Back in 2003, Cathey Armillas was first invited to Toastmasters by Roxanne, the human resources manager at SSI Shredding Systems, Cathey’s former employer. Working full time, coaching and also playing competitive soccer full time—all this in addition to being a wife and mother of two teenagers, left her with precious little free time. However, after attending just a few Toastmaster meetings, Cathey became a member of Mentors of Focus Toastmasters, a noon time club in Wilsonville in October of 2003.
 
She quickly gave her icebreaker and after being a member for a few short weeks, her assigned Mentor, Jill, moved out of the state for a job offer. Not only did she lose her Mentor but Cathey was also asked to fill Jill’s officer position of Secretary. Quite a double whammy!
 
Cathey did more than give speeches, and show up for officers meetings. She mentored others, helped run open houses, and she filled most club officer positions. In 2006, she was asked to become the President of her club, which had become stagnant. Membership was so low it was near a crisis point and the energy and morale was sagging.

At this point, Cathey took one of the many life’s lessons she learned from her Father: “Give it your all or go home."

After accepting the President position, Cathey did give it her all, and over the next 2 years, she helped bring about an amazing turnaround for the Mentors of Focus Toastmasters.

Cathey credits Toastmasters with changing her worldview, bringing out her creativity, and awakening her to new possibilities that allows her to push past stereotypes and other limiting beliefs.

In her profession life, for example, as a Non-Traditional Media Strategist, Cathey creates marketing campaigns and strategies for companies that are usually way “outside the box”. Prior to starting her own consulting firm, PURA Marketing, Cathey was the Marketing Director for an industrial shredder manufacturer. Back then, it was unheard of to think that one could brand industrial equipment and actually make it “cool.” But that’s exactly what she did.

Cathey launched an outrageously successful viral marketing campaign for SSI Shredding Systems using basic Toastmasters principles such as—make it interesting, make it easy to understand, make it fun, make it memorable, and make it spectacular. She created a website called “WatchitShred.com” and put up many videos of their shredders gobbling items from mattresses to computers to a VW Bug to soccer balls.

Her shredding videos stirred up a media frenzy and sent waves rippling around the world! Over 1 million visitors hit the website less than a month after it launched and many nationally broadcasted TV shows such as David Letterman, CNN, CNBC and The History Channel, featured SSI and their shredders.

Cathey’s successes, both in Toastmasters and her career, put her in the spotlight and she was soon asked to serve as the Area 64 Governor. In her first year serving as a District Officer, she was the only Area Governor in District 7 to become President’s Distinguished.

Concurrently, she also realized, after coming up for air, that she had only a one remaining hurdle to reach her DTM (Toastmasters highest honor of "Distinguished Toastmaster"). As luck would have it the remaining objective was to form a Youth Leadership program, and Cathey had wanted to bring Toastmasters to her own children and to the children she coached. So with the help of a friend and fellow Toastmaster, she not only ran an 8-week Youth Leadership program, but she also turned this program into a permanent club, “Future Stars”. While it is not an official Toastmasters club, Future Stars is a “Communication and Leadership” club for middle and high school aged kids.
 
Now just over three years old, Future Stars is on solid footing. It meets weekly, and holds regular leadership projects, which the kids create with an end goal of giving back to the community.

After earning her DTM, Cathey served as the Willamette Division Governor where she achieved President's Distinguished Division and Toastmaster of the Year. She then got elected to the D7 "STAFF" as the Lt. Governor of Education & Training, where she earned the Educational Excellence Award, and DTM for a 2nd time.
 
At Communication '10 (District 7's spring conference), Cathey was elected as the District Governor by her wonderful and supportive friends of District 7. She pledges to "give it her all" to the members of Toastmasters and hopes that everyone will benefit from Toastmasters as much as she has!