Tina Tomiyama/Founder
StoryMasters started out in a Chinese restaurant in Culver City with a rarely-used banquet room. But the restaurant gained popularity and sometimes we got there only to find out that the banquet room was in use. We tried other restaurants and community centers. Ouch! Expensive. We were running out of options.

Hiba Hamadan/Founder
It took me few seconds to answer Tina Tomiyama’s e-mail. “What a great idea, Tina!” I said. “Let me know how I can help.”
Now, when my dear friend and mentor Tina says “Jump,” I’d say “How high?”

Margaret Mitchell/Charter Member
It was almost inevitable that I would one day join StoryMasters—an extraordinary club of advanced Toastmasters committed to developing their skills in the ancient art of storytelling.
I started down the road to StoryMasters when I was a child growing up during the mid-1940s and 50s.

Lin Van Gelder/Charter Member
When Hiba Hamdan, DTM, approached me about joining a brand-new club that was forming, I knew it would be something special. Hiba’s help and her personal story had been crucial to my early Toastmasters experience, as she mentored our company club at Boeing and taught us to be Toastmasters. I was honored when she invited me to join StoryMasters as one of the founding members.

Anna Ziss-Patton/Charter Member
My earliest, best memories of my father are of his stories. Every night before I went to sleep, he would read to me from old, hardcover books that featured classic, detailed illustrations. No watered down, picture book stories, he chose original Grimm’s and Hans Christian Anderson stories— scary and thrilling and oh so spellbinding!

Walt Grassl/Charter Member
They say never let the facts get in the way of a good story. But what if the facts make it a good story?
On Wed, Mar 20, shortly before 10 PM, I received an email from Miyo, asking me to contribute to this newsletter. Where was I? At a writers workshop conducted by “We Make Movies.” Coincidence? I think not.

Jon Caplan/Charter Member
A.P. Møller-Maersk, commonly known as Maersk, is the world’s largest shipping company. On June 27, 2017 company computers started rebooting spontaneously. Nobody knew what was happening but within minutes the problem spread around the world – taking out more than 50,000 computers – and shutting down the company.

Janine Burke
To make a long story short – I needed MORE – more than the regular Toastmasters meetings could provide. After 10 solid years in Toastmasters, I had done ALL THE MANUALS many times. I was getting tired of composing the same old speeches. That is when I was invited to join Story Masters and I have not looked back since.

Jacki Williams-Jones
I first heard about StoryMasters when I was their Area Director in 2015. The first time I stepped into Tina Tomiyama’s house, I could feel the friendly vibes of everyone present. I noticed that the format of the club was different, which allowed for more speakers, plus the feedback that everyone gave, not just the evaluators.

Mallery McMurtrey
Raise your hand if you joined Toastmasters to become more confident presenting. Me, me, me . . . that was and still is my goal. When my body took over and started trembling during my first speech, I was shocked and felt betrayed. What was happening?!