BEN AND MEGAN TAYLOR

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - “For everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven.”

Born in Ohio, Megan Zezzo Taylor spread her roots around America traveling the country with her dad, Dana Zezzo, a twenty-year industry veteran of the promotional products industry.   

“I thought the industry was amazing,” Megan beams. “Growing up, I would go to the tradeshows with my dad and always looked forward to receiving giveaways.” 

With promos in her bloodline, there was no question Megan would begin her career in the industry. Spending countless hours at events, she shares how it was at the outset. “Dad was always booked for speaking engagements at regional events so I would help him organize and prepare for those and sit in on those meetings.”

But life on the road wasn’t always easy. Megan explains, “National sales is a grind—one I love, but a grind, nonetheless. There was a year that my Dad and I traveled about forty weeks at Jetline together, so I received thousands of hours of training for my career path by having the opportunity to work directly for my Dad. I can’t be grateful enough for the quality time together and the experiences that were integral in helping me sharpen my skills.”

A few neighboring states away in Virginia, Ben Taylor, also born a promo baby, was helping his father in the industry. “In the 90’s, my dad (before he started BamBams in 2003) had a printing business called Northern Virginia Press.   At that same time, he also worked as a distributor,” Ben says. “My grandfather, on my Mom’s side, had a nice printing and forms business, so that’s where my Dad got his start. You might say I was born into it - though I ran pretty hard from it for a lot of years. It did provide me valuable lessons in using art applications like Illustrator, but I was too naïve to understand the value that my Dad was putting out into the world as an entrepreneur at that time. I didn’t want it the way he did.” 

But Megan working with her dad was a different story. She lights up when she speaks of the promotional products industry. “I absolutely loved it.” 

After Megan obtained her bachelor’s degree in business, she joined Catania, a supplier in Ohio, moved onto Jetline before landing at S&S Activewear where she’s been a member of the National Accounts Team for the past five years.

Ben clarifies. “I didn’t have quite the experience as Megan did growing up in the industry. I was eighteen and leaving the house in 2002 when my dad started BamBams. So where she got to do a lot of that through middle school and high school, I was checked out—on to bigger and better things—or so I thought.”

Determined to be different, Ben ventured down a different path. “I started my career in the Marine Corp,” he says. “And then I worked as an Intelligence contractor. After that, I started a digital media agency called TailorMedia Group, and then I went to work for Gallup Management Consulting Company, which was invaluable experience wherein I consulted senior leadership like at Home Depot, Coca-Cola and Lowes—mainly on leadership development from a sales perspective.” 

Post Gallup life, Ben went to his father, Dan Taylor, and his partner, Damien Siggia, and presented an idea to join BamBams. Once he started and got his first taste of an industry event, he signed on for life. Ben went onto serve as BamBams’ Chief Marketing Officer for four and a half years before he decided to make a change. 

“My time at BamBams was—hands down—the most valuable working experience in my career to date as I learned how much my Dad actually does for people. The thing I love most about entrepreneurship is the opportunity to serve others while fulfilling that drive many of us possess. That deafening noise - that voice in your head telling you to build and overcome. You never know what is over the next hill, so you’re constantly finding out what you’re made of…how much grit you have. I love it! I learned that from my Dad.”  

Switching from work to personal, Ben shares, “This is a hilarious story. I had known Dana, Megan’s dad, for a while. One day he said to me, ‘Hey, I have to introduce you to my daughter. You’re going to love her; she hunts and fishes, too.'  About six months to a year later, he introduced me to Megan at a national sales conference in Washington, D.C. It just happened to be, though, that’s not exactly what Dana meant when he said ‘you’re going to love her.’ So when I called him to tell him I was in love with his daughter, he let me know just that. Looking back, we can all laugh. But, boy, talk about a time of wild change in our lives.”  

What are the odds? All those years of being in the same places at the same time but never crossing paths, and then right timing happened for Ben and Megan.

Even funnier, shortly after Ben met Megan, he called a buddy and confidently stated, “I’m going to marry this girl. I barely know her, but I already know I’m going to marry this girl.”

Megan had the same instinct as Ben. “We would stay up until four and five in the morning talking. We had so much to talk about, and I felt like I had known him so much longer than the short time that I actually had, not to mention…he’s extremely attractive,” she says with a wide smile.

Yet the second time they met, Megan found it odd at the very random question Ben asked. “He asked me what my middle name was, and I thought it was so strange.”

Come to find out, every female in Ben’s family, from his great grandmother on down, has “Elizabeth” for a middle name—even the females who’d married into the family. So when Megan announced her middle name was “Elizabeth,” that planted a seed in Ben’s mind.

And so it was on October 25th, 2020, at River Creek Club, situated at the base of the Shenandoah Valley in Leesburg, Virginia, Megan and Ben married in the beautiful and breathtaking country overlooking the Potomac River.  

Normal temperatures that time of year there average between fifty and seventy degrees. But on their wedding day, it was overcast, cloudy, cold and rainy. 

Aside from the chills courtesy of the weather, one of the “something borrowed” items Megan got to wear was a beautiful, white fur coat that had been handed down to his mom from his deceased grandmother, who Ben was always incredibly close with. Now Megan had the honor of keeping warm by wearing a sentimental article of clothing previously owned and worn by a woman who’d always warmed Ben’s heart. 

Although somewhat slighted by inclement weather, Ben and Megan had a great wedding ceremony surrounded by immediate family. About one hundred and fifty people attended virtually - signaling an insincere hand wave to Covid for keeping their guests from celebrating with them in person. Around forty percent of those online viewers were their promo family, who’d tuned in to celebrate their special occasion.

Truth be told, a wonderful relationship filled with love and romantic bliss had its downside. In early 2019, before they’d married, Megan faced what she describes as “an unbelievable struggle.” Difficulties she had never before dealt with surfaced from out of the blue. Ben suffered thirty-six seizures within a two month period. They spent the better part of that time in the hospital working with the doctors to try to figure out what was causing Ben’s health demise. 

And then it was discovered: It wasn’t physical, it was stress. A combination of PTSD, anxiety, trauma, and fear driven by Ben’s experiences. 

In his words, Ben shares, “It is something I struggle with - and deep anxieties. Really, anxiety is the main symptom of post-traumatic stress. I call it PTSD now more than I call it PTS. It’s something that is less of a disorder and more of a symptom of what we’ve experienced in our lives. Whether it be combat driven or familial abuse or the different traumas you have experienced throughout your life, post-traumatic stress and the anxiety that’s driven from it is incredibly damaging. It’s something I have fought with very heavily, and I have found ways to overcome it that are healthy and work for me.”

With a push from Megan, Ben checked himself into some intensive therapy. “It wasn’t something I wanted to do,” he admits. “There is a non-profit organization based in Virginia, where I’m from, run by a buddy of mine, Mark, who is an Army Combat Veteran—a Sapper—who lost both of his legs in Iraq. He created this program called Warrior 360 to help Veterans that are in immediate need.  

“Mark called the VA and a couple of other resources and he got me into this program free of charge, which was amazing. I built a foundation of faith through those two months of extensive therapy, which made the most difference because for me it developed a purpose and founding principles for my life. My Christian faith has been the major differentiator in everything for my mental health.

“In fact, that’s something that really grounded us together. Walking with Christ is so important for me and Megan. It’s, without a doubt, the defining base of our relationship and something that is vital to us and that we actively live and lead every day.

Megan certainly won’t disagree with the challenges. “It’s been really difficult, but it gets better every day. You can’t bury your history. You can’t bury the stories. You can’t bury all that. It will destroy you.”

“The more Ben talks about it and gets the therapy he needs, the stronger he becomes to help other people, Megan shares. “At the end of the day, he has the biggest heart. He is so passionate about helping other people. That’s what helped me through all of this because I didn’t have a clue about mental health issues. I wasn’t surrounded by it growing up, so I had no idea of the severity. I had to stay strong and help him along the way.”

But there is beauty in the ashes. Ben wants to give back as well - to Veterans. “Something that is very near and dear to my heart is Veterans who suffer from heavy anxiety and post-traumatic stress,” Ben says. “So I would love to see a future where, as a community of Veterans inside the promotional products industry, we put more of a focus on talking about mental health and what that means to our community and overcoming challenges.” 

By transforming adversity into prosperity, Ben - now President of Promoful powered by PMGOA - makes a very valid point for everyone in the industry. “Promotional products can be a really amazing way to bring awareness to the needs we have, not only as a society, but inside the industry as well. As supplier reps, we spend forty or fifty weeks on the road sometimes. That can be a major challenge, too. So I’m working on - and would love to figure out a way - of building that community there and providing awareness for what’s going on and providing assistance for those that need to have somebody to talk to.”

So incredibly passionate about his cause, Ben stresses, “In fact, if anyone is reading this article and needs someone to talk to, call me, message me, email me - whatever you need to do to get in touch, don’t hesitate.”

Take notes, promo folks, as Ben offers stellar advice. “There are so many unique applications to everything that we sell, whether it be a piece of apparel or something technology driven. It’s less about what the item is and more about the messaging behind it and how we put that creative together to provide support and provide awareness.” 

Ben puts his thinking cap on. “There are thousands of non-profits out there that support the Veterans communities and mental health communities. Those are really unique opportunities for us to do something they’ve never seen with a product they never thought of, like taking a blanket and making it an item of comfort and marketing instead of just saying, ‘Hey! This is what you get when you donate fifty dollars to the Wounded Warrior Project.’ Let’s elevate that, and that’s kind of what I’m hoping for!”

Now maybe it’s time we give back to those who gave the most-our Veterans-because after all…