GAIN Monthly Luncheon Speaker Series-Wednesday, July, 25 2012 Presents Kristi Taylor of T5 Tech (MonkeyWish.com)

Kristi Taylor is the founder and CEO of MonkeyWish.com, a universal gift registry that allows members to build lists from any website or store either online or through the use of MonkeyWish.com's exclusive smart phone application. A wife and mother of three, Kristi’s family was the driving force behind her vision, spurring her to create the website to fill what she saw as a major void in the retail world. 

As a Gainesville native and serial entrepreneur, Kristi’s business experience began at a young age, working at her family’s self-storage facility and often tagging along to learn the ins and outs of her father’s real estate development company.  Inspired by huge risks and even bigger rewards, Kristi followed her father’s footsteps into the world of real estate, where she spent nearly 15 years and met her now-husband and business partner, Eric.  Since 1997, she has participated in more that $75 million in real estate sales, and obtained success through diverse experiences from negotiation and acquisition to construction.

It wasn’t until her real estate experience introduced her to innovation via Progress Corporate Park in Alachua, Florida, that Kristi discovered her passion for technology development.  She tapped into her inner entrepreneur during a pre-holiday shopping trip to ToysRUs. Kristi was attempting to help her children make wish lists, while trying to find gifts for other members of the family.  What she found was that the antiquated pen and paper method of making lists was simply not working. As a busy mother of three faced with the daunting holiday season, Kristi looked for a digital way to make creating lists and gift giving easier.  When she found nothing, Kristi set out to build technology that would solve the problem so many people face for every important occasion, not just holidays.

When asked why she created MonkeyWish.com, Kristi will you tell, “As a busy mother, I embrace the tools that help make life more efficient. I hope MonkeyWish.com allows all the busy bodies in the world to stress less about ‘what to give’ and instead spend more quality time with their loved ones.”

MonkeyWish.com’s current home is at Innovation HUB at the University of Florida and Kristi and her family reside in Gainesville, Florida.