by Jesse Ford, DL3

On Saturday January 30, as a sitting President for my Corporate club, I was invited to attend a special “president’s only” training session where our Region Advisor Violetta Rios delivered a keynote. First off…How awesome is it to have our Region Advisor come speak? If you ever have had any interaction with Violetta for even a short period of time you will see she eats, sleeps, and breathes all things Toastmasters.

During Violetta’s keynote I had two particularly important takeaways:

1. Success is not being distinguished.
2. Even my RA struggled at some point but it’s always the choice to keep moving forward.

For point #1 I was blown away…How can you tell a room full of Club Presidents while being in the middle of a pandemic that “success is not being distinguished”? She explained again what we all hear but often forget; “the member” is the always the answer. Who do you serve? The member…Why do we put together such good training? The member… What is the most important thing in Toastmasters? The member. This was so refreshing and amazingly simple yet at the same time extremely profound.

For point #2 she relayed several anecdotes that all centered around her two terms as club president. Spoiler alert; she is amazing.

After the keynote all the Club Presidents on the call (more than 50 at one point) got to attend a special TLI. This was great but I could not help thinking how much I am inspired now to be an even better leader and Toastmaster. If you ever get the chance to hear Violetta speak, I highly encourage you to do so. You will not be disappointed and who knows you may discover that Region Advisor is not that far off from Club President. Cheers Violetta.