She was an alternate to the 2006 Winter Olympic team after finishing fourth at the 2006 United States Figure Skating Championships.

[1] As a child, she participated in a number of activities, including gymnastics, T-ball, soccer, ballet, and tennis.

[5] While in school, Taylor was a member of the National Honor Society and the student council and won the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence.

[7] Taylor was then named to the team for the Triglav Trophy, where she won the silver medal on the novice level.

[6] (Chron-Barron2004; Interview) After the event, Taylor was named to the team for the 2004 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

She finished third at the events in Budapest, Hungary, and Chemnitz, Germany, but did not qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final.

(Houston Chron 2004) She moved up to the senior level nationally and qualified for the 2005 United States Figure Skating Championships after finishing first at Midwestern Sectionals.

[4] Taylor originally was named as an alternate to the Junior Grand Prix Final but later received a last-minute call to the competition in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

(Chron 2006) She received the call after competing and winning the Sectionals competition in Denver, Colorado, all while suffering from a cold and sinus infection.

Taylor, her coach, and her mother spent 26 hours traveling from Houston to Ostrava and arrived at 7:30 p.m. the day before the event.

[18] During the short program competition, Taylor had to deal with a power outage in the arena that caused a 15-minute delay in the event.

As the 2006–2007 season began, Taylor stated that her goals for the year were to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, make the world team, place well at the National Championships and receive a standing ovation.

[2][4][17] She began the season by winning the bronze medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, in September.

[23] After the Grand Prix series, Taylor changed her short program from "Happy Feet" to "Legends of the Fall" so that she would be more comfortable on the ice and more able to tell a story.

Before the competition began, she said that she had resolved the personal and boot problems that had bothered her during the Grand Prix events.