Project Manager Bibi Taylor: In Praise of Parental Guidance and the Great Outdoors

By Keith Hamm Thu May 30, 2024 | 12:15am

Planetwide, you’ll likely find nobody better suited than Bibi Taylor to harmonize the seemingly disparate worlds of wild-river fly fishing and high-end construction management. She’s got both in her blood.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Taylor’s simultaneous exposure to the construction industry and fly fishing came early as her artist parents launched a house-painting business primarily so they could suspend operations each summer to take family trips to the trout rivers of Montana.

Those childhood experiences in nature — and getting dragged to job sites at a young age — would inform how she performed in the modern-day work world.

“Fly fishing requires focus on everything around you at the moment,” Taylor says. “Same with managing construction projects — things are always changing, requiring attention to detail and creative problem solving.”

After her parents split, Taylor’s mom took over the painting business. “Being a single mom, she had to make it work,” Taylor remembers. “She had a project in Santa Barbara” — painting a 1917 Reginald Johnson villa owned by music and film icon Burl Ives — “and ended up staying.” Over the years, Taylor says, her mom got more into specialty finishing to create a niche for herself.

After graduating from UC Santa Cruz in 1990, Taylor moved to Santa Barbara to work with her mom. During summers, she worked with her dad, a licensed outfitter, as a fishing guide in Montana and Wyoming. It’s a lifelong craft she still practices today with her own kid and his friends.

In 2002, Taylor upped her career game with a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University. Right away, she landed a job in corporate finance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good fit, she said. “I hated it.”

Her first taste of construction project management was at Lazy Acres on the Mesa as the high-end grocery store grew its appeal, she remembers. “I got my foot in the door as a project coordinator alongside one of the owners, who became a mentor.” For several years after, she worked as an independent contractor on large residential projects, finding her own niche.

While rewarding, the constant hustle was also challenging. Wrapping up a large project in 2019, she decided to search for something more steady. She joined Giffin & Crane as a project manager later that year.

Now as a senior project manager, she looks forward to opportunities to provide guidance to others breaking into the industry. Taylor still draws inspiration from her contractor mom, now retired, who taught her the ropes, and enjoys paying it forward.

“I love this industry,” she says. “Being a part of a team that creates something long-lasting for others to enjoy is challenging and so rewarding.”

Giffin & Crane has been building custom homes in Santa Barbara since 1986.