About

Tayla Richards Phillips

I grew up in Louisiana with strong ties to my Cajun and Caribbean heritage. I earned a Bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology from Louisiana State University then a Master's degree in Higher Education Administration from Eastern Illinois University. After working in Student Affairs and Higher Education for about 10 years, ongoing use of software like nVivo, SPSS, Handshake, Roompact, and Maxient led to a burgeoning interest in software development, so I turned focus to a functional shift that resulted in my earning a certification in Frontend Engineering from Turing School of Software and Design! (I can't fail to also acknowledge my past Myspace profile customization efforts having a hand in my interest).
I'm energized by organized and well-documented pursuits, learning, and making big impacts by doing the 'little things' well, so software and web development's many opportunities to do those things have felt like a fabulous match.

Hobbies and Interests

  • Food has always been an immense part of my life, so cooking, hosting, and food tourism brings me so much joy!
  • I LOVE working on puzzles whenever I can - vintage illustration jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, logic grids, and word games like Connections. I spent a lot of time playing problem-solving games like those as a kid and still enjoy them.
  • Finding fascinating or vintage art and building my vinyl collection are other ways I spend my free time. The majority of the collection is Funk, Jazz, Soul, Holiday, and Rock music.

    • Clifton Top 5 Strengths

    Personality Assessments