Victoria Noethling, DTM

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

1986-1990 working with Franchisees
1991-2018 UPS – Operations, Technology, and Franchising; 15 years as Project Manager/lead
1993 – Jr Board Member for Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta
2000-2010 Camp Fire of Georgia Board of Directors

What experience do you have in strategic planning?

I participated in the Boys Club of Metro Atlanta strategic plan in 1994

As a project manager at UPS, I was involved in the development of several strategic plans.

As a District leader for District 44, I worked with the Trio to use the success plan as a basis for creating the strategy to expand our clubs in the upper northwest of the state. The plan was developed during a 3-day retreat with the district leaders.

What experience do you have in the area of finance?

Early in my career, I worked as an admin for an accounting firm and assisted in preparing financial statements and tax returns. I then spent a year in a one girl office situation, where I had to do everything from bookkeeping to creating menus. In my role as construction coordinator for Arby’s Corporate office I oversaw the ordering of materials and payment of vendors. During 2002-2007 I worked with the UPS Store roll-out in the US and Canada. I had to review data to find irregularities in our franchisee’s operations. As a project manager, I was responsible for my project budgets. Now as an entrepreneur, I am handling all my finances and budget.

What experience do you have in developing policies?

My experience in developing policies is tied to my projects at UPS as well. Some of those projects were HR related and technology related. Both were required to either develop new policies or modify existing ones to meet the new business or technical requirements.

What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?

I am continually learning leadership lessons from every leadership position I take on. This has been so impactful in my life; it was what drove me to start my business in 2021. I saw so many young leaders struggling for guidance, and it was not being made available to them. Toastmasters helped so many people in my life to grow as confident leaders. One of the best lessons I learned was that it is okay to fail. In fact, it is something to embrace. I learned so much better from failures because of the time spent reflecting on what happened, why it happened, and how could I have changed to make it not happen again. Another lesson is that being perfect is boring. Doing your best is the goal I seek to achieve. When you remove that nearly impossible requirement of perfection, the stress level decreases, and you begin to allow yourself to ask more questions. This opens the doors to innovation and new possibilities. In the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, the leadership style I was exposed to and what was expected of me was more authoritarian. My way or the highway. They were trying to fit me into a style that just was not authentic to me. Interestingly, when my managers needed to motivate or persuade the team to do something, they would ask me to talk to them. I quickly learned that leading with the heart, the head, and the hands was what people need today. Relationships must be established. Asking questions to understand and be understood. It has made me a better leader, a better podcast host, and a better person. Another lesson that we have experienced, especially in these last 10 years, is that change is inevitable, and it is hard for many to accept. I believe we will see this again with the new Pathways rollout. No matter how good it is, there will be people who will be critical of it – because it requires change. Our communication plan must be strong. We must actively listen to the feedback and discern what needs to be addressed as a true issue and what needs to be addressed as a change management opportunity. We have 5 generations of members. This requires us to be able to speak on multiple levels and not all of our leadership are equipped to do so. Therefore, the board and staff need to be the catalyst and officer training as well as district leader training needs to equip our leaders with the content and tools to help manage change.

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

I believe my background with franchisees, corporate, small business, and entrepreneurs provides me with a wide lens to view the world. I understand the importance and impact of building a community. I see how, if done right, social media, podcasting, and networking opportunities can help our organization grow. I saw firsthand during my time at Arby’s how local store marketing supplemented by corporate content could help districts be more brand focused and compliant. My work as a partner in Neora continues to enlighten me on how we could create a similar database of assets – videos, pdfs, PowerPoints, etc. that can be pushed out to potential guests/members to better understand what Toastmasters is, how it can benefit the individual and the company, and what pain / problems it solves. Each of these marketing efforts could be tied to automated follow-up emails/texts. A big complaint is that the members are volunteers with much on their plate. How can we help them – be more efficient. Not just those fortunate districts that have people who understand the technology and the processes. If it is pushed out to all from the source, brand compliance is met, consistency is achieved, and we all win.

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

I have dedicated so much of my life to Toastmasters at the club and district level. In my term as Region Advisor, I got to see more of what the Board could do to support the Executive Committee. I want Toastmasters to stay relevant and to continue to evolve. I also want our members to understand that change is necessary. Ralph Smedley took a chance to introduce change 100 years ago. Through the years, Toastmasters continued to evolve. I believe the times coming are going to be as exciting as it was for me when computers and cell phones entered our world. We know that no matter what to be excellent communicators and leaders we must understand and embrace the basic principles, but we also must keep up with the times and the new demands of a very diverse audience. I spend a lot of time interviewing people who talk about leadership and mindset. I would like to see us pass on some of what is out there to our members to enhance their leadership skills. I spoke of the fact that I teach leading with the heart, the head, and the hands. The heart focuses on building relationships and becoming more authentic. The head takes those relationships to help build and understand the strategy needed to grow, and the hands are related to being a servant leader. For me – my purpose – is to give back to those I meet so that their journey can help build their own legacy.

What volunteer experience do you have outside of Toastmasters?

Volunteering has been a huge part of my life. So much so, in 1996, I was an American Hero and got to run with the Olympic Torch in Atlanta. I have found that volunteering has taught me so much, exposed me to a wide variety of individuals at all socio-economic levels. When I interviewed people to work for me at UPS, I looked more at their volunteering than at their software skills. I felt that if you devoted a good deal of time volunteering – just imagine what you might do if we paid you well. My father taught me at a young age – by his example – the value of being a volunteer. I volunteer at my church, with the public television station, and of course, with my Youth Leadership efforts.

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

As mentioned earlier, I worked with the Camp Fire board for many years. My first year joining the board, I discovered that the soon to be departing board chair was being paid far too much to sustain the budget. It put the camp in disrepair and financial crisis. The board worked tirelessly for 3 years to turn things around. I stayed on the board for an additional 3 years and then was a consultant for 4 more. Hard decisions had to be made. Recruiting alumni to persuade them to donate and give back became an on-going campaign. Finding ways to barter to get repairs done by professionals and asking volunteers to come and do clean up tasks where necessary became a big contributor to getting back in the black. It was a tremendous experience, and I have UPS and Toastmasters to thank for my being able to handle the role.

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

As mentioned earlier, I believe change management is going to be a key factor in ensuring this new Pathways is adopted and promoted in a positive light. There will be those that still not like whatever is rolled out. That is where mindset work will be crucial. Communicating to the corporations and demonstrating how this digital education program can compliment or in some cases be their LMS (learning management system). I see so many companies that have disbanded any in house education except for those in senior management. What they are missing is that we need to prepare and train those that are “on the bench” for what their future leadership role will entail. As a manager, you can teach them excel pivot tables or how to do a presentation. But that will not equip them to be a leader who can handle conflict, communicate effectively and motivate individually 5 generations of a diverse audience, being an active listener and leading with EQ. I know that as an International Director, I am only a piece of the puzzle that will be executed through the executive committee. It is my goal to do whatever I can, contribute where I am able, to ensure that Toastmasters is relevant and active for the next 100 years.

Additional information about candidate:

In addition to my work corporate experience that spans over 4 decades. My experience with Neora, as a brand partner provides me with great insights on how we as an organization may better serve our partners around the world.