Lt. Col. Deborah Taylor – Inspiring, Innovating and Leading by Example

I am always in awe of Lt. Col. Debs Taylor’s unceasing passion to support the community at large, and not least the work she continues to champion within the armed forces community. It has been said on occasions that I have bundles of energy; well I can honestly say this is equally true for Col. Debs and I’m always amazed by how she manages to make so much difference in such a short amount of time!

We recorded this podcast together before COVID-19 was a thing, and we were both working on our efforts towards supporting the community, youth, and the advancement of women. Let me take you back to  when I first met with Col. Debs: this boundless energy arrives into my office in London and says ‘’I’ve heard you get things done; if you are passionate about the armed forces and women’s development, I am planning a big, never-before-seen event to celebrate 100 years of Women in the Army. Are you in?’’ That was my first introduction to Debs.. Bottom Line Up Front, and that was it! A fantastic event, that I had the honour of working with Debs on, was created and delivered at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It was one of my proudest memories of 2017 and a great way to close out the year.

Fast forward to May 2020 and here we are amidst COVID-19 and Debs – as Commanding Officer of 151 Regt RLC – is out there with her soldiers supporting the NHS in distribution efforts. I cannot overemphasise how proud I am to know Debs, and her seemingly unending selflessness about what is the right thing to do and leading from the front.

So, what does the future look like and what do I think Debs will be pioneering next? Wow, that’s a question we would all like answered: “what does the future look like?” I’m sure where Col. Debs is concerned, she will be making a difference both in and out of uniform, not just for women but for men too. One thing is for sure, the collaborative nature of Lt. Col. Deborah Taylor is infectious and I hereby declare that once we are out of COVID-19 I will be knocking on her door to do something remarkable and reignite the camaraderie of December 2017 when she spectacularly delivered Women100!

We discuss all of this and much more in our podcast conversation, which you can now listen to here.