WOW! DTM #3 and second Pathways DTM. Who would have thought? When I joined Toastmasters in 2015, DTM wasn't on my radar. I joined Dirigo Leaders in April 2015. In August 2015 I became a member of Kennebec Valley Toastmasters. Since then, I have joined a few other clubs: The Maine Thing Advanced Toastmasters, Connected Leaders Online (A Bank of America online club), Brunswick Toastmasters and Pine Tree Toastmasters.

Last year (2021-2022) was my second time as Area 14 Director. Thanks to Zoom, I was able to attend almost every meeting from all four clubs. Relationships were built, members did a lot of hard work and because of it, Area 14 was Select Distinguished Area. A huge thank you and shout out to Area 14 members! You all rock!

In July of 2021, Dirigo Leaders – my home club in Area 5 - had 8 members. It was run like a community club. There's nothing wrong with that, but they are not a community club; they are a corporate club. Members wanted to become President’s Distinguished again. My DTM project was to facilitate the rebranding of that club, work with club coaches, and be President's Distinguished by June 2022. First, we attended a TLI put on by D44 geared exclusively to officers of corporate clubs - any corporate club. Second, we read Pat Johnson's book on corporate clubs. Third, we rebranded Dirigo Toastmasters to Dirigo Leaders, changed jargon, had corporate related themes, streamlined meetings, worked with club coaches - who never missed a meeting, and thanks to the hard work of the members Dirigo Leaders was President's Distinguished before June 30th. The rebranding built a lot of excitement resulting in 21 members by the end of the year. It was a fun project with top notch people to work with.

I believe the reason I have three DTMs is because my goal is to continue helping members achieve their goals. To paraphrase Zig Ziglar, ‘if you help enough people achieve their goals, you will achieve yours’. Keep helping people, don’t just check a box. You’ll achieve your goals, whatever they may be.