\nPlease see the interview with Tamar Toria \u2013 Executive Director at Georgian Farmers\u2019 Association.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
First of all, please tell us about your success story, what stages you went through, what difficulties you faced and what stage you are at now?<\/strong><\/p>\n
There are different definitions of success and everyone understands it differently. I share the opinion that success is not material, but a state of mind, a kind of attitude that requires a lot of effort from a person. I think it’s the state of contentment you feel when you reach a goal. I believe that the most important thing is to set a goal and the ways to achieve it will appear. When you clearly see the goal and know exactly why you want to achieve it, success will come sooner or later.<\/p>\n
I went through a rather difficult life path, I lost my father, the mainstay of my family, at the age of a teenager, which was soon followed by leaving home due to the war in Abkhazia and living as an IDP in Tbilisi. All this happened in such a short time and so quickly that the little, carefree girl suddenly grew up in one day and realized that she had to find her own way of life and success and she had to take responsibility for her own actions. Fortunately, at different stages of my life, I had a few precious people who stood by me at the necessary moments, for whom I will be grateful for the rest of my life, but without striving for the goal, I would not have succeeded. In dark and lightless Georgia, I received the best education available at that time, at the same time I trained school students in English, and immediately after finishing the university, I started working in the Ministry of Agriculture. Soon after, I was offered a job at the British Embassy, where I worked for almost 8 years and acquired skills that would be useful to me in a leadership role in the future. I was 23 and it was probably my biggest success at that time. After that, there were many other international organizations and finally the Georgian Farmers Association, with completely different specifics and challenges, where I rediscovered myself, grew and set new goals in the endless journey of success, which despite the difficulties in my personal life couldn\u2019t be hindered.<\/p>\n
What was the biggest challenge on your career path, an obstacle that seemed insurmountable at first, but you were able to overcome?<\/strong><\/p>\n
After 15 years of working in international organizations, the turning point in my life came when I realized that I had to get out of my comfort zone and move from the spectator\u2019s seat to the stage, to be more specific, I decided to change from the role of project donor to the role of project idea generator and implementer. It was at this time that Nino Zambakhidze, the Chairwoman of the Georgian Farmers’ Association, offered me the position of Executive Director of the association, which was more than I expected or prepared for at that stage. I can’t call it an obstacle, rather a challenge and an opportunity, but it turned out to be the most difficult to overcome for me at that point. The trust that Nino showed in me gave me so much motivation that I believed in myself even more, worked a lot on myself and enriched and deepened my knowledge in different areas. To this day, I am constantly learning and developing, and I am proud that together with Nino, we were able to turn a young organization consisting of 5 people into one of the strongest organizations in just 6 years, which currently has up to 70 employees and 4 regional offices.<\/p>\n
On the way to success, of course, there were mistakes, but without them, I believe that there is no creativity and no new ideas are born. Leadership and team management were also new to me, and I wondered what motivated me, why not others?! This misconception of generalization and the difficulties caused by it made us realize that we had to build a team of people with similar values, who would embrace the organizational culture and enjoy working in it with us, that we should motivate them and give them maximum autonomy within their competence, which ultimately led us to the result. I am proud of our young team and the results achieved.<\/p>\n
What is your main motivation to keep moving forward?<\/strong><\/p>\n
My main motivator is successful results, the belief that I can, as well as the success of each person whose development I somehow contributed to. As amazing as it is, I am also motivated by challenges. I am a fighter by nature, and I don’t give up easily; mobilizing in difficult situations and finding solutions happens faster in my case. Finally, the main motivator in my life is my daughter, for whom I want to be an example that if you set a goal, you will surely achieve it.<\/p>\n
As we know you are Executive Director at Georgian Farmers\u2019 Association.<\/strong> Tell us more about your company and your current activities there.<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Georgian Farmers\u2019 Association, through its regional offices, serves to improve the wellbeing of farmers and their standard of living. It unites around 5,000 farmers throughout Georgia and with its main mandate, advocacy, constantly stands on the guard of farmers’ interests and helps to find ways to solve existing problems. Education is our priority and we have implemented many interesting projects and initiatives in this direction, because we believe that the field cannot develop without appropriate education and competence. At this stage, I am the Chairperson of the Sector Skills Organization “Agro Duo”, the management function of which has been taken over by our association with a three-year mandate. In addition, we help farmers to introduce new technologies and increase productivity, promote access to market and find partners, develop agritourism and take care of food safety. We didn’t leave the young generation behind either, and we digitized all the existing services and delivered necessary and innovative products through various interesting platforms. We support women\u2019s economic empowerment by helping women entrepreneurs to develop their businesses, work with penitentiary institutions to bring about the economic reintegration of people in conflict with the law. This is shortly about the extensive list of activities that we have been carrying out over the years. There are many more interesting projects and initiatives ahead, which will have many beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
Tell us a few words about your future plans, is there any initiative or project that you are planning to launch?<\/strong><\/p>\n
In two years, I will complete 10 years of work in the organization. This will be the longest period of working in one organization in my career. I think it’s time to hand over to someone else and let him or her have an opportunity to do more than I was able to accomplish. As for me, this path will help me move into the consulting field, where I will share my knowledge and experience with a wider audience.<\/p>\n
Finally, limiting ourselves to the traditional question, what would you advise aspiring professionals and young people who are now taking their first career steps?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I would say that the most important thing is to have a goal and believe that you will succeed, to strive for this goal with patience, because everything that is precious and valuable takes time, and we should not give up. The road to success is not easy, there will be many obstacles, but I believe that because you are alive, everything is possible, especially if one is determined and goal oriented.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>