This week we had the pleasure of chatting with Nick Taylor, Jr., who you may recognize from Taylor and Leonard Insurance! Read on to find out how long Nick’s family has called Glens Falls home, his family’s go-to for smoothies and sandwiches, a few great memories from his childhood (including a bike ride to a market we all knew and loved!), and lots more.
Tell us about yourself!
My name is Nick Taylor, Jr. and I am a local insurance agent at Taylor & Leonard in Glens Falls. I have also earned my CFP® (Certified Financial Planner) & RICP® (Retirement Income Certified Professional) designations and have a financial planning practice through my affiliation with Equity Services, Inc as a registered representative and investment adviser representative (www.nicholastaylorjr.com). I married my wife Meaghan in 2016 and shortly after, in 2017, we welcomed our daughter into the world. I wear many hats every day but my favorite and most important one is being a Daddy! People around town probably best know me as the insurance guy who says his “Insurance Service Never Sleeps!”. I pride myself on being available 24/7 to folks that need me. I am a 2003 graduate of Glens Falls High School and a 2007 graduate of Siena College with a degree in Marketing. I began my practice within my family’s business in 2007 and have never looked back!
On Life in Glens Falls
Our family has roots back to 1896 (as far back as we can trace). Every single generation of our family has chosen to call the Glens Falls area our home. Both sets of my grandparents still live here in the community as do parents and siblings. My parents and all three of my sisters and their families live within 2 miles of my house (and office!). I was born in Glens Falls and grew up here. As our family got bigger we required more and more space. So much so that we ended buying 3 different houses on Coolidge Ave as our family grew! By the last house, I was a junior in high school playing football for the Glens Falls Indians so instead of hiring a moving company we just offered the lineman on the team a few pizzas to move our stuff a few houses down the street!
The day after I graduated from Siena College I was in the office at our family insurance agency in Glens Falls and I’ve never left. Our friends & family, our business and the community spirit anchors us down here for good. We could never picture leaving. Our roots run deep and with every passing day they run even deeper. Our business alone provides us thousands of deep, meaningful relationships with the members of our community. We laugh, cheer and cry with them as they move through their lives and they do the same with us during our own triumphs and heartbreaks. I can’t imagine living life anywhere else.
We purchased our family home on the outskirts of Glens Falls which is technically Queensbury although we are in the Glens Falls School District. I own our business’s building on Glen St. in Glens Falls with my mother and father. The building has been in our family since 1994. We affectionately like to call it “the old building and loan” (of course referencing the loveable business establishment in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”). The building is an old one but it has a ton of character and a primo location- especially during great community events like the Adirondack Balloon Festival and Memorial Day Parade. The parade is one of our favorite events and we usually host a hospitality tent with free bagels, donuts, and coffee for folks passing by. This hospitality tent really grew from a childhood memory of mine. As a kid, I fondly and distinctly remember the excitement of the parade generated by a simple act of my grandmother - boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts for all of us kids!! We have carried the tradition on for decades and it now extends to outside of our immediate family! We usually have dozens of parade watchers congregating around our headquarters at 553 Glen St.
What I love about my own neighborhood is three of my direct neighbors have all owned their home for 30 years. They built and never left. I’ve found that to be the case all over the area. Folks bought their homes in their 20’s and 30’s and never left. They love the area and never want to leave.
Some Glens Falls Favorites
One of the things I am most excited about is the rebirth of downtown Glens Falls. Not only from an aesthetic point of view but its variety of offerings in terms of shows, events, restaurants, community events etc. We find ourselves downtown several days /nights a week. When I returned home from college in 2007, downtown Glens Falls was still mired in a slow and sleepy environment. Now there is hustle and bustle. There is energy and a feeling that we are on the cusp of creating a special part of the city once again (like we had back in 30’s and 40’s). As weird as it sounds, I sometimes enjoy not being able to find a spot to park downtown because it is reflective of our little city’s emerging growth and prosperity.
A Perfect Glens Falls Day
We LOVE to eat out. Eating great food, running into friends and clients, and not having to cook and clean is a winning combination in our busy household! You will find us at Kelly’s Roots probably 3-4 times a week (at least) enjoying their smoothies and sandwiches. We are on a first name basis with basically their entire staff and Kelly starts cooking our daughter’s order the minute we walk through the door! We LOVE that feeling of personal connection to another local, family business. We also love to dine at and support The Queensbury Hotel and The Bullpen. Some of the nicest folks in our community are steering those ships and they are doing a phenomenal job. We love grabbing a bite to eat and then walking through City Park and downtown. We love bumping into friends, family, and clients unexpectedly on a stroll through downtown.
On the Past
One of my favorite memories has to do with an old Glens Falls staple that a lot of us still miss - Barber’s Market. As a young kid, I excitedly rode my bike from Coolidge Avenue over to Barber’s Market on Shippey Street, hoping to find the perfect Mother’s Day gift for my Mom. After a few minutes of perusing through the store, I had found it - a little potted plant that I was sure she would love! I rode home and ran into the house to present my Mom her new fresh plant. As I shouted, “we have to water it!” she sweetly explained to me that it was a FAKE plant! I was so embarrassed! But of course she loved it and the fact that I had rode over to Barber’s Market on my own to purchase it for her. In fact, she still has the plant today… it is truly the gift that keeps on giving!
Another favorite memory of mine was stepping out onto the basketball court at the Civic Center for the high school state championship final back in 2003. It was an indescribable experience to look up at 7,000 members of your community in a sea of red, supporting the home team. The crowd noise was deafening. We felt like professional athletes. I’ll never forget it.
On the Future
A local bookstore. I realize that many people buy their books online and the original brick and mortar model of a bookstore is a tough deal these days. But a place like the Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga and Manchester, VT seems to be thriving. I personally love to read and I love to mark up my books with notes as I read them. I love building my own personal library. In a world where everyone is constantly looking through screens, they may surprise themselves with the entertainment that a few books in hand could offer them.
On community
In my business, I have a unique position. My clients simply tell me what is going on with their lives. They tell me about themselves, their friends, and their families. I have deeply personal information and stories that are brought to me every day. And what I find so rewarding and heartening are the stories of true community spirit that my clients tell. People in our community are doing some incredible things out there. They are helping each other. They are kind. These stories don’t often get told in the evenings news but I hear about them all the time and they make me love our little city that much more.
