The Rotary Spark Podcast

The Rotary Spark Podcast - Kassandra Segura's Journey of Inspiration

• Brian Triger • Season 1 • Episode 1001

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Kassandra Segura's journey from Mexico to becoming an influential force within the Edmond Summit Rotary Club is nothing short of inspiring. Her story kicks off with a serendipitous meeting with fellow photographer Bob Donaldson, which sparked her passion for community service and Rotary's mission. On our debut episode of the Rotary Spark podcast, Kassandra shares her experiences and insights into Rotary's impact on her life, touching on transformative projects like Mobile Meals and book donations to local schools. Her vibrant approach to reinvigorating club activities by aligning members' passions with economic development challenges offers valuable lessons for anyone interested in driving positive change.

As we explore the world of Rotary, you'll uncover the vast opportunities for personal growth, leadership development, and community engagement that come with membership. From practical advice on joining a local club to the excitement of upcoming events like the Mid-America President Elect Training Seminar, this episode is brimming with insights. Join us as we launch our podcast journey, celebrating the power of community impact and positive change, with dedicated individuals like Kassandra guiding the way. Whether you're a seasoned Rotarian or curious about what Rotary can offer, this episode promises to enlighten and inspire.

Brian Triger:

Welcome to the Rotary Spark Podcast. I'm your host, B Schrager, with the Midwest City Rotary Club, and with me today is our guest, assandra Segura. Welcome, cassandra, how are you doing today?

Kassandra Segura:

I'm doing good. How are you?

Brian Triger:

I'm doing really well. Let's talk a little bit about your inspiration to join Rotary and tell us a little bit more about yourself.

Kassandra Segura:

Well, first of all, thank you for having me today. It is an honor to be here on the first episode no pressure, sure. So I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I was born and raised in Mexico a long, long time ago, 1993. I came to the United States when I was 12, 13 years old and now I'm 31. And my first exposure to Rotary was through a networking connection that I had with a friend. So as a photographer I was always looking for other fellow photographers and models to practice my trade with, and one of my friends referred me to Mr Bob Donaldson. He is a fellow photographer who I met with at Essex Photography Studio to get more insight and mentoring from, and in his studio he had a rocking chair with a rotary emblem on it and that's what sparked the conversation.

Kassandra Segura:

He told me all about his involvement throughout life. Mr Bob Donaldson is now a Rotarian for a really long time. He now lives in Orange, texas, and he's in District 5910. His club chartered in 1919 with 38 members, so he's in a very historical club, which is very inspiring, and so from then on I became a member.

Kassandra Segura:

Thanks to Mr Bob Donaldson, he was able to sponsor me into membership at the Edmond Summit Rotary Club, where we meet at 7.15 in the morning. So we are a morning club. So if you like mornings and coffee and breakfast, I definitely encourage you to come by and check us out. But yeah, so my spark to Rotary and how I became inspired to join was not only Mr Bob Donaldson's story about his involvement from a very young age till now, but also being around like-minded people who are willing to serve, who have a heart of gold, in my opinion people who always want to help others and have a good sense of ethics and morals, which is very inspiring for me and in the world that we live in now you know we're around a lot of negativity, so it was very refreshing to be around people who are positive, who are willing to do positive things for the community.

Kassandra Segura:

So yeah, that was my start in Rotary.

Brian Triger:

So, Kassandra, tell us a little bit more about your club and some projects that you're working on right now.

Kassandra Segura:

Sure. So our club is called the Edmund Summit Rotly Club. It was founded in 1998 and had 28 founding members. Mr Bob Donaldson was one of them. We have Gary Jones is one of them and I believe George Strecker is also one of the founding members. So we still have members there that have been there pretty much from the start, still have members there that have been there pretty much from the start. Our club is in a state of evolution at this time. So, to give you a little bit of background, most of our members are a little bit older and have a little bit of, you know, challenges with mobility per se, if you want to put it in that perspective. So, as a younger generation myself as a past president and now Elliot Smith as the new president of our club we wanted to implement a positive change in evolution in our club that will impact our membership and will also impact the community.

Kassandra Segura:

So our club is known for two major things. One of the first things that we're known for is for our involvement with the organization called Mobile Meals.

Kassandra Segura:

Mobile Meals is an organization that provides hot meals to senior citizens that are homebound or don't have a way of transporting and you know it has created a big impact in their lives. So the way it works is somebody signs up for a route, they pick up hot meals and then they deliver them and spend a little bit of socialization time with these citizens who don't really have access to much socialization or other outside connections or relationships. So that is a great thing that we do.

Kassandra Segura:

So if you guys are interested, you can always check out Mobile Meals and their website. They have a whole bunch of different opportunities for volunteering. So a shout out to them because they're doing great work in the community. And then the other thing that we're known for is book donations. We have donated over 500 books to the Edmond Public School System. Each book that we donate is signed by one of the speakers that we have in our club meetings, so we have made a great impact on the public school system as well with literacy. In that regard, our goal, of course, as every other club in Rurnery, is to get our membership up. And how do we do that? Well, we surely have a challenge here. We meet very early in the morning. That can be very challenging for people to come and join us right before their day starts. So that has been challenge number one. And challenge number two is the involvement that we have in our community.

Kassandra Segura:

During my term as a president in the club, my goal was to implement new ideas, new ways to get involved outside of the club meetings every Tuesday, and now that my term is over, I'm also helping the new president, elliot Smith, to implement new ways to expand our diversity and involvement in the community.

Kassandra Segura:

And how are we doing that Well, it all starts with a good meeting and a lot of opinions from your club members, and I highly encourage this, because you'll get to learn a lot about what everybody's passionate about, and that is something that we have discovered in our club. There's a lot of passion, but it hasn't been tunneled and focused. We're trying to get all of these ideas focused and channeled so that we can actually take action with them, instead of just having passion but it's not channeled and it's not being worked on. So right now we are focusing on channeling all of that passion and all of that energy into one main goal, which right now it looks like economic development. Since we are located right at downtown Edmond, we want to encourage that business growth in our community, but also with our volunteering and making ourselves more present.

Kassandra Segura:

So the way that we have done that is there's a few events that go on in downtown Edmond, one of them being Vives. It is pretty much a local event where a lot of artists come out musicians, you know, you name it, and we just go. We show up, we wear rotary shirts, you know. We want people to become aware of the brand and to know that we are right there downtown, so people to become aware of the brand and to know that we are right there downtown. So our club pretty much is focusing on expanding the diversity of our membership, um, you know, making awareness of the brand and in our rotary presence downtown, specifically because we do have another uh club in Edmond, um, and so, as the smaller club, um, we feel that we have a duty and a responsibility to focus within where we are meeting and where we're located, and that will naturally draw the diversity from our involvement and the immediate events that happen around us.

Brian Triger:

Kassandra, thank you for sharing that. How has your involvement in Rotary impacted your personal and your professional life?

Kassandra Segura:

That's a great question.

Kassandra Segura:

Rotary has truly been a blessing in my life and that is just an understatement From just simple relationships that I have built that have turned into friendships, I have also seen a big impact in my professional life in a different way, of course, not just through networking, but also because of the opportunities that come from that networking. So I'll give you a couple of examples with Mr Bob Donaldson and I'll go back to him. He's definitely like my dad or my grandpa, if you want to look at it that way. He has definitely been a huge inspiration, not just in Rotary, but in life in general. He's been great support in my life. He has definitely been a huge inspiration, not just in Rotary but in life in general. He's been great support in my life. So I just wanted to give a shout out to him because if it wasn't for Mr. Bob, I wouldn't be here today. So thank you, Mr. Donaldson. I appreciate you, but yes, so in my professional life I'm a Jane of all trades.

Kassandra Segura:

I'm going to coin that. Just saying I wear a lot of hats in my professional life, from real estate, you know, in the property management area, to the arts, from being a musician I'm a violinist, but I also, you know, do a little bit of piano here and there, and also as a photographer in the media setting. Yeah, it just all blends in. Honestly, rotary, once you know a Rotarian, you'll always know another Rotarian. Once you say the word Rotary, somebody will be like oh, I know somebody in Rotary, and so that's the great part about being a Rotarian is that you have opened a whole new world of opportunity, a whole new world of connections and definitely a big, huge family, which is something that I'm so grateful for. And so, to answer the question, how has it really affected my life.

Kassandra Segura:

It has really just made an impact. You know, in my wisdom, I've learned so much about leadership. I've learned so much about what it means to serve others and what it means to be selfless. And I'm going to say Rotary is definitely an outlet for you to become the best version of yourself and surround yourself with people who are like-minded.

Brian Triger:

Let's go ahead and discuss at least one goal that you have for yourself and Rotary. And, uh, let's highlight some of the ways that new members can get involved or support the Rotary community.

Kassandra Segura:

Yeah, of course. Can get involved or support the Rotary community. Yeah, of course. So I'll start with the way that people can get involved in Rotary. And if you're thinking about joining, or if you're thinking about creating an impact in your Rotary club now or taking on a step as a leadership role, I say do it. I know it's easier said than done, but I definitely recommend you doing your due diligence. You know, if you're considering becoming a rotary member, visit all the clubs that are in your area. You know google rotary near me. You'll find plenty of clubs that meet at different times. Find a club that has a mission that you're passionate about. If you find people that are passionate about the same thing that you're passionate about, it will be a lot easier to stay involved and continually stay active in creating an impact in that club than if you just joined us to join. So that is definitely a big encouragement that I have for anybody thinking about joining Rotary.

Kassandra Segura:

And the next thing is stay educated. Rotary has a lot of tools that we, as Rotarians, I believe we don't take advantage of plenty. We have a lot of tools that are available to us, a lot of branding items that you know we may be unaware of. There's a lot of classes that we can take online. I mean simply just taking the time to be curious and stay curious and learn more about Rotary and how Rotary works will definitely open your mind to all of the possibilities to help those in your community.

Kassandra Segura:

Or, you know, even if you feel like going big and partnering up with another rotary club somewhere else in the world and joining forces to make a bigger project come true, then you know, I say, go for it. Just remember you got to stay creative and you got to stay sharp and educated, so continuous education in Rotary is definitely going to be a big win for you. I highly recommend going to as many leadership meetings that you can, you know, just to learn all of this information that we have access to. You know, be curious, go online, ask questions. You know, ask why, ask why not, and I believe that this will definitely encourage you and equip you to get more done and make your passions and your drive stay consistent. Are there any Rotary?

Brian Triger:

events that you're excited to attend or that you'd like to promote in any way.

Kassandra Segura:

Yes, I'm glad you asked.

Kassandra Segura:

You know rotary is always having something going on, so don't be overwhelmed and don't feel bad if you can't go to all of them, but I definitely encourage these three that I'm going to mention, and I'm going to mention them from the smallest to the largest event.

Kassandra Segura:

So the first one that I highly encourage everybody to attend is our monthly leadership meetings, online or in person, if you're near the Oklahoma City metro area. They are held here at the Almonte Library the last Thursday of every month and during these meetings we have all of the district members that are in leadership position join us and we pretty much do an update for each club what everybody's doing, what they're fundraising, what's new or any questions that they may have to the district. It's a great place to meet new people, first of all, and second of all, it's a great place to not just get ideas but also stay motivated to continue to serve others in your community and also to partner up with anybody else or any other clubs that may have a similar idea or a similar drive or passion that you're interested in. So definitely encourage that one for the last Thursday of every month. If you want to join us, you can go to our website and it is under the events tab so you can get access to the zoom link.

Kassandra Segura:

If you decide to join us, we'd love to see you there. The second event that I'm really excited about is the Mid-America Pets. It stands for President Elect Training Seminar. This seminar really changed my outlook on Rotary alone. As a new member, I had no idea what I was doing and being voluntold into a president role, I was definitely overwhelmed and a little bit scared. But once I went to this seminar man Ryan, there's so many people there from all over the world.

Kassandra Segura:

Like I met somebody from Thailand. It was just. It was insane, very inspiring. I don't do cable like that. It was just insane, very inspiring. And guess what? You get to learn that everybody's going through the same thing that you're going through, whether it's membership difficulty, you know, getting people to delegate any task or any roles in your club Everybody's going through it. So don't feel discouraged to think that oh no, everybody has it together. Mid-America PETS is going to make you realize that it's okay not to be okay. All the clubs have challenges and if you're open about it and you have an open mind on how to get this result, this is a place to go. I encourage everybody to go. You don't have to be a president-elect to go. You don't have to be in a leadership position to go.

Kassandra Segura:

This is a great way to learn more in depth about how clubs work and all of the tools and resources that Rotary International gives us, so highly, highly recommend. If you can't make any of the other ones, sign up for this one. It will take place in Fort Smith, arkansas, march 20th through the 22nd of 2025. So I hope to see you guys there. This information will also be on the district website, so if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to any of us or just go to rotary5750.org.

Kassandra Segura:

And then the big one, the one that everybody talks about the Rotary International Convention, Canada 2025. Have you ever been to Canada?

Brian Triger:

I haven't, but there are some rumors floating around that there's going to be a local party bus and people are going to hop on this bus and actually drive out to Calgary. So I'm excited about that. I plan on attending.

Kassandra Segura:

Wait, wait, wait, wait. A party bus.

Brian Triger:

I like to think that Rotary is always a party bus, but I think that it's going to materialize in some sort of local transportation where we are driving out to the convention, so I'm really looking forward to that.

Kassandra Segura:

Well, you know this was on my maybe list, but now you say party bus, it's going to be on my must go list. So yeah, anybody listening? I highly encourage you if you want to join us on this party bus.

Kassandra Segura:

Better reserve your spot now. But yes, so I've never been to a Rory International Convention, but I have met people who have, and all I can say is, when they go and they come back, they have this joy about them, they have this glow about them. They have been transformed and that is the best way that I can put it. Until I go myself, I know that it is a whole different level and realization of how small our world really is when you are a Rotarian and how big your family becomes when you become a Rotarian. So I highly encourage that. You know, hey, if you have the opportunity, if you have the means, if you, you know, have vacation time that you need to use, if you have the means, if you, you know, have vacation time that you need to use up, I say definitely go for it.

Brian Triger:

So I can't wait.

Kassandra Segura:

I know right, so excited.

Brian Triger:

Kassandra thank you for coming out and joining us on our first episode.

Kassandra Segura:

What an honor. Thank you so much for having me today joining us on our first episode. What an honor.

Brian Triger:

Thank you so much for having me today and thank you to our listeners for joining us on the first episode of the Rotary Spark Podcast.

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