Zoom Interview with Cathy Dalipe
Meet Keith Eck
Whether he is playing in the world of football or the world of business finance, our new treasurer Keith Eck is always actively participating—never sitting on the bench. After graduating from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, Keith played football at UCLA and subsequently played for the Washington Redskins in 1977. In 1978, he coached at UCLA and in 1979 played for the New York Giants.
Keith’s football career abruptly ended in 1980 when he suffered a heart attack on an airplane en route to a pre-season training camp for the Giants. Because of that disability, Keith needed to refocus his goals. He eventually entered the financial services industry working for a pension firm, where his responsibilities included design and implementation of retirement plans for business owners throughout California. During his tenure, Keith developed a passion for assisting business owners with achieving their succession goals. With that noble goal in mind, he founded Keith Eck Financial & Insurance Services. “My experiences in the NFL and as a business owner have taught me the value of true teamwork,” he explains.
Teamwork is vital to the success of Encinitas Toastmasters, and Keith is a key part of that success in his role as the club’s new treasurer. He initially joined Encinitas Toastmasters in November 2019 to train as a professional speaker. His subject matter involves surviving and thriving despite life’s formidable challenges, and Keith has experienced more of these than most people.
These challenges include the loss of one-third of his heart and right carotid artery. Other life-threatening conditions included Stage 4 tongue cancer, a major stroke and survival of a small plane crash. In addition to the plane crash, Keith survived a car accident in which the vehicle was totaled. “Since I have been blessed with an amazing story, I joined Toastmasters to train to become one of the best motivational speakers of my era,” Keith says proudly.
To prepare for this lofty goal, Keith chose the Presentation Mastery Path from Toastmasters’ Pathways program. He is currently a PM 2 and starting on the third assignment for his PM3 Pathways designation. His goal is to give a speech once a month and attend every weekly Encinitas Toastmasters’ meeting unless he is traveling. His advice to new members: “Volunteer for as many roles as possible because this will accelerate the pace of your learning and improvement.”
What great advice from one of the most tenacious team players in Southern California!
Zoom Interview with Gary Penn
Meet Arden Reese
When I was in corporate marketing, I was part of Toastmasters. Then, when I started my own business 15 years ago, I joined NSA and went through their speaking program as well as Patricia Fripp's speaking course in Las Vegas. It's been 10 years since I've practiced my craft and after bombing a keynote (you always will have at least one), I realized I lost my mojo. I decided to explore Toastmasters again and finding this particular club in Encinitas has brought my faith back in myself. Although I don't do a lot of keynotes now, I do a lot of podcasts and interviews where I need to be clear and succinct. Toastmasters...especially Table Topics...helps me hone my message on color. If you're interested in learning more about how color can communicate your message, visit justbehue.com for some free resources.
For new members, I'd say start volunteering and helping out. You'll soon get comfortable enough to practice your craft because you'll realize you're among the nicest, most supportive group of professionals in the area. Encinitas Toastmasters are truly the gold standard.
Meet Alla Ramaswamy
When Alla Ramaswamy smiles, her face lights up the room, even when these days that room is on Zoom as she participates in Encinitas Toastmasters. This Russian-born speaker, entrepreneur, wife and mother of three recently tied for the Best Speaker competition with accomplished Toastmaster Mark Richter. That goes to show what impressive progress she has made as a Toastmaster in less than a year as a member.
Alla is currently working on level three in the Pathways Presentation Mastery module. Of her experience so far, she says, “I’ve learned a lot about myself and about my way of talking. There are so many aspects to voice and the speech itself! The different styles of speech communication speech were a real discovery to me.”
Professionally, Alla considers herself an expert on parenting and parent-child relationships. In fact, she has written a book for children ages three to six, Sun’s Trip, Her story helps children memorize the days of the weeks in order. “The phonetic wordplay makes it fast, easy and fun,” according to her LinkedIn profile.
Alla also consults as a Vedic astronumerologist, a discipline that is based on the interrelation between the nine planets and their respective number's vibration. She also serves as a spiritual mentor, coach and guide.
In her spare time, Alla enjoys cooking, music, art, crafts and singing. She also loves reading and posting on Instagram, which does in her native Russian language. A short-term goal for Alla is to give a TEDx talk. When she does, all of her Encinitas Toastmaster colleagues will be watching