Beyond the Boardroom: 3Ravens Food & Spirits' Brandon Taylor

Jul. 3—Brandon Taylor

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Brandon Taylor, owner of Monticello's 3Ravens Food & Spirits, at the restaurant and bar in Monticello. (Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette).

If BRANDON TAYLOR could swap jobs with anyone for a week, he'd probably pick a Piatt County farmer — one who grows corn or soybeans, not the kind he assisted for a few days as a teen as a favor to a friend.

"Gary asked me if I'd like to work on a farm with him for a few days," Taylor remembers. "When we arrived the next morning, it was a rabbit farm — and the owner needed the barns where he housed the rabbits completely cleaned. They probably hadn't been cleaned — ever.

"I don't know if you have ever thrust a shovel into three feet high, 30 feet wide, of rabbit manure, but it isn't pleasant — and I have a weak stomach. I think I spent an equal amount of time shoveling and puking. I don't think I'd want to do that again.

"Piatt County farmers that I just asked to teach me: Please don't hold this against me."

Not that Taylor minds getting his hands dirty. The Indianola native and Jamaica High School grad has been a roofer, coal miner, bricklayer and, for the past 11 years, an active member of the Illinois Army National National Guard.

These days, the Monticello man's titles include owner of 3Ravens Food & Spirits and the coffee shop/event space next door, agent at Country Financial, first sergeant in the National Guard and independent candidate for a District 1 seat on the Piatt County Board.

The 40-year-old father of three took time out of his busy life to answer questions from in the 135th installment of our weekly speed read spotlighting leaders of organizations big and small.

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My one unbreakable rule of the workplace is ... if you don't enjoy it, don't do it. I'd rather have five employees who love what they do than 50 who are just looking to clock in and clock out.

My single favorite moment in this job was ... watching my wife cut the red ribbon at 3Ravens last August. She sacrificed a lot in previous years so I could carry on with my profession in the military.

It was emotional to see her glow and know that her sacrifice paid off in the end.

My philosophy on meetings is ... only if and when they are necessary. If you are pulling folks away from their mission, it better be worth their time and it better be engaging.

I can't live without my ... music. Whether I'm practicing, performing, recording or just listening to music, it is my release.

I'm frugal in that ... I buy New Balance footwear. It's probably not frugal, but it's practical — and they feel great on my feet.

Still waiting on my endorsement. Where you at, New Balance?

Three adjectives I hope my staff would use to describe me are ... loyal, supportive and trustworthy.

brandon taylor

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Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette

If I could trade places with any other business person in town, I wouldn't mind switching with ... a farmer. I'm intrigued by the operation, respect the hell out of those who do it, and would love to know more.

Local Piatt County farmers: If you're reading this, I need you to reach out and show me the ropes.

On my office walls you'll find ... awards, licenses, a degree, photos and a pretty neat Monticello Sages sports wall.

When it comes to the last luxury in which I indulged ... I'm a pretty simple person but I had promised my family a boat for probably five years now.

Well, we recently became boat owners. Here's to hoping the old adage about the two best days in a boat owner's life are false. Fingers crossed.

My business role model is ... Gary Vaynerchuk is an easy answer here. He speaks my language, but I don't think I could say I have modeled my operations after his. I kind of do my own thing.

I haven't ever had a mentor in life. It's not from a lack of trying/asking, I can assure that.

A few years ago, I actually asked a fella that I felt I could learn a lot from if he would be my mentor and he left me hangin' — twice. Rather than let it affect me in a negative manner, lessons were learned and the experience has helped push me to new levels.

The hardest thing about being a leader is ... listening to your mind/body/soul when it tells you to pump the brakes.

My entire adult life has been related to service on many different levels. Working with the public every day can be exhausting. When your body tells you it's time for a reset, take the hint.

I wind down after work by ... golfing, listening to music/jamming with my buds, family time, visiting newbalance.com, drinks with friends, whatever I can do to take my mind off of business for a while.

As far as my most beneficial college class goes ... I do have a bachelor's degree in business, but none of the classes I took in college come close to the impact that two courses I attended in the military have made on my life holistically.

One was a suicide prevention course and the other was resiliency training.

There was a lot of discussion in these interactive lessons about love languages, emotional intelligence and finding the iceberg — the real issue, not what's on the surface. Prior to those courses, I had no idea what a "love language" or "emotional intelligence" even was.

Total eye openers, applicable to real-world scenarios and something I use on a daily basis.

I'm up and at 'em every day by ... 5:45 a.m. most every day now. It wasn't always this way. I just turned 40, so I'm sure it's old age that wakes me in the a.m.

My exercise routine consists of ... working with Jodi Fultz of Vari-Fit in Monticello for my workouts. She is great in that she asks questions and creates my workouts based on the information given.

I love it because I don't have to think about anything when I walk into the gym. I just open an app on my phone and go to work. Highly recommend this for folks like me who are busy and constantly have to alter their routine so they don't get bored.

Oh, I stay active four to five times a week.

On a 1-to-10 scale, the impact the pandemic has been a ... well, I don't know. In January 2020, I resigned my full-time military position and took a swan dive into life as a self-employed insurance agent that February. All I really know is COVID-era operations.

It is crazy to think that a little over two years ago, I was wearing my Army uniform every day and now I own three businesses. Somehow, someway, I guess the pandemic was of great benefit to me.