May 5, 2025 • 36 mins
In this episode, we chat with Desi Speh, COO at Desert Highlands in Arizona.
A guy who’s quietly redefining what club leadership can look like.
Desi’s not the loudest voice in the room, but his impact is undeniable.
From turning valet service into a culture-defining moment (ice cream cooler included 🍦) to mentoring staff into leaders, his philosophy is simple: lead from the heart, empower your people, and always keep perspective.
In this conversation, you’ll learn:
- Why empowerment beats micromanagement (every time)
- How to build a culture where even the dishwasher feels ownership
- How Desi’s failed marriage made him a better GM, dad, and husband
- The one piece of advice that changed his leadership forever
- And why sometimes, the best ideas come from valet
Whether you're managing a club or leading a team, this one’s packed with real-life takeaways you’ll want to implement immediately.
Follow us on the socials
Private Club Radio Instagram
Private Club Radio Linkedin
Denny Corby Instagram
Denny Corby Linkedin
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club
Radio Show, where we give youthe scoop on all things private
golf and country clubs frommastering leadership and
management, food and beverageexcellence, member engagement
secrets, board governance andeverything in between, all while
keeping it fun and light.
Whether you're a club veteranjust getting your feet wet or
somewhere in the middle, you arein the right place.
(00:20):
I'm your host, denny Corby.
Welcome to the show.
In this episode, I am chattingwith a guy who might not be
blowing up your LinkedIn feedbut, trust me, he is someone you
want to hear from.
I get to chat with Desi Spey,gm at Desert Highlands out in
Arizona, and he's one of thoseleaders who's quietly crushing
(00:41):
it.
There's no ego, there's nofluff, just real leadership,
real culture and a deep, steadybelief in just doing things the
right way.
This conversation it hit alittle bit different.
He is such a cool dude, what agenuine guy.
He's someone who leads from theheart and makes his team feel
(01:01):
seen.
He's built a club wherehospitality isn't just a word,
it's an actual lifestyle, and wetalk about his journey from an
aspiring teacher to golf guy tonow GM.
We talk about the mentors andmoments that shaped how he shows
up at a leader every single day.
Killer insights on that.
(01:21):
We talk about why empowermentbeats micromanagement every
single time, all day, every day.
We also about why empowermentbeats micromanagement every
single time, all day, every day.
We also touch on the power ofbeing present and intentional,
especially in a somewhat fastermoving industry.
Desi is such a great guy, such agood dude, so much good stuff
in this episode and so manylaughs, so many good laughs.
(01:41):
I'm genuinely glad I got tohave a chat with him and so glad
you all get to experience him,because there's not too much
about him out there.
That makes me even more excited.
Before we get to the episode, aquick thank you to some of our
show partners Gulf Life,navigators, members First Kennes
, Member Vetting Club, capitalGroup, as well as myself, denny
(02:03):
Corby, the Denny Corby, thedenny corby experience.
There's excitement, there'smystery.
Also there's magic, mindreading, comedy, crowd work.
It's one of the most fun memberevent nights you can have
guaranteed.
If you want to learn more, headon over to dennycorbycom.
But enough about all that,let's get to the episode.
Private club reader listeners.
Let's welcome to the show.
Desi Spey.
So I know you're a big magicfan If you can have one actual
(02:37):
magic power to make your job asa GM easier.
What would it be?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Oh man, one magic power?
Oh man, I don't.
That's a great question.
I guess the ability I'm justmaking something up, I don't
know I mean, uh, maybe theability to read minds, okay,
(03:00):
because I think I think, whenyou're dealing with staff and
members, right, when you'redealing with staff and members,
right, when you're dealing withyour team and members, sometimes
, especially when you have acool title on your jacket or
whatever, and people look attitles and they might say things
differently or act differentlyor not, tell you something
(03:25):
honest communication that youcan have.
You know whether it's with,like I said, whether it's with
your team or whether it's withmembers, or whether it's with
your family and spouse, or youknow, the more honest
communication you have, just themore trust you build and the
better the relationships.
Right, and, and yeah, so Idon't know, that's my, that's my
off the cuff answer.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Because, because, because there's not too much
about you out there, which whichmakes this a little bit
difficult, um, but I keep very,I know, I know there's no
articles like you're, you're avery.
I was almost calling my, I wasalmost calling my, my buddy,
paul dang from member vetting tobe like, just give me something
on him to talk about, like.
But but like, I'm not that guy,I know I know which is, which
(04:04):
is interesting because so manypeople I feel there there's a
lot of ego involved sometimeswith management and leadership,
and you're big on empowerment,you're big on mentoring.
Where did where did all thatcome from?
So I guess, maybe to start like, what is your back?
Like what?
Like, where did you start off?
And how did you start off inthe club space?
(04:25):
Like, was this like your dream?
Like, were you like did?
Were you like focused on on theclub space?
Did you find it?
Did it find you?
You know what was your?
What was your beginnings like?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, I'd say it found me.
So I actually went to school asa history major and thought I'd
be a teacher.
I had some incredible socialstudies teachers and history
teachers in junior high and highschool and I just thought they
were the coolest people and theymade me feel great about
learning.
And so after college, I that'swhat I intended to do, but then
(05:02):
I kind of realized what teachersmade and what their their
sacrifices.
Thank you to all the teachersout there.
If you have teachers in yourfamily and, um, and I, just I'd
always had this passion for youknow golf as well, and, uh, so
one day I decided that golfwould be kind of where I wanted
(05:25):
to go.
I'd worked at golf coursessince I was like 13, just to try
to get free privileges.
It was like when I was growingup, a lot of the older guys, you
know, we grew up in a time whenthere weren't junior green fees
, you know, and things like that.
There was like there was agreen fee and whatever it was,
you paid.
It didn't matter if you were 13or if you were 40.
Right, um, and so I ended upworking at golf courses to try
(05:49):
to, you know, be able to playand afford to play.
And so one day I just decidedyou know, I'd rather decide
instead of sitting behind a desk.
I was in the corporate world atthat point when I just made this
decision.
I said, you know, let me dosomething I'm passionate about
and got in the golf business andthen had some incredible kind
of mentors and leaders as I kindof came up.
(06:11):
That took me in differentdirections and some of it was
incredibly positive and some ofit was just things that I
learned and of things that maybeI do a little bit different.
Yeah, um, and then somehow gotinto the private club you know
world.
Now that guy by the name of markhuman, who's down at el dorado,
(06:34):
who we work with in santabarbara as well, um, we work
together and it's like, whydon't you come down to el dorado
and run, run the club downthere and and, uh, it's one of
the greatest opportunities of mylife and I think it it taught
me so much.
And then had some corporateexperience at that point as well
, from a corporate golfstandpoint whether american golf
(06:54):
and then had some clubcorporate experience as well and
so kind of learning the uh,high-end, um, luxury, you know
um private side andunderstanding maybe where some
of the numbers came into playand how to run it like a
business as well, and kind ofmelding that Then through the
years I've I've had so manyincredible mentors who who've
(07:17):
helped me out and I just knowthat without them, without the
uh, you know about the GaryJones's and the Paul Skelton's
and Steve Richardson's here inArizona, tara Waldron's, you
know.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
What, what, what, what is a mentor?
So like to you, like what is amentor.
What does that entail?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I think it's people who, who, who, take a genuine
interest in you as a, as aperson, and it doesn't have to
just be business, you as a, as aperson and yeah, it doesn't
have to just be business, it canbe you as a person, it can be
you know and and help youthrough life.
You know to, you know, youlearn from their, you know, you
learn from their positiveexperiences, you learn from
their mistakes, and people whokind of you know, take you, take
(08:02):
you under their wing and andhelp you become a better version
of yourself.
You know, and and so and it.
A lot of times we think ofprofessional mentors, you know,
but I've had so many peoplewho've had in my professional
life, who've had this incredibleinfluence on my personal life
as well, and and, uh, I think is, over the years, is maybe a
better man, a better father, abetter husband, you know to
(08:25):
Gabby, and uh, so it's uh, yeah,it's pretty cool.
So I take it really seriously.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
What's what's some good advice?
Or, if it might, I was going tosay what's like the best advice
you've you've ever received,but that that might be difficult
but like you know what would bemaybe some of like the best
piece or pieces of advice you'veever gotten that maybe you know
change the way that you leadand handle your own teams and
people.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I can think of it right off the bat, because it's
the thing I think about.
And and, uh, there's agentleman by the name of bo
preston.
He's out in florida nowmanaging a club and he was, uh,
he was, he was my director ofgolf and and I was going through
some personal stuff and he, helooked at me and you know, I
(09:15):
guess I got the cool title, I'mthe boss, you know, but it was
like one of these friendships,that and he looked at me and he
gave me some advice and he saidyou know, you talk about family.
Are you putting your familyfirst?
Are you putting Gabby first?
Is this, is your partner inlife that you love more than
anything, and is she your numberone priority?
(09:36):
And, as you mentioned earlier alot of times, in every industry
, right as you, as you build upyour success, ego becomes, you
know, part of that right and andyour successes, it becomes part
of you a little bit and youthink you're cooler maybe than
you are and, um, that has stuckwith me forever.
I tell my kids to say you know,it's like you know, I plan on
(09:56):
telling my kids when they getmarried the same thing.
It's like you put your spousefirst, you know, above your
children, above your job, aboveeverything, because this is the
person that this is your ride ordie Right and and so I've tried
to.
I've tried, you know, and I'mnot perfect.
I've tried to live my life asbest I can, putting her first
and putting her needs first, andwe always.
(10:18):
She understands, you know myjob's, part of my life and and
friends and things, and so she'sincredibly supportive and
understands that.
But she also knows that if shecalls me in the middle of my
member guests or in the middleof a board meeting and says I
need you to come home, then Iwalk out of that meeting and I'm
, I'm home and and, uh, she's myride or die.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
So how so how long in this?
And if it's too personal, Iguess, like I I don't even think
it's too personal, but like howlong or how old were you when
you got that piece of advice?
And does, and I'm assuming thethe club knows this about you
and that's and that's your work,like, like that is your, that
(11:01):
is the way that you lead, that'sthe way that you do things,
because I think there'd probablybe some clubs where they don't
maybe want that or they wouldnot like that.
Their gm, if they got the callfrom their wife saying I need
you home and they leave, theymight not like that and that's a
big like assumption.
But like how would you got that?
And like, do they understandand know that I?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
was later.
I was later than I would havebeen, right, I'd already.
I was 32 ish, let's say 33.
Kind of already gone through afailed marriage at that point.
I don't want to say failed, itwas incredible.
You know, I got two incredible,perfect children out of it and
a lot of learning children outof it, a lot of learning.
(11:47):
So I was later than I wish Iwould have been when I got the
advice, but everything happensfor a reason, and what I would
say is I think there's a lot ofmisperceptions in clubs about
what members think.
Because, again, what I'venoticed throughout my career is,
as I go to different clubs, um,as you have these honest
conversations with your board orwith your members, everybody's
(12:08):
like, of course, because you'redealing with people who are
older and they've gone throughthe same challenges Like these
aren't different challenges andthey're like exactly.
I wish I would have known thatwhen I was younger too.
Right, they've learned itthroughout their careers, and so
I guess one of the ways I leadis no, every one of my staff
(12:29):
knows this.
You know it's, you know, youknow when I talk about, when I
talk about continuing yourcareer with some of my up and
coming incredible staff here orhistorically.
I always say what's your?
Have you talked to your husbandor wife or your partner about
this?
And what do they think?
Because they, they need to beon this journey with you.
You know you want to be a GM.
Like great.
Let's get you to be a GM.
(12:49):
These are the sacrifices you'regoing to need to make.
Is your wife and your familysupportive of this?
Because you know, and ifthey're not, it's going to be
really tough.
But also know that if she callsin the middle of service on a
Friday night and got 300 on the,she's calling for a reason.
It's because if you've hadthese honest conversations
(13:09):
already, then then she knowsthat it better be pretty serious
, or he knows.
I should say 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 makesense?
No, yeah, totally, totally, butit's.
It's helped me in my career andit's one that we talk about.
That, from a work-life balancestandpoint too, is you know it's
(13:31):
.
If we're leading in a way wherewe need to be here all the time
and we're not empowering ourstaff to be great, then shame on
us, right?
Shame on us for taking thattime away from our families and
our own well-being and our ownmental wellness.
You know if my chef you know ifmy chef needs to be at a
(13:55):
baseball game for their kid atfive o'clock on a Friday, that's
where they should be.
They should teach their souschefs and everybody how to
operate in excellence, no matterif they're there or not.
Life's too short.
We don't know if I'm going tobe here tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
This episode better be good, then you better say
some more good stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I don't know, I don't know, should I put the pink
glasses back on?
I was just going to say putthose pink glasses back on.
Okay, here we go, get.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I don't know like should I put the pink glasses
back on?
I was just gonna say, put thosepink glasses back on.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Okay, here we go.
I don't know uh.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
so speaking of, of empowering were, was that?
Was there ever a time that youstruggled to let go of control
like?
Were you ever a control freak?
Was this like?
Was this always yourpersonality?
Did you used to struggle withletting go and how did you start
to let go?
The surrender experience?
Speaker 2 (14:51):
No, it's of course and I don't want to talk to
everybody, Some people justhaven't figured out out of the
womb, right, and I would stillsay I'm still a control freak in
a sense, like my loving staffback when I was at Arizona
Country Club got me this greatplaque I still have behind my
desk here and it says as long aseverything is exactly how I
(15:13):
want it, I'm completely flexible, right, and so it's one of
those, you know it's one wherethe buck still stops here in a
way.
Right, I mean, the buck stillstops here, and so it's.
You know I'm a.
My favorite word is trust,right.
Speed of trust incredible book.
And that empowerment and thatrelease of, you know,
(15:40):
micromanagement or whatever youwant to say, comes with the, the
level of trust that you have.
You know, giving blind trust issometimes okay, but it's still
the buck stops here if somethingdoesn't go right.
So I think it's been a growthperiod for me, learning it
through my career, where I'vegone from a place where you know
every mistake had to be calledout and we're in pursuit of
(16:00):
perfection to out, and we're inpursuit of perfection to and
here's the way it needs to bedone to a hey, here's what needs
.
Here's what.
Here's the goal.
Let me hire really smart peopleand surround myself with really
smart people, and you figureout how we get there.
You know there's a lot ofdifferent roads.
That'll that'll take us to thesame spot.
Yeah, and and as as they maybe.
(16:23):
Maybe what I do is, as somebodycomes on, I hold on a little bit
so they understand myexpectations and understand that
I'm here to support them andnot the other way around here to
support them and not the otherway around, um, and so that they
can understand the expectationsand understand how I manage
Cause I manage maybe a littlebit different than than other
managers, um, and as they startto understand that and we work
(16:46):
together to make sure that theyare successful, then it's all of
a sudden it's like okay, theyget it.
You know, it's kind of likewhen you're teaching your kids
to drive a little bit right,you're there and you're there,
and at first you're maybe alittle nervous and you're like,
okay, here's what you do.
And boom, boom, boom, and thenat one point, you're just
sitting back there and you'relike, yeah, man, like look at
them, go.
It's like a little bit likethat, right, you feel like
(17:18):
you're helping guide them, andthen at some point you're just
kind of like, okay, there you go, you're off, and I've been
blessed to work with so many andcontinue 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 Gerstner, my CFO, al Baird,who I think you got to meet,
nick Gerstner, my CFO, umAlessandra Hopman, who's out in
(17:39):
Woods Hole right now, and I'vegotten to work with so many
great professionals and and help, I guess, help, help them and
they help me at the same time.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
You know, and and uh, anyway, yeah, pretty lucky how
do you, how do you managedifferent than other managers?
Because you, you you kind ofsaid it, at least like you said
it once, you just said it once,but then you kind of hinted at
it a little bit earlier.
How would you say, you manage alittle bit differently, or
maybe, what are maybe somethings your staff has said, or
or has your staff said stufflike, oh, like you manage
(18:08):
different, like how do you?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
how do you manage?
I think one is my personalityis a little bit different,
because I like to say I takewhat I do really seriously, but
I don't take myself veryseriously at all, as you
probably feel from some of ourconversations is, you know, I
like to have a good time.
So the culture here is, youknow, not one that is stuffy or
(18:32):
where we take ourselves tooseriously.
Anybody you know, and we'd liketo have a great time, we like
to, you know, like to roll outof bed and enjoy coming to work,
and so that's made part of howI lead from an actual leadership
standpoint.
I think, again, I try to notmicromanage.
I say, hey, here are theexpectations, everybody get it,
(18:53):
and once everybody feelscomfortable with what the
expectations are, it's like gosurprise, like you don't have to
come to me for permission.
You know it's.
It's one where oh well, thismight be a good example.
You know it's.
It's one that it's a, it's asense of pride with me is is
we've gone through Ty Martinez,who's who's one of our assistant
(19:15):
clubhouse managers here when Ifirst got here incredible young
talent, he's just like greatpersonality, just unbelievable
and we saw an opportunity withinour valet.
Right, I'd kind of got here andI'd walk up and, you know, valet
maybe was like walk into thecar doors and maybe the member
was already out of the car bythe time.
(19:35):
You know, we got to them, youknow, and it didn't necessarily
make sense, right, becausepeople make the experience.
And so I asked Ty, I said hey,ty he was a dining room manager
at the time I'm like, would yoube comfortable leaving the
dining room and going andmanaging this valet experience
and really bringing it up to thenext level?
And he said sure.
And so we worked together,right, like I talked about, we
(19:57):
worked together on hey, here'ssome of the things I see that
I'd love for you to manage andhelp develop the staff and and.
But I want it to be your own andso look for opportunities.
And so he went and he did itand he built this valet
experience that, literally, onour member survey of our members
said it was, uh, from, from,not.
(20:20):
There's a five-point system,right, one is poor, two is,
three is satisfied, four is verysatisfied and five is this is
world cl, you know extremelysatisfied.
99 of our members were four orfive on this, which is pretty
unheard of on in most surveysyeah you know, usually you'll
(20:40):
get some.
But I mean, members are justlike comments, like blown away
by the valet.
Experience went from fromprobably in my opinion it was
probably a two to a three onthat to a 99 of members like
it's a point of pride which isreally important.
Yeah, and this is, and that'sthat's great in its own, but
this is where the story getsreally cool.
(21:01):
That is, he built this greatexperience.
Then we're like Ty, you killedit.
Let's put you back inside yourassistant clubhouse manager.
Now we're going to give youadditional responsibilities.
Who's your replacement?
He found this replacement and agentleman by the name of Brett
Ball, and Brett a little bitdifferent personality than Ty.
But I go out there Brett's firstsummer and I walk past Valet
(21:26):
and there's a freaking ice creamcooler in Valet, like one of
the ones that you see you slide,and there's all these ice cream
sandwiches and the drumsticksand everything.
I'm like what's this?
And he's like this is our newice cream station.
I'm like what do you mean anice cream station?
He's like no, when it's hot,it's summer, you know it's
Arizona.
He's like no, when members comenow, you know they get a little
(21:47):
cool treat.
And I'm like, well, who came upwith this?
He's like I just I kind of justdid it and I'm like, yes, like
I want him to.
I want to look for world-classexperiences and things that are
going to make the members go wowand not feel like they have to
come run to Desi to do it.
Just be unreasonable in yourown right, and I was.
So it was one of those like Tytook it and he took the culture
(22:10):
and he built the culture andthere was some wow things that
he just did on his own and thenhe passed that empowerment down
to Brett and now Brett is comingup with all these things and
it's just like.
It's like I said, that's theway I like to manage.
I like to really just havepeople have fun and I'd much
rather them come to me forforgiveness, you know.
(22:33):
And then permission, wheresometimes, when you feel like
you have to ask for permission,it stagnates.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Everything right Better to ask for forgiveness
than permission.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, Commit first forgive later.
So when you just ask for,forgiveness instead, when you're
trying to build greatexperiences and you're asking
for forgiveness, everybody'sempowered, the dishwasher's
empowered, this guy's empowered.
Everybody just goes and triesto create greatness on their own
and some things stick and somethings don't.
But if they don't, they camefrom a beautiful place in your
heart.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
So, anyway, I never understood why.
I mean, maybe I should havephrased that wrong but like
valet, I feel like they have theopportunity to upgrade their
tips tremendously, have theopportunity to upgrade their
tips tremendously, like for likethere was, uh, uh, you know, a
casino by me, or just even likeany like valet, uh, but I think
the the casino is where I likeit like triggered me like the
(23:24):
most because you know you can.
Obviously there's people whojust aren't going to tip like
regardless, but like if it'scold out, why not like put on
their butt warmers and just tellthem like hey, hey, here's your
car keys by the way, throughyour butt, you know your butt
warmers on for you.
Or even just like kept a caseof like water bottles out by the
thing and like put them in thecar Cause.
Anytime you leave a casino, arestaurant or something like you
(23:47):
know you get in your car likeman, I wish I had some water or
something Like.
Why not just like put those inthere?
Like what?
Let's just say you get an extradollar tip or two bucks half
the time out of how many carslike you're going to increase
your tips?
How much are you going toincrease the like.
But why not just like, do thoselittle tiny things that just
cost nothing, like it doesn'teven cost time because you're
(24:08):
already in the car driving andif you're waiting you're in the
line anyway, I just put the buttwarmers on.
If you line anyway, I just pop,put the butt warmers on.
If you see they have likeair-conditioned seats, like like
a lot of the new cars, likeit's hot out, throw those on for
the people like that's great.
I yeah, so like oh, and yousaid the ice cream, say it like
when you said that, I was likethere's no way he did it and he
did it.
That's amazing you did.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
It didn't even ask, it was so great.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So that reminds me, there was a show I did at a club
.
This was like back in my early,you know more, more early
beginnings, and after the therewas a group that brought a, that
took a limo to, to, to my show,you know, they came and picked
them up so they can party, havea good time, you know, and they,
they, they left some of thebottles of water and a limo
(24:47):
company, without charginganything extra, had the limo
company name.
They put the club name, theevent, that it was oh cool.
And then it was just like youknow the date, all that stuff.
It looks like they had like alittle insurance company, maybe,
like you know, sponsor coversome of the cost of like these
extra labels.
(25:08):
And there, you know, there waslike the company name of like
the limo thing.
But I'm like this little thing,to me that was like what it
maybe took an extra 30 minutesof work or time to do this and
it's like what a huge, like theexperience, like oh yeah, it's
the things you remember.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I um, there's all sorts of speakers who speak on
this, but it's just one of those.
You know, nobody remembers whenyou meet their expectations.
You know, and, and you knowit's, it's uh, and I, I know
everybody in the industry knowsunreasonable hospitality in that
book and it's it's just.
You know, what can you, whatcan you do to to exceed people's
expectations?
(25:44):
You know, the only problem withthe ice cream now is everybody
loves the ice cream, everybodyexpects the ice cream.
Now, it's now, it's kind ofstandard, right, it's like this.
And so what do we do now toexceed their expectations?
Again, right, and so it's.
It's this fun game that we getto play in the private club
industry and in a lot ofhospitality, where you're always
, you know, trying to exceedexpectations every year.
(26:04):
Right, and with everyexperience.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
maybe it's if they get to go food or if they have
leftovers that's already intheir car waiting, so you don't
have to do that already.
Do that, oh bro no, you don't,yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
So it's one of those, like all the things you
mentioned, that I I would putagain.
There's some great valetexperiences.
I would put ours up there withone of the best valet
experiences.
You'll go and your to-go food'salready in the car.
Um, you're to your point.
Your heaters are already out.
So we all everybody has radio.
So when the server is done,they radio out to the valet and
(26:38):
say, hey, the Smiths are done,smith's car is already there and
it's heated when it's cold,it's cold when it's hot and
everything's out there with thewater and all that good stuff as
well.
So it's again, but it was builtfrom scratch.
Nothing, you know to this thing.
That really encompasses ourvision and our mission here at
(26:58):
Desert Highlands, and so it'spretty cool.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
If you could make one or every GM, COO, club leader
truly understand one thing aboutleading a team, what would it
be?
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Oh, I mean I learned more from those guys than me.
I mean, for me, I'll just tellyou my philosophy.
I don't know if it's anything Iteach, because I think a lot of
the people that I associatewith already do this, but I
think it's one where I'm abottom-up leader and I think a
majority of the people who Iconsider friends and colleagues
(27:39):
in the business are very similar.
My job is here to support.
I set the expectations and Ilead the culture, but my job is
to push down all the support sothat if a server says, hey, I
get your expectation, desi, butI need this in order to execute
it, you know, I provide them thetools that they need in order
(28:00):
to hit those expectations andthe coaching and the um,
whatever they need.
Um, and it's not Desi pushingdown or it's them pushing up
orders to Desi.
Hey, desi, you set theexpectations.
Here's my bosses in a sense.
Right, I get the cool title,but they're really the bosses
(28:22):
who drive their needs up so thatthey can execute to the
expectations.
But again, I think that'spretty common with a lot of the
managers out there, so, and youknow what's what's, uh, what's
what's next.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You've you've done a lot.
Is there anything you haven'tdone yet that you're excited
about, either professionally orpersonally, or just anything in
life?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Um, you know, right now I'm really enjoying the, the
, the kids and the family, youknow.
So Carter's out in Florida andand he's uh, studying
engineering and and he's adecathlete and loving that as
well.
So I'm really enjoying watchinghim when I can get out there,
or at least paying attentiononline.
(29:05):
Sometimes they're video,sometimes they're live stream,
which is cool.
And then my oldest daughter,maya, is down at U of A and
she's just killing it and she'smajoring in business, and so I'm
really enjoying that's a littlecloser, which is nice.
So I get to see her a littlekilling it and she's majoring in
business, and so I'm reallyenjoying that's a little closer,
which is nice, so I get to seeher a little more often.
And then our youngest, capella,who's 11.
She's just a little, she's justI don't know.
All three kids are perfect intheir own unique way.
(29:27):
So I'm just enjoying them andenjoying my wife, gabby, and
enjoying getting to work withthis team.
But I think the next step is,you know, gabby is, I think you
know is she's from La Paz,mexico, and her family's down
there, and and I think as we getolder, we realize that, you
know, the stuff is not asimportant as time.
(29:48):
And how can, how can I get moretime with her, with her family,
with my family who lives up inMarin County, up in kind of just
a little bit North of SanFrancisco, and that's, I think
that's.
My next step is is trying tomaximize the time I get to spend
with those I love the most.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, and has there been any lessons from being a
dad that have helped you be abetter leader, better manager,
better professional?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Oh, of course, I mean your kids, my kids teach me all
the time, you know, and I thinkit's one um, I think, as a dad,
especially in this industry,especially with my older two
when they were younger, I thinkthere were times when I would
make commitments, you know, andI'd say, oh yeah, I'll be there,
boom, and then something elsewould get in the way.
(30:40):
That was important at the time,yeah, and I would miss that
time, or I'd miss that event,and I think, I think that's what
I think about.
I think I think about on mydeathbed Am I going to be
thinking about that meeting thatI missed?
Or am I going to be thinkingabout that meeting that I missed
?
Or am I going to be thinkingabout that, that game that I
(31:00):
missed, you know, or my you knowwhat?
What is going to be importantto me?
Um, when, when, when I'm on mydeathbed and and I, every, I
know for a fact that the thingsI'm going to be most regretful
of, uh, is any time missed with,with my family, and so that's
something that is important tome, that's something that's
(31:22):
really important for me tomanage that way as well.
So, what's good for the you know, what's good for me is good for
my staff, and I expect the sameout of my staff, and we all
love our job, we love thismembership, um, and we, we
really work for each other, butwe also know that we're here for
each other.
So it's like, hey, when, whenthis person really has something
(31:43):
important, they need to bethere for it, then we all step
in and we have each other'sbacks um to make sure that we
fill that gap.
So, um, I might have one titleone day and I might have another
title another day, because thatperson needs the support and
this is their time to to getthat important time.
And so, anyway, just blessed tobe surrounded by a team and a
(32:06):
membership and a board whoembrace that culture and
understand the importance of it.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Dude this was so good .
Thank you so much for coming on.
This is, this was amazing.
This is awesome.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I got all your, I got all my, I got my magic cards
back here.
Still that you know.
So we can do a little magiclater.
You know I'm down.
I'm down.
No, denny, the pleasure was allmine.
I cannot tell you how much Iappreciate, uh appreciate this
show because I think it bringsso many important things out.
(32:40):
You know you have so manyincredible people on this show
all the time that they can justtell about their life
experiences, and so I just soappreciate you and everything
you do for the industry andthanks for thanks for having me
on.
It was a real honor, man,anytime.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Hope you all enjoyed that episode.
I know I did.
Desi, thank you so much forcoming on, sharing some stories
and insights and a lot of goodlaughs.
It means the world.
You know.
What also means the world iswhen people like, share,
subscribe and leave ratings onthe show.
If you are enjoying the showand the content and the episodes
, share it with someone you like, someone you don't like.
(33:17):
If you want to give it afive-star rating and a little
review, that means the absoluteworld.
That's this episode.
Until next time.
I'm your host, danny Corby.
Catch y'all on the FlippityFlip.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club
Radio Show, where we give youthe scoop on all things private
golf and country clubs frommastering leadership and
management, food and beverageexcellence, member engagement
secrets, board governance andeverything in between, all while
keeping it fun and light.
Whether you're a club veteranjust getting your feet wet or
somewhere in the middle, you arein the right place.
(00:20):
I'm your host, denny Corby.
Welcome to the show.
In this episode, I am chattingwith a guy who might not be
blowing up your LinkedIn feedbut, trust me, he is someone you
want to hear from.
I get to chat with Desi Spey,gm at Desert Highlands out in
Arizona, and he's one of thoseleaders who's quietly crushing
(00:41):
it.
There's no ego, there's nofluff, just real leadership,
real culture and a deep, steadybelief in just doing things the
right way.
This conversation it hit alittle bit different.
He is such a cool dude, what agenuine guy.
He's someone who leads from theheart and makes his team feel
(01:01):
seen.
He's built a club wherehospitality isn't just a word,
it's an actual lifestyle, and wetalk about his journey from an
aspiring teacher to golf guy tonow GM.
We talk about the mentors andmoments that shaped how he shows
up at a leader every single day.
Killer insights on that.
(01:21):
We talk about why empowermentbeats micromanagement every
single time, all day, every day.
We also about why empowermentbeats micromanagement every
single time, all day, every day.
We also touch on the power ofbeing present and intentional,
especially in a somewhat fastermoving industry.
Desi is such a great guy, such agood dude, so much good stuff
in this episode and so manylaughs, so many good laughs.
(01:41):
I'm genuinely glad I got tohave a chat with him and so glad
you all get to experience him,because there's not too much
about him out there.
That makes me even more excited.
Before we get to the episode, aquick thank you to some of our
show partners Gulf Life,navigators, members First Kennes
, Member Vetting Club, capitalGroup, as well as myself, denny
(02:03):
Corby, the Denny Corby, thedenny corby experience.
There's excitement, there'smystery.
Also there's magic, mindreading, comedy, crowd work.
It's one of the most fun memberevent nights you can have
guaranteed.
If you want to learn more, headon over to dennycorbycom.
But enough about all that,let's get to the episode.
Private club reader listeners.
Let's welcome to the show.
Desi Spey.
So I know you're a big magicfan If you can have one actual
(02:37):
magic power to make your job asa GM easier.
What would it be?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Oh man, one magic power?
Oh man, I don't.
That's a great question.
I guess the ability I'm justmaking something up, I don't
know I mean, uh, maybe theability to read minds, okay,
(03:00):
because I think I think, whenyou're dealing with staff and
members, right, when you'redealing with staff and members,
right, when you're dealing withyour team and members, sometimes
, especially when you have acool title on your jacket or
whatever, and people look attitles and they might say things
differently or act differentlyor not, tell you something
(03:25):
honest communication that youcan have.
You know whether it's with,like I said, whether it's with
your team or whether it's withmembers, or whether it's with
your family and spouse, or youknow, the more honest
communication you have, just themore trust you build and the
better the relationships.
Right, and, and yeah, so Idon't know, that's my, that's my
off the cuff answer.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Because, because, because there's not too much
about you out there, which whichmakes this a little bit
difficult, um, but I keep very,I know, I know there's no
articles like you're, you're avery.
I was almost calling my, I wasalmost calling my, my buddy,
paul dang from member vetting tobe like, just give me something
on him to talk about, like.
But but like, I'm not that guy,I know I know which is, which
(04:04):
is interesting because so manypeople I feel there there's a
lot of ego involved sometimeswith management and leadership,
and you're big on empowerment,you're big on mentoring.
Where did where did all thatcome from?
So I guess, maybe to start like, what is your back?
Like what?
Like, where did you start off?
And how did you start off inthe club space?
(04:25):
Like, was this like your dream?
Like, were you like did?
Were you like focused on on theclub space?
Did you find it?
Did it find you?
You know what was your?
What was your beginnings like?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, I'd say it found me.
So I actually went to school asa history major and thought I'd
be a teacher.
I had some incredible socialstudies teachers and history
teachers in junior high and highschool and I just thought they
were the coolest people and theymade me feel great about
learning.
And so after college, I that'swhat I intended to do, but then
(05:02):
I kind of realized what teachersmade and what their their
sacrifices.
Thank you to all the teachersout there.
If you have teachers in yourfamily and, um, and I, just I'd
always had this passion for youknow golf as well, and, uh, so
one day I decided that golfwould be kind of where I wanted
(05:25):
to go.
I'd worked at golf coursessince I was like 13, just to try
to get free privileges.
It was like when I was growingup, a lot of the older guys, you
know, we grew up in a time whenthere weren't junior green fees
, you know, and things like that.
There was like there was agreen fee and whatever it was,
you paid.
It didn't matter if you were 13or if you were 40.
Right, um, and so I ended upworking at golf courses to try
(05:49):
to, you know, be able to playand afford to play.
And so one day I just decidedyou know, I'd rather decide
instead of sitting behind a desk.
I was in the corporate world atthat point when I just made this
decision.
I said, you know, let me dosomething I'm passionate about
and got in the golf business andthen had some incredible kind
of mentors and leaders as I kindof came up.
(06:11):
That took me in differentdirections and some of it was
incredibly positive and some ofit was just things that I
learned and of things that maybeI do a little bit different.
Yeah, um, and then somehow gotinto the private club you know
world.
Now that guy by the name of markhuman, who's down at el dorado,
(06:34):
who we work with in santabarbara as well, um, we work
together and it's like, whydon't you come down to el dorado
and run, run the club downthere and and, uh, it's one of
the greatest opportunities of mylife and I think it it taught
me so much.
And then had some corporateexperience at that point as well
, from a corporate golfstandpoint whether american golf
(06:54):
and then had some clubcorporate experience as well and
so kind of learning the uh,high-end, um, luxury, you know
um private side andunderstanding maybe where some
of the numbers came into playand how to run it like a
business as well, and kind ofmelding that Then through the
years I've I've had so manyincredible mentors who who've
(07:17):
helped me out and I just knowthat without them, without the
uh, you know about the GaryJones's and the Paul Skelton's
and Steve Richardson's here inArizona, tara Waldron's, you
know.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
What, what, what, what is a mentor?
So like to you, like what is amentor.
What does that entail?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I think it's people who, who, who, take a genuine
interest in you as a, as aperson, and it doesn't have to
just be business, you as a, as aperson and yeah, it doesn't
have to just be business, it canbe you as a person, it can be
you know and and help youthrough life.
You know to, you know, youlearn from their, you know, you
learn from their positiveexperiences, you learn from
their mistakes, and people whokind of you know, take you, take
(08:02):
you under their wing and andhelp you become a better version
of yourself.
You know, and and so and it.
A lot of times we think ofprofessional mentors, you know,
but I've had so many peoplewho've had in my professional
life, who've had this incredibleinfluence on my personal life
as well, and and, uh, I think is, over the years, is maybe a
better man, a better father, abetter husband, you know to
(08:25):
Gabby, and uh, so it's uh, yeah,it's pretty cool.
So I take it really seriously.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
What's what's some good advice?
Or, if it might, I was going tosay what's like the best advice
you've you've ever received,but that that might be difficult
but like you know what would bemaybe some of like the best
piece or pieces of advice you'veever gotten that maybe you know
change the way that you leadand handle your own teams and
people.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I can think of it right off the bat, because it's
the thing I think about.
And and, uh, there's agentleman by the name of bo
preston.
He's out in florida nowmanaging a club and he was, uh,
he was, he was my director ofgolf and and I was going through
some personal stuff and he, helooked at me and you know, I
(09:15):
guess I got the cool title, I'mthe boss, you know, but it was
like one of these friendships,that and he looked at me and he
gave me some advice and he saidyou know, you talk about family.
Are you putting your familyfirst?
Are you putting Gabby first?
Is this, is your partner inlife that you love more than
anything, and is she your numberone priority?
(09:36):
And, as you mentioned earlier alot of times, in every industry
, right as you, as you build upyour success, ego becomes, you
know, part of that right and andyour successes, it becomes part
of you a little bit and youthink you're cooler maybe than
you are and, um, that has stuckwith me forever.
I tell my kids to say you know,it's like you know, I plan on
(09:56):
telling my kids when they getmarried the same thing.
It's like you put your spousefirst, you know, above your
children, above your job, aboveeverything, because this is the
person that this is your ride ordie Right and and so I've tried
to.
I've tried, you know, and I'mnot perfect.
I've tried to live my life asbest I can, putting her first
and putting her needs first, andwe always.
(10:18):
She understands, you know myjob's, part of my life and and
friends and things, and so she'sincredibly supportive and
understands that.
But she also knows that if shecalls me in the middle of my
member guests or in the middleof a board meeting and says I
need you to come home, then Iwalk out of that meeting and I'm
, I'm home and and, uh, she's myride or die.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
So how so how long in this?
And if it's too personal, Iguess, like I I don't even think
it's too personal, but like howlong or how old were you when
you got that piece of advice?
And does, and I'm assuming thethe club knows this about you
and that's and that's your work,like, like that is your, that
(11:01):
is the way that you lead, that'sthe way that you do things,
because I think there'd probablybe some clubs where they don't
maybe want that or they wouldnot like that.
Their gm, if they got the callfrom their wife saying I need
you home and they leave, theymight not like that and that's a
big like assumption.
But like how would you got that?
And like, do they understandand know that I?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
was later.
I was later than I would havebeen, right, I'd already.
I was 32 ish, let's say 33.
Kind of already gone through afailed marriage at that point.
I don't want to say failed, itwas incredible.
You know, I got two incredible,perfect children out of it and
a lot of learning children outof it, a lot of learning.
(11:47):
So I was later than I wish Iwould have been when I got the
advice, but everything happensfor a reason, and what I would
say is I think there's a lot ofmisperceptions in clubs about
what members think.
Because, again, what I'venoticed throughout my career is,
as I go to different clubs, um,as you have these honest
conversations with your board orwith your members, everybody's
(12:08):
like, of course, because you'redealing with people who are
older and they've gone throughthe same challenges Like these
aren't different challenges andthey're like exactly.
I wish I would have known thatwhen I was younger too.
Right, they've learned itthroughout their careers, and so
I guess one of the ways I leadis no, every one of my staff
(12:29):
knows this.
You know it's, you know, youknow when I talk about, when I
talk about continuing yourcareer with some of my up and
coming incredible staff here orhistorically.
I always say what's your?
Have you talked to your husbandor wife or your partner about
this?
And what do they think?
Because they, they need to beon this journey with you.
You know you want to be a GM.
Like great.
Let's get you to be a GM.
(12:49):
These are the sacrifices you'regoing to need to make.
Is your wife and your familysupportive of this?
Because you know, and ifthey're not, it's going to be
really tough.
But also know that if she callsin the middle of service on a
Friday night and got 300 on the,she's calling for a reason.
It's because if you've hadthese honest conversations
(13:09):
already, then then she knowsthat it better be pretty serious
, or he knows.
I should say 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 makesense?
No, yeah, totally, totally, butit's.
It's helped me in my career andit's one that we talk about.
That, from a work-life balancestandpoint too, is you know it's
(13:31):
.
If we're leading in a way wherewe need to be here all the time
and we're not empowering ourstaff to be great, then shame on
us, right?
Shame on us for taking thattime away from our families and
our own well-being and our ownmental wellness.
You know if my chef you know ifmy chef needs to be at a
(13:55):
baseball game for their kid atfive o'clock on a Friday, that's
where they should be.
They should teach their souschefs and everybody how to
operate in excellence, no matterif they're there or not.
Life's too short.
We don't know if I'm going tobe here tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
This episode better be good, then you better say
some more good stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I don't know, I don't know, should I put the pink
glasses back on?
I was just going to say putthose pink glasses back on.
Okay, here we go, get.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I don't know like should I put the pink glasses
back on?
I was just gonna say, put thosepink glasses back on.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Okay, here we go.
I don't know uh.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
so speaking of, of empowering were, was that?
Was there ever a time that youstruggled to let go of control
like?
Were you ever a control freak?
Was this like?
Was this always yourpersonality?
Did you used to struggle withletting go and how did you start
to let go?
The surrender experience?
Speaker 2 (14:51):
No, it's of course and I don't want to talk to
everybody, Some people justhaven't figured out out of the
womb, right, and I would stillsay I'm still a control freak in
a sense, like my loving staffback when I was at Arizona
Country Club got me this greatplaque I still have behind my
desk here and it says as long aseverything is exactly how I
(15:13):
want it, I'm completely flexible, right, and so it's one of
those, you know it's one wherethe buck still stops here in a
way.
Right, I mean, the buck stillstops here, and so it's.
You know I'm a.
My favorite word is trust,right.
Speed of trust incredible book.
And that empowerment and thatrelease of, you know,
(15:40):
micromanagement or whatever youwant to say, comes with the, the
level of trust that you have.
You know, giving blind trust issometimes okay, but it's still
the buck stops here if somethingdoesn't go right.
So I think it's been a growthperiod for me, learning it
through my career, where I'vegone from a place where you know
every mistake had to be calledout and we're in pursuit of
(16:00):
perfection to out, and we're inpursuit of perfection to and
here's the way it needs to bedone to a hey, here's what needs
.
Here's what.
Here's the goal.
Let me hire really smart peopleand surround myself with really
smart people, and you figureout how we get there.
You know there's a lot ofdifferent roads.
That'll that'll take us to thesame spot.
Yeah, and and as as they maybe.
(16:23):
Maybe what I do is, as somebodycomes on, I hold on a little bit
so they understand myexpectations and understand that
I'm here to support them andnot the other way around here to
support them and not the otherway around, um, and so that they
can understand the expectationsand understand how I manage
Cause I manage maybe a littlebit different than than other
managers, um, and as they startto understand that and we work
(16:46):
together to make sure that theyare successful, then it's all of
a sudden it's like okay, theyget it.
You know, it's kind of likewhen you're teaching your kids
to drive a little bit right,you're there and you're there,
and at first you're maybe alittle nervous and you're like,
okay, here's what you do.
And boom, boom, boom, and thenat one point, you're just
sitting back there and you'relike, yeah, man, like look at
them, go.
It's like a little bit likethat, right, you feel like
(17:18):
you're helping guide them, andthen at some point you're just
kind of like, okay, there you go, you're off, and I've been
blessed to work with so many andcontinue 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 Gerstner, my CFO, al Baird,who I think you got to meet,
nick Gerstner, my CFO, umAlessandra Hopman, who's out in
(17:39):
Woods Hole right now, and I'vegotten to work with so many
great professionals and and help, I guess, help, help them and
they help me at the same time.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
You know, and and uh, anyway, yeah, pretty lucky how
do you, how do you managedifferent than other managers?
Because you, you you kind ofsaid it, at least like you said
it once, you just said it once,but then you kind of hinted at
it a little bit earlier.
How would you say, you manage alittle bit differently, or
maybe, what are maybe somethings your staff has said, or
or has your staff said stufflike, oh, like you manage
(18:08):
different, like how do you?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
how do you manage?
I think one is my personalityis a little bit different,
because I like to say I takewhat I do really seriously, but
I don't take myself veryseriously at all, as you
probably feel from some of ourconversations is, you know, I
like to have a good time.
So the culture here is, youknow, not one that is stuffy or
(18:32):
where we take ourselves tooseriously.
Anybody you know, and we'd liketo have a great time, we like
to, you know, like to roll outof bed and enjoy coming to work,
and so that's made part of howI lead from an actual leadership
standpoint.
I think, again, I try to notmicromanage.
I say, hey, here are theexpectations, everybody get it,
(18:53):
and once everybody feelscomfortable with what the
expectations are, it's like gosurprise, like you don't have to
come to me for permission.
You know it's.
It's one where oh well, thismight be a good example.
You know it's.
It's one that it's a, it's asense of pride with me is is
we've gone through Ty Martinez,who's who's one of our assistant
(19:15):
clubhouse managers here when Ifirst got here incredible young
talent, he's just like greatpersonality, just unbelievable
and we saw an opportunity withinour valet.
Right, I'd kind of got here andI'd walk up and, you know, valet
maybe was like walk into thecar doors and maybe the member
was already out of the car bythe time.
(19:35):
You know, we got to them, youknow, and it didn't necessarily
make sense, right, becausepeople make the experience.
And so I asked Ty, I said hey,ty he was a dining room manager
at the time I'm like, would yoube comfortable leaving the
dining room and going andmanaging this valet experience
and really bringing it up to thenext level?
And he said sure.
And so we worked together,right, like I talked about, we
(19:57):
worked together on hey, here'ssome of the things I see that
I'd love for you to manage andhelp develop the staff and and.
But I want it to be your own andso look for opportunities.
And so he went and he did itand he built this valet
experience that, literally, onour member survey of our members
said it was, uh, from, from,not.
(20:20):
There's a five-point system,right, one is poor, two is,
three is satisfied, four is verysatisfied and five is this is
world cl, you know extremelysatisfied.
99 of our members were four orfive on this, which is pretty
unheard of on in most surveysyeah you know, usually you'll
(20:40):
get some.
But I mean, members are justlike comments, like blown away
by the valet.
Experience went from fromprobably in my opinion it was
probably a two to a three onthat to a 99 of members like
it's a point of pride which isreally important.
Yeah, and this is, and that'sthat's great in its own, but
this is where the story getsreally cool.
(21:01):
That is, he built this greatexperience.
Then we're like Ty, you killedit.
Let's put you back inside yourassistant clubhouse manager.
Now we're going to give youadditional responsibilities.
Who's your replacement?
He found this replacement and agentleman by the name of Brett
Ball, and Brett a little bitdifferent personality than Ty.
But I go out there Brett's firstsummer and I walk past Valet
(21:26):
and there's a freaking ice creamcooler in Valet, like one of
the ones that you see you slide,and there's all these ice cream
sandwiches and the drumsticksand everything.
I'm like what's this?
And he's like this is our newice cream station.
I'm like what do you mean anice cream station?
He's like no, when it's hot,it's summer, you know it's
Arizona.
He's like no, when members comenow, you know they get a little
(21:47):
cool treat.
And I'm like, well, who came upwith this?
He's like I just I kind of justdid it and I'm like, yes, like
I want him to.
I want to look for world-classexperiences and things that are
going to make the members go wowand not feel like they have to
come run to Desi to do it.
Just be unreasonable in yourown right, and I was.
So it was one of those like Tytook it and he took the culture
(22:10):
and he built the culture andthere was some wow things that
he just did on his own and thenhe passed that empowerment down
to Brett and now Brett is comingup with all these things and
it's just like.
It's like I said, that's theway I like to manage.
I like to really just havepeople have fun and I'd much
rather them come to me forforgiveness, you know.
(22:33):
And then permission, wheresometimes, when you feel like
you have to ask for permission,it stagnates.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Everything right Better to ask for forgiveness
than permission.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, Commit first forgive later.
So when you just ask for,forgiveness instead, when you're
trying to build greatexperiences and you're asking
for forgiveness, everybody'sempowered, the dishwasher's
empowered, this guy's empowered.
Everybody just goes and triesto create greatness on their own
and some things stick and somethings don't.
But if they don't, they camefrom a beautiful place in your
heart.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
So, anyway, I never understood why.
I mean, maybe I should havephrased that wrong but like
valet, I feel like they have theopportunity to upgrade their
tips tremendously, have theopportunity to upgrade their
tips tremendously, like for likethere was, uh, uh, you know, a
casino by me, or just even likeany like valet, uh, but I think
the the casino is where I likeit like triggered me like the
(23:24):
most because you know you can.
Obviously there's people whojust aren't going to tip like
regardless, but like if it'scold out, why not like put on
their butt warmers and just tellthem like hey, hey, here's your
car keys by the way, throughyour butt, you know your butt
warmers on for you.
Or even just like kept a caseof like water bottles out by the
thing and like put them in thecar Cause.
Anytime you leave a casino, arestaurant or something like you
(23:47):
know you get in your car likeman, I wish I had some water or
something Like.
Why not just like put those inthere?
Like what?
Let's just say you get an extradollar tip or two bucks half
the time out of how many carslike you're going to increase
your tips?
How much are you going toincrease the like.
But why not just like, do thoselittle tiny things that just
cost nothing, like it doesn'teven cost time because you're
(24:08):
already in the car driving andif you're waiting you're in the
line anyway, I just put the buttwarmers on.
If you line anyway, I just pop,put the butt warmers on.
If you see they have likeair-conditioned seats, like like
a lot of the new cars, likeit's hot out, throw those on for
the people like that's great.
I yeah, so like oh, and yousaid the ice cream, say it like
when you said that, I was likethere's no way he did it and he
did it.
That's amazing you did.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
It didn't even ask, it was so great.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
So that reminds me, there was a show I did at a club
.
This was like back in my early,you know more, more early
beginnings, and after the therewas a group that brought a, that
took a limo to, to, to my show,you know, they came and picked
them up so they can party, havea good time, you know, and they,
they, they left some of thebottles of water and a limo
(24:47):
company, without charginganything extra, had the limo
company name.
They put the club name, theevent, that it was oh cool.
And then it was just like youknow the date, all that stuff.
It looks like they had like alittle insurance company, maybe,
like you know, sponsor coversome of the cost of like these
extra labels.
(25:08):
And there, you know, there waslike the company name of like
the limo thing.
But I'm like this little thing,to me that was like what it
maybe took an extra 30 minutesof work or time to do this and
it's like what a huge, like theexperience, like oh yeah, it's
the things you remember.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I um, there's all sorts of speakers who speak on
this, but it's just one of those.
You know, nobody remembers whenyou meet their expectations.
You know, and, and you knowit's, it's uh, and I, I know
everybody in the industry knowsunreasonable hospitality in that
book and it's it's just.
You know, what can you, whatcan you do to to exceed people's
expectations?
(25:44):
You know, the only problem withthe ice cream now is everybody
loves the ice cream, everybodyexpects the ice cream.
Now, it's now, it's kind ofstandard, right, it's like this.
And so what do we do now toexceed their expectations?
Again, right, and so it's.
It's this fun game that we getto play in the private club
industry and in a lot ofhospitality, where you're always
, you know, trying to exceedexpectations every year.
(26:04):
Right, and with everyexperience.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
maybe it's if they get to go food or if they have
leftovers that's already intheir car waiting, so you don't
have to do that already.
Do that, oh bro no, you don't,yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
So it's one of those, like all the things you
mentioned, that I I would putagain.
There's some great valetexperiences.
I would put ours up there withone of the best valet
experiences.
You'll go and your to-go food'salready in the car.
Um, you're to your point.
Your heaters are already out.
So we all everybody has radio.
So when the server is done,they radio out to the valet and
(26:38):
say, hey, the Smiths are done,smith's car is already there and
it's heated when it's cold,it's cold when it's hot and
everything's out there with thewater and all that good stuff as
well.
So it's again, but it was builtfrom scratch.
Nothing, you know to this thing.
That really encompasses ourvision and our mission here at
(26:58):
Desert Highlands, and so it'spretty cool.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
If you could make one or every GM, COO, club leader
truly understand one thing aboutleading a team, what would it
be?
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Oh, I mean I learned more from those guys than me.
I mean, for me, I'll just tellyou my philosophy.
I don't know if it's anything Iteach, because I think a lot of
the people that I associatewith already do this, but I
think it's one where I'm abottom-up leader and I think a
majority of the people who Iconsider friends and colleagues
(27:39):
in the business are very similar.
My job is here to support.
I set the expectations and Ilead the culture, but my job is
to push down all the support sothat if a server says, hey, I
get your expectation, desi, butI need this in order to execute
it, you know, I provide them thetools that they need in order
(28:00):
to hit those expectations andthe coaching and the um,
whatever they need.
Um, and it's not Desi pushingdown or it's them pushing up
orders to Desi.
Hey, desi, you set theexpectations.
Here's my bosses in a sense.
Right, I get the cool title,but they're really the bosses
(28:22):
who drive their needs up so thatthey can execute to the
expectations.
But again, I think that'spretty common with a lot of the
managers out there, so, and youknow what's what's, uh, what's
what's next.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You've you've done a lot.
Is there anything you haven'tdone yet that you're excited
about, either professionally orpersonally, or just anything in
life?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Um, you know, right now I'm really enjoying the, the
, the kids and the family, youknow.
So Carter's out in Florida andand he's uh, studying
engineering and and he's adecathlete and loving that as
well.
So I'm really enjoying watchinghim when I can get out there,
or at least paying attentiononline.
(29:05):
Sometimes they're video,sometimes they're live stream,
which is cool.
And then my oldest daughter,maya, is down at U of A and
she's just killing it and she'smajoring in business, and so I'm
really enjoying that's a littlecloser, which is nice.
So I get to see her a littlekilling it and she's majoring in
business, and so I'm reallyenjoying that's a little closer,
which is nice, so I get to seeher a little more often.
And then our youngest, capella,who's 11.
She's just a little, she's justI don't know.
All three kids are perfect intheir own unique way.
(29:27):
So I'm just enjoying them andenjoying my wife, gabby, and
enjoying getting to work withthis team.
But I think the next step is,you know, gabby is, I think you
know is she's from La Paz,mexico, and her family's down
there, and and I think as we getolder, we realize that, you
know, the stuff is not asimportant as time.
(29:48):
And how can, how can I get moretime with her, with her family,
with my family who lives up inMarin County, up in kind of just
a little bit North of SanFrancisco, and that's, I think
that's.
My next step is is trying tomaximize the time I get to spend
with those I love the most.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, and has there been any lessons from being a
dad that have helped you be abetter leader, better manager,
better professional?
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Oh, of course, I mean your kids, my kids teach me all
the time, you know, and I thinkit's one um, I think, as a dad,
especially in this industry,especially with my older two
when they were younger, I thinkthere were times when I would
make commitments, you know, andI'd say, oh yeah, I'll be there,
boom, and then something elsewould get in the way.
(30:40):
That was important at the time,yeah, and I would miss that
time, or I'd miss that event,and I think, I think that's what
I think about.
I think I think about on mydeathbed Am I going to be
thinking about that meeting thatI missed?
Or am I going to be thinkingabout that meeting that I missed
?
Or am I going to be thinkingabout that, that game that I
(31:00):
missed, you know, or my you knowwhat?
What is going to be importantto me?
Um, when, when, when I'm on mydeathbed and and I, every, I
know for a fact that the thingsI'm going to be most regretful
of, uh, is any time missed with,with my family, and so that's
something that is important tome, that's something that's
(31:22):
really important for me tomanage that way as well.
So, what's good for the you know, what's good for me is good for
my staff, and I expect the sameout of my staff, and we all
love our job, we love thismembership, um, and we, we
really work for each other, butwe also know that we're here for
each other.
So it's like, hey, when, whenthis person really has something
(31:43):
important, they need to bethere for it, then we all step
in and we have each other'sbacks um to make sure that we
fill that gap.
So, um, I might have one titleone day and I might have another
title another day, because thatperson needs the support and
this is their time to to getthat important time.
And so, anyway, just blessed tobe surrounded by a team and a
(32:06):
membership and a board whoembrace that culture and
understand the importance of it.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Dude this was so good .
Thank you so much for coming on.
This is, this was amazing.
This is awesome.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I got all your, I got all my, I got my magic cards
back here.
Still that you know.
So we can do a little magiclater.
You know I'm down.
I'm down.
No, denny, the pleasure was allmine.
I cannot tell you how much Iappreciate, uh appreciate this
show because I think it bringsso many important things out.
(32:40):
You know you have so manyincredible people on this show
all the time that they can justtell about their life
experiences, and so I just soappreciate you and everything
you do for the industry andthanks for thanks for having me
on.
It was a real honor, man,anytime.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Hope you all enjoyed that episode.
I know I did.
Desi, thank you so much forcoming on, sharing some stories
and insights and a lot of goodlaughs.
It means the world.
You know.
What also means the world iswhen people like, share,
subscribe and leave ratings onthe show.
If you are enjoying the showand the content and the episodes
, share it with someone you like, someone you don't like.
(33:17):
If you want to give it afive-star rating and a little
review, that means the absoluteworld.
That's this episode.
Until next time.
I'm your host, danny Corby.
Catch y'all on the FlippityFlip.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.