Meet the coach

“Taylor’s approach to mental training is effective for me because she asks the right questions to make me feel confident in my performance. She talks through situations that make me nervous and gives me strategies to turn nervous adrenaline into a fun chance to show how hard I’ve worked. Working with her, I’ve learned how to focus my thoughts and energy productively so that I can enjoy the process rather than just results.”

~ Evelyn Orton, Nebraska Climbing Team Athlete

“Taylor is awesome! She coached me for a number of years while I was a youth competitor and I learned SO much from her in that time. Taylor is smart, dedicated, and thoughtful and she was consistently able to help me work toward my varying climbing goals. She always made time to teach me something new, answer my questions, and give me feedback. Despite the fact that I was part of a climbing team, she also made sure to find ways to individualize my training. One reason I trust Taylor is because of her commitment to continuing to learn and grow as a coach. I believe that she helped me progress immensely as a climber in my technique, strength, mindset, and more and I feel so lucky to have had such a caring and effective coach.”

~ Aubrey Johnson, former Bozeman Climbing Team Athlete

“I  don’t want to imagine where my climbing would be without Taylor. Over the last three years, my climbing style as well as my physical and mental weaknesses have been constantly switching. I have been fortunate to have a coach like Taylor who is deeply educated in so many facets of climbing who can address my challenges personally and in a timely manner. Taylor’s coaching and programs allowed me to gain a level of strength and a mental approach in my training that I didn’t believe was possible in just one year. Crucially, her thorough and scientific answers to my abundance of concerns has given me confidence in my training, which inevitably has translated to my enjoyment of climbing and my ability to progress through the grades. It is so rewarding to have a coach with such a genuine focus and passion for her work.”

~ Cody Rosolowsky, former Bozeman Climbing Team Athlete

“Taylor is an amazing coach who I am so glad I’ve been able to spend so many years climbing with. She knows how to balance praise and reward with discipline and responsibility in a way that continuously motivates you. She’s taught me how to examine mental blockages and work through them in a way that I can apply on my own. As a member of Bozeman’s climbing team for several years now I’ve been consistently able to see Taylor’s dedication to seeing me and my teammates succeed, and the genuine care she has for each and every one of us. Her love of the sport is translated into the way she coaches. I couldn’t be more grateful to have her continuous and well informed insight to my climbing and her constant support, and I wouldn’t be the climber I am today without her.”

~ Josi Hinds, former Bozeman Climbing Team Athlete

“Taylor is a remarkable coach. She has a gifted way of meeting people where they are – without judgment or intimidation. Taylor acknowledges individuality in both the mental and the physical, as well as the crucial challenge in how they interact. She’s inherently curious and always learning herself. I am so appreciative that my daughter was lucky enough to have her as a youth climbing coach  – she brought a holistic view to training, even for kids, and shared valuable information with parents in an accessible way. Taylor is the type of non-parent adult that I am always hoping for my teenagers to have in their lives – not just for climbing, but for navigating life in general. She doesn’t sugar coat things – she just shows up authentically and listens, which shouldn’t feel so unique, but it does. I feel very grateful and lucky that I, and my kids, get to interact with and learn from Taylor.”

~ Megan Higgs, Bozeman Climbing Team Parent

“The essence of climbing is testing yourself against the hardest problems you can find and growing stronger until they are comfortable.  The easiest part of that growth is physical - how to grow stronger mentally and emotionally is complicated and much less obvious.  Taylor has developed a system of interaction and coursework to teach mental and emotional skill sets that we've found tremendously useful.  We now have better emotional and mental understanding as well as a language toolkit to discuss the challenges and opportunities in climbing as well as life.  We've loved working with her, and look forward to a great partnership in the future.”

~ Brian Orton, Nebraska Climbing Team Parent

“My time with Taylor was unique as I wanted mentorship with 2 things: my own personal mental state when climbing and having to perform, and separating my climbing goals and coaching goals. I feel as if the mental aspect of climbing, especially for youth competitors, is vastly overlooked and very few coaches are aware, let alone equipped, to care for the emotional wellbeing of a child. As a climbing coach, it can be difficult to separate your professional job goals and your climbing goals. It can be difficult to see the two as separate journeys, especially being vulnerable as a coach. Comparison, imposter syndrome, and never feeling like the work I put in was enough were all things that snuck up on me late in my 20's and several years into coaching. Being able to identify my own ego flare-ups, comparison traps, adjust expectations, and a variety of other things were all things I knew were not serving me well and hurting me in both my climbing and professional career. I just didn't know how to go about disarming them, let alone where to start. Working with Taylor we were able to dig deeper into these insecurities and flesh them out. Along with that, with Taylor’s own life experiences and coaching experience, she is able to give you valuable tools to begin to disarm and redirect these thoughts and feelings. These same tools I not only am able to implement for myself, I was also able to use them in my coaching and help the kids I coach through these same feelings. It's still a daily effort, but I cannot express how empowering Taylor’s mentorship has been in my life and how invaluable she has been in my mental performance and overall well being. I've also had so many wonderful talks with the kids I coach about these same things and I am so fortunate to be able to walk them through these same things like Taylor did with me. I use the methods and tools she gave me on a daily basis for myself and coaching! I cannot recommend her enough, especially if you are a youth competitor looking for tools to help control and navigate your thoughts and feelings whether it's in practice or competition.”

~ Brett Wingerter, Team Gravity Vault Coach