about achieving success?
You’re not entitled to it. As hard as you work, as much as you believe in something, success is not guaranteed.
Has things changed for you in the past three years?
Insanely, 26 to 29 have been some of my most transformative years. It feels like versions of me died in the last 3 years. I’ve done so much self- work over the last 3 years and it’s been a bit messy, but on the other side of that, healing has been clarity and confidence.
I think the biggest change has been my need for external validation. The reason I did things and do things now is completely different. The last 3 years has been a slow unattachment to identities I thought were important.
Who has been the biggest influence in your career?
Damian McCann. He has been the most incredible mentor, leader throughout building this business and I know, without a doubt, I wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for him and his patience and guidance. I would have made a lot more mistakes and likely have given up.
Do you have a motto you live by?
No, not really. I just try stay present and grateful to the fact that I am alive, I’m a human and I get to live every day.
You are obviously a people’s person - otherwise you would not be where you are- is it a trait you had to earn and learn? Or born with it?
Probably more like a recovering people pleaser... lol!
Hmmm... I feel like I was born with a sensitivity toward people. I care about people in a deep way and I am an extrovert. I think these traits allow me to connect and empathise with people, sometimes more, sometimes less.
What inspires you?
People living out their purpose, whether it’s dancing, boxing, business, teaching... just people doing what matters to them.
What are some of your daily habits?
Honestly the most consistent things I do are to eat, sleep and work. What I do a little more consistently every day is writing. What I am always trying to integrate and create is a habit for exercising, breath work and meditation.
What have been your most significant failures, and what did you learn from them?
Honestly, probably some of the relationships I have unconsciously fallen into. Then the decisions I have made and the actions I have taken within those relationships that kept me in darker spaces. I’ve learnt to be more deliberate about who I choose to spend my time with, in life we spend a lot of time working, with ourselves and with our partners and so I think choosing and understanding and honouring yourself, your partner and work (your purpose) are all really important things to get right. I try to be deliberate about the decisions I make around all three of those things
How do you plan for your business’s future?
I make sure I am listening to the market always. To make sure there is a future, the product has to be relevant, and it is only relevant if it serves the people who use it and those needs can, will and have changed.
What has been your biggest A-ha moment?
Most recently that we experience a lack of peace and freedom because we are captive and controlled by; not feeling good enough, thinking we don’t have enough. We are controlled by our desires and aversions.
Top 3 websites or blogs you can’t imagine your day without.
Diary of a CEO – podcast
3- 5 Instagram pages on business, health, spirituality that I learn from, get inspiration from
How do you manage your work- life balance?
I don’t... The word balance makes me think that everything is equal at all times, but my balance looks like being super focused and spending a lot of time on business and then being super focused and spending a lot of time on myself or with my partner. Whatever I am doing I try to be really present.
Where do you see yourself in five to ten years from now?
I’ll have a family and I’ll be even clearer and more aligned to my purpose.
