We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylor Hou and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
my wife and i made the conscious decision early on to have 4 kids. we ended up with 2 boys and 2 girls. we saw how amazing it was for our 2 boys to grow up as best friends and so when we had our first girl, we knew we had to have another so she could have the same best friend for life.

beyond that, i make a conscious effort to be the best example for them as it relates to work life balance and being consistent. one example being that almost every weekend, i take my kids to either the zoo or the science museum to showcase consistency and when we go, there’s always something they are doing for fun that will translate to a life skill in the future. example: when we go to the zoo, i let my kids direct us where to go where they have to learn to navigate a map while making leadership style decisions because they have to convince their siblings on where to go next. at the museum, i require them to read out loud (their age x 10) dinosaur names, each.

another thing i have done for my kids is require them to introduce themselves (hi my name is ____, what’s your name?) in public scenarios and ask “can i play with you”.

soooo many more things we do as parents to mold and shape our kids to be better than us.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been fired from every job I’ve held where I wasn’t the boss. I’ve always pushed buttons or the envelope to get to where i am today. Never easy because i do what others aren’t able or willing to do. just like any challenge, there’s always a solution but rarely the grit to finish. People problems are the most difficult to resolve. I’m the Chief Happiness Officer and as long as you put in the effort, you should get the upside.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A week is likely too long for Houston specifically but I’ll focus on food spots. Gotta try Texas BBQ we personally still prefer Killen’s in Pearland. When in season, Vietnamese crawfish, we like Crawfish Cafe in HK4. While you’re on Bellaire, you gotta get cafe suada (vietnamese coffee) and any milk tea boba at the myriad of spots east of beltway 8. Interestingly, our staple dimsum is actually in Sugar Land called Joy Dimsum which we do take out. Desi food, gotta go to Aga’s in Stafford. Rumi’s for iranian, Uchi/ko for sushi, steak48 for steak, overall great viet close to downtown is Huynh’s. Honestly too many places to try. You can go to a new spot every day of the week and not make it out of Bellaire in 1 year.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Joel Leonard. Personal life advisor

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorhou

Image Credits
Raj Banik

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