( ENSPIRE Interview ) Showing Audiences How To Find Success In Its Many Forms
ENSPIRE Contributor: Gabel Strickland
The Impact Network’s newest reality show “Mind Body Money“ premiered on Friday, October 1st at 7pm. In it, the show’s star and executive producer Eszylfie Taylor coaches audiences on taking charge of their mental, physical and financial health by showcasing the lifestyles of himself and other celebrities. Taylor teaches audiences the same principles of balance and mindfulness that made him one of the most famously successful financial advisors in the country.
“But in terms of value as people, we all are precious and we all have gifts and we all can be better. I’m not trying to put anyone in a position to be me. I’m not trying to have you or anyone else be Eszylfie Taylor. I want to just help people be the best versions of themselves, whatever that is,” Taylor said. “Not everyone even wants to be a millionaire, and that’s fine. Maybe your goal is just to be a great stay-at-home mom, or maybe your goal is to open up a bakery. Maybe your goal is to be a business mobile. To each his own, whatever it is. But how do you get that? That’s what I want to portray in this show.”
Taylor doesn’t want this to be just another show in which viewers simply goggle at the lives of celebrities. Rather, he wants to show people how they can achieve similar success.
“I feel like there’s a lot of the ‘what’ out there, like what can be. We see shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Cribs and you see all this possession and mansions and cars and money. So we see what is possible, but what I feel is missing in a lot of ways is the ‘how.’ Like how do you get it? How do you keep it once you get it?” Taylor said. “I think that’s missing. And that’s where I feel like the show separates.”
Eszylife Taylor is renowned for being one of America’s Top Financial advisors, with a clientele of the country’s wealthiest individuals and businesses. Taylor is the founder and president of Taylor Insurance Financial Services and a top adviser at New York Life, one of the most prestigious insurance companies in the country. He is the recipient of many awards, including the NAIFA’s Adviser Today Top 4 Under Forty recipient for 2015. Besides being a financial adviser, Taylor has been a lifelong athlete and is currently a certified yoga instructor. He holds leadership roles in many nonprofits, including head coach with Future Stars Basketball Camp, fundraising committee member for the Ronald McDonald House, and a donor at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
While Taylor’s clients are normally in the top 1% of people, his new show is a way to share his advice with millions of average viewers.
“If the mind isn’t strong if the mind isn’t in tune, nothing else works. If you’re a miserable, nasty person in despair, and I give you 20 million dollars, you’ll just be a miserable, nasty person with 20 million dollars,” Taylor said. “Again, you’re sick, you’re on your deathbed, you have stage four cancer and heart disease and I give you 30 million dollars, are you happy? Nobody’s ever on their deathbed wishing they had more money. So you have to have your health and wellness. So otherwise, what are you working for?”
Remembering this has helped Taylor navigate challenges in his own life. At his lowest of points, it wasn’t just money that Taylor was asking for–it was wellness, which is something much more all-encompassing.
“I remember at one point early in my career, I hit a bad stretch, and I had gotten to some bad dealings and was essentially broke. I remember just having a breakdown and I prayed to God. I didn’t pray to God for money. I didn’t pray to God for a favor. I didn’t pray to God for an opportunity. I prayed to God for the strength to work and I said, God, you give me the strength. Just give me the strength to get up and grind every day,” Taylor said. “And I was granted that gift and made it out.”
Besides showing audiences how various sections of their lives can overlap in pursuing success and fulfillment, Taylor also wants to change perceptions of what success can look like, especially for people of color. He explains that in many communities of color; we perceived the designated pathways to success to be through sports or entertainment – not a business, which is more accessible than those highly selective, luck-based fields. Taylor wants to serve as an example of what success can look like in the world of finance.
“I’m excited for the world to see me. And what I mean by me, I mean the idea of me, a black man, girl dad, businessman kicking butt and taking names,” Taylor said. “An image of a man that typically is not celebrated in mainstream media.”
Until you see him on your television screens, you can find Eszylfie Taylor on Instagram and his firm’s website. You can watch the show’s trailer on mindbodymoney.com. As mentioned earlier, Taylor has an app available in the Apple Store under the same name as the show, “Mind Body Money.” This app is full of supplemental information viewers can reference besides watching the show.
“I’m looking forward to coming out, looking forward to shaking up the world,” Taylor said. “Because I want to make a big splash, a big impact.”
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