An unorthodox path and a drive to learn fuel undergraduate success
Vaughn Taylor ’25 has not taken the traditional route to becoming a popular name on Wabash’s campus. The senior from Indianapolis, Indiana, has had to make plenty of sacrifices in his personal life to see success in his professional life. Sacrificing football, time with friends and previous time commitments, Taylor has not followed a typical college student’s equation for success.
For the summer between his sophomore year and junior year, Taylor had to choose between an opportunity with a Fortune 500 health company, or one with a startup company called GoCode Overland, focused on helping Class B RV manufacturers build vans more efficiently. Taylor took the risk and chose the latter. Starting from a summer internship with GoCode, Taylor has now secured a full-time position following graduation and has sold over 1.2 million dollars’ worth of plastic interior trim solutions to van builders across the U.S.
Even in his fledgling stage of being a freshman on campus, Cassie Hagan, the Director of Professional Development and the
Center for Business, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (CIBE) saw his potential.
“During the Business Immersion Program, what I saw and appreciated in Vaughn was that he had some entrepreneurial courage — he wasn’t afraid to go for it and make mistakes in the name of growing and learning,” said Hagan.
Josh Kline ‘99, the founder of GoCode and now Taylor’s boss, commented further on this mindset of growing and learning.
“Vaughn has embraced a learn-it-all mentality and has developed the ability to apply feedback and learn from his mistakes, ” said Kline. “Sometimes, Vaughn reminds me of things I forgot I trained him on two years ago, almost like the student teaching the teacher.”
While Taylor acknowledges the milestones that make him proud, by no means is he content with his success.
“I am always trying to earn the right to be at the table of very respectable and accomplished people,” said Taylor.
Even though Taylor started working with GoCode over a summer internship, positive results continued to appear outside the confines of Crawfordsville, Indiana.
“Vaughn has become part of the brand of GoCode and has even made a name for himself in the van building industry and on the West Coast,” said Kline. “There is a reason for it. Enthusiasm. You can’t fake enthusiasm. Relatability and empathy matter so much now, with machines automating more than ever, and Vaughn’s character trait of enthusiasm is what separates him.”
But Taylor doesn’t just keep his knowledge and experience for himself, in fact he is helping to grow the next generation of enthusiastic Wabash men. Zach Geleott ’27 was afforded the opportunity to work alongside Taylor through the CIBE, so he
has become more than accustomed to Taylor’s “hustle” mentality.
“Vaughn, having an immense amount of knowledge in both sales and the adventure van industry, has since served as a mentor
of mine, bringing me up to speed with GoCode and teaching me about entrepreneurship,” said Geleott. “From day one, Vaughn
has always been generous with his time and not afraid to share his knowledge. I deeply admire Vaughn’s selflessness and having a mentor who makes it clear he wants to see me succeed has been incredible.”
Vaughn Taylor showcases that not all success at Wabash looks the same. While there are impressive statistics and numbers to
showcase Taylor’s professional career from his time at Wabash, the senior’s learn-it-all mindset will be what is remembered most.
And while complacency may be a natural inclination for the accomplished senior, his mindset is just the opposite.
“I am still continuing to learn and I will always keep wanting to learn more,” said Taylor.