Joel Dawson, DTM

Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a Board Member:

I create strategic plans with corresponding financial strategies. That is the core of what I do. Placing an emphasis on the companies leadership team and its resources (such as equipment, cash reserves and leadership talent, and manpower), we then work together as a team to determine what areas of the business can we improve and over what period of time. We do this while working within our predetermined financial budget over the next 3-5yrs. Every quarter we review to determine if we are ahead, behind, or right on schedule with achieving our goals, a long with the financial budget to make sure we stay in alignment with our strategy. If we are not, it is at the quarterly meetings where we make decisions based on what we've learned. It is critical that the team executes the plan as written and spend within its guidelines to build trust with investors/bankers for the next acquisition. It's ok if they don't meet a certain goal, as long as we understand what caused it and be able to learn from it. We then adjust our strategy and budget to minimize our recuperation time. I feel that the position of International Director encompass a lot of the same duties by always being strategic when making decisions and working within financial guidelines.

What experience do you have in strategic planning?

I work in the ETA (Entrepreneur Through Acquisition) space. These are small business owners who mostly want to grow their business(es) through the acquisition of other businesses. I help them create a strategic plan that articulates a path for sustained growth, and enable them to realize their envisioned future. The purpose is to have a clear executable strategy, year over year, that bankers and investors want to invest in. We accomplish this by modeling different scenarios throughout a 3-5yr period making adjustments, and learning along the way. This determines the criteria (time period, financial resources needed, manpower, equipment, etc.) and the preparedness for the next acquisition.

What experience do you have in the area of finance?

My experience in finance is in the area of cash flow analysis, business models, and forecasting for small businesses to achieve financial stability and growth in preparation for the next acquisition. Analyzing the cash flow, I help them create financial business models to determine the actual operating cost of doing business and forecasting revenue in different scenarios with the purpose of mitigating and or minimizing financial risk. Through forecasting, we determine the best cashflow utilization, which could be to accelerate the paydown of debt principal, or to increase cash reserves in order to maintain an attractive balance sheet for investors or bankers.

What experience do you have in developing policies?

My experience in developing policies includes writing the provisions and clauses for business purchase agreements. There are some basic language in all business acquisition contracts but I write the deal structure. It is then reviewed by an attorney to make sure that all clauses and provisions are compliant.

What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?

I was a District Director during COVID. I picked that time period and that experience because that was the first worldwide pandemic of our lifetime. The biggest lesson that I valued from that experience was that of empathy. I learned how members were dealing with it differently and why. Most of the conversations during that time had nothing to do with pathways or toastmasters, but I was able to build a deeper more intimate connection with the members during a very challenging time. For me, it was about creating a deeper connection through listening, empathy, and sharing a message of comfort and hope to everyone that I connected with.

What experience and key strengths would you bring to the Board of Directors?

Over the last 11 years, I have worked very hard to develop the communication and leaderships skills to be able to make a difference in my life as well as others. During my toastmasters journey, I studied, practiced, and made a lot of mistakes until I got it right. I continue to remain active in order to gain new experiences and to keep my skills sharp. My resume shows that I have had a lot of success in the toastmasters program. I don't bring a certain set of skills or specific experiences, I bring a lot. I feel that I will coming to the board as a well rounded candidate for the position and what it requires. I do not feel that I am limited to only a few key skills or experiences. As far as what experiences and skills I will utilize? That will be determined by the dynamics of the board, its committees, and the objectives that are brought forth. Regardless of what skills and experiences I will use, my objective is to add value to the board and serve in any capacity that serves the organization and its members.

Why do you want to serve as an International Officer/Director?

For me, it's more of a responsibility, than a "want" in this context. Over that past 11 years, I've achieved more in business, and in toastmasters than I could have ever imagined, not to mention the person I've become. It's only appropriate that I give back to the organization that has given me so much. I believe that I have a responsibility to apply whether I am elected or not. I believe that the toastmasters organization and it's members deserve to have a deep qualified pool of candidates from which to choose to give toastmasters and it's members the best opportunity to achieve the toastmasters international mission, as well as the mission of its envisioned future.

What volunteer experience do you have outside of Toastmasters?

From 2013 to 2017 I was an avid volunteer in the startup community. I gave monthly presentation workshops, and hosted pitch events for organizations like INNOV8 and The Opportunity Machine which are non-profit business accelerators. During that time, I also hosted the annual Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition, better known as LAGCOE. All of my volunteer time is now inside of toastmasters. In 2018 my speaking business became more about business coaching instead of speaking, so I focused more on mentoring individuals in toastmasters and coaching club officers in order to practice and sharpen my skills. For the past 6 years my focus has been volunteering inside of toastmasters. I have had my calendar link in my email signature for 6yrs so that anyone around the world of toastmasters who wanted a mentor, or any team that wanted help can get it. Since 2018, I've coached about 8 clubs to distinguished, and I've just completed mentoring my 10th member from Ice Breaker, to Distinguished Toastmaster I have coached and mentored numerous district leaders around the world. Last year I stepped out of my comfort zone and took on the most challenging role I've ever had in my life. It has been on my bucket list for over 25 years. It was my big audacious goal and yes, I was very intimidated. That was the role of little league football coach. It was one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done in my life. It was a great experience in which we were able to learn from each other. I was able to teach them about the value of team work, and what it meant to be a part of a team and being a good team mate. They taught me the difference between "running fast," like when we are playing football, and "running fast-fast", like when you have to use the bathroom! They also said that there's nothing faster than "fast-fast", and I agree.

Have you worked with other Boards of Directors outside of Toastmasters? If so, describe your experience.

I also served as a board member of the local chapter of National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) for Terrebonne Parish.

My experience in working on boards and working with board of directors was amazing. I feel very fortunate to have that experience because I know that is not always the case. Those board members and I are still very good friends.

In your opinion, what are Toastmasters International’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?

I believe there are 2 objectives. The first is the member experience. The member experience should not be only thought of at club level. The member experience is also the area, division, and district level. The club mission starts off by saying "we provide a supportive and positive experience". I believe that the district level member experience should be the same. The second objective is member success. When a member is achieving their personal development goals for which they've invested in, that adds value to the program, and give them personal success for which to build on. When that happens they are more inclined to seek out more opportunities, whether it be more advanced speaking opportunities like competitions, or more advanced leadership roles, like district level and above. The end result is higher membership activity, a higher retention rate, more members taking advantage of district leadership opportunities, and more members completing the toastmasters program. If you look at the club mission, the toastmaster international mission, and the first sentence of the toastmaster brand promise, they all have one word in common "empower" or some form of it. When the member experience is empowering I believe the member's success will takes care of itself. As a new member I spent 6 months going to meetings every week to a member experience that was not empowering. When I changed my environment to a member experience that was empowering, I went from Ice Breaker to Distinguished Toastmaster in 18 months. There is no no shortage of leaders in toastmasters, some members are just not empowered to move forward. How will I work to achieve this? No one person can empower an organization like a great member experience will. I will continue to do what I have been doing over the past 6 years since my focus has been in leadership, and that's to continue to educate, mentor, and coach members, committees, and district leadership teams to bring clarity to the word empower and the impact it will have on the member experience and his or her success. Working the toastmasters program step by step at all levels, will change the membership experience, and that is what will make toastmasters the first-choice provider of dynamic, high-value, experiential communication and leadership skills development.