Joshuah Taylor is entering his second season on the Toledo men's cross country team. He is an honor roll in the College of Business and Innovation and is pursuing a degree in pre-entrepreneurship and business. A two-time All-Ohio honoree at Bryan High School, Joshuah has developed a passion for woodworking. He even started his own business, "Joshuah Taylor Woodworking," in 2020.

On how he got into woodworking

I started back in March of 2020, right before quarantine hit. To start, I was working in sheds out in the woods, and then during the winter months, I moved into the garage. I started with carving spoons and making handles for knives. After that, it really took off. I watched a lot of YouTube videos to learn, and after that, I really fell in love with woodworking.

On how he turned woodworking into a business

I never thought that it could be my career until last summer. I used woodworking as a high school job for two summers. I sold small items such as soap holders and coasters, and then my first big project was a dresser. After I built that and sold it, I was able to buy a bunch of tools and realized that I could really do this. Any money I made from woodworking, I wanted to put back into it by buying tools and any equipment I needed.

On his family's support for his business

My family has always been supportive. My dad let me use some of his drills and circular saws to get started. I was fortunate to have a stable home life, so I was able to save the money I made woodworking and reinvest it into better tools and creating my own workspace. 

On the challenges he faced while balancing cross country, woodworking, and academics

The biggest challenge was knowing when to take time for myself. Over the summer, I worked a job 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and then I would go home Friday night and woodwork until Sunday, and then repeat. Then having to run 80 miles on top of that for most of the summer got demanding. Once I first got to Toledo, I focused more on running and school. But now I'm going home every weekend to woodwork and spend time with family. It's a grind, but you get used to it and it's all about having your priorities straight and staying committed.

On how woodworking has benefited his cross country career

I think woodworking does a good job of getting my mind off of running and other things, and cross country helps take my mind off of woodworking. They go hand in hand. I'm very passionate about both, so it's good to have a balance between the two. I think woodworking has helped me enjoy running more than before. It has helped me not be so stressed and changed my mindset when it came to running, which was to just have fun with it. I think that has shown in my improvement from last year to this year.