Keaton Taylor – Striving Together
California native Keaton Taylor grew up with two dominant themes that directed the outcome of his career – sports and construction.
Taylor grew up in a construction family with a father who was a superintendent and a mother who was a contracts manager/project manager for a commercial contractor in San Diego. He spent a lot of time on jobsites with his family, always being around Bobcats and other small equipment to help out with side projects. While in school he loved playing sports and was on his high school's football, wrestling, and track teams.
“I liked more than anything the feeling of being a part of a team, being a part of a group of guys and gals all driven towards a singular purpose and singular goal, and everyone having their role to play to get there, and then the leadership component that comes with it. Having coaches and mentors in place will teach you a lot about the sport but also about life beyond the sport. It was a huge part of my upbringing,” explains Keaton Taylor.
Building a Strong Team-focused Foundation
Around his senior year of high school, he noticed that construction and sports had something in common that resonated well with his values. A team striving together towards the same goal. With a career in construction management, he could work in an industry that was built around teamwork.
Taylor states, “I was fascinated by the idea of participating in a professional business setting where I can also see tangible results every single day with the work of a team. To get to be out on the jobsite, to get to be with a crew, with the teams, to feel that camaraderie and see what we're doing every single day, to see a dirt lot turned into a hospital or a high-rise tower - all of those things culminated to pique my interest in the construction route .”
As a college student at California Polytechnic State University, Taylor had opportunities to explore internships with both custom residential and commercial sides of construction. He explains, “Getting to be a part of building a hospital or a lab where research and sciences are being conducted that could solve even bigger problems in the world - that part felt fulfilling to me. So, I started gravitating more towards the commercial side of the construction industry the closer I got to graduation.”
With this path in mind, Taylor took an internship with a local commercial contracting company. This company happened to be on a jobsite with McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., the sibling company to Castle Contracting, LLC. Taylor explains, “While I was enjoying my internship at the time, I couldn't help but notice that it seemed like McCarthy was kicking a** in terms of progress and it seemed like they were having a lot more fun while they did it.” Once Taylor's internship concluded, he set his sights on McCarthy as the company he wanted to work for upon graduation.
Gaining Experience with McCarthy
Over the course of seven years, Taylor worked on five separate jobs across the Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego regions working for McCarthy. In 2018, Taylor was approached by McCarthy’s executive leadership and asked if he would be interested in moving over to Castle to help run operations.
Taylor recalls this tough decision, “I had really enjoyed my career thus far on the McCarthy side. I felt like things were going great, but this opportunity was a ‘forks in the road’ situation where I was wondering if I was going to look back at this and regret not saying yes to it. I thought long and hard about the decision and sought advice from a lot of people on the McCarthy side. Mike Bolen, our former CEO, was the one who told me, ‘You know, I've made it pretty far in this company by saying yes.’ Then, seeing Mike Myers come over from Castle in Saint Louis and watching him rise to the role of regional President of McCarthy Southern Pacific region, I just thought maybe this is a great opportunity. So, I made the jump and haven’t looked back.”
On the Move to Castle
In 2022, Taylor was promoted to Director of Operations for Castle SoPac working out of the Newport Beach office. This position has allowed him to focus more on the Annual Operating Plan process, business planning, and business development. “What I love about Castle is the ability to throw on that entrepreneurial cap,” said Taylor. “We have an opportunity at Castle to do things a little bit differently and put ourselves in a position to expand our service offerings. The entrepreneurial component of being over at Castle is the fact that we are nearly 100% self-perform and we get to work with our Castle field crews day in and day out, not managing sub tiers which could be the case a lot of times on big projects as a general contractor.”
Life on the Coast
With Taylor working out of the Newport Beach Castle office, he and his wife, Laura have chosen to live in San Clemente. It is a sleepy beach town about 30 minutes from Newport Beach and 30 minutes from Encinitas. They love the location because it allows them to be close to work, family, and the beach. Neither of them has ever lived in the area before, so it is a new community for them to experience. They own a golf cart that they ride down to the beach or restaurants during summer evenings to get the most out of their time away from work.
“We love being active and spending a lot of time at the beach and outdoors. Whether it’s walking on the beach or hiking a trail, we like to spend as much time outside as we can. I also enjoy getting on the golf course,” Keaton laughs. “I have managed to not improve my game at all in the last 10 years, but somehow I still keep coming back and still enjoy myself.”
Ready to join a motivated, professional team? Explore open positions at Castle Contracting today.
