Debra Taylor is the president of Hoover Service Club.
Q: Tell us a bit about you.
A: Hi, my name is Debra Taylor, and I am honored to be serving this year as president of Hoover Service Club. A little bit about myself: I grew up in Anniston, Ala. I attended college at Auburn, where I majored in industrial engineering and where I met my husband, Lee. We have lived in Hoover since 1987. We have two adult children, both of whom graduated from Spain Park High School. And, I also have a beautiful corgi puppy.
Q: What’s the best part about living here?
A: One of the things I like best about living in Hoover is that, even though we're considered a pretty large town,we still have that small town atmosphere where you run into people that you know everywhere you go. I love the education system that Hoover has to offer, and I love the parks. Personally, my family spends a lot of time at Veterans Park—it's such a great facility.
Q: How did you decide to pursue your career?
A: When I graduated from high school, I was one of those people who was pretty good at math and science, so teachers encouraged me to consider engineering, which I did. There were not that many women in the field at the time. I enjoyed my career for a lot of years, but then I had my children and I was blessed to start what I call my second career, which has been the opportunity to volunteer for a lot of different schools and causes and organizations here in Hoover.
Q: What’s something about you that people might be surprised to learn?
A: Most people probably don't know about me is that I was actually a founding member of my sorority Alpha Xi Delta on the Auburn University campus. They have been on campus now for 45 years and are still doing very well. It was a wonderful opportunity. I made lifelong friends, and then the added perk was my daughter joined the same sorority when she was at Auburn a few years ago.
Q: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
A: If I could change one thing about me, it would be to make myself into a morning person. I am not a morning person at all. I envy people who can wake up at the crack of dawn and exercise and get their day going, but that is just not me and I'm envious of the people who can do that.
