{"id":100555,"date":"2025-03-18T15:37:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T15:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=100555"},"modified":"2025-03-18T15:37:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T15:37:23","slug":"julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Julia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women, Leading The LIONS, & Driving Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Julia
Pictured: Julia Kisla Taylor; Photo Credit: The LIONS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At GRAZIA USA<\/em>, we’re dedicated to spotlighting the trailblazing women<\/a> shaping our world \u2014 and there’s no better time to celebrate their achievements than during International Women’s Month. This March, we turn our focus to Julia Kisla Taylor, the powerhouse CEO of The LIONS, whose commitment to empowering women extends far beyond the fashion industry.<\/p>\n

Kisla Taylor was recently honored at the Mercado Global Fashion Forward Gala<\/a> for her transformative work supporting Indigenous women artisans across Latin America. Under her leadership, The LIONS has championed initiatives that go beyond talent management, fostering partnerships that prioritize sustainability, diversity, and inclusion. From her groundbreaking work with the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund to empowering Rwandan women through UN Women, Kisla Taylor’s career is a testament to the power of combining business acumen with social responsibility and her dedication to empowering women globally.<\/p>\n

Beyond her executive role, Kisla Taylor\u00a0leverages her platform to drive meaningful conversations. As a contributing writer for The Fashionography, she addresses cultural and socio-political issues within the industry. Her partnership with Fashinnovation reflects her belief that technology and media can unite to create lasting change. Through every initiative, her mission remains clear: to uplift voices that are often overlooked and to create pathways for long-term economic empowerment.<\/p>\n

In our exclusive interview, Kisla Taylor opens up about the driving forces behind her career, the future of diversity and sustainability in fashion, and the profound lessons she’s learned while advocating for women worldwide. Keep reading as she shares her insights, challenges the status quo, and offers invaluable advice for the next generation of women leaders.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pictured: The LIONS CEO Julia Kisla Taylor being honored at the Mercado Global Fashion Forward Gala on Thursday, March 6. To celebrate and support her, she was joined by The LIONS talent Maggie Rawlins, Tanya Kizko, and Lameka Fox; Photo Credit: The LIONS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GRAZIA: You\u2019ve made such a remarkable impact in empowering Indigenous women artisans across Latin America. What initially inspired you to focus on this cause, and what has been the most rewarding aspect of this work?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

JULIA KISLA TAYLOR:<\/strong> Thank you! I think it\u2019s important to emphasize that impact is never the result of one person \u2014 it\u2019s the product of many hands and hearts working together. And there are definitely a lot of compassionate people who lend their time, expertise and resources which contributes to Mercado\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

What inspired me initially was the leadership behind this mission. Ruth Alvares DeGolia, the founder of Mercado Global, has an incredible ability to transform vision into action, which often makes all the difference between aspiring to create change and actually achieving it.<\/p>\n

The most rewarding aspect has been seeing how this work creates a ripple effect. It\u2019s not just about helping women earn a living; it\u2019s about giving them the tools and confidence to become leaders in their own communities. When you see women making financial decisions that secure their futures and their children gaining access to education, it reminds you that this work is about laying the foundation for generational change. It\u2019s about building a future where women everywhere have the tools and agency to rewrite their own narratives \u2014 and by extension, the narrative of the world.<\/p>\n

GRAZIA: As a leader at The LIONS, you\u2019ve helped shape narratives around diversity, inclusion, and sustainability in the fashion industry. How do you see the future of these values evolving in the next decade?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

KISLA TAYLOR:<\/strong> I believe the goal must be to move beyond \u201cinitiatives\u201d and make these values intrinsic to the fabric of how the fashion industry operates. Yet, with the new administration, we are witnessing a troubling shift \u2014 a rush to cancel these principles entirely, throwing the baby out with the bathwater.<\/p>\n

In fashion, creativity thrives on a wealth of perspectives that continually challenge the status quo. How can we expect to innovate with a room full of people who share the same experiences, outlooks, and privileges? Diversity and inclusion aren\u2019t about meeting some racial quotas or settling for mediocrity. They\u2019re about casting a wider net, reminding ourselves to look beyond traditional spaces, and uncovering talent that\u2019s been overlooked simply because no one thought to look there.<\/p>\n

Equally urgent is the issue of sustainability. Are we content to continue collapsing under the weight of our own unconscious consumerism? Should we keep passing the buck until there\u2019s nothing left? Why is that considered an acceptable practice? Asking these questions isn\u2019t radical \u2014 it\u2019s responsible. Fashion, like any industry, must take accountability. Profit and accountability aren\u2019t mutually exclusive \u2014 responsible practices ensure both longevity and relevance.<\/p>\n

I do not know how these values will evolve under the new administration, but as a forward-thinking agency, we will continue to invest in principles that drive resilience, foster creativity, and ensure long-term success.<\/p>\n

GRAZIA:\u00a0You\u2019ve been a part of global initiatives like the Small Business Recovery Program in Haiti and the Economic Empowerment Program for Rwandan women. Can you share a defining moment from these experiences that shaped your leadership philosophy?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

KISLA TAYLOR:<\/strong>\u00a0Great question. If I had to pinpoint one, I\u2019d say it\u2019s the realization that true leadership isn\u2019t about being at the center of every decision. In fact, you should often work quietly in the background. It\u2019s about creating the conditions for others to thrive. It\u2019s not enough to have a vision; you need to create an ecosystem where people can rise to take initiative, solve problems, and push boundaries.<\/p>\n

Innovation and progress often come from letting go \u2014 trusting others to step into their strengths while offering clarity and support when needed. It also means allowing room for structured failures, where mistakes become opportunities for learning and growth, rather than setbacks.<\/p>\n

GRAZIA: In celebration of International Women\u2019s Month, how can the fashion industry better support and empower women, especially those in underserved communities or marginalized groups?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

KISLA TAYLOR:<\/strong> Well, this is at the heart of DEI, isn\u2019t it? The unique tension in fashion lies between visibility and authority. Women are hyper-visible \u2014 on runways, in campaigns \u2014 but visibility without agency creates only the illusion of progress. Fashion is built on rigid hierarchies, with power concentrated in the hands of a few who often operate in unchecked environments, allowing exploitative behaviors to persist.<\/p>\n

To truly support women, we must consistently amplify their voices and stories. Without a voice, there is no agency; without agency, women are commodified, reduced to objects, and ultimately dehumanized. Breaking this cycle requires challenging systemic marginalization and ensuring women are decision-makers, not just symbols.<\/p>\n

GRAZIA: What has been the most surprising challenge you\u2019ve faced while advocating for Indigenous women\u2019s rights, and how did you overcome it?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

KISLA TAYLOR:<\/strong> In any nonprofit work, the challenge lies in the fact that, as humans, we lead busy lives and focus on what affects us most immediately. Extending empathy to distant issues or connecting the local to the global without context is difficult. It\u2019s reasonable to wonder, \u2018Why should someone care about Mayan women in Guatemala?\u2019 But any local struggle carries broader implications. Perhaps the rights of Indigenous women feel far removed, but can you relate to the idea of empowering women through dignified work? That\u2019s what Mercado\u2019s mission is about. Isolationist tendencies are built on fantasies of a disconnected world, but our lives are deeply interconnected. Your life may not seem tied to Ukrainian freedom or women\u2019s reproductive rights, but the inability to see these broader implications \u2014 such as how inequality or instability elsewhere fuels larger global challenges \u2014 will eventually lead to issues right on your doorstep.<\/p>\n

GRAZIA: With your extensive work in both the public and private sectors, how do you balance business goals with social responsibility, and what advice would you give to other women in leadership roles?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

KISLA TAYLOR:<\/strong> Balancing business goals with social responsibility starts with recognizing that they\u2019re not at odds \u2014 they can and should complement each other. In my experience, long-term success comes from aligning your mission with your values. Social responsibility isn\u2019t a distraction; it can be your strategic advantage.<\/p>\n

For women in leadership roles, my advice is to trust your instincts. Intuition is often undervalued in traditional leadership frameworks, which tend to favor pragmatism. But intuition isn\u2019t a weakness \u2014 it\u2019s a powerful tool for navigating uncertainty and making decisions in complex environments. Leadership isn\u2019t about data or even strategy; it\u2019s about understanding people, anticipating needs, and seeing connections others might miss. Intuition allows you to read between the lines and act decisively when there\u2019s no clear roadmap. It\u2019s not about rejecting pragmatism but complementing it with a perspective that\u2019s deeply human and adaptive.<\/p>\n

Plus, intuition is a competitive advantage for women in a predominantly male world. So, go ahead and lean into it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42686,"featured_media":100559,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[17,16],"yoast_head":"\nJulia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women & Leading The LIONS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Julia Kisla Taylor of The LIONS shares her journey empowering Indigenous women, fostering diversity in fashion, and balancing business with social impact.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Julia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women, Leading The LIONS, & Driving Change\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Julia Kisla Taylor of The LIONS shares her journey empowering Indigenous women, fostering diversity in fashion, and balancing business with social impact.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grazia USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/03\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/\",\"name\":\"Julia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women & Leading The LIONS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-18T15:37:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-18T15:37:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"Julia Kisla Taylor of The LIONS shares her journey empowering Indigenous women, fostering diversity in fashion, and balancing business with social impact.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Julia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women, Leading The LIONS, & Driving Change\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\",\"name\":\"Grazia USA\",\"description\":\"Driving tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Julia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women & Leading The LIONS","description":"Julia Kisla Taylor of The LIONS shares her journey empowering Indigenous women, fostering diversity in fashion, and balancing business with social impact.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Julia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women, Leading The LIONS, & Driving Change","og_description":"Julia Kisla Taylor of The LIONS shares her journey empowering Indigenous women, fostering diversity in fashion, and balancing business with social impact.","og_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/","og_site_name":"Grazia USA","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/03\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/","name":"Julia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women & Leading The LIONS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-18T15:37:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-18T15:37:23+00:00","description":"Julia Kisla Taylor of The LIONS shares her journey empowering Indigenous women, fostering diversity in fashion, and balancing business with social impact.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/julia-kisla-taylor-the-lions-empowering-women\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Julia Kisla Taylor on Empowering Women, Leading The LIONS, & Driving Change"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/","name":"Grazia USA","description":"Driving tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Grazia USA","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/100555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}