Climbing Higher: Dr. Valerie Walston and the S.O.A.R. Movement

Dr. Valerie Walston has spent more than thirty-five years in education, and she has the titles to prove it. What people in Toledo tend to remember, though, is how she makes a room feel alive. They call her Dr. Val. She can host a gala one night and lead a prayer-centered workshop the next morning, and to her the two are the same job: getting people to believe they can keep going.

That belief has a name. Walston calls it S.O.A.R, short for Surviving Obstacles and Attaining Rewards. It started as the title of her first book and has since grown into a signature empowerment program and a full brand.

A career built across the whole map of education

Walston built her career inside the education system. Over the years she held executive and senior leadership roles at five different institutions: Historically Black Colleges and Universities, predominantly white institutions, large public universities, and small private colleges. Not many education leaders work across that many kinds of campus, and fewer still learn to move between cultures that rarely speak the same language. Through all of it her focus held steady: building strong partnerships, improving student success, and pushing for inclusive excellence.

Her training covers similar ground. She earned a bachelor's in sociology from Kent State University and a master's in counseling from Hampton University. She reached All But Dissertation status in higher education administration at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and she holds a doctorate of theology from Midwest College of Theology. It is an unusual mix, and it shows up in how she leads. She thinks like someone who has studied systems, people, institutions, and faith all at once.

The S.O.A.R program

S.O.A.R grew out of Walston's book, S.O.A.R: Surviving Obstacles, Attaining Rewards. The message is simple. When you hit a hard stretch, be patient, stay grounded, and keep moving, because the reward usually waits on the other side of the obstacle. Built on faith, resilience, and personal growth, the program speaks directly to anyone who has ever wanted to quit something that mattered. People meet it through her book, her workshops, her speaking, and soon through a card game and app.

Walston is clear that she has to live the message, not just deliver it from a stage. She is especially direct about taking care of yourself:

If you're being a hypocrite and not taking care of yourself... you have to be the example you want to see.

She says it often, and people believe her because she practices it. Take care of yourself first, then go lead. For an audience that is used to being told to give until there is nothing left, that order matters.

Speaker, host, and organizer

Walston's work takes a lot of forms. She keynotes conferences, churches, corporate events, and women's gatherings, with messages on leadership, resilience, wellness, and purpose. She emcees summits, galas, and festivals. She runs workshops based on her book, guiding people through storytelling, healing, and writing down their own stories.

Dr. Val also creates her own events, among them the S.O.A.R. into Purpose Women's Conference and a run of wellness expos built around whole-person health. She moderates panels on mental wellness, entrepreneurship, relationships, and faith. She does interviews and media appearances, including a turn on WGTE's Soul of the Glass City. And with all of this, she keeps up a daily presence on social media, where her audience clearly trusts what she has to say. 

Dr. Val co-hosts Flightpath to Wellness with her business partner Jim Snodgrass, a podcast aimed at helping listeners take control of their health, mindset, and overall well-being. Through real conversations and practical advice, she and Jim walk their audience toward a healthier, more balanced life, working through physical health, mental wellness, nutrition, lifestyle habits, and personal growth, and turning complicated health ideas into steps anyone can follow.

A long list of honors

The recognition has kept pace with the work. In 2023 she emceed TEDx Mint Street in Charlotte and chaired the University of Toledo's United Way campaign. POWER Magazine named her Woman of the Month in September 2025. Sigma Gamma Rho honored her as a Firefly Honoree that August. Both Women's Week and U.S. News featured her in the summer of 2025.

Her community work has drawn just as much attention. She chaired the American Heart Association's Heart Ball in 2024 and received its Bold Hearts Award. She has been recognized by the National Professional Association of Negro Women, Top Ladies of Distinction, the University Women's Commission, and the Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union. The list keeps growing, and it is not hard to see why. Groups that serve health, women, faith, and community keep coming back to the same person.

Still building

Walston has not slowed down. In May 2026 she was named president of the Toledo chapter of the American Association of University Women, where she has spoken about raising the group's visibility through collaboration, wellness, and mentorship. She is the founder and CEO of Next Chapter Enterprises LLC, the company behind her speaking and her S.O.A.R work, and she serves as coordinator of community engagement and health and wellness for ProMedica. Wherever she lands, the pattern repeats. She builds a platform and then makes room on it for other people.

The Re-Birth

On October 12, 2026 Walston brought her favorite people together at the Delta Hotel in Toledo to launch the next phase of the brand, billed as The Re-Birth: renew, restore, rejuvenate. The S.O.A.R card game and app are on the way, both built to put the message directly in people's hands.

Ask Dr. Valerie Walston where the drive comes from, and she points to Jeremiah 29:11, the verse about plans for prosperity, hope, and a future. She has spent a career making the case, and she built S.O.A.R so that no one has to make it alone. The reward, she will tell you, is on the other side of the obstacle. And she is not done climbing.

Dr. Nicole L. Brock is a Toledo-based writer, civic systems architect, and founder of 31Hundred. When she’s not helping organizations tell better stories with data, she’s exploring what it means to lead, rest, and rebuild boldly. www.31hundred.com