Blog

Committee Member Spotlight: Taylor Neal

“My favorite part about the PSA Committees is sharing ideas. I am learning so much from my peers. While we are all technically competitors, we put that aside and help each other be the best we can be.” 

Taylor Neal, Marketing Manager, Integrated Protection Services

PSA Marketing Committee Chair & PSA Women’s Committee Member

Taylor Neal wears many hats in her role as the marketing manager at Integrated Protection Services (IPS). As the sole employee in the marketing department, Taylor leans on the PSA Marketing Committee to share ideas, knowledge and support. 

Before working in marketing, Taylor began her career at IPS managing its RMR services for 10 years. While the company has grown tremendously in the past 13 years, Taylor says they still identify as the biggest little guy in town because IPS continues to provide the same level of service to its customers as they did when operating on a smaller scale. She credits these continued attributes to managements’ trust in their employees.  

When stepping into her marketing position at IPS, Taylor had an excellent understanding of the security industry and formal marketing training from college. She recalls taking her first marketing class , and how she knew immediately it was the right career path.  

“I’ve always had a passion for creative and artistic thinking, and marketing seemed like a good fit for me,” says Taylor.

Familiar with PSA Committees, Taylor expressed her interest in creating a marketing committee to James Gallagher, PSA’s manager of integrator services, who runs the committee program. James encouraged this interest, and they set out to find enough participants to build the initial committee. 

“To find interested marketing committee members, James asked me to present to the Women’s Committee, which I LOVE,” says Taylor. “And low and behold, a couple weeks later, we had enough to start the Marketing Committee! We’ve been going strong ever since 2021, and I am super excited to see new members join us this term. Fresh ideas and new expertise are being brought into the mix, and the group is all the better for it.” 

Since the Marketing Committee’s inception, Taylor has served as the chairperson every term. When asked about taking on the leadership role, she recalls telling James she would accept the opportunity as long as someone more experienced did not want it. Taylor admits a touch of imposter syndrome, a common topic on the Women’s Committee, snuck through that day. For the past three years as the committee chair, Taylor has grown the Marketing Committee and organized their shared knowledge on a monthly basis.  

“My favorite part about the PSA Committees is sharing ideas. I am learning so much from my peers. So many people have been willing to go above and beyond to help me with my projects,” says Taylor. “For example, when IPS was launching its NPS survey, a fellow committee member showed me how they did their survey, or when PSA’s Brooke Erickson hopped on a one-on-one call immediately after our Women’s Committee meeting to help talk through a personnel issue I had brought up during the call.” 

“While we are all technically competitors, we put that aside and help each other be the best we can be.”  

This term, Marketing Committee members have been giving miniature presentations on topics of their expertise. It provides members’ practice at presenting, something Taylor thinks you can never practice too much, and gives the rest of the members a chance to learn something new. 

Looking to the future of the Marketing Committee under her leadership, Taylor sees tackling the constant advances in technology. “With the pace that technology changes, I think marketers in the industry must be adaptive and ready to pivot on a moment’s notice,” says Taylor. “Just when you’ve got a handle on something, the next bigger and better technology comes along, and it’s time to start over.” 

Balancing a demanding job and committee responsibilities can be challenging, but Taylor explains that as a department of one, she creates the work for herself and is reliant on her own resources. She says this independence took getting used to after a decade in a different role, but its fluidity has given her a better work-life balance.   

During her free time, Taylor enjoys a game night, a good 500-piece puzzle or a bar trivia contest. When she’s not taking part in friendly competition, she’s trying new recipes or shamelessly watching Bravo.  

Interested in joining a PSA committee? Learn more!