Prairie Portrait: Alexis Taylor, Creighton University senior

I do what I do because… of the people, community, and constant ideation. It’s intoxicating to be surrounded by incredible visionaries who want to leave the world better off than they found it. They’re all action-oriented catalysts who are on their way to sparking positive change. Any opportunity where I can help build entrepreneurial capabilities…

Name: Alexis Taylor
Title/Occupation: 3 Day Startup Creighton Executive Director, Founding Team Member; 1 Million Cups co-organizer
Age: 21
Hometown: Independence and Lee’s Summit, Missouri 
Current city: Omaha
Twitter: AlexisJTaylor

Personal

Title of my autobiography: “The Counterculturalist Who Dared to be Worldwise”
Thing I can’t live without: Travel! I get bored easily, so constant stimulation and exposure to new experiences is essential for me to thrive. Rwanda is next on my list. 
Drink of choice: Chinese jasmine tea
Last book I read: “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris
Ultimate road trip snack: Broccoli and hummus—yum! 
Entrance song if I was a wrestler: “Ten Thousand Hours” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis  
Celebrity doppelgänger: I’ve been told I have Amy Poehler’s laugh and that I look like Kelly Osbourne. I hope I could pull off purple hair! That would be awesome. 
Guilty pleasure band and/or film: OC Times (a male barbershop quartet)
Chosen career in an alternate reality: Hands down, I’d be a DJ and spread incredible energy and positivity throughout the world by remixing the music found in the Jungle genre. 
Favorite quote: “Go forth and set the world on fire.” – St. Ignatius of Loyola 
Which actor or actress, and why: Bradley Cooper, no one can even compare…and he speaks French.  Oh, the discussions about culture, humanity and food we could have!
Favorite YouTube video: “Apple Steve Jobs Here’s to the Crazy Ones”

Local

Best place in Omaha no one knows about: Benson’s Beercade—it’s the best place to grab a beer and challenge friends on all the old Atari games. 
Omaha’s obligatory tourist stop: Caffeine Dreams
One thing Omaha has that other Silicon Prairie cities don’t: SPN’s HQ—it’s pretty powerful that they’re headquartered here in Omaha!
Best thing going for Omaha’s startup community: Our inclusivity. Everyone is so open and willing to help cultivate a successful ecosystem. 
Last local restaurant I ate at: Victor’s Gyros, Falafel & Mediterranean Food
Best meal I’ve had in Omaha: Victor’s chicken gyro salad
Omaha would be better if… we had more women entrepreneurs and developers!

The Startup Scene

Social media pet peeve: None. I’m very selective about who I follow and friend, so any pet peeves that might be present are already mitigated through my filtering system.
App I’m obsessed with: Spotify! I use it probably 10+ times a day. It’s incredible! I can find every song on there and listen to it over and over and over and over and over again.
Silicon Prairie startup crush: I’m crushing hardcore on Mike Santo’s DJ music management system called Crateful…you have no idea. And the companies formed through 3 Day Startup at Creighton—DueIT, Popular Vote, WorkNinja, NineDot and Golden Grail.
Most comfortable startup T-shirt I own: 2013 Bar Camp T-shirt
Something most people don’t know about me: I sing in the car…and often get very confused looks from strangers. They’re not sure if I’m talking to myself, yelling at them or going insane.  No worries Omaha, it’s just me singing nostalgic musical tunes from my high school drama club years. 
Entrepreneur I most want to grab a drink with: Cam Houser, the founder of 3 Day Startup
I do what I do because… of the people, community, and constant ideation. It’s intoxicating to be surrounded by incredible visionaries who want to leave the world better off than they found it. They’re all action-oriented catalysts who are on their way to sparking positive change. Any opportunity where I can help build entrepreneurial capabilities in people and connect various networks and resources to those who need it is time well spent and something I’m very passionate about.
Before I was in startups… I was a lost soul fighting against various societal standards pressuring me to go after things I wasn’t truly passionate about.
If money wasn’t an object, my next company would be… around the art of writing a thank you note and crafting gifts of gratitude. Not enough people take the time to recognize those who make a difference in their lives or help them on their life journey. This would help people express their gratitude in the best possible way.
The Silicon Prairie startup scene is missing… more programmers and developers; however, with the increase of hackathons and push for more tech folks, I have a feeling their population boom is coming.  
In five years, I’ll… be working with entrepreneurs across the world and developing startup ecosystems so everyone has the opportunity to cultivate the entrepreneur inside themselves.
In five years, the Silicon Prairie… will continue to capitalize on the foundation it currently has to foster more collaboration, leverage networks and increase the number of talented programmers and developers.  

 

Credits: Photos courtesy of Alexis Taylor. 

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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