Lauren Taylor: In Her Own Words

Even if she wanted to dwell on such things, and who does, it would be difficult for artist Lauren Taylor to pinpoint the very worst of the worst days.

After all, who wants to highlight the lowlights in our lives?

The truth is there have been some horribly bad days, although, mercifully, the majority appear to be in the rearview mirror.

Taylor’s life changed five years ago when, playing third base on a competitive co-ed softball team, she was struck in the face with a screaming line drive. She couldn’t get her glove up far enough or fast enough. It was a sickening sound and sight.

That injury prematurely ended the playing days, even just recreational, for the former college scholarship player. She had suffered a serious brain injury with broken bones in her face and her doctor warned of the consequences if she were to sustain another head injury. Needing something to fill her time and competitive nature, Lauren turned to an old friend – art. She dabbled in it while she was in school, but it hadn’t yet become a full-time part of her life.

In the five years since the accident, Taylor has undergone eight surgeries with a ninth coming soon. She has suffered deep depression, migraine headaches, anxiety and panic attacks. She has sought help and also has provided help. She is a champion for mental health awareness. And with a growing professional platform, she is seizing the opportunity to reach more people in distress while producing some of the most popular sports art in the entire ultra-competitive field.

Being one of the Topps Project 70 artists has made Taylor a household name in that segment of the industry. We had a chat with her in Chicago during The National.

On her own struggles:

“I had a traumatic brain injury after I got hit in the face. But even before that I struggled with mental health, especially growing up and kind of being an outsider and a tomboy. I was used to being alone. I did a lot of art, but then when I got hit it was like all of my mental health stuff came back, tenfold. That’s how concussions affect that. And I hit a really, really low place. I started experiencing depression, not just panic and panic attacks. I tell people this because I think it’s important to be honest and real with everyone. I was in such a dark place that I figured, I’m going to go for this art thing because I really don’t know if I’ll be around in a couple of years. And that’s the honest to God truth. I’m so glad I did [art] because it was how I re-found my identity. I wasn’t an athlete anymore, but through sports art I was still able to express myself.”

On wanting to help others:

“It took a while to come out of it, but I remember someone telling me when I was in the thick of things, ‘This darkness will make the light that much brighter.’ I was thinking, yeah, right, but it’s so true. And once I started to see the light . . . I wondered how I could spread that message around. When I was younger, I needed someone to tell me what I was going through was normal. Maybe not normal, but just saying you’re going to be okay. It’s okay. You can still do great things in life if you’re having panic attacks, pressure or anxiety. I especially like talking to kids about that.”

On giving and getting support:

“It’s not often when you’ve had that many surgeries that you feel grateful. But that’s all I could think of. So many people – people I didn’t know – reached out and asked how they could help with the surgeries. That made a big difference to me, and now I’m even more eager to give back. The weight that was lifted off my shoulders seeing I had support was so important to me, Even if it didn’t cover every penny, it filled my bucket inside knowing people had my back.

“There are so many people out there that need help. I think if we just listened a little more and did a little more we would be okay. If I can’t change everything, maybe I can encourage someone else simply by spreading the message. Because the thing with mental health is that it’s a master of disguise. It’s incredible the masks we put on. My hope is that more and more people will feel comfortable taking that mask off. Someone may be a funny, charismatic person but when they get home they’re not doing okay. They want to know that they can call you, text you or DM you. And that’s my message to kids: You message me anytime. If I can’t help you we’ll look up a resource for you. Let’s get you some help.”

On handling rejection:

“Four years ago I got rejected by Topps when I approached them, I had to change my art and work a whole lot harder to get here. I’m so glad it didn’t work out then, because I think the situation would have been a lot different than now. I approached every card company four years ago. I was shut down by every one of them. I was devastated then. It made my art better because I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I thought I would make them want me one day. I got a call from Topps last November, and it came full circle. This is a far better moment than it would have been if I had kind of begged for it and got it four years ago. I would have never forced myself to evolve and try harder.”

How life has changed since that November 2020 call:

“Well, it’s changed quite a bit (laughs). It’s changed in a sense that there are more people that know me and my work. You know, it still floors me when someone will come up to me and say, ‘Are you Lauren Taylor?’ That’s been fun and, again, I really adore the connection with kids through signing a card or something. My goal from day one was to build a platform so that I could speak about these important things to a bigger audience, so that’s been incredible. Also, it’s given me some confidence. I struggled a lot with imposter syndrome (doubting abilities) with art. Is what I do good enough? And I had to kind of have a word with myself. It doesn’t matter; I know how many hours I’ve put in to get here, and if people like my art I need to stop being so critical of myself.”

On dealing with harsh criticism:

“Doing this project you get a lot of comments, like ‘My 5-year-old could do this’ – really negative stuff. There are good ones, too, but we tend to focus on the bad ones. I finally came to the realization, if it was easy, they would do it. But I know how many hours it took, and I kind of just try to hang on to that. This project has given me the rapid exposure to that side of things, which was hard for me at first. It was a really quick lesson. But again, I came to the realization that if people could do it, they would. And most don’t.

“The comments can be tough. I actually told my business partner this story the other day. I remember Ermsy dropped one of the first cards in Project 20. It was one of the first ones I saw, and I saw the comments, and oh my goodness, I didn’t think I had thick enough skin for that. So I called my business partner and said, listen, if I ever get asked to do an art project with Topps, don’t let me. I’m not mentally tough for that. But then when we got the call in November, I was like ‘We’re doing this!’ The more I read the comments . . . again, it’s so easy to say we all can do certain things, and you can, But getting from point A to point B, and the hours in-between, that’s something not everybody wants to do. So let the people at point A say they can get to point B, they can do the work and when they’re there I’ll be the first to congratulate them and I’ll be the first to buy their card.”

On working within the current trading card market:

“Sometimes it can be all about the money in this industry. But there are some great communities –little pockets of communities – that are special. Blake [Jamieson] has fostered a lot of that. Blake’s fostered a lot of that. I think it’s great.”

On her process of picking players for her Project70 cards:

“I’m an avid lover of baseball, I watch a lot of baseball. When I first made my list it was based on who I had idolized. Since, I’ve learned that I can still make those players, but to hit the market with the cards you have to do a little of both – you want to do the future greats, too, not just the players I grew up idolizing. I shifted it a little bit. I also wanted to do a Bo Jackson card. But for the longest time I didn’t have rights. So when Topps finally got the rights I was like ‘Yes!’ but I had to move a card off the list. One of the hardest things about this whole project was narrowing it down to 20 players. You start with a bigger list and it’s so tough, you have to start going down and eliminating names.

“I can’t even narrow down my 20 favorite foods let alone baseball players.”

On collecting cards as a kid:

“When I was a kid, I worked in my parents’ restaurant and I would get five bucks. I rolled silverware. And I would go get cards and then every week I’d get Beckett so I could look them up. I always thought ‘When will I get that card that I told me parents I could retire on?’ I’ve been buying Beckett for years, but now I just punch it up on my phone.”

On growing up a Mariners fan in the Pacific Northwest:

“That was my team. And I also became a Red Sox fan later in life. But the more I do this I become a player fan. It’s really hard to dislike a team wholeheartedly. When you meet some of those guys it’s like, dang it, they’re so nice. When I met [Giancarlo] Stanton, I was thinking, well, that’s going to be a hard one to boo against [as a Red Sox fan]. I cheer for individual players now. You get to know them as humans.”

On her parents’ influence:

“Their work ethic is second to none. They worked so hard in the restaurant the whole time I was growing up. My parents are the play-it-safe, make sure you have enough money for a rainy day type, but when my mom said ‘Quit your job to be an artist.’ . . . I’ve told her the moment she said that to me, I knew that was the time. I had been working for an investment company, stable job, good salary, comfortable, and all of a sudden I’m going to start making sports art for a living? Right. Okay. But even going back to when I was a kid, I used to . . . if we were selling candy bars I had to be the one who sold the most. That was me. My mom said, ‘I knew you had learned that [drive] enough to work until you made it.’ I credit that to my parents 100 percent.”

On her frequent charitable contributions:

“I’m so thankful for the opportunities I have right now and this is something I want to do. We got to do a little donation to the ALS Foundation For Life [after the release of her Lou Gehrig card]. It’s a smaller organization, and they were so funny. They sent me a message that said ‘Did you mean to donate this amount, ‘mam, or did you mean to send it to the main organization, because that’s what most people are familiar with?’ I told them, yes, I intended it to go to them. They were so appreciative, telling me they are just a small group of non-profit nurses. That’s how it’s supposed to work. That card was special because I began to see a kind of chain reaction with people saying they were going to donate to ALS. I didn’t do that, I just made the card. People’s hearts took over.”

On her desire to do more with Topps:

“I would love to. I’m available, and I hope to get the opportunity. If not, like usual, I’ll just find my own way. But right now . . . I get to do what I love for a living every single day. My way of saying thank you is to give back to other places. That just feels natural right now.”

Lauren Taylor Topps Project70 Gallery

Here’s a full gallery of Lauren Taylor’s 20 Topps Project70 cards. The final one, Roberto Clemente, is available on the Topps website through February 6.