Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Kiley.
Taylor, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a full-time anesthetist here in Savannah, GA, I love my job, but it certainly comes with its fair share of stress taking care of patients when they are their most vulnerable. What helps that alleviate that stress are my family, friends, and coworkers. To put it in perspective, my coworkers are not just my friends; they’re a second family for me. We’re all close, and we have a penchant for reality tv, especially The Bachelor and The Bachelorette; I started hosting “Bachelor Mondays,” and I would make a charcuterie board each week. We would all gather at my house and would laugh over charcuterie and, of course, wine. I’ll be honest, starting out, these boards weren’t always pretty! There was definitely a learning curve and quite the glow-up with each one. After years of hosting Bachelor Mondays and with tremendous encouragement from my friends and family, I decided to form Boards by Tay and start selling my charcuterie boards!
Now almost a year later, this small business has turned into more than I could ever imagine–it’s not only a creative outlet and stress relief for me, but it’s an opportunity to create something wonderful for others to gather around, hopefully making wonderful memories in the process!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been bumps along the road for sure–I had really no sort of business savvy, merely an idea of making and selling charcuterie boards for what I thought would really be friends and family in Savannah. It has become more than I could have ever imagined. I spent my afternoons and days off work teaching myself website design, accounting, marketing and watching too many Instagram videos and TikToks of people designing charcuterie boards. There are mornings I wake up at 4 am to make boards before I go into work at the hospital as it has become more than a side hobby and truly a small business. I’m so thankful for all of this and feel so blessed beyond measure for a wonderful support system and customers that have allowed me to make boards for all of their special occasions!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in making charcuterie boards and boxes for any occasion. Boards vary in size and even themes so that there is a board for every gathering! This year I also made my first grazing table for a gender reveal, which I am incredibly proud of! I’m hoping this year to accommodate more grazing tables in addition to charcuterie boards and boxes to further grow Boards by Tay. I think what helps to set me apart is the attention to detail and my customer service. I always endeavor to make each board beautiful (and delicious!) and always will do my best to accommodate any customer request!
What’s next?
As I mentioned, I hope to really grow Boards by Tay in the future and get into more grazing tables for weddings, baby showers, parties; you name it! I also hope to start teaching charcuterie classes for those in Savannah wanting to learn how to make their own boards. My ultimate dream would be one day in the future to have a small storefront where I could teach classes and have some boards and boxes for pickup.
Contact Info:
- Website: boardsbytay.com
- Instagram: @boards.by.tay
- Facebook: facebook.com/boardsbytay
