HOW THE LIGHT FOUND ITS WAY IN
Origin Story
Facets & Fire began with a simple idea: we are shaped by what we experience, but we don’t have to be defined by any one experience.
What if we stopped allowing one part of our story to speak for all of it?
How the Idea Began
We all have experiences that shape us. Some we celebrate. Some we question. Some we’re still learning to embrace. But somewhere along the way, we can begin treating one experience, one role, or one version of ourselves as though it explains everything.
I wanted to create a space that challenged that idea.
The image that kept coming back to me was a diamond.
Why the Diamond
A diamond isn’t beautiful because every facet looks the same.
Each facet catches and reflects light differently, and together they create something no single surface could produce on its own.
I began thinking about our lives the same way.
Every experience leaves a facet. But no single facet gets to tell the whole story.
Facets & Fire grew from that belief—and from my own curiosity about the experiences, choices, relationships, roles, successes, disappointments, and contradictions that have shaped me without ever being all of me.
What I Hope You Find Here
I don’t want Facets & Fire to become another place that tells people who they should become.
I want it to be a place that makes us curious about who we already are.
A place for conversations we don’t always know how to start. Reflections that make us look twice. Books that stay with us after we’ve closed them. Questions without predetermined answers. And moments that remind us that even the facets we struggle to understand still belong to a much larger story.
My hope is that people come here and feel permission to explore all of it—the beautiful, complicated, surprising, unfinished parts—without allowing any one of them to become the definition.
An Invitation from the Book
Facets & Fire grew alongside my book, I Love You But I Love Me More—the fuller telling of the experiences that shaped this idea. If something here resonates, I hope you’ll find your way to its pages too.
MEET CAROLYN
I’m still exploring my facets, too.
I’ve spent much of my life being very good at the roles I was given—and the ones I chose: soldier, mother, grandmother, leader, professional, student, entrepreneur, author.
And I’m proud of those parts of my story.
But I’ve also learned that a role can tell you something about a person without telling you everything about her.
Facets & Fire comes from that realization.
I’m not here because I’ve mastered every lesson or figured out every facet. I’m here because I’ve become deeply interested in the questions—and I believe some of the best ones are worth exploring together.
I’m Dr. Carolyn Y. Taylor, author and founder of Facets & Fire.
Welcome. I’m glad you’re here.
Dr. Carolyn Y. Taylor is an author, entrepreneur, U.S. Army veteran, and experienced program and project management leader. She holds a Doctor of Business Administration, an MBA, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Where to Next
From here, the path is yours. Explore the Conversations for nine honest stories, or begin with a single Reflection if you’d rather sit with one question first. However you enter, every facet leads back to the same place: you, whole and unfinished, exactly as you are.