The Purposeful Pivot-Trust, Inclusion, and the Future of Design

Welcome to MasonMade’s Founder Friday series! Every other week we highlight a founder as they share lessons learned and key takeaways. To be featured in our series or nominate another founder, email jennifer@masonmade.co.

Featured Founder: Taylor Martin, Founder + Chief Creative at Design Positive

Starting a business often begins with a spark, a passion, a problem you want to solve, or a vision for how things could be better. For Taylor Martin, founder of Design Positive, that spark was sustainability. What began as a green graphic design agency quickly grew into something much bigger: he was on a mission to make design not only sustainable, but also inclusive and trustworthy.

Taylor’s journey offers future founders an honest look at what it takes to grow a purpose-driven business. From unexpected first clients to lessons about “purposeful pivoting,” his story is filled with insights for anyone ready to step into entrepreneurship or make a shift in their current business model.

Lesson 1: Your First Idea Isn’t Always Your Final Destination

Taylor began his business with a singular focus on green design. But when he realized that inaccessible design excluded entire communities, he refined his mission. Sustainability wasn’t enough if people were being left out. By shifting to inclusive and accessible design, Taylor deepened his business’s purpose and created something far more impactful.

Future Founder Takeaway: Be open to refining your mission. The idea you start with will likely morph into something different, perhaps even bigger. That’s a sign of progress, not failure.

Lesson 2: Relationships Are Your Greatest Business Asset

Like most founders, Taylor’s first challenge was finding clients. He posted several online ads and within a month, he was designing Greenpeace’s annual report. Not long after, a former client reached out with new work — a relationship that continues to this day.

Those early wins gave him the confidence to keep moving forward, even when the path wasn’t always clear.

Future Founder Takeaway: Never underestimate the power of relationships. People remember you and the quality of the work you provide. Those connections can open doors to opportunities in the future that you never expected.

Lesson 3: Values Define Your Culture and Legacy

The team at Design Positive is guided by three core values: trust, inclusion, and impact. These principles don’t just influence design choices, they shape Taylor’s leadership style, drive collaboration, and strengthen client relationships.

Taylor leads with curiosity, collaboration, and integrity, ensuring that doing the right thing for the client is the priority, even when it’s not the easiest path. He instills and exemplifies these qualities with his entire team, which builds trust and integrity.

Future Founder Takeaway:  Define your values from the onset of launching your business and let them guide your decisions. They will become the foundation of your culture and be the legacy you leave behind.

Lesson 4: Adaptability Is Stronger Than Passion Alone

Taylor admits one of his most challenging lessons was realizing that passion alone isn’t enough to sustain a business. When he pivoted from green design to accessibility-focused branding, he wasn’t abandoning his original mission, but rather he was strengthening it.

Reframing his services and messaging was challenging, but it made his business more resilient and better aligned with real client needs.

Future Founder Takeaway: Flexibility is not failure. Pivoting when necessary makes your mission stronger and positions your business to last.

Lesson 5: Growth Is About Scaling Impact, Not Just Revenue

Looking to the future of his business, Taylor is focused on helping more purpose-driven brands build trust through accessibility. This includes client work, but he is also creating resources, speaking at events, and launching his book “Designing Trust” to reach even more people who want to make a lasting difference in the marketplace.

For him, growth isn’t just about bigger revenues, it’s about expanding impact and influence.

Future Founder Takeaway: True growth means scaling your mission, not just your bottom line. Stay curious, listen to your clients and the direction of your industry, and focus on making a lasting difference.

Taylor Martin’s story reminds us that building a business isn’t about having the perfect plan from day one. It’s about having an open mind to evolve, but with purpose. For future founders, it’s important to always stay curious, lean on your values with every new project or client, and strive to build something that stands the test of time. In a world where trust is the most valuable currency, businesses that lead with inclusion and integrity will always stand the test of time.