{"id":515573,"date":"2025-10-20T16:40:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T20:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/magazine\/?p=515573"},"modified":"2026-05-10T17:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:16:16","slug":"poole-pack-profiles-get-to-know-eileen-taylor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/magazine\/poole-pack-profiles-get-to-know-eileen-taylor\/","title":{"rendered":"Poole Pack Profiles: Meet Eileen Taylor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

Poole College accounting professor Eileen Taylor<\/a> has years of experience both in academia and the private sector. She’s also the president of a nonprofit that delivers fresh flowers, and it doesn’t take an accountant to explain how that brightens someone’s day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taylor\u2019s draw to The Flower Shuttle, a Raleigh-based nonprofit that has delivered about 350,000 flower arrangements over 18 years, has nothing to do with the financial analysis, taxes and auditing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about people.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many Flower Shuttle recipients, \u201cGetting cut flowers is something they\u2019ve never experienced. It\u2019s not the first thing you buy if you have a limited budget. It\u2019s nice to supplement all the charities that do needed things for people,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cWhat we do is not needed, but appreciated.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like flower delivery, Taylor’s instruction can make a powerful impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love it when students give feedback that they can use the skills they\u2019ve learned in their day-to-day life, when they have that aha moment and something just clicks. They\u2019re able to apply what they\u2019ve learned somewhere else,\u201d says Taylor, who has been a Poole faculty member since 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Changing Field<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Taylor\u2019s goal when she finished her undergraduate accounting degree was to be an accountant. \u201cIt\u2019s a very clear career path…and you can get your CPA license,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are ways to demonstrate your competence without it being subjective.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She worked as an auditor at Deloitte, a controller at a nonprofit foundation, and was an adjunct instructor before she pursued a doctoral degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taylor enjoyed teaching and research so much, she decided to pursue a career in academia.    <\/p>\n\n\n

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“I love it when students give feedback that they can use the skills they\u2019ve learned in their day-to-day life, when they have that aha moment and something just clicks.”<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When she entered the then-male dominated field around 1990, pay discrimination against women was common in accounting \u2014 which Taylor notes also happened in other professions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, \u201cThere\u2019s not the conclusion that if you\u2019re a woman coming in, you\u2019re going to leave, have kids and not come back to accounting,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause there have been women who have stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That includes Taylor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eileen
Eileen Taylor (in black) with her family. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As she has stayed in accounting, her research has focused on fraud, ethics and whistleblowing in the field, and she became a CPA and certified fraud examiner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a strong sense of equality and justice,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cPeople who get away with fraud can really harm a company so that innocent employees lose their jobs\u2026It\u2019s important to the profession for accountants to be seen as working in the public interest, so the public can trust them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Flower Shuttle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With her teaching load and research to maintain trust in the accounting profession, it\u2019s a wonder Taylor has time for volunteer work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But flowers were hard to resist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s been involved with The Flower Shuttle since 2017 and president since 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three hundred volunteers deliver flowers to about 70 organizations, mostly in Cary, Durham and Raleigh. Flowers end up at hospitals, nursing homes, nonprofits, NC State\u2019s food bank \u2014 and even the state Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donations come mostly from grocery stores. \u201cThese are all flowers that would end up in the trash,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing that volunteers are so dedicated they keep doing it, but they do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That dedication means 2,500 to 4,000 arrangements delivered monthly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Flowers aren\u2019t Taylor\u2019s only diversion from accounting\u2019s demands. She and her husband convert homes into short-term rentals. He makes renovations, she decorates interiors. \u201cIt\u2019s a creative activity to balance the accounting part of my life,\u201d says Taylor, who also quilts and participates in a book club. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But family is her main motivator. Taylor and her husband, whom she met when she was 15, have been married nearly 40 years. Their three children are all NC State graduates \u2014 two of them Poole College alumni. Their children and three grandsons live in Raleigh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Eileen
Eileen Taylor’s three grandsons live in Raleigh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Family is also her biggest accomplishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy husband and I can be this role model of resilience and understanding that things are not always great, but it\u2019s how you react that matters most,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cWe can show them the importance of taking care of yourself first. If you can\u2019t do that, you can\u2019t take care of your spouse and family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Taylor\u2019s self-care activities is yoga, and she\u2019s a longtime practitioner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with flowers is another.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want to arrange and deliver flowers? It\u2019s a way to give back to the community,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s very positive. When people get flowers, they\u2019re so happy. It\u2019s joyous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n