Tayloe/Gray

tayloegray.com
Year Founded: 2009
No. of Employees: 20
Top local official: Nathan Tayloe, owner and CEO

Around 2007, a friend of Nathan Tayloe’s had a suggestion for him.

“One of my buddies calls me up and says, ‘Hey, Andrew Gray is moving to Wilmington.’ He said, ‘You guys will probably get along. Be his friend.’ And so, we started out just hanging out and chatting it up and realized we had a lot in common,” said Tayloe, owner and CEO of the Wilmington-based Tayloe/Gray agency. “He was going to MBA school at the time, and we had flirted with the idea of maybe working together.”

Gray graduated with an MBA from the University of North Carolina Wilmington but discovered during his job search that no one was hiring.

“He said, ‘Well, let’s just, you know, create a company and do this together.’ And I said, ‘All right, let’s go,’” Tayloe recalled.

The pair decided they needed an office for their new digital marketing agency, starting in a dilapidated space above a cupcake shop.

“We created something cool, and then, of course, moved into the building that we’re in now,” said Tayloe, referring to 221 N. Second St. in downtown Wilmington.

Tayloe had his own web and graphic design business for nine years before starting Tayloe/Gray, but “when Andrew came along, we decided to step it up and into high gear and really get employees and all that good stuff,” Tayloe said.

He said the agency enjoys representing manufacturers.

“Manufacturers are really good at creating their products but usually are not very good at marketing those products,” Tayloe said. “So, when we come on, we can help them showcase their product in a different light and do the things that they didn’t have time to do.”

The company currently has 20 employees. Andrew Gray died of cancer at the age of 42 in 2019, but his legacy lives on through Tayloe/Gray.

Tayloe said, “For 15 years, we’ve empowered local, regional and national companies, fostering success by providing business owners and under-resourced marketing managers with the opportunity to utilize our deep roster of experts in marketing, technology and the creative fields to propel their businesses forward.”

He said plans for the agency include continuing to help companies grow.

“Tayloe/Gray strives to foster growth for regional and national businesses, and, through that work, increase the prosperity of our region and nation,” Tayloe said. “We always aim to provide top-tier service and tremendous results for our client partners with a sensational team of specialists.”