Taylor Rowe | Live Love Nashville
Owner of Live Love Nashville
Taylor Rowe founded and runs the nonprofit, Live Love Nashville, based in Nashville, TN. Their mission is to provide children in crisis all the basic necessities they need such as food, warm clothing, school supplies, and hygiene items. By combining events, merchandise, and community, Live Love Nashville has made a difference in the lives of thousands of children.
When Need Became Personal
Taylor Rowe was working long hours at an oral surgery office, trying to support herself while living paycheck to paycheck. She never imagined she’d find herself leading a nonprofit. But everything changed when she started hearing from teachers in her community about the quiet struggles their students faced—kids showing up to class without basic hygiene items, hungry on weekends, and without warm clothing in the winter. These were children living just minutes from her home, facing hardships that went unnoticed by many. The reality was stark, and it struck a chord deep within her. This wasn’t a distant problem—it was on her doorstep.
Turning Compassion Into Action
Despite having no nonprofit experience or extra funds, Taylor refused to turn away from the need. She began by sharing what she learned with friends and family, asking for simple donations like toothbrushes, socks, and snacks. The response was immediate and overwhelming. People wanted to help but didn’t know how—Taylor gave them a way. What started as small, grassroots supply drives grew rapidly into Live Love Nashville, a nonprofit founded on transparency, heart, and community-driven action. Taylor chose not to take a salary, pouring every dollar directly into the hands of children who needed it most. Her passion and integrity inspired a growing network of volunteers and donors who shared her vision of caring for the kids overlooked by others.
A Mission That Keeps Growing
Since launching in 2017, Live Love Nashville has provided thousands of children across Middle Tennessee with essentials like school supplies, weekend meals, and Christmas gifts. The nonprofit also steps in during times of crisis—offering emergency relief when families face tragedies like house fires or natural disasters. One of the most challenging moments came in December 2023 when a devastating tornado tore through Hendersonville, destroying the warehouse where Live Love Nashville stored gifts and food for 500 children. Miraculously, the donations inside survived unharmed. For Taylor, this was a sign that the mission was bigger than any obstacle. She credits the strength and spirit of the community for keeping the work alive. “Without them, I’d just be a girl with a dream,” she says. Together, they continue to show up—proving that when people unite behind a cause, love has the power to change lives.
“ Don’t let the people from the outside stop you or deter you from doing what you truly believe in your heart.”
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My name is Taylor Rowe Reed. I am the executive director and founder of Live Love Nashville, a local nonprofit helping children in need throughout Middle Tennessee. So Live Love Nashville helps children in need by providing essential items like school supplies, winter clothing, backpacks, things like food for the weekends, and also Christmas gifts for children that may not have them otherwise.
We also help during times of tragedy, such as an unexpected illness and unexpected death. Things like natural disasters, such as a tornado or a house fire that can be so detrimental. So we step in and help during those times, providing essential items for those families. I started Live Love Nashville in 2017.
I was working at an oral surgery office. I had zero nonprofit experience in my entire life and never dreamed that I would ever be doing anything in the nonprofit world. But I had some friends that were teachers and they were asking for very simple, basic necessities for their students in their classrooms.
Things like toothbrushes, hygiene items. Food, like ramen noodles or chicken noodle soups, snacks that are easy to open, that the kids could prepare for themselves over the weekend. And the more I found out about the needs in our area, the more I knew that I just had to do something. I was living paycheck to paycheck at the time.
I knew that I could not do this on my own. So I reached out to some of my friends, reached out to family members and said, “Did y'all know that there are children in our area that live within five to ten minutes from us that do not have these items at home?” And the more that I just told more people about it, the more that people wanted to help.
I knew that I had to do something. I didn't do it for myself. I did not pay myself. I did not do have — I gave a hundred percent of the donations back to the children that were in need. I didn't want to do it for myself. I wanted, and I think that's what made me start honestly, is because I knew that it wasn't for me.
It was for everyone else who were the people and children that were in need. They needed an advocate for them. And so I just took the leap of faith and honestly, I wish I would've done it sooner. And I think that my advice to someone else who is struggling with that is just to take the leap of faith. I mean,
Do it. Just jump off. Jump off into the ocean and just do it. Because you can sit and you can overthink and you can think of a thousand reasons why you shouldn't do something, but the one reason to do it, if you just stick with that and if you're passionate about something, it will follow. It'll come in line.
People will follow you. People will. Get behind you. People want to help. They just need an outlet to do so and a way to help. I absolutely think that surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals and having that core group of people behind you supporting you is truly what launched Live Love Nashville into what it is today, because without them, I would just be a girl
With a dream. It's truly this community behind you and uplifting this organization into what it is today that is making all the difference in the world. I'm just putting it out there. It's the community of people that are doing all of the hard work. We have had tons of obstacles thrown in our direction throughout Live Love Nashville.
We experienced the tornado that hit Hendersonville in December of 2023. We were providing Christmas gifts for 500 children. And the building where our gifts and food were was completely destroyed. But miraculously, our items inside were not. And so there is always hope. We could have stopped and we could have said, “We can't move forward,” but there's gonna be so many obstacles thrown in your way, but you just have to keep pressing forward and keep seeing the one thing that is your mission behind it, and just keep going forward towards that.
Don't let the logistics get in your way. Don't let. The people from the outside stop you or deter you from doing what you truly believe in your heart, because if you have that in your heart, I know that you can do it.
Why We Share These Stories
We believe that celebrating Tennessee’s entrepreneurs will inspire the next generation of bold thinkers, risk-takers, and community builders. Entrepreneurs don’t forget where they come from—and they carry the power to transform not just their businesses, but entire neighborhoods, towns, and local economies. See more entrepreneur stories from the Patton Foundation.
