Meet Your Neighbor: ‘We’re the unsung heroes’: Baton Rouge businesswoman turning her struggles into other women’s successes

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - One Baton Rouge businesswoman is unifying women by using her personal struggles in life to encourage others in their struggles.

“I always felt like something was missing,” Jocelyn Taylor said.

Taylor started in your standard 9 to 5 job—what she thought at the time was living the dream.

“One day I was at work and I had a really bad headache, I came home, I was working at Blue Cross Blue Shield, and I came home, and y’know end up having a brain bleed and a stroke,” Taylor said.

It was that near-death experience that forced her to rethink her dream.

“I had to learn how to walk, I had to learn how to talk all over again. So I went to therapy, I had a lot of time to just think and ponder on what could happen,” Taylor said.

She invested in a new dream—a daycare. One Sunday morning, she woke up just to watch it all go down in flames.

“I’m just like okay, so what are you going to do now,” Taylor said.

Taylor rebuilt her daycare and opened up several other businesses.

COVID took her car rim shop. She packed into a storage shed hoping to be able to sell all the leftover merchandise later. Just a few months ago, one call crushed that hope.

“Storage Center on Oak Villa called me and said hey did you move out your storage, I said no, did I call and tell y’all I was moving out? They said no but hey your storage, I need you to come down here. And they said your storage is gone, everything was gone,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s dreams have become a nightmare. Some of her businesses were a success, but there was still something missing.

“That cup was empty, so you look at it and you’ll think hey she has all of this, she has all of these businesses, but I was still empty. And I wanted to serve my community,” Taylor said.

She says part of what was missing was an intimate relationship with God. After spending time building that up, she created a way to pour into other women’s cups.

“I think Baton Rouge needs to have that connection, that collaboration with women, with like-minded women, that are going to build you up, that are going to say no I’m not going to give up on you,” Taylor said.

Women in Unity was born—a group that creates a space for women in the business world to share their lessons learned without the pressure of competition.

“We’re the unsung heroes. Women are giving birth, going home taking care of the kids, working, coming back trying to figure out how you’re going to do this,” Taylor said. “The whole purpose of Women in Unity is elevation. And elevation never stops, it goes up, it soars like an eagle, it never stops.”

From setbacks to living the dream, and helping other women realize their dreams too.

The next Women in Unity event is on March 29 at the Hilton Downtown. Anyone looking to get involved, buy tickets, or volunteer can find more information on the Women in Unity website.

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