Shared Lessons and Goals Unlock Our Potential

AT MY HEART, I am a gatherer of hard lessons, great ideas, and cherished mentors, and my 17-year journey as an association executive has been shaped by this curiosity and desire to learn. There have been plenty of pitstops, U-turns, overpasses, and speed bumps along the way, but each moment has given me a new lesson to reflect on and grow from. The journey is far from over, but I’m excited to share a little about the lessons I’ve collected over the years.

The Power of the Shoulder Tap

As our friends at the Texas Library Association would agree, libraries change lives. My elementary school’s library certainly changed mine. Yes, the books were plentiful. Yes, the mobile planetarium was an exciting novelty. And, of course, the quiet space to discover endless new stories always had me wondering where’d I’d go next. But my life was changed by one simple request: “Paulina, we’d like you to be a library helper. Would you enjoy that?” You mean, I get to sit behind the desk, wield a bar code scanner, and hand-stamp due dates into book cards?!? What wouldn’t be life-changing about that?

I can still remember walking on cloud nine from my classroom to the library, where I was inducted into the Library Helpers Club hall of fame (because I definitely knew I was destined for elite-level scanning). I felt 8 inches taller, more capable, and absolutely full of pride (and POWER). All because someone saw something in me, asked me to help, and gave me an opportunity to grow.

This was probably not my first lesson in leadership, but it’s absolutely my first memorable one: the power of the shoulder tap. Asking people to play a role in their community not only fills a need in achieving your goals but it also builds loyalty, shapes new leaders, and feels freaking good!

Compete, Suffer, and Celebrate as a Team

Fast forward a few years – I learned a slightly harder lesson with an even greater reward. We moved to Texas from North Carolina in the middle of my 8th grade year. In a new state (that I was certain was located on the surface of the sun) at a school where everyone had known each other for their entire lives, I looked to high school for a fresh start. I’d played the trombone since 6th grade and decided that joining the marching band would be the best way to earn PE credit (remember, I hadn’t lived through a Texas summer so the idea of marching in a band on asphalt in August didn’t really sound like such a bad idea… yet). Enter: band camp.

I reported to campus two weeks before school started, knowing one person from my middle school and crossing my fingers this was the right move. And it was. I was instantly surrounded by a community of fun, kind, driven people who became my whole world. Becoming part of a community where we all played our part and worked toward a common goal – to use our 150 bodies to make weird shapes while blowing into scorching metal tubes – was incredible. Not only did my musical abilities grow but so did my confidence, and I supported incoming newbies in later years. There’s something magical about competing, suffering, and celebrating as a team.

A few years later, marching band would also teach me that leadership isn’t something you can just wing. It takes thoughtful preparation, a willingness to correct mistakes, and dedication to take it seriously for those you’re leading. The band directors had the opportunity to show me that when I walked into drum major tryouts with minimal practice, expecting I could, as mentioned above, wing it. I didn’t make it, but it’s a happy ending: I pulled it together the next year and raised my hand to be the uniform officer. That uniform room was never more organized, the plumes never puffier, and our checkout system never smoother.

Associations Bring More than Professional Connections

As most of us do, I stumbled into association management. Leaving University of Texas, I knew I wanted to be connected to mission-based work and searched for general nonprofit jobs. I landed at the Texas Association for School Nutrition as a Meetings Coordinator, leaning into my experience organizing small events for our student chapter of the National Communication Association. About two months into the job, I worked my first conference. I can still remember the feeling I had leaving that event. I called my husband on the way home and gushed about the experience. Completely on accident, I had fallen into this job where I was surrounded by people who had chosen to come together to continue learning, share their experiences, and build relationships. What was this magic?

A few years into my career, I decided to take the step towards the CMP certification. It was here, and through TSAE, I met women who became lifelong friends. We learned together, supported each other’s careers, grew our families alongside each other, and these #bossladies and so many others remain some of my favorite people in life. Associations bring more than professional connections; we create environments where real relationships are forged. I bet all of us can think of at least one person who came to us through an association and has changed our lives.

Learn to Lead from Other Leaders

The relationships I’ve gained from associations have informed my own leadership styles, and I’ve learned how to balance their influence with my own style.

One of the most significant experiences in my career came through yet another TSAE relationship – joining JJ Colburn and his incredible team at the Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented (TAGT). JJ’s wisdom, encapsulated in the phrase “people support what they help create,” profoundly shaped my approach to leadership. His guidance taught me the importance of cascading vision and providing context to my teams.

In 2018, I took a chance and followed my gut (and JJ), leaving TAGT to join the small team at Strategic Association Management (SAM). Here, I have learned from another incredible leader, Megan Woodburn. Megan embodies entrepreneurial spirit and reinforces the value of having a supportive and fiercely loyal network every day.

A reminder that things almost always work out as they should, TAGT approached us about transitioning their staffing solution over to SAM and asked me to serve as their Executive Director. This was my dream job.

Dream job or not, what we all know is this association executive gig is no walk in the park.

Transitioning into the leadership role at TAGT and following a beloved leader (and still working for him), I stumbled a lot. Learning to balance the leadership influences and mentors I’d collected throughout my career with my own style and instinct made me a better leader.

Excited, Inspired, Unprepared, and Ready to Go

TSAE has been instrumental in shaping both my professional journey and personal life, and all of the associations we serve play such a vital role in shaping the members we serve.

As I step into the role of TSAE’s 2024-2025 Board Chair, I feel excited, inspired, unprepared, ready to go, and everything in between. I’m so excited for TSAE’s future. My intention this year is to involve more members in shaping the next stage of our journey (yes, you!). Your TSAE Board is committed to being proactive in foresight, preparing the association for upcoming challenges and opportunities. Together, with TSAE’s renewed strategic plan focusing on innovation and growth, there is a place for every single TSAE member to make an impact by attending events, inviting others, providing feedback, and raising your hand to get involved.

My role as an association executive has been a cornerstone of my personal and professional growth. Every learning opportunity can be traced back to my involvement with TSAE. To those aspiring to follow a similar path, my advice is simple: get involved. Engagement and active participation are key to unlocking the full potential of association management.

And, of course, don’t forget to learn from the lessons along the way. In the dynamic world of associations, it’s all about the journey: What you experience, who you meet, and how you choose to pay it forward.