My Toastmasters Journey

When I walked into my first meeting at ATB in April 2017, I wasn’t nervous about speaking in public. That was the easy part. It was the intimidation of meeting new people. Making friends at 54 is hard work!

The Beginning:

I had recently been laid off by my previous employer, having to look for a new job after almost 40 years of work. With blessings, I started with ATB Financial in January 2017, thanks to two previous coworkers. When I saw the posters about ATB’s work club, I thought, what better way to network within ATB? I didn’t even know what a DTM was at the time. All I knew was I was meeting people from different backgrounds, teams, ages and experiences as Toastmasters. Within the first few months, I was on the Executive as Treasurer, and the rest is history.

Leadership and Service:

I worked my way through the Competent Communicator manual (this was before Pathways), Competent Leader, and Advanced Leader Bronze, before launching into Pathways. I believe this is when I started to even contemplate the DTM. There were two others my club, Christine Enns and Susan Berger – she/her that we excitedly “raced” each other, vying for speech slots and building project teams. Christine and I co-coached a club back to Distinguished status (PMI-SAC) in June 2020 – yes, during Covid! Luckily, this was a “two-for” opportunity from TMI, allowing us to bypass the Area or Division Executive role. Why was that important? Because I found I also have a love of competition, regardless of the category. This is the first year I am moving on to District! Fingers crossed!

When it came time, I assisted Christine Enns with her Speechcraft as a member mentor and demonstrator. Then I watched her, as a member of her guidance committee, as she completed her DTM project, receiving the DTM, beating me by a year! That just pushed me even harder to complete what I needed to do: first the 2nd Pathway and then Speechcraft. Which I sadly sat on it for some time before finally putting it together. That left only the DTM project.

My DTM Project

I did have to pivot here, as my first idea fell flat among our members. I wanted to make the Executive roles less daunting, to encourage newer members to step up, but I wasn’t even able to put together a team. With thanks to TMI and their recent revisions to the Pathway levels, the project spruced up our club tracking of requirements, helping our members have a clearer idea of what is required to continue their personal education plans.

Lessons Learned

• I am capable of anything that I put my mind to – as long as I stay focused.
• Branch out from your own club – you will meet amazing individuals who will turn into great friends.
• Acceptance of praise is a good thing – not something to brush off or be ashamed of.

Gratitude and Acknowledgements

This most definitely was not completed on my own. I have all of ATB Ignite and Inspire, past and present, to thank for their support, enthusiasm and encouragement of my journey to DTM.

Moving Forward

Now what, I’ve been asked? Completing Level 5 of Pathway #3 is at the forefront, since I set it aside to focus on the last steps of the DTM. Through that, I hope to inspire other members of the club to continue to step out of their comfort zones and reach those higher levels.

Final Thoughts

What started as a way for me to meet ATBers from other teams ended with me earning lifelong friends, scattered all over the province, country and world. I’ve spent hours laughing till I cried, crying till I laugh, and every emotion in between. This is not easy. But anything worthwhile should never be easy.

Here’s a huge thank you to anyone and everyone in D42 that pushed, cajoled, convinced, encouraged and applauded me through the years. I wouldn’t be here without you.

Carol Whyte
Distinguished Toastmaster