At 8 years old, he walked home from school in tears after a white adult accosted him at a bus stop with a racial slur. In junior high, one of his friends was murdered. “They announced it in homeroom,” he recalls.

But from these rough beginnings, Taylor has thrived. Today, he’s CEO of a Houston holding company with more than 400 employees, more than 250 customers, and about $90 million in annual revenue.

Iapetus Holdings runs a fast-growing portfolio of energy and utility service companies, including a commodities brokerage, a retail energy advisory and a company that provides aerial inspection services for utility lines. Iapetus also supports a foundation that exposes Houston-area high school students with diverse backgrounds to opportunities in the energy industry and teaches them the discipline and soft skills required for success in the corporate world.

On HoustonChronicle.com: A quiet, persistent trailblazer

Taylor’s journey began in Dogtown, the once-distressed neighborhood between Venice and Santa Monica, Calif. From here, he went on to a prestigious college prep school in Bloomington Hills, Mich.

He enlisted in the Navy after high school, served in the Navy’s Presidential Ceremonial Guard and oversaw a platoon of more than 50 people as a chief petty officer on the USS Ticonderoga. He earned a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Maryland, a law degree from Fordham University and an MBA through the joint Global Executive Program at Columbia University and London Business School.