The Three Year Vision

Greetings Happy People,

Have you ever had a vision that became real?

I had visions that became real on different occasions. Some are big while others are small. Some happen within days while others happen in years. There was one vision I had that took three years to materialize. What was it? Well, let me take you back to 2005.

At the time, I served as the Area D-5 Governor for District 33 Toastmasters. I managed four different clubs in the Las Vegas Valley: New Life Trailblazers (an upstart church club), Starmasters (my home Toastmasters club), To Your Health (a club that meets at the Southern Nevada Health District), and Vocal Vegans (a club that meets at the Clark County Government Center).

During the middle of my term, I noticed something interesting about Toastmasters clubs in different government entities. They have clubs in city, county, and federal levels of government. However, there was none at the State level. It was from that time I realized that someone needs to create a Toastmasters club for State employees.

The first time I told my ideas to different people at work, they brushed it off. Many thought that it would not last. They also thought that I was wasting people’s time with this idea. I first put up fliers to see if I could garner any interest in creating this club. No one showed up. I could have given up at that point, but somehow I did not. Instead, I found another route to take for this state
Toastmasters club to work.

In 2006, I served a second year as the Area D-5 Governor and I also became a Club Coach for one of the clubs I managed, the Vocal Vegans Toastmasters – the club that met at the Clark County Government Center. I worked with a great person and dynamic leader named Elonda. Together, we talked about different strategies on how to build up membership at Vocal Vegans. We did a public relations blitz, contacted different people, and took part in workshops. Slowly but surely, Vocal Vegans started to grow.

During the growth process of Vocal Vegans, I came across a good idea. Since Vocal Vegans was enjoying good growth inside of the County government, why not bring a few State employees to that club? At lunchtime, I put Vocal Vegans fliers at the Grant Sawyer building to see how many state employees would show up in Vocal Vegans. This time, I got people from the state not only to check out Vocal Vegans, but actually join the club!! This was the crack in the door needed to startup the club at the state level!! Thanks to that extra growth - Vocal Vegans became a Select Distinguished Club, I was given a Club Coach certificate AND Distinguished Toastmaster status - the highest honor any individual Toastmaster can get worldwide!!

About a year and a half later, I asked the state employees about the idea of starting up a club at the State level. They thought it was a great idea. So we got to work and started creating a club at the Grant Sawyer State building. I put in my own seed money for the chartering fee while other people were securing a meeting room and passing the word all around. All that work paid off when we got together to host a demonstration meeting. On May 19, 2008 – The Silver State Toastmasters officially had their first meeting!! YAY!! Six months later, they officially became a Toastmasters club!! Ironically, they chartered as a Toastmasters club the same time I was serving as Division D Governor for District 33 Toastmasters!! After all this time, my own vision for this club, FINALLY became real!! It was a great feeling to see this actually happen.

Now Silver State Toastmasters is a small, but mighty club. We have been meeting at the Grant Sawyer building for a year and a half and there are State employees taking advantage of improving their public speaking skills. Every time I go to that club I am reminded of what it took to actually create it. To actually check out the club, just go to the following link (http://silverstate.freetoasthost.biz).

If you ever have a vision, never give up on it!! You will never know the huge impact you will make from a single thought. Anything can take place, all you need to go is have that idea and just follow it through no matter what. You can make things happen when you think, believe and achieve!!

That is all I have for now. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I