475: Best Club Management Conversations of the Year

This isn't just a recap — it's a rapid-fire rewind of some of the biggest club leadership takeaways, off-the-wall moments, and most replayed quotes from the Private Club Radio Show in 2025.

Denny Corby brings you back through ten standout clips featuring conversations with private club professionals, GMs, consultants, and leaders who dropped gold on everything from imposter syndrome to budgeting red flags to branding with bourbon.

You’ll hear about:
 • Why ghost members and shady data could put your club at risk
 • What bourbon barrels and club culture have in common
 • How to build a personal brand (and an exit plan) before you need it
 • The balance between tradition and change in member expectations
 • How hospitality and aging intersect in a meaningful way
 • Marketing wins that started with golf carts in lakes
 • And financial blind spots every GM should avoid

Featuring clips from:
 Kaitlyn Allen, Kent Johnson, Dan Klimek, David Sweet, Jeff Wilson, Kevin Rice, Samantha Sheffield, Desi Speh, Ionel Porumb, and Ed Chapman.

Whether you're a GM, department head, or just love the behind-the-scenes stories that make this industry tick, this one’s packed with moments you’ll want to rewind.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Warm Welcome And Year Wrap
• 2:28 Two Listener Gifts And Announcements
• 4:58 How The Highlights Will Work
• 6:50 Aging With Dignity: Gerontology Meets Hospitality
• 12:24 Imposter Syndrome With Kent Johnson
• 17:19 Member Vetting Trends And Ghost Accounts
• 26:30 Reinvention And Brand With David Sweet
• 35:52 The Golf Cart Lake Story With Jeff Wilson
• 41:20 Bourbon Stewardship And Building Programs
• 52:54 Balance Sheet First With Samantha Sheffield
• 1:02:20 Family, Culture, And Empowerment With Desi Spay
• 1:15:56 Horsepower And Hospitality At Monticello

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club Radio Show, where we give you the scoop on all things private golf and country clubs from mastering leadership and management, food and beverage excellence, member engagement secrets, board governance, and everything in between, all while keeping it fun and light. Whether you're a club veteran, just getting your feet wet, or somewhere in the middle, you are in the right place. I'm your host, Denny Corby. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the final episode of 2025. We did it, y'all. We made it through. Made it through another year of budgets, bourbon tastings, board meetings, bonkers, bonus requests. It was bonkers. It was a bonkers year. This year, the show, we had some amazing moments, hell some hilarious, some honest, some super nerdy, and some things that just make you sit back and say, damn, that was actually really smart. And if it's one thing I've learned this year, it's that everybody consumes and takes things in differently. So I hope you all who are consuming the content got something out of the content you are consuming. Hope you get a little bit out of each episode that you take in. Uh and you're sharing it with your friends and colleagues along the way. I want to thank you all, uh, each and every listener, each and every supporter for your support, for tuning in week after week, month after month, year after year. I appreciate you. Appreciate you engaging with us over on LinkedIn and sharing the word and getting the word out there. So thank you very much. So today in this episode, we are going to be doing a highlight reel. Um I don't want to say these are the best moments because to me, like I said, everybody gets different things from different episodes and different content. So what's great for me might not be great for you. So these are just fun moments, just uh some random episodes, some ones I picked, just ones I just thought made sense. Um, so I just wanted to put together a bunch of just cool uh clips and portions of different episodes for you to enjoy and re-enjoy. So it's just me and some of my favorite moments from this year. Gonna bounce back from guest to guest, topic to topic, clip to clip, and I'll intro each one, set the scene, and then hit play. And real quick, if you can do me two very small favors. If you want to consider these holiday gifts, new year's gifts, uh, just two small things for me, and it will mean the world. Number one is I'm revamping the entire Private Club Radio newsletter for 2026. If you are not signed up to a newsletter, head on over to privateclubradio.com and give it a couple seconds. The bobble, the the bobble, the box will pop up, uh, put in your name and email, and we're re-redoing the entire new newsletter, more different exclusive content. Even if you might think you are subscribed or not, or just want to re-put your name in, uh, just head on over to privateclubradio.com and then the box will pop up, pop in your name and email. Uh, that would just mean the world to me. I'm I I realize I've been lacking a tiny bit over there, but bringing it back uh with with full, full force. And number two is if you're looking to do some fun events at your club, some fun entertainment, you're looking for something cool to do, you got the Danny Corby experience. There's excitement, there's mystery, also there's magic mind reading and comedy, a ton of laughs, gasps, and holy craps performed for well over 350 clubs plus, not including different corporate events and other engagements, a bunch of the CMAA chapters in different capacities. You're in good hands. But if you're down to have a conversation to learn more about what it is to bring me in to have some fun at your club, it's a show for people who are afraid of comedians and hate magic shows. No, it's a really good time. It's magic mind reading and comedy, a ton of crowd work, a lot of banter, a lot of engagement, a really fun, inclusive event for your members. If you want to learn more, head on over to dennycorby.com. A lot of the beginning of the year is fairly full. Uh, so right now, looking more into the rest of the year. So even if you want to have a conversation about what the show looks like more, how it would work uh for you and your club. Love the chat, love to have conversations. Hit me up, dennycorby.com. And I'm also all over LinkedIn. If you want to be like the ultimate rock star, you could do both. You can re-sign up for the Private Club Radio newsletter and then head on over to dennycorby.com. If you go to privateclubradio.com, then dennycorby.com. But no, enough about that though. I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you for an amazing 2026, 2026. I gotta edit. Get that out of here. No, I'm probably gonna leave that in, actually. It's pretty funny. Um, because that pretty much sums up about 2025. Uh, but no, thank you all for you for the amazing support in 2025. I have some fun things planned for 2026 and cannot wait. Um re-including management in motion is gonna be back. Can't wait to share more about that soon. Um, but enough about all of this. Let's get to the episode Private Club Radio Listeners. Let's start this whole thing off. This highlight, this recap of some of the fun moments, some of the cool segments, uh, some of the cool episodes of 2025. Uh, we're gonna kick it off with the awesome Caitlin Allen. And if you're not familiar with Caitlin, she has this crazy smart background that blends gerontology and hospitality. And it makes sense how well those two blend together. And in this clip, she breaks it down in a way that makes you realize, you know, maybe this is kind of the sort of sauce that's uh this the secret sauce that maybe some clubs are missing, or that maybe more clubs can tap into this um, you know, really taking care of some of our older members, our older people. Uh, because a lot of times for a lot of members, you know, clubs we're we're the we're the second family. For some people, you're their you're their we're their only family. Um, so so uh just a really cool episode. This is from episode 450, Aging with Dignity. So let's roll it. Gerontology.

SPEAKER_06: 6:26

Yeah, the science of aging.

SPEAKER_02: 6:29

How did how does like how old were you when you were like, yes? Because like that's like a very specific topic.

SPEAKER_06: 6:37

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_02: 6:38

So I was what sparked it?

SPEAKER_06: 6:41

I will tell you. So 15-year-old Caitlin in high school, mom and dad told me, if you want to do things with friends, you need to have some spending money. So what did I do? I got a job. And there was a retirement community in our community, and uh, they were hiring servers, and I thought, I like food, I could carry a plate, sure, let's do it. So uh that was my first job ever. Even, I mean, I didn't really do much babysitting, it was it was a waiting table. So I was in food and beverage from the beginning, and I loved it. I had grandparents uh up in Canada who lived in a very similar facility, and it kind of reminded me of my grandparents. I got to spend my days, not just learning, you know, the art and the science of food and beverage, but um being around people who are inspiring for all sorts of different reasons, and listening to them and their stories that they have to tell. It was it was magic, and I really enjoyed that. Um, I did, I I know I told you the story. There um there was a bit of a scandal at that particular facility when I was working there. There was some ugliness happening with the nursing staff in terms of um abuse to the residents, a bit of physical, um, yeah, violation of human rights, um getting themselves written into wills and property, just misappropriation of a lot of a lot of things. So I didn't know what the heck was going on. I was 15 and I didn't really know what that was, but up until that point in my life I'd never really experienced that kind of ugliness in the world. So that's what what sparked the interest in becoming my original goal, geriatrop lawyer. And uh I said, that's this is what I'm doing with my life, is I'm going to I'm gonna defend those who who can't stand up for themselves. So that kind of mapped my course from there on out. I I left that facility, obviously, um, and I went to work for a different company, uh Brookdale Senior Living, and it was incredible. It was everything, it was meaningful, enriching life, and um it was it was where I was meant to be. And so I went off to college, Kansas State University, Proud Wildcat, and I knew I was going to law school, so I um got an undergraduate degree in political science with a secondary in gerontology, and because that was a program they offered at K-State, and I realized about two weeks into the political science classes that I was not cut out for political science. And not for me. I had a professor who was monotone, and maybe that played into it, but it was not me in economics.

SPEAKER_02: 9:22

I could not grasp it. And the teacher was just the worst, and you're just like, uh, and then it's like you know, it's not nothing helps.

SPEAKER_06: 9:31

And yeah, so it was it was gonna be a long four years. And I thought, if this is what it's about, I need to reevaluate my priorities. So I called my parents, my dad in a panic, and I said, What do I do? And dad, you know, gave some wonderful advice. He said, You get to go to law school with any undergraduate degree. I mean, if Elle Woods can do it with fashion marketing, you can do it with whatever the heck you want. So I was taking an intro to hospitality class, and it resonated and fell head first, head over eels in love with hospitality. I kept the secondary degree in gerontology, and I loved it. I continued to work in the retirement home. Um, but then I got my first internship at a club the first summer after my freshman year of college. And spoiler alert, I did not make it to law school. That did not happen because I really I found a niche in in private club management.

SPEAKER_02: 10:26

Yeah. Oh, I love that. I love that. I remember when we first talked, you said something, it was like along the lines of like hospitality isn't just service, it's about dignity and purpose. It was something like that. Where does where does that come from? What does that mean?

SPEAKER_06: 10:47

Well, I mean, you have to understand aging is age aging is emotional. And hospitality, you know, you're you're not just creating a menu and uh it's a place for them to gather and to live their whole full lives. And you know, it's it isn't service, it isn't transactional. It's how can you enhance a person's life at any age, you know, not just those of a of a of an older age. How do you make everybody feel feel relevant and seen and cared for? Derontology is not just about medicine or policy, but to me, it's more about the culture of aging. It's what we value, it's how we treat people as they get older, and that culture informs how we serve them. Private call clubs often serve an older demographic, especially in places like Hilton Head, the South, coastal towns. We're not just providing dinner, we're providing purpose, a reason to gather, to move, and to connect. To me, it's about dignity, dignity, routine, and identity. Uh, I believe a club part becomes part of someone's personal culture as they age, and that's awesome that we get to do that.

SPEAKER_02: 12:03

If you want to listen to the entire episode, that's episode 450, Aging with Dignity. Make sure you guys check out that episode with Caitlin. Really, really, really, really good. Up next, uh, we have Kent Johnson and it's the TED Talk you didn't know you needed. Um this was such a great episode because he and I got deep into something that I think a lot of us sometimes pretend we're immune to, and that is imposter syndrome. And he just nailed what it feels like when your brain goes full sabotage mode and uh tells you you just don't belong, and you know, just you start going down that really bad rabbit hole. Um so this is just uh a really great short clip from a fantastic episode. It's from episode 460, imposter syndrome at the top. And uh, we are gonna dive in right now with Kent Johnson. So here we go. What are those conversations that you have when you know people are doubting themselves? Like how do you normalize those feelings for them without letting it stall their growth?

SPEAKER_05: 13:13

Um, for me, it's it's a lot about drawing on past experience, having been into those and been in many of those situations that have zapped my confidence for one reason or another, or mistakes that I've made, or frankly, successes that that I've experienced. And being able to make those relatable to the individual and and trying to break things down in a way that are that it's digestible and human, frankly. Um and you hope that that's what has that that's ultimately what makes it what makes it resonate with that person.

SPEAKER_02: 13:49

Yeah. Yeah.

unknown: 13:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 13:51

Do you have any tools or habits that help you kind of quiet that imposter voice?

SPEAKER_05: 13:59

Um I just, whatever the situation is, I just need to do it and just be me. And if I can do that and be true to myself, then I find that you know most things are gonna be pretty good. And at times you have to quiet things the other way too, that says, hey, look, you know, we've we've done some really good things, we've gotten recognized for some really cool things, but you know, don't forget all the things that you did to get to where you are. And so that's on both sides of that, right? So um yeah, I mean, absolutely. You have to quiet the noise and and just realize that you know you want to be the guy that you've told everybody that you are and that you've you know spent your entire life being.

SPEAKER_02: 14:44

Yeah. Yeah. I know for me it's it's definitely probably having you know that, you know, I was gonna say that that like IS, but then it sounds too much like IBS, and I don't want to say that. Uh got that, got that IS acting up again. Yeah. No. Um, you know, it's I I know for me, like I think I've I think it's helped a bit because you know, you know, after like a show, for me, you know, it could be a killer show, be like, that was great, but like in the back of my head, I'm like, yeah, but that one moment, you know, I could have, or like, oh, still so-and-so is better, or like whatever. You know, do you ever find it's helped you keep you humble and just, you know, for for me, I know it keeps me hungry, keeps me learning, keeps me relatable. Do you think like the same?

SPEAKER_05: 15:31

Absolutely. Um, I mean, I think it's I think it wouldn't be normal if you just got off stage or did whatever and didn't look and say, oh my gosh, I missed making this point or I missed that part of this trick was supposed to go that way. Um, yeah, 100% I do that. And and you know, I'll kind of kick myself if there are days that, you know, I didn't prepare for something as well as I should have. But, you know, I also at the same time I want to be prepared, but I don't want to be rehearsed, if that makes if that makes any sense too.

SPEAKER_02: 16:01

So 100%. So good. If you want to hear the entire episode, that is episode 460 with Ken Johnson. Such an amazing episode. Now, all right, now let's kick it over to our friends, member vetting. We have Dan Klemick with Kennis Member Vetting, and in this segment, we are talking all about ghost accounts, ghost social media accounts, those shady accounts, and a little bit more, uh, a little bit on data also. But I love what they do. I'm a big, big supporter, and they're they're a big supporter and a big fan of the channel as as well, and as well as the the club community in in general. At it, take that out. Next, we have Dan Klemick from Kennis Member Vetting, our friends, big fans, big supporters of the show, big supporters and huge in the industry here. And what they do to help clubs is truly remarkable. They really help make sure the right people get in. They really help vet your potential members to come in to make sure the real people get into your club, the real people who fit what you and your club are about. And in this clip, we are talking all about ghost accounts and a little bit more. Uh, but if you don't know what a ghost account is, it is absolutely boggers. So this is a clip from episode 454, all about today's top membership risks. If you want to dive in a little bit more. And hey, by the way, if you want to learn more about Kennis member vetting and how they can help you and your club and your members, head on over to membervetting.com, fill out the form. Dan or Paul will get in touch with you and let them know you're reaching out because of private club radio. If you ask nicely, maybe they'll send you a book too. So from episode 454 with Dan Klemick, has that been a thing that's been common? And then like what else has been popping up?

SPEAKER_09: 18:03

Three things come to mind, and and two of them are are you know investigation related. One, you hit the nail on the head. So the the governments, both uh you know, the state and the federal government are finally catching up on COVID relief dollars. Um so that those PPP loans, there are investigations going on in every state, in every county on people that took those loans out for non-existent businesses or businesses that they started in order to get that loan money. So you're seeing a lot of people who have these PPP loan fraud cases now. We have seen a lot of those where it's like, okay, you know, in 2019 you had two employees, but all of a sudden for the PPP loan, you're claiming 25 employees, you took a$2 million loan out. Now the government's going, what did you do with that? Because the business doesn't seem to exist. So yeah, that that is a huge theme. The other theme, and I think since we talked last is political things, the politics have, you know, wherever you're at, they've shifted, they've gone far left, far right. That has created some online, some heated online uh content that we find. And, you know, I mean, let's face it, some of those people, no matter what side they're on, can be difficult to be around, right? And so when they're using these things online, the political posts have gone through the roof. I mean, people have taken sides, and the the ones that are vocal are loud and vocal, and again, not sometimes the best members, or at least somebody you should be aware of, depending on what your club's culture is like, sometimes that's not a great fit. So those that's what we've seen. Uh those would be the two main things in the past year. I mean, listen, the ghost accounts are crazy. I mean, when you find them, uh Denny, you wouldn't believe. I mean, you would you could meet someone, have dinner with them, play around to golf with them, and they're totally normal. You'd hang out with them, you'd have beers with them, and then you would look at this report and go, oh my gosh, they're into that. That is something that they're into. And it will eventually come up when they're members. I mean, those those types of things that we find, we'll just leave it at strange lifestyle choices uh outside of the public view. View, uh, but that tend to make their way online. There are forums, there are groups, there are things that people belong to that you would never believe, right? Mark the CEO, you're like, cool guy, I had beers with him yesterday. He should have a 78, it was fun, and then you're like, we should admit him, and then you look at our report and you go, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. He's a fluffy. It's called furry, Denny. Furries, oh Demi. Come on, you knew that.

SPEAKER_02: 20:27

Um you found my account. You found my account.

SPEAKER_09: 20:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: 20:33

Listen, listen. Okay, you're you're furry curious. So, okay, time out. These are all things. So these are some just books I like, and this is stuff from like shows and and just stuff. This was so look at me get on defensive now. No, that was actually uh furry curious. I was doing uh I was doing a uh a club show in Florida, and they said, Hey, what do you want in your in your green room? So to me, like I, you know, I don't take anything serious. I was like, bottle of vodka, bottle of wine, you know, a charcuterie board, puppies. Like I just started like listing off all this stuff. And sure enough, when I when I got into like the green room, there was like the stuffed animal dog, there was like small like nips of vodka. There was like a charcuterie board. It was really funny.

SPEAKER_09: 21:21

Um just like whatever the Rolling Stones get, I want that.

SPEAKER_02: 21:26

Uh well, and then actually, total side note, do you know where the green MMs came from or why that started?

SPEAKER_09: 21:32

I do not.

SPEAKER_02: 21:33

So I don't I don't know if it was the Rolling Stones, one of the bands in in the rider said uh uh a bowl of green MMs. And now, mind you, this was this was back 80s, 90s, maybe. And they did that for a very specific reason. There are people who put stuff in there in their rider for like BS just just because they want it. But that was the tour manager because the tour manager put that on there because if they showed up, because back in the day you couldn't just buy green MMs. Like now you can just buy the colors as is, like a whole bag of whatever. I've been to Vegas, I know. Yeah. So they did that because if the tour manager went into the green room when they first showed up and there was a bowl of green MMs, that means that they had somebody read the writer, they had somebody sit there and separate all the MMs just to put the green one. So now they know it's probably gonna be a safer venue. Everything's gonna be set up properly. Like it that was like that was their little like trigger. Yeah, that was their like little trigger to go like because now if he shows up and it's just a regular bowl, it's like, gosh, I really gotta go. And let me double check this, let me make sure all that, you know.

SPEAKER_09: 22:38

So I thought that was like in college when you sneak a bizarre sentence into your essay just to see if the professor reads it, you know. You got a 30-page essay and you you you sneak a sentence in there like this professor's awful, and then you wait to see if he says anything because then you know he didn't read it. So um yeah, no, that's that's uh no, so the furry thing is is very real. And and you know, you can use your imagination as to what else there is out there outside of the furry realm. But once you find something like that, and I'll give you a more mundane example. If if I find out that you're a big car person, you have a whole bunch of pictures of your you know, pick a car, you know, we're going racing in a few weeks, BMW, for example, there are entire forums and cultures and websites and things dedicated to that. So I now know that about you, and then I start down that rabbit hole. And I want to see are we street racing? Are we doing things nefariously? Who are we hanging out with? What kind of clubs and what kind of places do we go to? Because that leads to other things too, and it leads to connections, it leads to things that you do. And that's pretty mundane. I mean, most car people are. I've got a Wrangler, uh, I'm on Wrangler Forums because it's a it's a 90s Wrangler, so trying to keep that thing alive and running is uh you need the forums, right? Um So there are things that you know people are into as hobbies, and you find those things and you go down that rabbit hole and figure out what those really mean. Sometimes those hobbies are questionable at best, and then you you know you go down those rabbit holes and those sites and those forums and those things that are not traditionally found on Google. I mean, you know, we joke all the time, we talk about the analogy of the onion, but the iceberg, right? And I've got a great picture of it somewhere where you've got this iceberg where you've got just the tippy top showing on the surface. That's Google. Google uh only indexes about five to six percent of the entire internet. So that other 95% call it is not indexed by Google. So your average person isn't going to find those things. And that includes things like forums and other strange sites that are considered on, I would say the deep web would be the best way to describe it, but it's that under-the-surface information that we dredge up and find where all of this information is. So that that's really the benefit is finding all of it. And you know, going back to our trends, so we had the political, we've got the weird alternative lifestyle stuff, and the PPP loans are a big one. I mean, they speak to a lot of fraud. I mean, generally when you see those, it means whatever that person's primary business was was failing or had a problem, and there's lawsuits and litigation, and that was a way to get some quick cash infused into a business where it wasn't necessarily legitimate. And then you have the crazy ones where it's like, you know, guy who claimed 30 employees and and bought two Ferraris over COVID with PPP money. Well, that that's a more obvious one. Those those people are those people were found first. Now they're going after the ones that are more questionable. Like, did you really have a hundred employees and need a$10 million PPP loan? Or maybe was that inflated? And they're going back and getting those things. The third trend is more business related on our end, is that we have seen a lot more small clubs contacting us. And when I say small, I mean by actual number of members, but also from a cost standpoint, um the those clubs are contacting us more regularly and finding value in what we're doing because they are smaller. So we you know, we kind of had a target range of the type of club that was a good fit for us originally, you know, and being new to the industry only a couple of years ago, a few years ago, um, trying to learn things on the fly, but now we're finding that some of these smaller clubs are just as interested. And so we're able to put together really nice packages for them too that are a little bit more cost conscious, but still give them a much more in-depth view of what that applicant's going to be like. And the other going along with that is membership drives, which was something that I had never heard of before. But sometimes clubs will do membership drives. So they'll say, you know, for the month of July, we're going to try to sign up 100 new members and we're going to publish stuff and and and advertise. And what that turns out to be is 100 new members that no one knows. They know nothing about, right? So we've got 100 members of the general public that no one has referred. They're just people that applied. Um, and now we really feel like we're under the gun to get more information about these people before we admit them in. So those are just some of the biggest trends that I've seen um over the last year, year and a half.

SPEAKER_02: 27:02

So Yeah, that's that's great. Up next, I had a great conversation with my friend David Sweet, and we talked about everything from personal brand, reinvention, and how to stop letting other people define your story. Um It was just a really, really great talk, a really great episode, because let's be real, you know, let's be real. Clubs change, members change, people change, we change, right? And we have to evolve and sometimes change also. Uh so just a really great clip from a really great episode. This is from episode 448, why every GM Needs a Strong Exit Plan and a Stronger People Plan with David Sweet. And and I mean, your uh quote says it best man plans and God laughs. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04: 27:50

Yeah, that about sums up life.

SPEAKER_02: 27:52

Yeah. Uh have you do you have like a a memory or anything or a moment that like embodied that quote for you?

SPEAKER_04: 28:01

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I I come out of college, gung-ho, I did really, really well in school, and I I got this vision of being a corporate executive executive for hotels, and then the great recession hits and I got laid off in I want to say 2000 and 2008. Yeah, like, oh, how does this happen? My uh my departments are doing some of the best sales in the entire hotel, but people are making business decisions at that time, and so it really kind of changed the way that I looked at the world. And yeah, there it is. Man, man plans and God laughs. And then over time, but the FMV director who I was working with back then, he ends up as an AGM down here in Florida at a country club. And I get this crazy phone call to come join the team and kind of again laugh. Like, this is not my plan.

SPEAKER_02: 28:56

Yeah. And then from from new, and it's funny because we overlapped, like we must met the some of the same places in in Boston, which is even funnier. Uh, there's been a couple other people I've like chatted with, and it's like, we were in the sick. That's so cool. Like, what are they like it almost makes you think like how many times like you know, we were probably in like the same bar or just somewhere, or like walked past each other on the street and just had like no, no, like what's the word? Uh you know, no idea who who we were.

SPEAKER_04: 29:24

Um no clue that we would connect, what what is it like 20 years later?

SPEAKER_02: 29:29

Okay, maybe not that yeah. Or to say that, isn't this much? Oh, yeah, oh that hurt. That actually really doesn't hurt that I don't like that at all. Um I know, I know. And now you've been at Boca Woods for a while now, and you know, I I think from our chat and just from reading and everything, it's a c it's clear a lot has evolved. How would you describe the journey the club's been on?

SPEAKER_04: 29:53

I think it's been an incredible journey, Boca Woods. In in when I characterize it and kind of look at everything that has gone on, I I think that this club over the last 10 years has really leaned in to the education provided by the Club Managers Association and and has really done the work that Club Benchmarking talks about and realized what needed to happen for the club to be something that's viable and and that people look forward to in the future. So in the last 10 years, we've we've taken a property that Ray Cronin at Club Benchmarking would describe as, you know, not not reinvesting, not not doing the things to maintain the balance sheet, but cash flush, and then helping members to understand how important it is to reinvest in their environment and building, I guess, relationships of trust to be able to pass the votes that needed to happen. And yeah, it's been an incredible journey to see where we are now. Um we were recently tapped a nomination for Distinguished Clubs of the World and Super humbling, like yeah, super humbling. I I shared with you a story when we were talking before. I I came to Oka Woods in 2016 touring the property to consider working here, and I go home to my wife and I say, Jamie, there's no way I I can't do this. This club is in in alignment with what we believe in, it's not my brand. And she says to me, Dave, think about it for a minute. Does it have potential? And so I I'm reflecting on everything, and the people here were wonderful. Genuine human beings. The membership, the staff, everybody really, really good people. And then when you did the research and actually looked in on the balance sheet, they had the resources, they just the the team in in the membership wasn't agreeing on what needed to happen to get it to the next level. And so another moment where Man Plans and God laughs, uh she kind of helps me to refocus my energy and direction. And instead of trying to align with all the brands that I believe match who I am, that here's an opportunity to take something from where it is or where it was and help it to realize its potential. I think that's incredible.

SPEAKER_02: 32:12

Very, very cool. Let's let's dive in about personal brand. Have you always been like a personal brand person and like a value person? Or has that maybe grown over time? Just because I've talked with so many people and everyone has their own journey of how they got to where they're at. And some people, you know, it's maybe something happened and they're like, oh, like a light bulb clicks, like, oh, I have to take this more seriously. So, like, how how has that been for you on that journey of like a personal brand?

SPEAKER_04: 32:41

So I think if you take the word personal brand and match it with the word reputation, the answer is yes. I I've always been very, very concerned about my reputation and and the impact that I leave on others. Um, but when you think of all the nuances of quote branding, I I think personal brand is really for me taken on a higher level meaning in the last, I'd say, 15 years. And again, I get it, I'm dating myself. But if if you look at where we were as a society in the States and like let's look at like the 90s, unemployment rate is like 10%. When you look at the Bureau of Labor statistics, you can see it. So basically translate that to the job that you're looking for, there are probably 10 other people, nine to ten other people looking for the exact same job. So you don't really have the time or the energy to think about who you are, what your values are. You're pounding the streets trying to get the job because you've got bills to take care of, you've got responsibilities.

SPEAKER_03: 33:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 33:42

I don't think that shifts for society until much more recently when there are historically low unemployment rates, and all of a sudden for everybody looking for a job, there are all these jobs available. Well, now people can be more thoughtful. They can think to the who who am I as a person and what lines up with that? What are the brands, what what are the right places that line up with that? So I I think it's an evolution. I I I was always concerned with reputation, understanding values and brand. I think it's a luxury that where we are in in society today affords all of us.

SPEAKER_02: 34:21

So how how do you bring, because we're talking about like the you know, personal branding, how do you bring that to life? Like how do you what are those steps? Like what do you do to bring a personal brand to life? What does that entail? How does that work?

SPEAKER_04: 34:35

So concept that we're talking about is personal branding and then in today's world, how people want the places they work to align with their personal brands in in the way that they the way that that happens is uh a a group, company, a club puts a lot of time and energy into establishing what their values are in sharing those values, bringing those values to life. So I think the the hard part about that is that sometimes uh the concept of values sounds really good to people and and they think that it's a match for them, but it doesn't truly resonate and fit who they are. So in my mind, you can't bring a brand to life until you've got the right people on the bus. It's all about surrounding yourself with people that you love and that you trust and investing in those people, and helping those people to understand what's important to you. And that's what brings a company's brand to life is when when everybody's kind of speaking the same language, right? And believing in the words that they're speaking. To me, that's when a brand really comes to life. And and once it's alive, now it's about how you tell the story. And for us, we we've been blessed to uh put together a really good membership and marketing team. Um Freelander is our member engagement director. Cool kind of side story. We rebranded the concept of the membership role completely, and it is totally focused on connecting with people and helping people connect with the experiences they want out of the club. So she advocacy is a huge part of it, understanding the data of where people are actually participating, huge part of it. And then she works that with uh our communications director, Hala Hillhouse, um, and our content creator, Michael McMinn. And together that team helps people on the outside understand our brand through content. So there's some really cool videos out there, there's some really cool stories. There's a new concept that Michael piloted called the faces of character, character being our our our shared values, our acronym. Um in to me, that's how once the brand is truly alive and people are breathing it and believe in it, that's how you share that brand is is to bring those stories to life for people on the outside. And then they can kind of look at that and say, is this something I want to be a part of? Or does it not fit who I am? And the reality is that's okay. Not every brand is for every person. When people spend the time and the energy to identify the right brand, they're they're probably entering into something that's more meaningful for them.

SPEAKER_03: 37:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 37:23

And when people spend a lot of time and energy trying to become the brand they think they want to be a part of in today's market, I I don't think that that's the right use of people's time.

SPEAKER_02: 37:32

And then do you also do the same for internal communications and in the content and stuff like that too? Do you like so you have your your your front facing, but I'm assuming I'm a big big big assumption. I'm assuming then you're also creating really good content just for internal that stuff that the outside never is going to see, also.

SPEAKER_04: 37:50

Yeah, 100%. So that that team is super engaged with creating newsletters and and reset retelling stories. And what we have we we love the concept of FOMO, right? Somebody has a fear of missing out. And so we will regenerate what happened at an event and resell that story to people so they can look at what they missed out on and want to be a part of it next time. And yeah, I think I think that internal branding that you're talking about relates to something that we touched on earlier. When you're in sort of transition management or change management, helping people identify what that path looks like and where you're headed, that's a huge responsibility of branding. When your brand is helping to tell that story and drive it home for people, that gives people the runway to make the right decisions for themselves. Is this a brand I identify with as a member? Do I want to be on this journey with this club? And if the answer is no, that's okay. But how do we how do we continue to extend grace and help that person to fulfill the next steps in in their lives in a way that's that's meaningful and and doesn't feel like they're being just left out in the cold, right? We're a really unique club in that every member votes for the annual operating budget. So think about that for a second. If the citizens of the United States could vote on the federal budget, I've got a feeling we wouldn't have highways. We just wouldn't have them. Yeah, so the need the need to communicate and help people understand where we're going is higher than it's a it's a very high threshold that that we have to reach for people to understand and to make the right decision.

SPEAKER_02: 39:38

So I love that. Wasn't that a great clip? So good. If you want to hear the entire thing, that was from episode four forty eight, why every GM needs a strong exit plan and a stronger people plan with David Suites. All right, now this one up next might be I don't want to say one of my favorite stories of the year. It's just funny. It's uh Jeff Wilson A golf cart, a lake, and a lesson in marketing genius. Um that's what it entails. It's a and it was just a really it was a fun episode, and this one particular story was you know just a really uh cool way just to show how you can turn an oops into a win. So this is just buckle up. Well this is this is a great one. This is from episode 443, The Golf Cart Whisperer with Jeff Wilson.

SPEAKER_08: 40:31

You know, rolled into the water on the nice hole in the blue monster, and it was completely submerged because all you could see is the bubbles. You know, that's all you could say. And you know, so I mean she was frantic. She had a purse in there and all that, and like it's a Friday afternoon, almost dusk is uh right upon us. I said, no one's getting this golf car out today. So I dove in uh uh three times and unlatched her golf bag, and thank goodness her purse was in the golf bag.

SPEAKER_02: 41:00

Was we was this a member or a guest?

SPEAKER_08: 41:03

No, these were guests. Uh they were all staying at the Jim McClain's uh learning uh center. And of course, I joked with uh McLean later. I said, Jim, you also got to teach him how to you know drive a golf cart, you know, besides hitting a golf ball. No, did she? But yeah, so the the couple that was playing with her, um, she was a graphic artist. So she put this picture together and sent it to me. That's amazing. And of course, I'm thinking marketing one-on-one, it's a home run. But we all know about marketing people, if it's not their idea, it's never a good idea.

SPEAKER_02: 41:32

That is hysterical. Now, did she get in the like was she in the water too, or or did she fall out before she got to the No, no, she she uh she never hit her brake.

SPEAKER_08: 41:43

And so she walked away from a golf car, and so it just you know it was way too late to grab it. Now, the good thing is there's no alligators there. We know that. Because that's a that's a that's a man-made pond. We know it's in there. There's some big fish in there, though. Um, but uh, I know there's no alligators, otherwise I wouldn't have dove. There's no way. Now, did you have goggles or anything? Oh, hell no. You were just No, it was real murk. I stood on top of the golf cart when I got to it, and my head was just barely out of the water, and I'm 6'2. So I figured that's five feet, you know, so it's probably nine feet down, eight feet down at the at the at the smallest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 42:28

Based on the size of the golf car. So would you say that's one of like your biggest like wait what moments in your in your club management history?

SPEAKER_08: 42:37

No, that was very early, early in the beginning, you know. Um yeah, that was when I did some other crazy stuff, like playing a marathon golf round, 280 holes in one day. You know, um, yeah. Did you did you get a Guinness World record for that or no? No, no, no. Uh just uh at that particular time, it was the the most that anyone had done in the South Florida PGA and you know, all that happy stuff. Yeah, I played like 45 minutes every round. It was kind of cool. That's impressive.

SPEAKER_02: 43:07

What a what an episode, what a story. Uh up next, we have uh from episode 442, Bourbon in Leadership with Kevin Rice. And almost like a small little, you know, masterclass in intentional culture and also bourbon. But don't get distracted though, because this clip isn't just about the drink, it's about how to make members feel part of something bigger through storytelling and sensory experiences. Um so just a really great episode. Um and now that I'm thinking about it more and just you know having uh clipped it together, it's really wanna go pour myself maybe a little bevy. No, I won't focus anyway. Back to work, record. But no, this was a great episode uh great clip from a great episode, 442 Bourbon in Leadership, lessons from a chef turned GM with Kevin Rice. Take a lesson. I mean, I think I can kind of understand the why this happened and where it happened, but you know, you're you're an executive bourbon steward.

SPEAKER_10: 44:16

What what is that so that is that is basically uh you know a uh a bourbon Somalier, so to speak. Not quite uh as far you know it's a master sommelier, uh but tasting, uh uh along with um do the same uh old factory sense training. Uh so you got all the little vials. Yeah. Um you learn to distill. So you go through the entire distilling process, um uh looking um at storage of bourbon, where in warehouses they're stored, how how you turn those, how you move them throughout warehouses, uh to affect the end flavor, uh charring levels of barrels, uh, so uh mash builds, all of that, um, along with just a lot of history uh of the industry. You know. Um so um it is a um huge segment of the economy of Kentucky, which um I call home and likely will for a very long time. Um uh and one of my joys of driving through work to work, I commute about an hour a day. Um and in that process I drive by um three major distilleries, and as I'm on the highway, many mornings, depending on uh the weather condition and which way the wind blows, I can pass through and smell those mash bills cooking. You know, and so uh uh it's a it's a beautiful, happy place to smell some bourbon being made uh and watch horses run along fence lines as they drive to work.

SPEAKER_02: 46:07

So that sounds a lot better than driving to and from New York City.

SPEAKER_10: 46:14

Uh and and you know, I was born uh that's basically where I as a child, where I'm from. That's where my family is all from. Um just on the other side of the Holl Holland and Lincoln tunnels. Yeah, and I much prefer it here also than than in that area. I'll go visit all the time. Love to visit.

SPEAKER_02: 46:35

I'm sure it's mentally a lot more relaxing, like going to work. You're not already amped up, you're like, oh, look at the horses. And this smells nice. Like Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_10: 46:46

It it it it is meditation, basically, as you go in, you know. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 46:53

Yeah. That is so cool. So like are are there are how many, like are there like a lot of executive bourbon stewards? Like, is it like a it sounds like it's a very it's I don't think there's too many probably bourbon stewards in the grand scheme of things, probably not too many GMs. Uh I think that's that's pretty cool. Like, so in a dumb way, did it was that part of uh have you had that as you were at your current club? Or like was that like a nice little selling point as you know you came into like a new club, like where they're like, oh, we kind of like you know that you have all the other stuff, but knowing your bourbons is also like a nice, a nice deal.

SPEAKER_10: 47:29

Yeah, I obviously in this area, in and in this region, you know, um I had earned it um I I guess it was about six years ago.

SPEAKER_02: 47:40

And then uh so sorry, so so almost before like I feel like now bourbon's like even more popular. So it was like before bourbon became like super popular. Like I feel like you were like ahead of the curve with it.

SPEAKER_10: 47:53

Yes. Uh I I won't say that I started my uh uh journey of appreciation of bourbon uh before I turned 21, but I may have posted it once or twice uh uh when uh I was in college uh here in Lexington and back in Louisville. Um uh but the bourbon industry as a whole has evolved so much uh throughout my lifetime. Um uh going from more of an afterthought to a to obviously a very premium product within the marketplace. Um and um it has really helped the economy of our state as it has become such a high-end uh product and allowed for um uh certain areas uh and it benefits our farmers. You know, the the the amount of corn and and uh barley and stuff that they're growing for it is is very helpful for the economy and wheat.

SPEAKER_02: 48:58

Yeah. What um for clubs who want to start enhancing their bourbon program, how do they start? I think like a lot of clubs are doing it more, and you can kind of see some are gradually, some are even making their own kind of like well, I'd say more turning more like the men's rooms into uh, you know, the the bourbon y area sometimes when they have the space. But I think a lot of clubs are getting into a lot more bourbon experiences and hopping on the wagon also. How can clubs or like what's your point of view or your experience, you know, or advice for clubs that want to start getting more bourbons and enhancing their program?

SPEAKER_10: 49:37

Just grow it gradually. Don't try to um uh you know go from having 10 bourbons to 50 bourbons overnight. Like you you know, grow it gradually, introduce them to the members. Um you might be able to start a club uh of members who want to come in for those tastings, you know, pairing them with appetizers or a full dinner even. Um but uh and and the your liquor purveyors will also come in for those events because not only are they gonna sell more at the club, but they're hoping that your members go and buy a bottle uh at the liquor store. You know, and uh so um do it gradually. Make sure, in addition, that your bar staff is able to make the cocktails that would go along with those, and that as you bring in bourbon, you're gonna bring in different flavors of bitters to go with those cocktails, you know, gradually increase. Always when you're introducing people to bourbon, a new bourbon drinker. You know, if if Danny was a new bourbon drinker and went went with me to the bar and said, Kevin, you know, show me something. I am not going to introduce you to bourbon with with uh a glass of Pappy Van Winkle, even though everybody knows that name. You're gonna take a taste of that and you're gonna probably swear off, you know. So you need a softer bourbon to begin, a heavily weeded bourbon, whether that be like a weller, uh a maker's mark. Uh basil Hayden is one of the favorites that I like to introduce people. It's a little bit lower, um alcohol by volume, obviously. Uh and and to teach people how to appreciate bourbon and and and just sip on it. Uh neat. You generally need to start at a lower proof, and then you work your way up to uh uh the 120 proofs and above. Uh uh and even that you need to learn how to drink that. So it's a process for bourbon. You know, you first you smell it and then and then you take away. And then you just let it touch your lips and then you you you let it take away. And then you take a little sip. And so you need to numb your numb your palate before you actually even begin drinking it. Right. You know, to enjoy it appropriately.

SPEAKER_02: 52:12

Wasn't that great? And if you want to hear the entire episode, that was from 442, Bourbon and the Leadership. Lessons from a Chef turned GM, Kevin Rice. Up next is a clip from episode 436 with Samantha Sheffield. And this one hit me right in the financial fields. Uh, because Samantha dropped some absolute truth about balance sheets, budgeting, and how easy it is to miss red flags if you're not looking at the whole picture. And she actually made finance fun. So A plus for that. So here we go. This this clip is uh from me and Samantha Sheffield. If you can grab uh you know every GM by the shoulders, look them in the eye, and just uh make them truly understand one thing about club finances, what would that be?

SPEAKER_03: 53:09

Interesting.

SPEAKER_07: 53:10

Um it's interesting to narrow down to one. Uh it would be to look at the balance sheet, not the income statement. So your income statement is a one-year period of time. You set a budget, you get dues, you do, you know, all of the things, all of the operations. Do you make it or not? Do you but at the end of the day, is your balance sheet healthy? Do you have you know more assets than liabilities? What is your debt? Is there um how are your receivables, your prepaids? That is really telling you the health of your of your club. Uh the income statement is important, but it's not a true reflection of how the operations are going, the underbelly, the management, the you know, the bottom of the iceberg. I would say the income statement's the tip of the iceberg, but it's everything underneath it on that balance sheet that really tells you the health of the club.

SPEAKER_02: 54:07

What are there like when you look at a balance sheet or all the numbers, what are like the giant flashing warning signs that tell you like this club is headed for trouble or like already in trouble? Or, you know, so I think probably both of those, but um it's it's a two-part question, I guess. Like, so is there one is like what's the immediate if you're like, oh, like this is like the immediate, and then are there anywhere it's like you can start, you can kind of start to see the embers coming. Like you can start to see it's like, oh, this is gonna be bad maybe in like two, you know, maybe like in a couple years, not like immediate.

SPEAKER_07: 54:44

Right. So I would say I'm not gonna throw a bunch of fancy KPIs at you because um they really don't. It's really not um how do I say not gonna dumb it down, but like useful things that people can use, right? So when you look at the balance sheet, compare it to prior periods, prior month, prior year. If your cash is going down a lot, that's bad. Define if you're dead.

SPEAKER_02: 55:13

Define a lot, like what percentage is like a lot. You know, for some people, like 5% might be a lot, 5% might not be a lot. Like what's what's considered a lot?

SPEAKER_07: 55:22

Um, it depends on the size of your club. So you can't, this is what's fun. This is gonna sound so dorky. It's what's fun about financials, right? Is you there isn't a it people think it's black and white, but the balance sheet isn't. So it depends on the size of your club. If you're a$12 million operation, do you bill your dues quarterly? Do you bill them annually? Do you bill them monthly? Um, if you bill them annually and it's halfway through the year, and you have less than 50% of your cash left, bad. Um, if you just it it there's so you have to understand the operations of the club to know what's good or bad on your balance sheet. It isn't a number. It isn't 5% or more is bad. Um, you have to know how the club operates. Is it seasonal? Is it year-round? Is it there's so many questions. And I think that's where a lot of CFOs are misjudged or miss the point of being a CFO is if you don't understand the operations, you are setting yourself up for failure. And I think that was the key to my developer days was I was in the operations of so many different clubs that I could see equity clubs, non-equity clubs, food and beverage, big big clubs, small clubs, like the array of them to know how things work and how it filters into the financial statement. So if you don't understand, you know, how food and beverage operates, or you can't really analyze why your food cost is up or down, or it doesn't even matter that it's up or down. Um, so it's such an integral part, and that's what I preach a lot to people that I mentor and talk to who are coming up is spend a lot of time in the operations to understand what it means when it eventually hits your financial statement. By the time it hits your financial statement, it's done. Um, understand how it got there, and then that will help you tenfold to make decisions going forward. Is that that was a really long answer to your question?

SPEAKER_02: 57:26

No, no, no, that was a great answer. And is that is that is that like opposite of what is kind of taught? Yes, because like do a lot of people okay, okay.

SPEAKER_07: 57:39

Sorry, I answered your question. Yeah, so what's taught is you go in and you run KPIs and you understand your numbers and how they change and blah blah blah. Um but again, you only know if your debt is at a reasonable level if you understand the the projects that are happening, right? Like, um can you take on debt? Well, what does the future look like? What are the members' appetite for debt? I can't sit in my office and say that you know we need to take out a$3 million loan at 6% if I have an entire membership base that thinks it's wise just to bill us a one-time assessment. So you have to be integrated with the members and the operations to know how to make those financial decisions.

SPEAKER_02: 58:22

Got yeah. Are there any like sneaky financial issues that don't seem like a big deal at first, but but down the road they hit the club like a freight train?

SPEAKER_07: 58:32

Yes. Anything that involves like an audit, sales tax audits, uh government audits of any kind, um workman comp audits, anything where tax audits, payroll tax audits, any of that. And it's the day-to-day procedures that you have to keep in line because you never know one day if that if you're gonna get a notice that says you're randomly selected. Um so from an outside perspective, those are always um potentials. From an inside, um I think with the clubs, one thing is your accounts receivable because you got very familiar with your members and sometimes they're late in pain, and or their assistants pay their statements for them, or you know, they think they they put cash in this account to pay the bill, and before you know it, you have four or five members that you're depending on the size of your club that you're chasing down, and if you don't stay on top of them, they don't do it on purpose, at least not mine. Um, and again, every club is different, but you tend to to get behind and have to kind of chase them down for payments.

SPEAKER_02: 59:46

But so good. That was from episode four thirty six. If you want to hear the entire thing, what great GMs understand about their numbers. Good stuff. This next episode we have Desi. Spay with the leadership gut punch. Because in this clip he talks about what your time says about your values. Basically, if you want your team to care about something, you better show up for it. Simple, direct, and one of the best reminders I've heard all year. And was just such a fun episode, too. We had so much fun and we share this little little joy and passion of magic and sleight of hand. Well, obviously I do, but uh he does also. So it's just, you know, it's just really fun and just uh just a really great, great episode. It's good energy, good, good vibes and all. So this is from episode 440, what every GM needs to hear about family culture and empowerment with Desi Spay. Check it out. What is a mentor? What does that entail? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_11: 1:00:45

I think it's people who who who take a genuine interest in you as a as a person and and you know it doesn't have to just be business. It can be you as a person, it can be um you know, and and help you through life, you know, to you know, you learn from their, you know, you learn from their positive experiences, you learn from their mistakes, and people who kind of you know, take you take you under their wing and and help you become a better version of yourself. You know, and and so and it a lot of times we think of professional mentors, you know, but I've had so many people who've had in my professional life who've had this incredible influence on my personal life as well, and and uh I think is over the years has made me a better man, a better father, a better uh husband, you know, to Gabby. And uh so it's uh yeah, it's pretty cool. So I take it really seriously.

SPEAKER_02: 1:01:40

Aaron Powell What's what's some good advice or if it might even I was gonna say what's like the best advice you've you've ever received, but that that might be difficult. But like, you know, what would be maybe some of like the best piece or pieces of advice you've ever gotten that maybe you know changed the way that you lead and handle your own teams and people?

SPEAKER_11: 1:01:58

I can think of it right off the bat because it's the thing I think about. And and uh there's a gentleman by the name of Bo Preston, he's out in Florida now managing a club, and he was uh he was my director of golf. And and uh I was going through some personal stuff, and um he he looked at me and you know, I'm I'm I guess I got the cool title, I'm the boss, you know, but it was like one of these friendships that and he looked at me and and he gave me this some advice and he said, you know, you you talk about family, are you putting your family first? Are you putting Gabby first? Is this your partner in life that you love more than anything? And uh is she your number one priority? And as you mentioned earlier, a lot of times in every industry, right, as you as you build up your success, ego becomes you know part of that, right? And and your success is it becomes part of you a little bit, and you think you're cooler maybe than you are. And um that has stuck with me forever. I tell my kids the same, you know, it's like you know, I plan on telling my kids when they get married the same thing. It's like you put your spouse first, you know, above your children, above your job, above everything, because this is the person that this is your ride or die, right? And um, and so I've tried to, I've tried, you know, and I'm not perfect, I've tried to live my life as best I can, putting her first and putting her needs first. And we always she understands, you know, my job's part of my life and and friends and things, and so she's incredibly supportive and understands that. But she also knows that if she calls me in the middle of my member guest or in in the middle of a board meeting and says, I need you to come home, then I'm I walk out of that meeting and I'm I'm home and and uh she's my ride or die.

SPEAKER_02: 1:03:48

So how so how long, and this and if it's too personal, I guess like I or maybe I don't even think it's too personal, but like how long or how old were you when you got that piece of advice? And does, and I'm assuming the the club knows this about you and that's and that's your work. Like like that is your that is the way that you lead, that's the way that you do things. Because I think there'd probably be some clubs where they don't maybe want that, or they would not like that their GM if they got the call from their wife saying, I need you home, and they leave, they might not like that. And that that's that's a big like assumption, but like how old do you know you got that?

SPEAKER_11: 1:04:28

And like do they understand and know that I was later, I was later than I would have been, right? I'd already uh I was 32-ish, let's say, 33. Um, kind of already gone through a failed marriage at that point. Um, I don't want to say failed, it was incredible, you know, it was I got two incredible, perfect children out of it. And um a lot of learning. Um so I was I was later than I wish I would have been when I got the advice, but everything happens for a reason. Right. Um and what I would say is I think there's a lot of misperceptions in clubs about what members think. Because again, um what I've noticed throughout my career is as I go to different clubs, um as you have these honest conversations with your board or with your members, everybody's like, of course. Because you're dealing with people who are older and they've gone through the same challenges. Like, these aren't different challenges, and they're like, exactly death. I wish I would have known that when I was younger too, right? They've learned it throughout their careers. And so I guess one of the ways I lead is no, every one of my staff knows this. You know, it's you know, you're you know, when I talk about when I talk about continuing your career with some of my up-and-coming, incredible staff here, or historically, I always say, what's your have you talked to your wife, husband or wife or your partner about this? And what do they think? Because they they need to be on this journey with you. You know, you want to be a GM? Like, great, let's get you to be a GM. These are the sacrifices you're gonna need to make. Is your wife and your family supportive of this? Because, you know, and uh if they're not, it's gonna be really tough. But also know that if she calls in the middle of service on a Friday night and got 300 on the she's calling for a reason. It's because you if you've had these honest conversations already, then then she knows that it better be pretty serious, or he knows, I should say. In my case, it's um they know it's a big deal to call, you know, and and that matters. I don't know. Does that make sense? No, yeah, totally, totally. But it's it's helped me in my career, and it's one that we talk about that from a work-life balance standpoint too, is you know, it's if we're leading in a way where we need to be here all the time and we're not empowering our staff to to be great, then shame on us, right? Shame on us for taking that time away from our families and our own well well-being and our own mental well uh wellness. Um You know, if my chef uh you know, if my chef needs to be at a baseball game for their kid at five o'clock on a Friday, that's that's where they should be. They should teach their sous chefs and everybody how to how to operate in excellence, no matter if they're there or not. You know, life's too short. We don't know if I'm gonna be here tomorrow, you know. This episode better be good then. You better say some more good stuff. I don't know. I'm trying to get I don't know. Like, should I put the pink glasses back on?

SPEAKER_02: 1:07:31

I was just gonna say, put those pink glasses back on.

SPEAKER_11: 1:07:33

Okay, here we go.

SPEAKER_02: 1:07:35

I don't know. Uh so speaking of of empowering, were was that was there ever a time that you struggled to let go of control? Like were you ever a control freak? Was this like was this always your personality? Or did you used to struggle with with letting go? And you know, where how did you start to let go? The the surrender experience.

SPEAKER_11: 1:08:00

No, it's of course, I I think and I don't want to talk to everybody. Some people just have it figured out out of the womb, right? No, I was I I and I would still say I'm I'm still a control freak in a sense. Like my my loving staff, uh back when I was at Arizona Country Club, got me this great plaque I still have behind my desk here, and it says, as long as everything is exactly how I want it, I'm completely flexible, right? And so it's one of those, you know, it's it's one where the buck still stops here in a in a way, right? I mean, the buck still stops here. And so it's uh you'll I'm a my favorite word is trust, right? Speed of trust, incredible book. And that empowerment and that release of you know micromanagement or whatever you want to say comes with the the level of trust that you have. You know, giving blind trust is sometimes okay, but it's still the buck stops here if something doesn't go right. So I think it's been a growth period for me learning it through my career, where I've gone from a place where you know every mistake had to be called out, and we you know we're in pursuit of perfection to uh and here's the way it needs to be done, to a, hey, here's what needs, here's what ha here's the goal. Let me hire really smart people and surround myself with really smart people, and you figure out how we get there. You know, there's a lot of different roads that'll that'll take us to the same spot. Yeah. And um, and as as they maybe, maybe what I do is is as somebody comes on, I I hold on a little bit so they understand my expectations and understand that I'm here to support them and not the other way around. Um and so that they can understand the expectations and understand how I manage, because I manage maybe a little bit different than than other managers. Um and as they start to understand that and we work together to make sure that they are successful, then it's all of a sudden it's like, okay, they get it. You know, it's kind of like when you're teaching uh your kids to drive a little bit, right? You're there and you're there, and at first you're maybe a little nervous and you're like, okay, here's what you do, and boom, boom, boom. And then at one point, you're just sitting back there and you're like, yeah, man. Like, look at them go. It's like, it's like, and I don't, like I said, these are grown adults and and incredible professionals that I I have this honor to work with, but but it feels a little bit like that, right? You feel like um you're helping guide them, and then at some point you just kind of like, okay, there you go. You're you're off. And and I've been blessed to work with so many and continue to work with so many, just I mean, best in the business, you know, with Jermaine Baird, who I think you got to meet, Nick Gerster, my CFO, um Alessandra Hopman, who's out and at Woods Hole right now, and I've gotten to work with so many great professionals and and help, I guess help help them, and they help me at the same time, you know, and and uh anyway, yeah, pretty lucky.

SPEAKER_02: 1:10:58

So good. So so so so good. And if you want to hear the entire thing, that's from episode 440, what every GM Needs to Hear About Family Culture and Empowerment with Desi Spey. This next episode is from episode 439, Horsepower and Hospitality with Yanel Porub and Who. This this is this was this was the beginning, looking back, this was the beginning of something, a friendship I don't think he knew he wanted to have. Um I am so annoying. No, um, but uh the experiences that the private clubs have uh allowed me to experience is truly remarkable. And when I reached out to Yanel to have him on private club radio, because I've been to his club before um for some different events, and I knew how cool it was, but I really didn't know how cool it was and how cool it's become and how cool it's becoming. And this episode started what I would consider a friendship that helped blossom into less than a year later pulling off management in motion, which was a huge uh success this year, and more details will be coming soon. And if you want to learn more about management in motion and be on the list for when the new tickets and things be released, uh you can sign up for the Private Club Radio newsletter. That's over on privateclubradio.com. Give it about five seconds and the box will pop up. Sign up there and you'll be um in the know when the next uh management in motion happens, which is uh leadership on the nth degree. We ripped up BMWs all day, um, and then had really cool, fun, relevant uh education from club leaders who have spent time on the track and how it relates to leadership and management. And uh, it was just so cool. Um so this episode is where where that all started. And I just love a good story and where people come from and how they got to where they're at and why they're here. And this just there's just so much wrapped up in such an amazing episode with a great conversation. So this is just such a small clip from uh 439, a great episode with a great human horsepower and hospitality with Yanel Porub uh from the Montecello Motor Club. Check this out. So amazing. And if you want to hear the entire episode, that was from episode 439, horsepower and hospitality with Yanel Porub. Thank you for everything. And then how did Monticello Motor Club come into play?

SPEAKER_01: 1:13:36

So uh I mentioned to you that the employees they were the ones that helped me out through my whole career. Yeah. And uh that's the reality because even when I got the director of service at Woodway, Steve will always ask the employees, and the employees will say, Oh my god, Yonil is just amazing with us, he does a great job. That's when uh bless you, that's when uh he will promote me and give me different uh opportunities and challenges. So uh Montisela Motor Club, actually, the owner, Paul Quilly, the funniest man that you can meet, and of course very successful, um he came for dinner at Woodway Beach Club in uh I think it was in June of 2021. Um it was a busy evening. You know, I have my pre-shift meeting and I'm like, guys, you know, I always ask you for one thing from six o'clock in the afternoon until nine o'clock, focus at your stations, be at your stations, be with the members, be with their guests, provide the best service that you can do. And after that, you know, we can chat, we can, you know, do whatever you want to do, but please just focus on the conversation. Two three hours. So um I see this, they were a table of four people, and I see every single employee goes to that table. I'm like, what's going on in here? Was he passing out$100 bills? I didn't even think about the tips. I I thought about, okay, you guys know that that guy, I didn't even know him at that time. I just knew that his brother is a member, a Woodway. So uh I call all the servers and I call them in the kitchen. I'm like, I want you guys to stop. I understand that he's uh his brother is a member, but stop bothering him. And no one told me a word. So then, you know, time comes in the end, and he's approaching me when on his way out, and he's like, uh, out of nowhere, I want you to work for me. And I'm like, okay, thank you. What a good joke in my head, everyone says that. So he gave me his business card, and I was like, All right. I went to the computer, I type uh the place, I look and I'm like, I don't know if I want to go in the middle of nowhere, and I like challenges, I want to have fancy, you know, country clubs, I wanna this is what I want to offer. And then I went and I met him the second day, and he says, Listen, I really wanna hide you, I want you to work for me, and I want you to build me a country club there. So I came here, I saw the place, I saw the potential that is in the place. Uh, I talked to him about his vision and where he wants to take this place. And uh, you know, I was like, oh my God, this, you know, he's not joking. Uh, I told him what I want, not only as a financial perspective, but at the same time, staff culture, staff house that I show you. Um, and he accepted everything. And I was like, oh my God, this guy is really, really, really want to do the best country club in the whole world. So, long story short, how I got here, then I found out the real story that the owner, that Paul, was inviting every single individual at the table and asked them, who's your manager? And they said, That guy, how is your manager? My manager is the best guy in the whole world. And uh, he was like, you know what? At that moment, I said, I'm gonna hire you no matter what it takes, because you have that uh spirit. Plus, every single server, they were like so young, but they look like they are in the military. They were making such an excellent service. So that's how that's how everything came. From uh from a dinner, from a service, and uh my hard work, it pays off by providing to what I learned to offer to our members.

SPEAKER_02: 1:17:27

Yeah. It's it's must feel good to be in a position to also help so many others and to get what you want to help them. Oh, yes, absolutely. Like the drinking, like the housing. Yes. That's crazy, like and it's nice and it's on brand for the club as well. It's not just a thrown-up, you know, I forget what they even call them, like pull pole barns. It's a well done. Or the monkey house. Yeah. It's a it's a well done building. Yes. And it's on brand with the whole club itself, too, like cars and like that. Yeah, not not rustic. I don't know what the feel, what the word I'm going for is I don't know interior design stuff, but it just all fits, it all works.

SPEAKER_01: 1:18:09

Yeah. It all looks so good. So, Danny, most of the things that I did since I started working in this industry, um, and all the places that I run, I do two things. One of the things is I put myself in an employee's shoes and how I want the employee to be treated. And the other thing, I put myself in a members' shoes and how I want the members to be treated. And if you combine those two together, and you give an amazing service to your members and to your staff. Because you're gonna treat them the way you want to be treated by a manager, and you're gonna treat the members the way you feel you like to be treated if you go somewhere to spend uh your money or dinner or something like that. And from this perspective, I put myself now in three situations: the owner, the employees, and the members, because you know, we are a profit club that we gotta make also financial great financial decisions, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 1:19:07

But I think that all it it all just helps because there's so many places you go and they'll make the employee areas or you know, what it they're just meh. And it's like we have all these people spending a stupid amount of money for an experience, but it's like you can't just toss a little and over.

SPEAKER_01: 1:19:23

And that's what we did. So we uh when we create a staffhouse again, I say I've been in a staffhouse, I know what is missing. All our employees they stay alone in their rooms, they have a lot of showers that that they can share. Nobody's ever, ever gonna wait for something like that. Uh huge laundry room, which no one would ever wait for a dryer or washing machine, and even the living rooms you tell we have two that someone can go and play games, and the other one can go and stay and watch movies, or it's it's quiet. And at the same time, two uh patios that you don't have only, you know, so you didn't even notice the two different patios. Yeah, in the back. So that's why. It's like we thought a lot about uh what would be good because you're gonna be far away from home. You know, we bring people from South Africa, Romania. Uh we have a lot of guys that they come from Stanford, which is like two hours and a half away from from here. Um, and they actually stay in the staffhouse. So it's it's important to we have two suites because in case that we get a married couple, we want to accommodate them and stay together. Uh so it's it's all very well thought to make sure they have a good experience.

SPEAKER_02: 1:20:29

Lastly, we have Ed Chapman. It was just uh a great conversation. And he he and I have had a couple conversations before and in the past, and just always just great and just be able being able to have a good conversation and just record and just bring some value to the to the industry as well. Um, so that was just fun. And the accent also helps. So he everything he says just sounds amazing. Uh, but but what we're what I'm gonna share and what uh I'm gonna end with is this moment that really stuck with me. And he talks about how you honor the past without getting stuck in it, and that one stuck for me. And it was just this simple line of curiosity solves most problems, and it is just so true. So true. And that's actually what the episode became. It was episode 417, and it uh started 2027 or 2027. I am this uh this been a it's been a year, it's been it's already been a year. Um, but it started in, you know, this is an early episode from 2025, 417, Curiosity Solves Most Problems with Ed Chapman. DJ, spin that. What's the secret to leading such diverse groups, effectively large, small, and just diverse in the people?

SPEAKER_00: 1:21:51

I think for me, uh I'd come back to curiosity and genuinely caring and being interested in people. Um now with a team of sort of 70, 80 in Hong Kong, and not all of them had English names. So quite often in Hong Kong, China, they'll have they won't have a legal English name, but they'll kind of just choose one to make life simpler for them and other people communicating. But not all of them did. So it could be quite hard to get all the names right, but they didn't really seem to be bothered as long as you showed a genuine interest when you talk to them. And again, it comes back to the undivided attention, you're making them feel like the only person you're interested in talking to, you're not looking out for either a member or someone more important to speak to, you're just giving them your undivided attention that you show that you care. And if you do that, they'll do their best job because I know they're looked after. So then you don't have to try and manage all these people. Uh they're gonna do it the right thing, do the best job that they can because they know that you care.

SPEAKER_02: 1:22:56

Did you find it difficult at all? Because is uh because clubs are you know steeped in tradition often. And if you're coming in from an from the outside from a whole different country, you know, how do you decide when to embrace change versus kind of sticking with the classics? And how did you manage that?

SPEAKER_00: 1:23:19

Yeah, I think it's understanding why things are done, how they're done. It's really easy to come in and go, well, that's ridiculous, that's not efficient, or it could be done quicker, or we could done it, we could do the same outcome cheaper. But it's finding out what's what's the underlying reason why something's done like that, and then what what can or can't be changed, what should just be left, what's the sacred cow, what you really shouldn't touch and shouldn't change, even though you could make it better, and understanding the history behind things. So we have an event here which is really popular with the members, it's probably one of the biggest events for the men, and that had been changed a few years ago to being a shotgun start because it was operationally more efficient and allowed more members who are not involved in the event to play, and the members hated it because it wasn't the tradition of the event. Traditional the event was a one-t start through the whole day with a starter. Those of your families can play early, go home, see the families, then come back for the dinner. And just by reinstating that, that suddenly got a huge number of people just on board because you've gone back to the roots and the tradition of that event, even though it's probably slightly less efficient than it could be. But that's not always the goal. So it's just taking taking your time, I think, and speaking to people again.

SPEAKER_02: 1:24:38

And now, was that something that you changed and then changed back, or was that changed before you came and then you were there, you had your feet on the ground, you were listening, and you were like, hey guys, let's let's let's let's bring it back.

SPEAKER_00: 1:24:52

Exactly, yeah. So it'd already been changed. I don't know for how long exactly, um, before I got here, and then my first year here, when we organized in that event, a few of the members who were really passionate about it um came forward and put their kind of two cents in that actually this is how it's been done historically. The event's losing its character and tradition, and it's been going since 1957. And it's a lot of our members, their parents played in it, some of their grandparents would have done it, and it's really meaningful, and they wanted to go back to that. So that was a pretty easy win uh from that side of showing, yeah, yeah, and it aligns with our values. One of our values is about respecting the history of the club while looking to the future. So some things sure we change and do it more efficient, other things actually there's a good reason why it's done like that.

SPEAKER_03: 1:25:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:25:40

When it comes to different cultures and living in different countries, curiosity solves most problems. Things are done differently, doesn't mean they're done better or worse, they're just done differently. And trying to find out a bit about why uh is is pretty interesting, and curiosity leads the way with that.

SPEAKER_02: 1:25:59

I think that's gonna be our episode title, Curiosity Solves Most Problems. I like that. I like that a lot. Nice. I like that. Uh, and that's it. 2025 Private Club Radio in a nutshell. Did I miss things? Were there other episodes? Yes, it's hard to go through so many episodes and so much content to every guest who came on the show, to all of you who have listened, who have shared, who have messaged, who have helped made this little community legit. Thank you. We're gonna keep it going in 2026. More great guests, more weird stories, more value, uh, and probably more rants from me. If you liked what you heard today and you want to go back and listen to the full episodes, they're all there. They're worth your time. Until then, stay thoughtful, stay creative, stay caffeinated, stay well. That's this episode. Until next time. I'll talk to you guys next year. I'm the worst. I'm your host, Denny Corby. Catch you all on the flippity flip.