Linda Taylor
Linda Taylor (She/Her) is a seasoned sales professional, interior design specialist, and customer relations manager based in Greater Boston. Her journey in the furniture industry began 30 years ago when her aunt recognized her natural talent with color and people and encouraged her to pursue interior design. Linda earned a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from Endicott College in Beverly, becoming the first in her family to graduate from college. As the oldest of four children raised by a single mother in a low-income family, this achievement was a significant milestone and a source of personal pride.
Linda launched her career at Circle Furniture during her senior year internship, ultimately dedicating more than 25 years to the company. She excelled in sales management, coaching and motivating teams of 4–6 people, setting daily sales goals, and guiding customers in creating beautiful spaces through both individual item sales and full-room designs. She successfully managed two store locations, with one recently receiving the Best of Boston Home 2025 recognition. Linda consistently took a proactive approach, nurturing client relationships, collaborating with interior designers, and generating business rather than waiting for walk-in traffic, which contributed to sustained store growth and customer satisfaction.
After Circle Furniture closed all nine stores unexpectedly in December 2025, Linda is exploring her next professional chapter with enthusiasm and flexibility. She is currently pursuing her CDL certification to enter the trucking industry, combining her goal-driven mindset with a passion for helping others achieve success. Linda remains open to new opportunities potentially out of state where she can leverage her extensive experience in sales, interior design, and relationship management to create meaningful impact and continue empowering individuals and teams to thrive.
• Endicott College - Bachelors, Interior Design
• Employee of the Year - Circle Furniture (won twice)
• Best of Boston Home 2025 (location managed)
• Interior Design Society
• Professional Women's Group for Industry Driving
• Renew Co Living
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my mom, certainly. She's a strong woman who has shown me that hard work and dedication can get you whatever you want in life. Disappointments come, but being able to stay true to what it is that you're after is what my mom has taught me. In the furniture industry, I've also had a very strong mentor, Peggy Burns, who has been extremely helpful in teaching me all aspects of the furniture industry. She herself should be a mentor in some way in the furniture industry, and I keep saying to her - she just retired - you should be a mentor, but she doesn't see that in herself, and it breaks my heart. There are so many people that she's helped. She's so generous and kind, like my mom too, just very patient people. They may not always say a lot, but them being there for what you need is everything.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I guess it goes back to never give up, stay true to yourself. If it's something that you are passionate about, go for it. Just because you're a woman doesn't mean you can't have it. Going through a time period when the furniture industry was very male-dominated for most of my experience was challenging. When I first got in, I was only 19, and that whole 'oh, the pretty girl' kind of thing was very uncomfortable. That's where Peggy came in - she was young then too - and she reminded me that I'm a strong woman and I don't need to be intimidated by this male environment. It taught me a lot in my early years about how to stand up for myself and not give in to anything inappropriate, using my head versus my looks and all that stuff.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
We can do anything. If it's something that you truly believe in and you're passionate about it, go for it. Don't let anybody talk you out of it or dissuade you from it. If it's your true passion, go for it. And I would also say to women coming in today, always be learning. When you get up there in age, there's a true thing about ageism and all that kind of stuff, so you want to be relevant in every way you can possibly be. If AI's the new thing, then learn it. You want to stay curious, keep learning, keep growing, and keep building your skills.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In general, purchasing of furniture has slowed down. We operate in a medium to high-end price point, so with people watching their pocketbooks these days, the number of customers that are coming through is a challenge. That's what makes it important to have a good management team, where we're not just waiting for a customer to come through the door. We're working through old contacts, or even contacts who haven't finished their project yet, or just reaching out to people we've already connected with, as opposed to waiting for new customers. You can't just wait for customers to come through the door anymore. You have to really be proactive and work your leads. We've started to reach out to interior designers business-wise, because designers tend to be busy right now, so if people are hiring designers, why wouldn't we be a connection for them?
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that matter most to me, both at work and in my personal life, are honesty, certainly communication, loyalty, and hard work. I know hard work is kind of overused these days, and new generations that are coming up have a different idea of what hard work means. But I'm sure my grandmother said the same thing about my generation. Those principles guide how I show up, how I treat people, and how I approach every responsibility. We also believe in working smarter, not harder at Circle Furniture, because just making things more difficult doesn't make sense.