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AAPRC Weekly: Mikki Taylor

Mikki Taylor
Beauty Director and Cover Editor
ESSENCE magazine
NYC


To anyone watching, Mikki Taylor's career path should have been clear. As a child growing up in New Jersey, the future ESSENCE magazine beauty director and cover editor was immersed in the business of style and beauty. Her mother was stylist to legendary jazz singer Sarah Vaughn and later owned a salon, and even Mikki Taylor's playtime was a portent of things to come. "I played with my dolls until I was 14," Taylor admits. "Now I smile and say I'm still playing with my dolls. It's kind of what I do today every time I step into the studio, where it's clearly about examining the possibilities of where we can go when it comes to our beauty."

As cover editor for ESSENCE, Taylor's vision of African-American beauty has graced the face of the country's top magazine for Black women. During her 18-year tenure, Taylor has turned out more than 300 covers, featuring luminaries from the worlds of entertainment, beauty, politics and more-–from Denzel Washington to Oprah Winfrey. As beauty director, her take on beauty and beauty products has shaped the way millions of Black women style their hair, put on their make-up, and, perhaps most importantly to Taylor, find their place in the complex landscape of modern beauty. "My whole mission is to help women own their lives and celebrate their beauty to the fullest," says Taylor emphatically. "To me as long as there are women who are saying 'oh, I wish I could so-and so…or I wish I could get control over this…' to me, then, the homework isn't done. You have to show women how––how you're going to celebrate your beauty in your one and only life. How you're going to own it and lead and not be led. Those are some things that are real key to me."

Taylor's ideas about beauty and style began to coalesce during childhood as she watched the almost therapeutic relationship between her mother and the customers in her Newark hair salon. "Beauticians hear everything that's on a woman's heart, from her deepest style desires to the affairs of her life. Oftentimes what they are serving in return transcends hair styling and moves into that which is self-empowering. Beauty has such a profound sense when you come of age witnessing it from that perspective and seeing the ultimate transformation both inside and out. One can't help but be affected in one manner or another."

Taylor says she never had a desire to follow in her mother's footsteps in the salon business, and instead started modeling in high school. By the time she graduated, her career was in full swing. Taylor made the decision to forgo college and pursue modeling full-time with her parents' support. Throughout the seventies she worked successfully and, in 1977, made her way into a different facet of fashion with the clothing company, Tahari. Starting as a model, Taylor moved into public relations for the company and eventually became a merchandizing and textile coordinator. She assisted in opening one of Tahari's first in-store boutiques in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

In 1980, she moved to ESSENCE as accessories and home sewing editor. Just one year into her tenure, Taylor was promoted to beauty editor. In 1986, she lobbied for the position of cover editor and got it. In 1999, she was named beauty director. Taylor had no background in editorial but attributes her success to another valuable attribute: "I had a passion for women," Taylor says. "I really came into the business with a why-not attitude. Magazines in themselves were fascinating to me because they were the inspirational buy, the dream tools."

Growing up, Taylor didn't aspire to work for magazines, but remembers the impressions left by the publications her mother brought home from her days of touring with Sarah Vaughn. "From her years of being on the road with Sarah, [my mother] would bring home all kinds of magazines, particularly from Europe, and I was swept away. What I saw represented a whole other world and a completely fantastical way of looking at beauty and women and it was just amazing. There were no limitations within those publications, very unlike what was going on here in America."

In the more than two decades she's spent at ESSENCE, Taylor has observed sweeping changes in styles and attitudes when it comes to Black beauty. "When I started out at ESSENCE as beauty editor, the amount of products that were available for Black women really could fit within the span of my two arms," Taylor recalls. "In the 90s, with the census report serving as a wake-up call, cosmetic companies began calling us to play."

Attitudes outside of the magazine have changed, but inside, some things are still the same. "At ESSENCE our mission is still the same after 35 years, and that's to celebrate Black women, to celebrate our people––beginning with the cover," says Taylor of the process of putting together the magazine's face. "Part of my delight is collaborating with our cover team... and in bringing together the creative team that's going to turn each cover out––with newness, with freshness, with an 'oh my God how amazing.'"

Sitting firmly at the helm of the magazine's beauty pages, as well as penning her own advice column, "Absolutely Fabulous," Taylor keeps her hands on everything: from the selection of models, make-up artists and hairstylists for shoots, to the review of every word written about beauty. Additionally, in 2003, Taylor added published author to her list of accomplishments. Self-Seduction: Your Ultimate Path to Inner and Outer Beauty (Ballantine Books/One World) examines what Taylor calls "a new life resolution," and encourages women of color to explore the balance between spiritual and physical nourishment––the key to true beauty. "I always say this is a path that I was led to and that's my sense of God's purpose in my life," says Taylor of her extraordinary career. "The work is really a gift and it's not anything that I can claim as my own. It's about empowering others. It's not about me and it makes me more humble with each passing year."

Away from the halls of ESSENCE, Taylor is a wife and mother of three. She spends down time at home in New Jersey reading and listening to music. Not surprisingly for a woman who grew up across the street from Sarah Vaughn-–the chanteuse bought the house Taylor grew up in so Taylor's mother could be nearby if Vaughn needed her––Taylor loves jazz. The people who filled my mother's life gave me such a passion for jazz," says Taylor. "I have quite a huge music collection and do enjoy having the time to spend and to hear those sounds and to add the latest sounds, as well."


That quiet time is precious because it doesn't come often. Taylor travels extensively and is in demand as a motivational speaker. It should come as no surprise that she spends a lot of time speaking to women. "If I could boil it down, my goal is to help women master the simple," says Taylor. "To not have a wish list but to have a reality-checked plan where you're checking off what you desire on a steady basis––because 'someday' never comes."

What is your definition of beauty?

True beauty has everything to do with how one sees and honors herself. And so, it is a sense of total well-being. In truth, it's a necessary blend of spiritual and physical health. Moreover, it's about purpose. And we know that purpose is about more than "How do I look?" Purpose is, "What am I about always?" And beautiful women play for keeps.

What are the most significant developments in the beauty industry you've observed during your tenure at ESSENCE?

The fact that technology has finally caught up with the needs and desires of African-American women. I've been talking about beauty products from the time when the selection from product manufacturers could fit in the span of my two arms. Today, I see a sea change in that technology and companies are calling us to play and accomplish our dreams. And we can shop at all points of sale-—from the corner drug store to the most prestigious department stores.

In addition to your duties as beauty and cover editor, you also pen an advice column for ESSENCE. From that perspective, when it comes to beauty what are Black women struggling with most?

I don't like the term struggling. African-American women are looking to micromanage their beauty and style unlike ever before. And so yes, we are in hot pursuit of the radiant, blemish-free complexions of our dreams. We are looking to maintain healthy hair, while wardrobing the hottest styling options. And most of all, we're trying to enhance that all-time luxury known as "time for self," which is why we have such an intense interest in pampering treats and spa services. These are the kinds of ideals that top our list.

As cover editor, you and your staff are responsible for putting together the "face" that ESSENCE shows the world. What's the greatest challenge in getting that job done every month?

To me, we are only limited by our vision. So for us, the challenge is to take new courage every month and to really have vision and to create something that hasn't been done before. I pride myself to present our top celebrities in a way that has never been seen before. And that's not a challenge, but it's an opportunity that I welcome. We put this magazine out for and about ourselves. So we're telling our story every month—-it's a celebration of our people, particularly Black womanhood.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

There are no typical workdays. Everyday is a journey of a different kind; the mission remains the same but the process changes everyday. One day sees me shopping for the best products for more than 8 million readers. Another day sees me creating beauty pages and defining the substance that they will share. Another day it's television and radio interviews, meeting with creative artists, meeting with cosmetics companies and talking to them about the needs and desires of African-American women, or meeting with hairstylists to define the future. There are no typical workdays because it's not a typical job. Every day gives you an opportunity to contribute to how African-American women see themselves; because in this period in our history, these are no ordinary times. So my workdays are defined by opportunity, so therefore there are no typical workdays.

In addition to your work with ESSENCE, you penned a book last year, Self-Seduction: Your Ultimate Path to Inner and Outer Beauty. What was the motivation behind the project?

I wanted to offer women of color a new life resolution. I really wanted to see us own our lives and celebrate ourselves both within and without. The book offers new life resolutions to help us own our lives and celebrate our beauty to the fullest. And it offers something substantive-—because beauty is about more than the physical and "How do I look?"

In terms of your career, what are you most proud of?

The contribution that I've made to the lives of Black women everywhere.

About what aspect of the fashion and beauty industries are you most optimistic?

What I am most optimistic about when it comes to fashion is how our unique style is coloring the world. I see the evidence of this stretching from the streets of America to the world's top runways. I see Asian women with locks and Caucasian women in braids. I also like the intense interest that companies are taking in our needs and desires and our unique flavor. I also like what I see on the business end with such successful partnerships as Beyoncé and Hilfiger and Sean Combs and Estée Lauder companies.

It seems you've been surrounded by the beauty industry your entire life––from growing up the daughter of a stylist and salon-owner to a modeling career to ESSENCE. What is it about the industry that drives you?

It's not the industry that drives me. It's Black women that drive me. And being able to have a say so in how we see and feel about ourselves.

Tell us one thing people might be surprised to know about you.

That I'm as shy as all get out. But I have learned to move self out of the way on behalf of the interest of African-American women. So that shyness is no longer a stumbling block.


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