a look at...
Lorna Taylor
photography by Win Wolloff
Lorna Taylor, president and CEO of Premier Eye Care, directs
this Florida-based company, which has been ranked as one of
“Florida’s Best Companies to Work For” for six consecutive
years, and has also been ranked among the state’s fastest-growing
companies by Florida’s Business Journals. Taylor and her leadership
team embrace a culture where “people, planet, profit” is part
of the corporate DNA. Her team is purposeful in hiring and
promoting diversity at all levels and maintaining pay equity
across the company in gender, age and ethnicity.
Taylor, whom Florida Trend named as one of St. Petersburg’s
movers and shakers, is on the boards of the Salvador Dalí
Museum, Preserve Vision Florida, Florida Coalition Against
Domestic Violence Foundation, University of Tampa Board of
Trustees, Arts Conservatory for Teens and Tampa Bay Businesses
for Culture and the Arts.
She graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with a
master’s degree in divinity, concentrating in social ethics. She
lives in St. Petersburg, where she enjoys her two rescue pups,
travel, art and the vibrant cultural life of the Tampa Bay area.
Why do you live here?
St. Petersburg is a beautiful city with a great vibe. I love that
we are a green city, a sanctuary city, and an international
destination for arts and culture.
At what do you excel?
I perform well and pivot easily between the 70,000-foot-view
for strategic planning and the 5-foot view managing intensive
operational details.
What is your favorite word?
Interconnectedness.
What provides you with pleasure?
My rescue pups and listening to Zero 7 music on Sunday mornings.
How do you relax?
My relaxing is usually active. What most allows me to unplug
is international travel.
Who is your role model?
I’ve had the privilege of knowing some remarkable women and
men who have left indelible marks on my life, yet I always come
back to my mother. While she is still with us, she has dementia
and no longer knows who I am, which is crushing. However,
she remains the most significant person and role model in my
life. She had a moral compass and – whether gently or with
passion – stood strong, even when she was not understood,
or was before her time. She is a beautiful woman who was a
perfect mother and a brilliant teacher, musician and writer.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Things are rarely as good or as bad as they first appear.
Why do you do what you do?
I thrive in a fast-paced, demanding work environment that
constantly pushes me to collaborative, creative solution making.
130 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | MARCH/APRIL 2019
What don’t people know about you?
I trained as a classical pianist and attended university on a
music scholarship.
What are your favorite words of wisdom?
There is a quote from the Dalia Lama XIV that I love:
“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and
happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t
mean they’ve gotten lost.”
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
For me, it’s really more about a million little achievements
– how I show up for my family, business team, friends and
nonprofit community partners. Being present to them and
working with them to move the needle on a daily basis gives
me a sense of well-being and achievement. If I single out
one thing, however, it might be that as president and CEO of
Premier Eye Care, together with my leadership team, I have
built a successful award-winning national company that is
firmly rooted in the values we hold dear – equity, diversity,
inclusivity and community engagement.
What is your motto?
Don’t burn bridges.
How do you think other people would describe you?
Hardworking, loyal, caring.
What is your fondest memory?
Traveling from India to Bangladesh in 1993, looking out the
window of the local bus as we crossed the bridge to enter the
city of Dhaka Bangladesh and seeing the fishermen cast their
nets from tiny boats on the river as the sun rose behind them.
What would you like to do that you have never done?
Experience a sunset and sunrise in the Moroccan Sahara.
How would you describe yourself?
Purpose driven.
What do you wish you could do?
Take a year sabbatical to travel.
What is your idea of happiness?
Spending time with family and friends, who are my extended
family.
What is your pet peeve?
Single use plastic.
What talent do you wish you had?
Playing the piano by ear.
What is your most treasured possession?
My mother’s writings.
What is the secret to your success?
Persistence.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
A photojournalist, something I was able to explore a bit in my
twenties. 9