As a Women of Cincy resident, I had the opportunity to select a fellow team member to profile for this month’s Community Mix collection. With lots of interesting women to choose from, I decided to interview Olive Taylor, a former fellow editorial resident who I also had the pleasure of working with during my time at the University of Cincinnati school paper, The News Record. I was intrigued by Olive’s passion for the work we do at Women of Cincy and her roles as the new Residency Director and Community Mix editor.

Interview by Shannon Smith. Photography by Emily Palm.

Tell us a little about yourself – where you’re from, what you do.

I was born in Boston but my mom’s big German Catholic side of the family lives here and I have grown up in Cincinnati my whole life. I currently live in Northern Kentucky in Fort Thomas. I have two younger brothers – one still in college and one in high school. I also have family who live in Hawaii who I love to visit whenever I can.

I graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2019 with a degree in journalism and I am the new Community Mix editor and Residency Director here at Women of Cincy. I also work at Handzy, a local boutique in Covington.

What are your responsibilities as Community Mix editor and Residency director?

As Community Mix editor a big part of my job is just making sure that writers have content every month. I help organize the plans for ideas or topics they want to explore, make sure photographers are assigned to them and interviews are arranged. Once we have drafts in, I make sure everything goes out to another editor and out the door in time for the deadline.

I am a full advocate for storytelling to create empathy in the community. I think it just makes a kinder world.

Residency Director is the bigger part of my responsibilities. There are so many aspects to the residency program, from mentorship to editorial or administrative responsibilities. We also like to focus on the other side of things making sure residents feel comfortable talking to me and maintaining a work-life balance.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I have been thinking about this a lot during quarantine. Last year before I graduated, I was really concerned I didn’t make the right decision pursuing a career in journalism. So, I had a lot of anxiety about it and one thing that really helped me was realizing that my career wasn’t going to be my whole life.

I started thinking about the things I enjoy doing in all aspects of my life, including my mental and physical health. I love to hike, I enjoy nature and being outside. I do yoga in the mornings to help me get into a positive mindset when I wake up. I have also recently gotten into cooking and baking during quarantine.

What do you like about the residency program?

I did four internships throughout my college career at a variety of places and I loved them all. But I think what makes the Women of Cincy residency so great, and different, is that you get the fact-checking, editing, grammar skills along with strong mentorship aspects. We focus on personal development, allowing our residents to grow as a human being and provide them with an incredible network of women throughout the city.

What brought you to Women of Cincy? What made you stay?

I kind of happened upon Women of Cincy by chance. I was introduced to it while in the UC journalism program. I had never heard of the publication before, but I became interested in learning more and eventually decided to just go for it and apply. I started as an editorial resident in March 2019 and I’ve been around ever since.

I decided to take on the two new roles because I am a strong believer in our mission. I am a full advocate for storytelling to create empathy in the community. I think it just makes a kinder world. If you know somebody’s story and you understand it and you learn it, it just makes you a better person. Our mission is something that I truly believe in and I was thrilled to be more involved, and now I guess they just can’t get rid of me!

What does community mean to you?

This is another topic that has been on my mind a lot since COVID-19. To me, community means just being supportive of each other, being empathetic and having this network of people with a similar mission. Whether that’s the mission of Women of Cincy or a larger Cincinnati community, just being Cincinnatians and wanting to make our city better and loving each other in return.

Tell us about an influential woman in your life.

I have been blessed to have some really incredible women in my life. Of course, I have to say my mom. She’s just my number one in life. She’s been through so much. She has multiple sclerosis but hasn’t let it stop her from being an artist. She just does whatever makes her happy which I admire so much. She speaks her mind and doesn’t care what other people think about her, which is the complete opposite of me. She’s just a free spirit and I don’t think she realizes how much of an inspiration she is to me.

Community Mix is our monthly hodge-podge of content from the voices of a hodge-podge of beautiful Cincinnatians. This is “Meet the Team,” where our residents get to help us celebrate the amazing volunteers that make this mission work. Are you human identifying? Join the team.

Meet the Women of Cincy Team: Olive Taylor