Nov 13 2024

In theme with “Independence” (especially for women), Kirti kicked us off with a leader profile about Savitrabai Phule, India’s first female teacher who opened a school for girls despite great opposition.

Our meeting featured a panel discussion by Preetha Menon, who asked questions such as “How do you cultivate independence in your career?” and “As a woman, how do you face obstacles at work?” and “Have you encountered pressure to ‘have it all?’” She interviewed guest Toastmasters: Raji Bandanapudi, Kari Lynn Morgan, and Anushree Ramanath.

Raji shared how she cultivated a habit of speaking up after realized that that many others in the room had the same questions as she. Kari Lynn spoke on being torn between her career and family, and learning not to be a victim of her own choices. Anushree encouraged us to envision where we want to be and prepare for that.

All panelists agreed that Toastmasters was a place to build confidence — the confidence to say no (and establish boundaries), the confidence to say yes (to opportunities), the confidence to ask for help, and the confidence to do anything you want.

We had a quick Table Topics session led by Jian Ding with fun questions like “which animals would want independence from humans?” (Sach Deo: cats and dogs); “do you think AI will declare independence?” (Nitin: AI is like our child right now…let’s raise it well).