We start our series looking at the new District Officers who’ll be serving District 19 over the next year. At the spring conference Shannon Williams was elected Division A Governor. Division A covers a huge geographic area, from the north-central area around Mason City, over to the northwest corner and the Sioux City area, and then sweeping down the western side of the state to include Red Oak.
Shannon was the Area 11 Governor over the past 12 months, and is a member of Reddy Toastmasters in South Sioux City, Nebraska. She told us:
“I have a husband and a son who are both very supportive of my Toastmasters journey although they like to tease me about becoming a professional at making toast. Har…har…har!
“My first Toastmasters journey began in June of 2010 when I began a new position at Security National Bank in the Wealth Management department. The position requires numerous presentations in front of companies. This was a fear that I had told myself that I would need to overcome if I received the position. As I traveled on this journey, I gave a handful of speeches and felt that I had overcome my fear and that I didn’t need to be a Toastmasters member any longer.
“That was also about the time that a fellow Toastmaster had asked for my help on a project. This project also provided me the opportunity to attend my first Toastmasters conference where my eyes were opened and I had an entirely new outlook and appreciation for Toastmasters. After attending that first Toastmasters conference, my journey through Toastmasters changed and a new one began. My new journey is one in which I am going to pay it forward and help open the eyes of others as to what Toastmasters has to offer.
“Oliver Wendell Holmes said, ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.'”
Stephen Covey said, “Real success is success with self. It’s not having things, but in having mastery, having victory over self.'”
What lies within all of you that you are working towards completing on your journey to success?
– Shannon Williams, Division A Governor