Life has been a whirlwind for Kayla TaylorBradley. The Ackerman native has lived in quite a few states and explored quite a few careers since graduation from Ackerman High School. Her latest role makes her the newest face in the Choctaw County Soil and Water Conservation District Office in Ackerman. She began her new adventure as district clerk in March, and she has worked to successfully transplant herself into the district’s outreach programs. “I love to be able to teach kids about farming and conservation because I’ve done it all my life, and about 80 percent of my job revolves around outreach programs,” Taylor-Bradley said. “We have to teach the younger generation to be the keepers of what we hold dear with conservation because what we do here impacts the state and the world.” Taylor-Bradley is the only daughter of a family of six children born to Quincy and Georgia Taylor, a retired assistant teacher at Ackerman Elementary School. She considers herself a third-generation farmer in Choctaw County, following in the footsteps of her dad, Quincy Taylor, and her grandfather, Titus Murphy. In the county, the family raised cows, grew their own crops, managed other people’s farms, and owned rental property. “I didn’t know how important it was to take care of the land until I became an adult so I want to stress that importance and teach children as they grow to be good stewards of what God has given us,” Taylor-Bradley said. “Growing up I had five brothers so I had to learn just like them.” For her education, Taylor-Bradley initially attended Hinds Community College, studying physical therapy. Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina impacted the college and displaced its students. At that time, Taylor-Bradley moved to California to assist her maternal grandmother, Daisy Murphy Powell, who lived in Fresno before her death. At her family’s encouragement, Taylor-Bradley returned to Choctaw County in 2013 to manage Murphy Funeral Home for them. She helmed the mortuary until it was sold to Beck Funeral Home in 2017. Once back in Mississippi, Bradley returned to school and earned an associate’s degree in business administration from East Mississippi Community College. She later earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations and a minor in Marketing from Mississippi State University. Her career path has taken a somewhat winding direction, but Taylor-Bradley feels it has all happened for a reason. At various points in time, she has been an office manager for a home health care facility in Eupora, a paralegal for a district judge in Starkville, and an e-Learner developer and training facilitator for a large law firm in Atlanta. And all roads have eventually led her back to Choctaw County. Besides her Soil and Water Conservation position, TaylorBradley is a motivational speaker and works as a business development consultant, which she earlier did remotely before COVID. Of her job, TaylorBradley said, “I help small to mid-size businesses, especially farmers, grow and gain visibility through digital marketing and strategic planning.” Since 2023, Bradley has been married to Xavier Bradley, a fellow Ackerman native who works as a commercial driver for Knight Transportation. They both graduated from Ackerman High School. “We are excited to reconnect with our county and plant deeper roots here,” TaylorBradley said. “As I reflect on my path, God’s purpose for my life is not only cultivating the ground, but planting seeds into people’s lives. I’m committed to helping organizations and people grow on every level.” Taylor-Bradley looks forward to hopefully extending her reach with the Soil and Water Conservation District. Upcoming for the district office will be the annual Conservation Carnival. “This year’s carnival will be on 9/11 for all fifth-grade classes in Choctaw County. This includes Ackerman, French Camp, and Weir,” Bradley said. “I’m always learning myself, and I want to help plant the seeds to help grow and inspire this rising generation of leaders.”
