June 16, 2025 • 59 mins
What do private clubs and political campaigns have in common?
Turns out… a lot more than you think.
In this episode, Denny sits down with Charles “Chuck” Merriman, CCM.
TRhe politically wired, quick-witted COO of San Diego Country Club whose journey from congressional campaign manager to club executive is anything but ordinary.
Chuck shares how his deep roots in politics shaped his leadership style, how civic involvement helped reopen his club during COVID, and why every club leader should build relationships in their local government before they need something.
We dive into:
- The surprising parallels between campaign strategy and club management
- How to deal with tough members, tougher boards, and Twitter trolls
- The real secret to persuasion, power, and protecting your club’s reputation
- Chuck’s proudest wins, hardest losses, and the leadership lessons in between
This one’s packed with humor, real talk, and insight for anyone who leads in high-pressure environments.
If you’ve ever felt like club leadership is political this episode proves you’re absolutely right.
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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.
What do political campaigns andprivate clubs have in common?
A lot more than you think Power, dynamics, persuasion, a whole
lot of personalities, andtoday's guest is a part of both
worlds.
Today I am joined by CharlesChuck Meerman, ccm, the current
(00:40):
GM COO at San Diego Country Cluband probably one of the most
involved club leaders inpolitics, and we have a
phenomenal conversation In fulltransparency.
I am the last one to talkpolitics with.
I know enough to be dangerousand that is about it, but it was
(01:02):
cool to chat with him and learnabout his background in
politics and how it shaped hiscareer and his leadership style,
because he's managed multiplecongressional campaigns,
including against one of his ownmembers, he's worked directly
with state and federal leadersto keep his club open during
COVID and he was a small posterchild for that.
He has sat on town councils,merchant boards, civic
(01:24):
associations and he's beenvetted by the Secret Service
more times than some politicians.
He is not just a club pro.
Chuck is a strategist, acommunicator, a dealmaker and
someone who deeply understandshow politics, power and
leadership intersect.
And in this episode we talkabout why political thinking can
(01:45):
and should influence how we runour clubs, how local government
relations fast-track clubprojects, cut red tape and open
doors.
We talk about the realdifference between being liked
and being effective, and howChuck handles criticism and
member pushback with humor andgrace.
He also shares why more clubleaders should get and be more
involved in their communities,in the local politics, because
(02:08):
it becomes important especiallybefore you need and want
something.
This episode is amazing.
It's smart, it's personable andhe shares what drives him, the
mentors who shaped him and thelessons he learned from both
winning and losing in clubs andcampaigns.
This is a phenomenal episode,cannot wait to dive in and
(02:30):
before we do, I want to tell youabout something I got cooking
and it is going to be so muchfun and I got to tell you about
it really quick.
I'm putting on my ownmanagement event for club
leaders, for club professionalsof all levels, called Management
in Motion.
It's going to be September 22ndat the Monticello Motor Club.
(02:50):
First off, if you have notlistened to Hospitality and
Horsepower with Yanel Porub, theGM there phenomenal episode
Check it out.
But I told him a vision I had.
I was like, oh, it'd be so muchfun to do a day of ripping up
cars on the track and mixing ineducation.
And he said done, and he hookedit up.
So I'm doing Management inMotion September 22nd.
(03:10):
It is a full day of education,leadership, while also ripping
up BMW M2s, m3s and M4s on thetrack, drag racing, skid pad,
auto X drag racing, high speedlaps, go karts.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
There's going to be a pokertournament.
We are going to have such anamazing time.
(03:32):
And it's limited.
There's only going to be 50people max.
I am so stoked.
If you want to learn more orsign up, head on over to
privateclubradiocom slashmanagement in motion or MIM.
I did both.
So privateclubradiocom slashmanagement in motion or
privateclubradiocom slash MIM,m-i-m, and you can get all the
(03:53):
information there.
It's affordable and I have $100off code.
The code is Vroom, availablefor the next two weeks.
If you want to sign up.
We are going to have so muchfun.
I am stoked.
Big thanks to some of our showpartners here on the channel.
You're going to hear about themmore later on in the episode.
Show them some support, checkthem out, let them know you
(04:13):
heard about them or you'rereaching out because of Private
Club Radio.
Enough about all of that, let'sget to the episode.
Private Club Radio listeners.
Let's welcome to the show ChuckMeerman.
So what's more stressful memberguest weekend or campaign
season?
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Why not put that?
We're just going right into it.
I think member guest is lessstressful.
You know there's only about 144people.
Campaign season is usuallyabout half a million, so a
little bit different demographicthere yeah, uh, now how, how
did you know?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
when you uh edit, you got started.
You didn't start in clubs, youstarted in hotels.
Right, correct, how did?
How?
Did the hospitality road startfor you uh?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
you know I started with marriott at uh, the jw
marriott out in palm desert,california.
Um, if you ever been there,it's a pretty cool hotel.
They got these electric boatsthat you actually drive out of
the lobby.
That was my job.
I was a captain of an electricDuffy boat at the JW Springs,
the Desert Springs Marriott inPalm Desert, california.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
That is cool.
Yeah, I've never been there,but that sounds amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Pretty cool, Titanic reenactments and everything you
know.
Never let go, Never let go.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Ever have any people like stagger into the water or
fall in?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
We had a couple of celebrities you know that
probably should remain namelessat this time because they're
still in the daily gossip.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
They're also going to be named in the Diddy Trials,
so we're going to be.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I'll plead the fifth on that one day.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So how'd you go from hotels to clubs?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I just naturally.
You know I did hotels with theMarriott, then I worked for
American Golf for a little bitand then I went back to you know
the hotel scene with a familycompany out in San Diego and
then I got into private clubs.
At La Jolla Beach and TennisClub my family had been a member
of a private club growing outin Palm Springs.
One of my early high schoolgirlfriends her dad was one of
(06:21):
the pioneers in the clubindustry.
I think he's one of the firstgeneral managers to get their
CCM designation.
Out in the desert, the CoachellaValley, is a plethora of
private clubs so there was noshortage there.
So I just grew up in theenvironment, joined La Jolla
Beach and Tennis Club and workedmy way up there for 15 years
(06:42):
and then went out to IllinoisInverness Golf Club and then
went out to Illinois InvernessGolf Club and then it got to
come back home to San DiegoCountry Club and clubs and
politics run through my blood.
I say each side has.
You know, each sideburn hassome gray hair for each one of
them that's really funny.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I like that.
What now?
When did politics come intoplay were?
Were you always into it, wasyour family into it, or were you
like the oddball who got intoit?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
You know I was the weird one.
You know waiting up all nightfor an election night, the race
to 270 and all that fun stuff.
Really, how it started, I wentto a Catholic school in Palm
Springs.
At the time our mayor was SonnyBono and then he became our
congressman and sadly he passedaway up in a skiing accident.
I actually ultra-served hisfuneral, so it was pretty cool.
(07:30):
I got to meet a lot ofprominent people and getting
called out of class from theSecret Service and middle school
was a pretty cool thing.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Wait timeout what?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah, it was an.
E-True Hollywood story.
There it was definitely amoment and it was I guess it's
sort of like captivated my likepassion about like just people
and power and the ability tolike make, hopefully, positive
change, and it was.
It was an awesome experienceand ever since then I just I
(08:01):
started volunteering, gettinginvolved, and I am sort of a
history nerd.
No trivia today, though, please.
It's contractually obligatednot to go down that route, but
yeah, politics were just in myblood.
I started volunteering on hiswidow's campaign, so I guess I
identified something there.
Maybe I shouldn't have, but wedid that and then just some
(08:24):
fortuitous experiences.
Met someone that worked with oneof the major parties in their
law department.
I used to be a little moreattractive, about 50 pounds less
, and it all worked out.
And then hung out with her,happened to get a connection to
work on a campaign, and then itjust steamrolled from there.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Now rewind.
What do you mean?
You got called out of class bythe secret service, like was
this to go to the service or wasthis like an?
Like an interview, to make sureyou're not you know?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I've probably been vetted more times by the secret
service in the last like twodecades than any other club
manager in the country, outsideof maybe some of the guys in
washington.
But uh, I, I, uh, I, I'm, I'mclean supposedly, um, but yeah,
they, they took us out of class,you know, for the event to get
over there.
They didn't, you know, theyusually don't pre-screen, you
know, 12 year olds.
So, uh, I was okay, I passedthe bar there and I can say that
(09:18):
I've been successfully screenedin the last two years as well.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
so yeah, I'm okay you must have been so cool like the
the next day.
It's not like you know, theprincipal's calling you like the
secret service is calling uh,yeah, it was uh, you know it
definitely raised my stock value.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Uh, um, I think.
Uh, the eighth grade girlfriendwas uh pretty excited we got to
go see titanic, you know threetimes for that three hour and 14
minutes.
So a couple more dates happened.
It was pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
But that was the end of my athletic career too.
You know, I pinnacled in eighthgrade, so we'll just leave it
to that.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Peaked in eighth grade.
Now you've worked on both sidesof you know from running clubs
and political campaigns.
Is there anything similar aboutmanaging a club and managing a
political operation?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I think the better question is what is different?
Um, I would tell you that clubsare very highly political and I
think, uh, every club managerwould tell you the demographics,
the relationships you build,you know, the board
relationships, working with themembers, working with the
(10:31):
committees, it's all political,you know.
I think you have to have theability to be able to come
together with a group of people,just like in politics, and find
consensus, collaboration, beable to communicate with people
and really, I think politics andclub life is nearly identical.
(10:54):
A political campaign usually islike a sprint.
I think the club management ismore of a marathon, even though
our lifespan as general managerscontinues to decrease in this
industry.
Even though our lifespan asgeneral managers continues to
decrease in this industry.
You're running a smallorganization that's multifaceted
, basically build onrelationships, whether it be
your members or, you know whenin the campaign it's your
(11:17):
constituents.
So you've got to have thoseskills to be able to communicate
to the people you know, addresspolicy.
Collaboration is huge on bothsides In the boardroom.
If you're not gettingcollaboration, you're not going
anywhere.
And then obviously, compromise,which unfortunately, I think we
(11:37):
find more in the clubs thesedays but not so much in the
political world, as we all know,sadly.
So I think they're very similar.
When I first started going forlooking at general manager jobs
full disclosure I didn't evenhave my political background on
my resume.
I was like oh no, this is likea scarlet letter.
Then a couple of recruiterstalked to me and everything.
They're like what do we notknow about Chuck Merriman?
(11:59):
I'm like well, I've ran threecongressional campaigns, been a
part of six, and then fourpresidential campaigns Like what
?
I'm like, yeah.
They're like when do you dothat I'm like, oh, that's my
side hustle, and so now it's onthere.
You know, no politicalaffiliation, nothing.
But they think it's like a hugelike markup and differentiating
(12:24):
factor between me andpotentially other candidates for
jobs.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Has your campaign work shaped the way you lead and
communicate as a GM COO?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
A hundred percent.
You have to be on your game inthe campaign world.
You can never have thosemiscues or social faux pas.
So yeah, I definitely thinkthat you learn how to
communicate with members andit's all about building the
relationships.
I'm a very much arelationship-based guy.
If you talk to people they'llsay it's charisma that I like to
(12:58):
build through myself.
I like to feel thatrelationship and have that
instant connection with people.
And relationships are based onthe campaign.
That's how you get people totrust you to vote for you or
your candidate.
And the same thing in theboardroom.
I have a policy that I don't goto my membership with a member
vote unless I know I have thevotes.
I whip up the votes before.
I sort of feel if you go to amember vote and don't have the
(13:20):
votes, it's like sort of a voteof no confidence.
And so I definitely see thedirect parallels.
And communicating with ourmembers, you know respectful
tone, proper place.
Obviously I like to have fun.
I think humor is a part of ittoo, because our world is.
You know, we got a lot ofserious things going on in this
world and if you can't take alighter approach to it but also
(13:41):
be pragmatic and serious.
You got serious problems, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah, okay, I feel like let me see how I'm going to
, because I feel like inpolitics, everything is public,
or a lot of it is, and in clubseverything feels private.
So how do you I don't even knowwhat I'm trying to ask, but,
like, how do you feel or thinkabout?
You know transparency andmessaging when it comes to clubs
and club leadership andcommunication?
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I am always 100% transparent with the club
members as well.
I've noticed that even in theclub world, as much as we used
to be private behind our gates,things leak out in the community
, everything, and you alwayswant to put your best
representation for your club outthere.
Clubs, basically, how theysucceed, is based all on
reputation.
If you're a reputational hazard, you're not going to attract
(14:30):
new members, you're probablygoing to lose members.
So your reputation in thecommunity is how you're getting
these people to write theseinitiation checks to join your
club.
So I think you have to act inthe same way in a professional
manner, but at the same timebuild your own reputation same
way in a professional manner butat the same time build your own
reputation.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, and I'm sure through the years of, you know,
rallying support, reading a room, dealing with the pressures of
all of that, I'm sure thattranslated super well into clubs
also.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, you know long hours, long days in both
industries, that's for sure.
I'll tell you, campaign life isnot for the weak by any means,
and club management life isdefinitely one that takes a lot
of time and dedication.
And yeah, you, you got to read.
The people know your audience,whether it be your voters or
with your members, and rightplace, right time to say things.
(15:20):
Obviously, conversations willdifferentiate between different
voters and also from differentmembers.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, do you think more?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
people.
Club leaders maybe should bemore involved with their local
communities on the politicallevel, 100 percent, like later
today.
I have a call with ourcommunity, you know, with our
municipality here in Chula Vista.
We're saying your countryclub's located and I believe
engagement with your localleaders is pivotal on a lot of
difference.
It brings back the reputationalfactors for the clubs, but
there's so many things that theclubs need Civic participation,
(16:04):
whether it be, you know,permitting for projects, you
know, philanthropic, giving backto the communities.
I think are so important.
A lot of members now join clubsbecause they like to see that
philanthropic side of what clubsdo and I'm a big proponent of
obviously like civic leadershipand giving your time to being
leaders in the community.
We do outreach here to, youknow, the police departments,
the fire departments, those areall public servants that help us
and you never know when you'regoing to need them.
So I think it's always good tohave friends in powerful places.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yep, 1000%.
I know this is like the same,but like different.
So whenever I emcee, likeconferences and there's you know
vendors and sponsors and allthat, I always tell people like
listen, as you're going throughyou know, even like you know
some, some CMA events andwhatnot, it's like, hey, as
you're going through you know,even like you know some CMA
events and whatnot.
It's like, hey, as you're goingthrough that whole maze of
things, like keep an open mind,like start some relationship.
(16:49):
I know it's different but thesame.
But like start somerelationships, start some
connections, because you want tohave those before you need them
, because you know, if you everlike, oh crap, I need a whatever
supplier or I need this to besourced because something
happened, like it's better tohave those connections sooner
than later, not like when you'rein a rush and like begging for
help, it's always better tostart those connections and
start those relationshipsearlier than later.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So let me give you a great example of that.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I was just going to ask for one.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
So La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club obviously you know
great institution and beenaround forever.
Family owned right there,premier property, premier club
in the industry.
I've been there 15 years.
Uh, covid happens 2021, covidstrikes, california shuts down.
Uh, you know, can't really doanything.
Um, this is really when yourpolitical connections came to
(17:36):
light.
Uh, if you've ever been there,if people have visited la jolla
beach and tennis club, it's abeautiful property right on the
pacific ocean, its own beach,everything.
But we have a nine hole pitchand putt golf course.
It's known, rarely used, it'smore for aesthetics.
You know everything.
So you know I was able to callup county board of supervisors.
You know people in the stategovernment, everything.
(17:57):
I'm like how can we reopen ourclub?
And they were going through thelist, list, list and they're
like a golf course.
I'm like, oh, we have a golfcourse.
You know we're a beach andtennis club, but we have this.
You know 1500 yard pitch andputt that you don't use anything
more than a lob, wedge andputter on.
I was able to reopen our club toits members to get back through
.
You know the means of workingwith the local government and
(18:19):
the state government as a golfcourse, and that would have
never happened had we not hadthose relationships and
conversations, you know.
Then the county people came out.
They actually came andinspected themselves and we're
like, oh, you guys are a primeexample of what we should be
doing when we reopen ourproperties.
So then we started writing.
You know they were like well,we need protocols on tennis.
(18:39):
So the president of the cluband I started writing protocols
on how do you play tennis, youknow, without being within five
feet of someone and touching theball and all that fun stuff
that we had to go through.
And we wrote the protocols fortennis tournaments to return in
California.
So through those connectionsyou receive opportunity.
The greatest thing aboutpolitics and all this with
(19:00):
people and knowing relationships, it's really just about access.
Can you pick up the phone andcall your local leaders?
You might not get what you want, but at least you can get a
straight answer.
You don't have to go throughthe bureaucracy of what
government has turned into.
It's amazing to be able to justtext that leader or call them
(19:22):
and ask them a question and justget it straight from the source
, whether it be in your clublife.
The clubs love that, especiallyRight now we're about to embark
upon this huge renovationproject of our golf course.
The doors were so wide openalready, with us working with
the city, that it's a positiveenvironment and that's only a
beneficial beneficial to yourmembers.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
How do you keep it?
Keep it separate but together,meaning like, how do you walk
that fair line?
Like how do you keep that levelhead?
Because I feel like sometimeswhen people are in politics,
they're so on their side, stuckto their guns, and they want,
like everyone to know about it.
You know, it's like the samepeople who you know just start
crossfit.
You know, how do you knowsomeone does crossfit.
(20:06):
They tell you they do crossfit.
Uh, how do you like, how do youkeep that like level, straight,
middle ground, vibe and likeenergy about you?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
separation of church and state.
Basically, you gotta likedivide it out there.
Um, I admit, you know I don't.
I, you know I come off to mymembers and everything is very
apolitical.
What you have to do, obviously,um, clearly, I vote for someone
for president every four years,not going to tell you who it
was today or anything but youhave to be able to stay
(20:37):
objective, which can bechallenging at times.
I've played golf with peoplethat we're high-fiving each
other because we believe inevery policy together, and then
I play with people that arediabolically different to me.
I believe in a sense ofbipartisanship and that's really
how it is at a club.
You know when you go in theboardroom whether you have a
board in Illinois of 15, here Ihave nine you're not going to
(21:00):
have everyone on the same sideof the aisle on the issues,
political background, anything.
So as, like the general manager, ceo of a club, you have to
come off as apolitical and youreally can't play favorites or
hear anything.
I would think you would see bythe business that we book at the
club the people that I haverelationships with that you
would probably be able to pickup and sniff out where I'm going
(21:22):
.
But you have to remainobjective and you also have to
understand when politics isnecessary and having those,
those relationships, and alsowhen you should step back and
not, you know, sort of avoid it,because it's a double-edged
sword yeah, has there ever beenany situations where a member
may like found out or like knowsabout your political background
(21:45):
or affiliation and starts likedigging at you and like trying
to, like you know, poke thebeast or something.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
You know what I mean?
Like because, like there, thereare those people.
But I'm just wondering, likehas that ever happened?
And like how have you handledthat?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
so I was very fortunate up in la jolla.
It was a non-equity family onclub, so I did.
I ran a you know multiplecongressional campaigns while I
was there.
I actually ran twocongressional campaigns against
one of my members.
Really, the congressman wasactually a member of the club.
So let's end his campaignmanager slash chief of staff and
(22:22):
let's just say they startedsome nice Twitter accounts about
me and my great dad bod here Ihave right now and my physique.
So that was pretty humorous.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
I thought it was funny.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
You just take it with a grain of salt and just keep
going.
But yeah, so there's definitelypeople that are aware.
We also were about to hostsomeone that was a very
controversial politician at thetime and some members got a
little upset and decided toprotest a little bit.
So, yeah, every club you haveto feel out what you know the
(22:52):
line of demarcation is.
That was a different situation,since it was a non-equity club
and the family happened to bemostly politically aligned with
where I was here.
In an equity situation, you'reresponsible to all of your
members.
As owners of the club, youcan't really push the envelope
quite as much, if you know whatI mean.
Um, you sort of have to playboth sides of the aisle and
(23:13):
everything.
But yeah, it was definitely fun.
Um, I see this old member Ioften all the time.
He's like so chuck, who you'rerunning against me, now bring it
on.
Um, it's sort of like a jabback and forth now and, uh, you
know, hopefully he'll justretire soon so I don't have to
get back into politics.
Just kidding.
But he, you know it was rightthere out in front and all the
(23:37):
members knew that I was runningthe campaign and he was the
congressman and it was you know,we agreed to disagree, but at
the end of the day I think I'vetold you this before, but I have
great admiration for anyonethat does the public office
stuff.
It is brutal brutal for peoplethat are working for the
campaigns, the politiciansthemselves it is.
(24:00):
I have full respect for anyonethat wants to endeavor in that
arena, because I'll tell you, gowatch House of Cards and I've
done everything except pushingsomeone in front of the subway.
You know it's, it's real lifeout here on the West Coast or on
East Coast.
You know news cycles.
So you're at fundraisers tillmidnight.
(24:20):
Then you have to get up by youknow three, four in the morning
to make the news cycle.
It is not a job for the weary.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
you sort of it's part of the job and you know it's
part of the uh, you know, uh,hazard pay that comes along with
it.
Um, and I think, just like inclub life and political life,
you start taking things personal.
You're going to have a rough goat it.
I definitely think that youshould have a personal
connection to everything and youeverything and your instinct to
everything, but you can't takethings personally.
(25:14):
At the end of the day, I feelit's just an insecurity by the
other individuals if that's whatthey have to go to.
I don't have Twitter accountsagainst me here at my club right
now, at least that I know of.
Hopefully they're all beenblocked if they're happening.
But you know it's sort of justwhat goes with the job.
(25:35):
You know you're not here to wineveryone.
I always say at the club youhave about 70% of the members
that you've got to win over, andthen 15%.
I'll give a million dollars andthey'll be like why didn't you
give me $2 million, chuck?
And then I got 15% that I'llburn their house down tonight.
Invite me over to dinnertomorrow night still.
So you just have to know thenature of the beast and it
(25:59):
definitely happens on both sideswith politics and club
management and you just can'tback down Confidence.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Is there anything you've learned from politics
that you wish every club generalmanager or club professional
could understand?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yeah, I would tell every club professional that you
know, knowing, you know,obviously, knowing the law is
huge, knowing the legalstructure of everything,
especially, you know, dependingwhat state you're in in
California here you know mylovely, litigious state that I
live in.
Um, you, you definitely need toknow the law because it's going
(26:37):
to help you be on your side.
Um, you also need to like, youneed to learn that it's okay for
not everyone to like you.
I think a lot of club managerswill like go out there and try
to want every single person tolike them.
I'm not here to be my members'friends.
I'm here to be the bestprofessional in this to make
their club the best possible andI have no qualms not being
(27:00):
friends with my members.
Am I nice, am I amicable?
Am I respectful?
100%.
But we're here to do a job andI think if you have that
mentality going into it and youcan't, you can't be afraid to
lose.
I'm sitting at my desk here inSan Diego today and not at, not
in Capitol Hill, because I lost.
You know we lose, it happens.
(27:21):
There's only one winner,there's one loser and it's okay
to be wrong.
So sometimes you got to takesome risks, but you just can't
be afraid.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
It's not about being liked, it's about being
effective there you go, you'relike taking notes, like I'm
going to use that my nextcampaign.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Let's get a Denny here.
He can run my campaign.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Is there anything that peopleassume about?
Politics's totally wrong andmaybe also applies to clubs.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
It's all true and it's actually worse.
I would tell you everything youread in the papers or watch on
TV.
If you see it on Fox News, yousee it on CNN, whoever you watch
you get your news from, there'sdefinitely some truth in all of
it.
It's not a clean business.
(28:17):
I think there's ways we canlook at it and making it better.
In this country, there'sprobably a good amount of
general managers that actuallymake more money than our
president.
They definitely make more moneythan our congressmen and women.
I think that money is really amajor issue in politics.
It leads to slippery slopes.
It's been the most rewardingthing I've ever done in my life,
(28:42):
because you feel like thatyou're giving back to society as
a whole, but at the same time,it's definitely the one that
will make you want to pull yourhair out, and it's an addiction.
I have to tell you, I haven'tbeen on an active campaign since
2018.
I've been very fortunate.
I have an amazing spouse.
Now I have a four-year-old.
(29:02):
Those aren't really conduciveeither, by the way, for politics
families but it's a painstakingbusiness.
But at the end of the day, youlook at that bright, shining
light that is, hopefully, you'remaking a difference for not
only yourself, but you know herenow I sound like a politician
but for you know, 350 millionother Americans out there that
(29:24):
are really wanting what's bestfor them, their families and the
well-being of the country.
And it's an amazing.
I remember telling my mom thefirst time I became a
congressional campaign manager.
She was like what the heck areyou doing?
What are you thinking?
I'm like, mom, do you notrealize that there's 900 Major
(29:47):
League Baseball playersbasically 30 teams, or whatever
and 30 players on each team?
I'm like there's like 900 MLBplayers Basically 30 teams, you
know, or whatever and 30 playerson each team.
I'm like there's like 900 MLBplayers.
I'm like there's 435congressional seats and there's
two candidates.
There's only 870 of us.
Mom, I'm like there are lesscampaign managers on
congressional campaigns thanthere are Major League Baseball
players.
And then that put into thisperspective, she's like, oh, wow
(30:09):
, that's pretty cool.
And I'm like, yeah, it's prettycool, it's gnarly, it's
interesting.
And then congressionalcampaigns you lose, and then
three months later they call youbecause they're running every
two years.
So it's like this endless cycleof fun.
I don't know how else to say it,but I think our country's got a
(30:31):
lot of things that you know wehave opportunities, I think, to
make some positive changes, youknow.
But who can say?
You know, at age like 28,you're writing foreign policy
pieces for stuff that you thinkshould be used as legislation
for what goes on over in theMiddle East.
Or you know, when somethinghappens in the world like here's
a story I think I shared withyou.
You know, when the wholewithdrawal from Afghanistan
(30:52):
happened, one of my employeeswas from Afghanistan.
She called me up.
She's like Chuck, I still havesome friends over there.
You know anyone that can helpthem get out, when you can pick
up that phone and call theCongressman because you have a
personal relationship and helppeople in.
You know, a couple months later, you know that gentleman and
his family were able to come outbecause they're friends of our
country, you know, and we helpedhim get out of Afghanistan.
(31:14):
Just an amazing likeopportunity.
You know I've done.
I've been a part of some greatthings.
You know prior to me.
You know, getting reallyhardcore into politics, worked
with the Red Cross.
I was at Hurricane Katrina whenthat hit and you see the like
the worst of times incivilization.
But it also brings the best outof a lot of your fellow
(31:35):
citizens, so it's just great tobe able to do that.
I was at a lunch like a monthago, right after they announced
all the tariffs and all mymembers are freaking out.
What's going on?
What are we going to do?
We're building a new golfcourse, renovating our golf
course, everything.
That week I was fortunateenough because I had a private
lunch, you know, with thecongressman, and I just straight
(31:55):
up there and asked him what theheck are we doing?
What's the plan?
And then I also, and then heloved it too, because I gave him
my own policy plan and you getstraight answers and it's so
great to be able to do that.
I had someone come to me andsaid that they're having issues
because their pastor had someyou know, immigration status
issues.
Can you reach out and help?
(32:16):
So with access comes theability and the opportunity to
help people you know indifferent ways.
So it's really awesome, highlyrecommend it.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, the word that keeps coming to my mind is
persuasion, and you've been onboth sides of that.
What is your secret to winningpeople over?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
I think it's really.
You got to lead with humility.
You got to be honest withpeople, respectful, passionate.
Danny, my career path is youknow I've had some cool things
in my life but I think fulldisclosure now I don't have my
college degree.
I, you know, I don't want tosay I'm self-educated, I
(33:03):
obviously went to school andeverything, but I put in the
time and worked and as far asthe persuasion of the people is,
I think if you lead from thefront, lead by example, and
you're fine to get down in thetrenches and do what you got to
do, you know I remember workingon a golf course and being the
guy that had to clean, pick therange Sunday nights at five
o'clock, you know, and wash allthe golf balls in the desert
(33:25):
heat at 110 degrees, you know.
Or I remember you know carryingluggage for guests at hotels.
I remember you know carryingluggage for guests at hotels.
I remember you know bookinghotel reservations.
Sometimes you got to do theunglamorous things but that
gains trust in not only yourconstituents but also in your
staff and in your members,because you have the real world
experience.
I wasn't silver spooned andjust handed this on the platter.
(33:45):
You know you're going to be ageneral manager of a club You're
going to, you know, you goingto run three congressional
campaigns, or whatever.
It all took hard work,determination, and my passion in
life is really to make thingsbetter on a small scale, whether
(34:08):
it be for my members or, on alarger scale, of people
throughout the country.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Yeah, between all the different jobs you know guest
services, campaign manager, coo,gm, like looking back on
everything what job do you thinktaught you the most about
leadership?
Speaker 2 (34:23):
That's a tough one because I think, um, I look at
every opportunity and all myjobs of how you know, I've
always, you know, been a leadersince I was a little kid, you
know, being on studentgovernment, you know, being
involved in stuff at school andtrying to, you know, lead my
packs of my friends and stufflike that.
I know that a lot of peoplethink that this isn't true, but
(34:46):
there's other people that dothink it's true.
I think that some of us arejust natural born leaders and
you know, I believe also thatyou know, we have callings to do
things for a higher good for us, as for whether it be your
members or whether it be thepublic, but I try to take my
opportunity, whatever position Imay be in, and try to do it
(35:08):
where I can make a betterexperience for, especially my
employees.
I start off any job I go into,especially in a leadership
position.
I'm not a manager, I'm a leader.
I'm here to lead my employeesand the things that matter most
to me is taking care of my staff.
So my last two clubs inparticular, out in Illinois at
Inverness, and then here at SanDiego Country Club, my first
(35:30):
focus for the first six months.
It wasn't about the members, itwasn't about me, it was about
the staff and your team aroundyou.
So I think you just have to.
And that's the same thing whenyou're developing a campaign, it
just happens a lot quicker.
Usually campaign season goesfrom about January till November
.
You have primaries and then yougo to the general elections.
(35:50):
So you know it's like an11-month sprint.
So you got to do all this a lotquicker.
General managers I think welast.
They tell us now about threeyears, two months in the
industry before we move on.
So you got a little bit longerbecause you know you got boards
switching over and recruiterscalling you hopefully and keep
growing your career.
But I think and I believe youknow, there's the old saying of
(36:15):
servant leadership.
I don't like to call it thatbecause I don't think any of us
are servants to anyone exceptfor, hopefully, ourselves, but I
like to call it.
You know I don't know civicleadership and you know that's
leading in all areas of yourlife.
You know try to lead by exampleand you know try to do the best
things that you can to justmake your lives a little bit
(36:36):
better for the people around you.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
You're going to get me crying here, denny, or
something.
Jeez, I didn't know I was goingto have to like go down that
path, but you know it's seriousstuff.
But you know you have to liketake a look at it and realize
that you know we got seriousissues at our clubs.
We got serious issues in ourcountry.
We're at a point in a lot ofthe parallels because our clubs
(37:05):
are successful when things aregoing successful in our country.
Our demographics of all of ourmembers of our clubs are very
successful people in thiscountry.
You know that's just the nameof the game.
That's where our members comefrom.
So the success of the nation isbig for the success of our
industry and they sort of workhand in hand.
(37:26):
I know great clubs can surviveany recession or depression or
anything, but you need to havethe leaders of industry, the
leaders of commerce, the leadersof politics, the leaders of
everything in this are usuallythe people that are your club
members, and you know there's alot of crossover when it comes
to that and it's so easy, youknow, nice to be able to.
(37:47):
You know I get up, you know Ican go walk around all the
members.
You know there's still themembers you know reading the
newspaper that we get deliveredevery day.
You know the paper version, notthe digital version, and you
can connect with them whenyou're up on.
You know you know what's goingon in the world, you know what's
going on in the economics.
So I think that there's so muchthat's intertwined that I would
(38:08):
highly recommend, you knowanyone to just go spend some
time.
You know I'm not saying to gorun a campaign or anything, but
just go check it out and seewhat's actually going on or at
least participate, volunteer.
Obviously vote all the time.
I'm not going to be like getout the vote, but you definitely
have opportunities.
Part of what I've done too isI've been fortunate enough that
(38:29):
I've been elected to boardswithin my communities that I've
resided in and worked in,communities that I've resided in
and worked in, and it's anawesome feeling to be able to
sit up there and represent, youknow, your citizens within.
Like La Jolla, I was on thetown council there and it was
awesome to be able to, you know,be a part of what's going on in
the community.
You know, I was on our businessassociation down in our little
(38:51):
region as well.
I was on the other association,so I've had, I've tried to give
back.
Any way you can give back isreally critical and I think as
club leaders, we have a greatplatform to give back because we
might have some more resourcesthan just the average Joe Schmo
on the street to be able to giveback to the communities.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Yeah, looking back on the journey so far campaigns,
clubhouses is there a moment ortwo that you're most proud of?
Speaker 2 (39:23):
You know, any time that you finish a campaign, win
or lose.
I've been, unfortunately, on alot of losing sides in the
political campaign life.
You're humbled number one.
Losing sides in the politicalcampaign life You're humbled
number one.
But I think that I look back inmy life.
I just recently, about a yearand a half, two years ago I
(39:44):
achieved my CCM, my CertifiedClub Management Certification.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Brr, brr, brr.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Thank you.
And I'm halfway there to get myCC the Certified Club Executive
.
You know, I'm halfway there toget my CC the certified club
executive.
Nice, you know, which is evenmore prestigious.
I think that those moments isbecause you put in the hard work
, determination getting your CCM, you know, for six years.
You know doing all theprogramming and everything.
I you know being able to walkacross stage and you know my
(40:10):
family being there to celebratewith me.
That was a great accomplishmentin the club world.
There to celebrate with me.
That was a great accomplishmentin the club world.
Signing that first CEO-GMcontract two and a half years
ago, that was pretty cool.
All that hard work going fromdriving boats around the
Marriott Pond to running acountry club is pretty cool.
(40:31):
I remember I started off as avolunteer on campaigns.
You know how great was it,going from knocking on doors and
stuffing envelopes in a littleoffice you know, with you know,
people that are 50 years olderthan you and you're the only
person you know bringing thatage demographic down.
Pretty low it was.
It was pretty cool to.
Then, you know, 10, 12 yearslater you'd be like, oh, I'm
(40:54):
actually the campaign manager ofa congressional candidate for
the House of Representatives inthe United States.
So, I guess, seeing theprogression and then getting to
the pinnacle, I sometimes, youknow this is, I guess, sort of a
personal struggle with me.
My grandmother taught mesomething before she passed away
.
She said you know, charlie, inlife you always want more, never
(41:15):
stop wanting more.
And I've been so fortunate,danny, in my young life.
Well, I guess I probably lookolder than I am nowadays because
of all the stress and anxietyand everything, but I have been
able to achieve that few have insuch a short amount of time.
(41:37):
You know, becoming a generalmanager before the age of 40 at
a club.
You know, becoming a politicalcampaign manager geez, when was
my first one?
2014.
So what?
11 years ago?
You know, be prior to 30 yearsof age, being a campaign manager
for a congressional candidate.
I'm so humbled that I've beenable to do that.
I had my 40th birthday a littleover a year ago and I sort of.
(42:01):
You know I'm a talker.
I don't know if people can tellor not, but I like to say I'm a
man of few words.
But you know and they alwaysmake fun of me I never shy away
from a speech.
There's always a speech to behad or a toast to have and you
know, one more drink for anothertoast right.
(42:23):
So at my 40th birthday, youknow, sort of my mantra in life
is the first 40 years were allabout me and the next 40 years
are all about everyone else, andmy dedication to whether it be
the industry of club management,politics or, most importantly,
being a father, is for everyoneelse.
You know, my family, my son, myclub members, people in the
community.
(42:43):
So I just feel that this senseof like, the need to get back,
and I, um I I try to demonstrateit in my life as far as I'm
very involved in philanthropicventures of all different
natures.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
What do you think the future of club leadership
should look like?
Instead of servant leadership,humble leadership.
But we should be leaders thatare humble, that we're not
managers, that we lead people,that you know we have greater
respect for work-life balance.
(43:22):
I used to work, you know, 16,17, 18-hour days, no problem.
That's just not fair to thefamily, to your life, your
well-being, your livelihood.
I try to let my team know that.
You know, work is great.
We're going to execute and behighly efficient while we're
here, but you need to have thatwork-life balance and I think a
(43:45):
lot of club managers the newgeneration of us need to really
instill that for our employees,because the industry has been
known for a long time to youknow a lot of hours, and I'm not
saying that there isn't a needfor that, but there's a time and
a place and we got to respectthat.
People have families and a lifeoutside of the club and I also
think that we need to like workin a more respectful manner and
(44:09):
be.
You know I love to.
You know I usually go to theworld conference, you know,
every year and it's a great timeto see colleagues throughout
all the country and we have sucha great association with CMA.
Like that's the best thing thatprobably ever happened in my
life Professionally was joiningCMA.
So love them to death.
Hopefully there'll be asponsoring this podcast now.
(44:30):
But I would just tell you thatyou know, it's great to see how
the club world has evolved withyounger people.
It's great to see you know morefemales involved in the
industry, people of differentbackgrounds and ethnicities.
It's really cool to see thatbecause when I first started it
was just a bunch of ChuckMerrimans walking around, you
(44:50):
know a convention hall.
But that has evolved and Ithink that's great for our
industry because our membershipshave evolved as well and I
think you know the new world ofclub life is coming up with
creative new ideas that push theenvelope and are exciting
opportunities and experiences wecan create for our members.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
Yeah, I want to.
I want to circle back quick.
You mentioned, you know, havingsome stress and anxiety stuff
like that.
How do you handle and managethat?
Because that's also been a veryI don't want to say a common
topic, but I've talked about ithere on the podcast.
Two ish is then, like you know,if a manager is listening, club
professionals listening, youknow what do you do when you
(45:40):
feel like stuck or frustrated,like how do you, what do you do
in those moments?
Speaker 2 (45:45):
I think you got to step back and, like you really
just got to take a step back.
Take yourself out of thesituation and at the end of the
day, we're managing a privateclub, which is one of the most
fortunate opportunities foranyone to be involved in and
realize that there's biggerissues in the world than
probably the sprinkler broken ona whole eight.
(46:06):
Or the cheeseburger wasovercooked today.
Or, you know, my tuna fishsandwich was.
You know the bread was a halfinch shorter than it was last
week when you had a differentbread vendor.
You know, I think you reallygot to step back and look into
perspective.
There's greater things in lifeand the thing like for me it's
all about going home and seeingthe family.
You know, seeing my little guywhen I come home is like the
(46:29):
greatest thing ever.
Just being able to step awayand realizing that there's more
to life than you know, the roughbeing a half inch too thick.
Or the greens rolled at a 12today and they were supposed to
roll at an 11 and a half.
You know just all perspective.
You know I like to.
You know I also tell my team weactually have a section of our
(46:51):
staff meeting every week wherewe talk about everyone's
upcoming vacations and it's notto be like, oh, who's not going
to be in the office.
It's more what are we lookingforward to next?
I, on my calendar, always findsomething to put out there.
That's my next new adventurethat I can look forward to.
So put milestones in your lifethat you can look forward to and
share those with your team.
I'll hear from my chef oh, he'slooking forward to going to a
(47:13):
concert this weekend, or I'mgoing to see my family, or I'm
going with a friend here orthere.
Always look at things thatbring excitement to your life
and find that balance ofseriousness and being effective.
But I want my employees to comeinto work and have a smile on
their face but, more importantly, a smile when they walk out of
here every day.
(47:33):
So stress management is critical.
I tend to eat my way through it, as you can see by this lovely
physique, but I but no, in allhonesty, I think you got to find
some balances.
You know I go into myinterviews now and I tell them
I'm like I have a family.
I would like to, you know, tryto have dinner with them.
You know, most of the time I'mfortunate enough to be able to
do that here, but in previousclubs that wasn't always the
(47:56):
case.
But set boundaries for yourselfand just don't let yourself get
overwhelmed or taken advantageof, because it's important to
make sure that you're in a goodheadspace, because mental health
and wellness is huge in thisindustry.
I've had to deal with somemajor issues and I see it a lot
with young males that have somuch pressure in their lives
(48:17):
that succumb to horrible,horrible things, and it
devastates me to see what'shappened and I think if they
just had an opportunity tocommunicate and feel comfortable
and confident and I'm just gladI made through some of those
tough times in my life, as muchas it was fun, exciting high
fives and everything at the sametime, there's real issues that
(48:40):
people are facing with stressesin life and it's heartbreaking
to me.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
Is there someone?
It doesn't have to be frominside the club world, but, like
inside the club world, outsidethe club world it doesn't matter
.
But who's inspired you in yourleadership style, or just you in
general?
Speaker 2 (49:00):
Um, you know I've been fortunate.
I've worked with some greatpeople.
I look at some industry, someof the people in the industry
that are just awesome, that Ican, you know, pick up the phone
.
That's the great thing aboutbeing a club manager.
I feel like we can pick up thephone and talk to anyone and
they'll, you know, give us anear and listen to us.
In my life, though, really youknow, my guiding light in my
(49:21):
life as far as my mentor, was mygrandfather, before he passed
away, you know, you know healways said you know, charlie,
everything in life, when you doit, make sure you do it, and
it's awesome, make sureeverything's awesome.
You know, and you know that'swhat I said you know at his
funeral, that I'll always, youknow, awesome and greatness,
(49:41):
everything I bring to in my life.
Uh, you know, sometimes thatcan be your worst enemy too,
because I do like to push theenvelope and definitely take
greatness to another levelsometimes, but uh, it, you know,
between my grandmother tellingme never to give up and always
want more and my grandfathertelling me, strive for greatness
, those are sort of my callingcards.
(50:02):
I'm so fortunate that you knowthey're both here in San Diego
and their final resting place soI can go over there and have
some Zen with them.
But you know, I think you needto live a life of greatness and
trust me, it does.
It can cause issues, um, becauseyou know levels of greatness
sometimes can be amisinterpreted yeah, um, and you
(50:23):
know, always wanting moresometimes is, you know, not
always a good situation, eitherin certain predicaments, um, you
don't want more strokes on thegolf course, that's for sure.
Or you know you probably don'tneed, you know, another martini
sometimes at dinner or something.
But I look to them for myguidance and I look into my.
You know I give myself, youknow, sunday morning, you know
(50:47):
I'm not going to like my routineis, I know some people do yoga
and stuff.
I go to mass every Sundaymorning and it sort of gives me
my repositioning for the week.
You know I'm not going to goout there and start preaching
for anyone or anything, but I Iget my moral, I call it
adjustment every week to sort oflike, you know, just
restructure and clear your brainfor that hour every Sunday
(51:09):
morning and it's a great placefor me to like decompress and
sort of be left alone from theworld and I I highly recommend
people find that for them intheir life.
Whatever that may be, I stilllove the game of golf.
You wouldn't be able to tell bymy handicap, but I totally
enjoy going out and spendingtime with my friends.
I try to plan, you know, threegolf trips a year with my
(51:30):
buddies.
Look forward to that, you know.
Just find happiness in whateveryou can in life.
Life's too short not to behappy.
If you need help with that oryou're having problems with that
, I'm here to listen to anyoneand I'll talk to anyone.
I'm going to do anything I can.
Don't be afraid to seek helpeither.
(51:51):
I've been in places in my lifewhere sometimes you've got to
talk to someone to make thingsbetter and you just can't be
afraid.
Speaker 1 (51:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:01):
You're going deep on me today, denny.
This is going into the deep endof the pool.
You know, I thought we werejust going to stick to the you
know, the kiddie pool today andI'm going to have to take my
floaties off.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Make it awesome or don't do it Right, you know what
I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (52:16):
My Nana, my pap up, would be very proud of you, for
you pushing the envelope with metoday.
Speaker 1 (52:22):
And plus, I'm still still running a high.
I did a a virtual show todayfor 11,000 people, so I'm still
like hyped up from that.
Speaker 2 (52:30):
That's awesome man, I love it.
But you know it's a, it's socool, like everything we get to
do in like club management, andthen just the experiences I've
been in with life.
You know I've met so many.
You know whether it bepresidents, you know people that
elected officials it's likeit's a true honor and a
privilege to like I feel like mylife and I count my blessings
(52:52):
every day because I know I'mvery fortunate and you know I
just'm so thankful foreverything I've been able to
achieve and, dude, I lookforward to like the next day and
the next.
You know she's 25 years.
Hopefully I'll get to retirearound then, um, but uh, god
willing, and but you know it'sjust just, I don't know.
(53:21):
My wife always makes fun of mebecause she was like my first
crush at my last job or my clubin La Jolla.
So we worked together.
So maybe I'm going too muchhere, but they know, whatever,
it's all good.
So she was my first crush.
She's a couple years older thanme and you know at the time she
had been, you know, previouslymarried and everything and no
kids or anything.
So everyone was like, oh, noway, that will never happen.
And, man, had I taken that bet,I would probably be sitting
(53:44):
pretty well right now.
I think the odds were like oneto a million.
So there's an old saying, Ithink that never give up.
I'm a big believer in never,never give up, and I think this
is what an old Houston Rocketsquote never underestimate the
heart of a champion.
That's how I live my life Like.
I just don't believe thatthere's anything in life that we
(54:07):
can't do as individuals.
And if you keep working hard atit and determined, you're going
to be able to get anything youwant in this life.
And that's what's really cooland that's what I love about you
know club management, or likeour country, like you, know
anyone can really achieveanything.
You know I, I have to just sortof.
You know I, she's telling menever to go back into politics
(54:30):
right now, but, man, I got thatburning sensation inside of me
that you know, come on, doesn'tvote for Chuck sound great, you
know, it's just, it's it'sinteresting times and I think
that I'm so.
I think I have a uniqueperspective to be able to like
bring people together and I loveit.
I love sitting with people andyou know you're like Chuck, shut
(54:50):
up, you're talking too much,but I can sit here and you and
and I, I feel like are alreadybest friends and you know, high
five across, you know, and wecan definitely like I think it's
a really cool thing and that'spart of what we do in the club
life yeah, no, it's, it's anamazing world.
Speaker 1 (55:07):
We live in a great country and you know, with the
internet and everything you know, uh there's I don't perform for
like too too many schools uh,but there's like like around
like this this time now I get todo a couple like high school,
like after prom and graduationlock-ins.
You know they'll lock them infrom 11 to 5 am.
So I'm like you know, the 3, 30to 5, 30, you know,
(55:31):
entertainment, whatever and Ialways tell like listen, if you
ever think you can't do anythinganything in life, think back to
this moment and go.
If this guy can make a livingdoing magic, I can do anything
uh we live a magical life, right?
Speaker 2 (55:47):
you know like it's a magical life and it's totally
cool and like, yeah, I, I justthink you know like I don't know
about the Internet, though youknow it's scary.
You know this AI thing isstarting to scare me a little
bit, but you know it's funnythat you know.
Thank God I was like bottom ofthe ninth inning, two outs bases
loaded and I avoided the onlinedating thing.
(56:10):
Thank God I would have beenscrewed man, danny, I would have
been all alone the rest of mylife.
Personality doesn't comethrough Tinder or Hinge or any
of that.
I'll tell you that I feel badfor any people that have to go
through that, because I wouldhave been screwed.
Speaker 1 (56:28):
Thank you so much for coming on, thanks for sharing,
thanks for being open,especially with a slightly
touchy subject, and justgenuinely appreciate all of it.
Speaker 2 (56:38):
Thank you so much.
Cool Thanks, danny.
Take care, buddy, and we'lltalk soon.
Speaker 1 (56:41):
Hope you all enjoyed that episode.
I know I did.
Chuck, thank you so much forcoming on and sharing so much.
If you're interested, sign upfor Management in Motion.
September 22nd, monticello, newYork, really close to New York
City, really close to Philly.
We are going to have so muchfun.
Privateclubradiocom slashmanagement in motion.
(57:02):
That's this episode.
I'm your host, danny Corby.
Until next time, catch y'all onthe flippity flip.
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.
What do political campaigns andprivate clubs have in common?
A lot more than you think Power, dynamics, persuasion, a whole
lot of personalities, andtoday's guest is a part of both
worlds.
Today I am joined by CharlesChuck Meerman, ccm, the current
(00:40):
GM COO at San Diego Country Cluband probably one of the most
involved club leaders inpolitics, and we have a
phenomenal conversation In fulltransparency.
I am the last one to talkpolitics with.
I know enough to be dangerousand that is about it, but it was
(01:02):
cool to chat with him and learnabout his background in
politics and how it shaped hiscareer and his leadership style,
because he's managed multiplecongressional campaigns,
including against one of his ownmembers, he's worked directly
with state and federal leadersto keep his club open during
COVID and he was a small posterchild for that.
He has sat on town councils,merchant boards, civic
(01:24):
associations and he's beenvetted by the Secret Service
more times than some politicians.
He is not just a club pro.
Chuck is a strategist, acommunicator, a dealmaker and
someone who deeply understandshow politics, power and
leadership intersect.
And in this episode we talkabout why political thinking can
(01:45):
and should influence how we runour clubs, how local government
relations fast-track clubprojects, cut red tape and open
doors.
We talk about the realdifference between being liked
and being effective, and howChuck handles criticism and
member pushback with humor andgrace.
He also shares why more clubleaders should get and be more
involved in their communities,in the local politics, because
(02:08):
it becomes important especiallybefore you need and want
something.
This episode is amazing.
It's smart, it's personable andhe shares what drives him, the
mentors who shaped him and thelessons he learned from both
winning and losing in clubs andcampaigns.
This is a phenomenal episode,cannot wait to dive in and
(02:30):
before we do, I want to tell youabout something I got cooking
and it is going to be so muchfun and I got to tell you about
it really quick.
I'm putting on my ownmanagement event for club
leaders, for club professionalsof all levels, called Management
in Motion.
It's going to be September 22ndat the Monticello Motor Club.
(02:50):
First off, if you have notlistened to Hospitality and
Horsepower with Yanel Porub, theGM there phenomenal episode
Check it out.
But I told him a vision I had.
I was like, oh, it'd be so muchfun to do a day of ripping up
cars on the track and mixing ineducation.
And he said done, and he hookedit up.
So I'm doing Management inMotion September 22nd.
(03:10):
It is a full day of education,leadership, while also ripping
up BMW M2s, m3s and M4s on thetrack, drag racing, skid pad,
auto X drag racing, high speedlaps, go karts.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
There's going to be a pokertournament.
We are going to have such anamazing time.
(03:32):
And it's limited.
There's only going to be 50people max.
I am so stoked.
If you want to learn more orsign up, head on over to
privateclubradiocom slashmanagement in motion or MIM.
I did both.
So privateclubradiocom slashmanagement in motion or
privateclubradiocom slash MIM,m-i-m, and you can get all the
(03:53):
information there.
It's affordable and I have $100off code.
The code is Vroom, availablefor the next two weeks.
If you want to sign up.
We are going to have so muchfun.
I am stoked.
Big thanks to some of our showpartners here on the channel.
You're going to hear about themmore later on in the episode.
Show them some support, checkthem out, let them know you
(04:13):
heard about them or you'rereaching out because of Private
Club Radio.
Enough about all of that, let'sget to the episode.
Private Club Radio listeners.
Let's welcome to the show ChuckMeerman.
So what's more stressful memberguest weekend or campaign
season?
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Why not put that?
We're just going right into it.
I think member guest is lessstressful.
You know there's only about 144people.
Campaign season is usuallyabout half a million, so a
little bit different demographicthere yeah, uh, now how, how
did you know?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
when you uh edit, you got started.
You didn't start in clubs, youstarted in hotels.
Right, correct, how did?
How?
Did the hospitality road startfor you uh?
Speaker 2 (04:58):
you know I started with marriott at uh, the jw
marriott out in palm desert,california.
Um, if you ever been there,it's a pretty cool hotel.
They got these electric boatsthat you actually drive out of
the lobby.
That was my job.
I was a captain of an electricDuffy boat at the JW Springs,
the Desert Springs Marriott inPalm Desert, california.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
That is cool.
Yeah, I've never been there,but that sounds amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Pretty cool, Titanic reenactments and everything you
know.
Never let go, Never let go.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Ever have any people like stagger into the water or
fall in?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
We had a couple of celebrities you know that
probably should remain namelessat this time because they're
still in the daily gossip.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
They're also going to be named in the Diddy Trials,
so we're going to be.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I'll plead the fifth on that one day.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
So how'd you go from hotels to clubs?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I just naturally.
You know I did hotels with theMarriott, then I worked for
American Golf for a little bitand then I went back to you know
the hotel scene with a familycompany out in San Diego and
then I got into private clubs.
At La Jolla Beach and TennisClub my family had been a member
of a private club growing outin Palm Springs.
One of my early high schoolgirlfriends her dad was one of
(06:21):
the pioneers in the clubindustry.
I think he's one of the firstgeneral managers to get their
CCM designation.
Out in the desert, the CoachellaValley, is a plethora of
private clubs so there was noshortage there.
So I just grew up in theenvironment, joined La Jolla
Beach and Tennis Club and workedmy way up there for 15 years
(06:42):
and then went out to IllinoisInverness Golf Club and then
went out to Illinois InvernessGolf Club and then it got to
come back home to San DiegoCountry Club and clubs and
politics run through my blood.
I say each side has.
You know, each sideburn hassome gray hair for each one of
them that's really funny.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I like that.
What now?
When did politics come intoplay were?
Were you always into it, wasyour family into it, or were you
like the oddball who got intoit?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
You know I was the weird one.
You know waiting up all nightfor an election night, the race
to 270 and all that fun stuff.
Really, how it started, I wentto a Catholic school in Palm
Springs.
At the time our mayor was SonnyBono and then he became our
congressman and sadly he passedaway up in a skiing accident.
I actually ultra-served hisfuneral, so it was pretty cool.
(07:30):
I got to meet a lot ofprominent people and getting
called out of class from theSecret Service and middle school
was a pretty cool thing.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Wait timeout what?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah, it was an.
E-True Hollywood story.
There it was definitely amoment and it was I guess it's
sort of like captivated my likepassion about like just people
and power and the ability tolike make, hopefully, positive
change, and it was.
It was an awesome experienceand ever since then I just I
(08:01):
started volunteering, gettinginvolved, and I am sort of a
history nerd.
No trivia today, though, please.
It's contractually obligatednot to go down that route, but
yeah, politics were just in myblood.
I started volunteering on hiswidow's campaign, so I guess I
identified something there.
Maybe I shouldn't have, but wedid that and then just some
(08:24):
fortuitous experiences.
Met someone that worked with oneof the major parties in their
law department.
I used to be a little moreattractive, about 50 pounds less
, and it all worked out.
And then hung out with her,happened to get a connection to
work on a campaign, and then itjust steamrolled from there.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Now rewind.
What do you mean?
You got called out of class bythe secret service, like was
this to go to the service or wasthis like an?
Like an interview, to make sureyou're not you know?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I've probably been vetted more times by the secret
service in the last like twodecades than any other club
manager in the country, outsideof maybe some of the guys in
washington.
But uh, I, I, uh, I, I'm, I'mclean supposedly, um, but yeah,
they, they took us out of class,you know, for the event to get
over there.
They didn't, you know, theyusually don't pre-screen, you
know, 12 year olds.
So, uh, I was okay, I passedthe bar there and I can say that
(09:18):
I've been successfully screenedin the last two years as well.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
so yeah, I'm okay you must have been so cool like the
the next day.
It's not like you know, theprincipal's calling you like the
secret service is calling uh,yeah, it was uh, you know it
definitely raised my stock value.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Uh, um, I think.
Uh, the eighth grade girlfriendwas uh pretty excited we got to
go see titanic, you know threetimes for that three hour and 14
minutes.
So a couple more dates happened.
It was pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
But that was the end of my athletic career too.
You know, I pinnacled in eighthgrade, so we'll just leave it
to that.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Peaked in eighth grade.
Now you've worked on both sidesof you know from running clubs
and political campaigns.
Is there anything similar aboutmanaging a club and managing a
political operation?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I think the better question is what is different?
Um, I would tell you that clubsare very highly political and I
think, uh, every club managerwould tell you the demographics,
the relationships you build,you know, the board
relationships, working with themembers, working with the
(10:31):
committees, it's all political,you know.
I think you have to have theability to be able to come
together with a group of people,just like in politics, and find
consensus, collaboration, beable to communicate with people
and really, I think politics andclub life is nearly identical.
(10:54):
A political campaign usually islike a sprint.
I think the club management ismore of a marathon, even though
our lifespan as general managerscontinues to decrease in this
industry.
Even though our lifespan asgeneral managers continues to
decrease in this industry.
You're running a smallorganization that's multifaceted
, basically build onrelationships, whether it be
your members or, you know whenin the campaign it's your
(11:17):
constituents.
So you've got to have thoseskills to be able to communicate
to the people you know, addresspolicy.
Collaboration is huge on bothsides In the boardroom.
If you're not gettingcollaboration, you're not going
anywhere.
And then obviously, compromise,which unfortunately, I think we
(11:37):
find more in the clubs thesedays but not so much in the
political world, as we all know,sadly.
So I think they're very similar.
When I first started going forlooking at general manager jobs
full disclosure I didn't evenhave my political background on
my resume.
I was like oh no, this is likea scarlet letter.
Then a couple of recruiterstalked to me and everything.
They're like what do we notknow about Chuck Merriman?
(11:59):
I'm like well, I've ran threecongressional campaigns, been a
part of six, and then fourpresidential campaigns Like what
?
I'm like, yeah.
They're like when do you dothat I'm like, oh, that's my
side hustle, and so now it's onthere.
You know, no politicalaffiliation, nothing.
But they think it's like a hugelike markup and differentiating
(12:24):
factor between me andpotentially other candidates for
jobs.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Has your campaign work shaped the way you lead and
communicate as a GM COO?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
A hundred percent.
You have to be on your game inthe campaign world.
You can never have thosemiscues or social faux pas.
So yeah, I definitely thinkthat you learn how to
communicate with members andit's all about building the
relationships.
I'm a very much arelationship-based guy.
If you talk to people they'llsay it's charisma that I like to
(12:58):
build through myself.
I like to feel thatrelationship and have that
instant connection with people.
And relationships are based onthe campaign.
That's how you get people totrust you to vote for you or
your candidate.
And the same thing in theboardroom.
I have a policy that I don't goto my membership with a member
vote unless I know I have thevotes.
I whip up the votes before.
I sort of feel if you go to amember vote and don't have the
(13:20):
votes, it's like sort of a voteof no confidence.
And so I definitely see thedirect parallels.
And communicating with ourmembers, you know respectful
tone, proper place.
Obviously I like to have fun.
I think humor is a part of ittoo, because our world is.
You know, we got a lot ofserious things going on in this
world and if you can't take alighter approach to it but also
(13:41):
be pragmatic and serious.
You got serious problems, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah, okay, I feel like let me see how I'm going to
, because I feel like inpolitics, everything is public,
or a lot of it is, and in clubseverything feels private.
So how do you I don't even knowwhat I'm trying to ask, but,
like, how do you feel or thinkabout?
You know transparency andmessaging when it comes to clubs
and club leadership andcommunication?
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I am always 100% transparent with the club
members as well.
I've noticed that even in theclub world, as much as we used
to be private behind our gates,things leak out in the community
, everything, and you alwayswant to put your best
representation for your club outthere.
Clubs, basically, how theysucceed, is based all on
reputation.
If you're a reputational hazard, you're not going to attract
(14:30):
new members, you're probablygoing to lose members.
So your reputation in thecommunity is how you're getting
these people to write theseinitiation checks to join your
club.
So I think you have to act inthe same way in a professional
manner, but at the same timebuild your own reputation same
way in a professional manner butat the same time build your own
reputation.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, and I'm sure through the years of, you know,
rallying support, reading a room, dealing with the pressures of
all of that, I'm sure thattranslated super well into clubs
also.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, you know long hours, long days in both
industries, that's for sure.
I'll tell you, campaign life isnot for the weak by any means,
and club management life isdefinitely one that takes a lot
of time and dedication.
And yeah, you, you got to read.
The people know your audience,whether it be your voters or
with your members, and rightplace, right time to say things.
(15:20):
Obviously, conversations willdifferentiate between different
voters and also from differentmembers.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, do you think more?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
people.
Club leaders maybe should bemore involved with their local
communities on the politicallevel, 100 percent, like later
today.
I have a call with ourcommunity, you know, with our
municipality here in Chula Vista.
We're saying your countryclub's located and I believe
engagement with your localleaders is pivotal on a lot of
difference.
It brings back the reputationalfactors for the clubs, but
there's so many things that theclubs need Civic participation,
(16:04):
whether it be, you know,permitting for projects, you
know, philanthropic, giving backto the communities.
I think are so important.
A lot of members now join clubsbecause they like to see that
philanthropic side of what clubsdo and I'm a big proponent of
obviously like civic leadershipand giving your time to being
leaders in the community.
We do outreach here to, youknow, the police departments,
the fire departments, those areall public servants that help us
and you never know when you'regoing to need them.
So I think it's always good tohave friends in powerful places.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yep, 1000%.
I know this is like the same,but like different.
So whenever I emcee, likeconferences and there's you know
vendors and sponsors and allthat, I always tell people like
listen, as you're going throughyou know, even like you know
some, some CMA events andwhatnot, it's like, hey, as
you're going through you know,even like you know some CMA
events and whatnot.
It's like, hey, as you're goingthrough that whole maze of
things, like keep an open mind,like start some relationship.
(16:49):
I know it's different but thesame.
But like start somerelationships, start some
connections, because you want tohave those before you need them
, because you know, if you everlike, oh crap, I need a whatever
supplier or I need this to besourced because something
happened, like it's better tohave those connections sooner
than later, not like when you'rein a rush and like begging for
help, it's always better tostart those connections and
start those relationshipsearlier than later.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So let me give you a great example of that.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I was just going to ask for one.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
So La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club obviously you know
great institution and beenaround forever.
Family owned right there,premier property, premier club
in the industry.
I've been there 15 years.
Uh, covid happens 2021, covidstrikes, california shuts down.
Uh, you know, can't really doanything.
Um, this is really when yourpolitical connections came to
(17:36):
light.
Uh, if you've ever been there,if people have visited la jolla
beach and tennis club, it's abeautiful property right on the
pacific ocean, its own beach,everything.
But we have a nine hole pitchand putt golf course.
It's known, rarely used, it'smore for aesthetics.
You know everything.
So you know I was able to callup county board of supervisors.
You know people in the stategovernment, everything.
(17:57):
I'm like how can we reopen ourclub?
And they were going through thelist, list, list and they're
like a golf course.
I'm like, oh, we have a golfcourse.
You know we're a beach andtennis club, but we have this.
You know 1500 yard pitch andputt that you don't use anything
more than a lob, wedge andputter on.
I was able to reopen our club toits members to get back through
.
You know the means of workingwith the local government and
(18:19):
the state government as a golfcourse, and that would have
never happened had we not hadthose relationships and
conversations, you know.
Then the county people came out.
They actually came andinspected themselves and we're
like, oh, you guys are a primeexample of what we should be
doing when we reopen ourproperties.
So then we started writing.
You know they were like well,we need protocols on tennis.
(18:39):
So the president of the cluband I started writing protocols
on how do you play tennis, youknow, without being within five
feet of someone and touching theball and all that fun stuff
that we had to go through.
And we wrote the protocols fortennis tournaments to return in
California.
So through those connectionsyou receive opportunity.
The greatest thing aboutpolitics and all this with
(19:00):
people and knowing relationships, it's really just about access.
Can you pick up the phone andcall your local leaders?
You might not get what you want, but at least you can get a
straight answer.
You don't have to go throughthe bureaucracy of what
government has turned into.
It's amazing to be able to justtext that leader or call them
(19:22):
and ask them a question and justget it straight from the source
, whether it be in your clublife.
The clubs love that, especiallyRight now we're about to embark
upon this huge renovationproject of our golf course.
The doors were so wide openalready, with us working with
the city, that it's a positiveenvironment and that's only a
beneficial beneficial to yourmembers.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
How do you keep it?
Keep it separate but together,meaning like, how do you walk
that fair line?
Like how do you keep that levelhead?
Because I feel like sometimeswhen people are in politics,
they're so on their side, stuckto their guns, and they want,
like everyone to know about it.
You know, it's like the samepeople who you know just start
crossfit.
You know, how do you knowsomeone does crossfit.
(20:06):
They tell you they do crossfit.
Uh, how do you like, how do youkeep that like level, straight,
middle ground, vibe and likeenergy about you?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
separation of church and state.
Basically, you gotta likedivide it out there.
Um, I admit, you know I don't.
I, you know I come off to mymembers and everything is very
apolitical.
What you have to do, obviously,um, clearly, I vote for someone
for president every four years,not going to tell you who it
was today or anything but youhave to be able to stay
(20:37):
objective, which can bechallenging at times.
I've played golf with peoplethat we're high-fiving each
other because we believe inevery policy together, and then
I play with people that arediabolically different to me.
I believe in a sense ofbipartisanship and that's really
how it is at a club.
You know when you go in theboardroom whether you have a
board in Illinois of 15, here Ihave nine you're not going to
(21:00):
have everyone on the same sideof the aisle on the issues,
political background, anything.
So as, like the general manager, ceo of a club, you have to
come off as apolitical and youreally can't play favorites or
hear anything.
I would think you would see bythe business that we book at the
club the people that I haverelationships with that you
would probably be able to pickup and sniff out where I'm going
(21:22):
.
But you have to remainobjective and you also have to
understand when politics isnecessary and having those,
those relationships, and alsowhen you should step back and
not, you know, sort of avoid it,because it's a double-edged
sword yeah, has there ever beenany situations where a member
may like found out or like knowsabout your political background
(21:45):
or affiliation and starts likedigging at you and like trying
to, like you know, poke thebeast or something.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
You know what I mean?
Like because, like there, thereare those people.
But I'm just wondering, likehas that ever happened?
And like how have you handledthat?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
so I was very fortunate up in la jolla.
It was a non-equity family onclub, so I did.
I ran a you know multiplecongressional campaigns while I
was there.
I actually ran twocongressional campaigns against
one of my members.
Really, the congressman wasactually a member of the club.
So let's end his campaignmanager slash chief of staff and
(22:22):
let's just say they startedsome nice Twitter accounts about
me and my great dad bod here Ihave right now and my physique.
So that was pretty humorous.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
I thought it was funny.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
You just take it with a grain of salt and just keep
going.
But yeah, so there's definitelypeople that are aware.
We also were about to hostsomeone that was a very
controversial politician at thetime and some members got a
little upset and decided toprotest a little bit.
So, yeah, every club you haveto feel out what you know the
(22:52):
line of demarcation is.
That was a different situation,since it was a non-equity club
and the family happened to bemostly politically aligned with
where I was here.
In an equity situation, you'reresponsible to all of your
members.
As owners of the club, youcan't really push the envelope
quite as much, if you know whatI mean.
Um, you sort of have to playboth sides of the aisle and
(23:13):
everything.
But yeah, it was definitely fun.
Um, I see this old member Ioften all the time.
He's like so chuck, who you'rerunning against me, now bring it
on.
Um, it's sort of like a jabback and forth now and, uh, you
know, hopefully he'll justretire soon so I don't have to
get back into politics.
Just kidding.
But he, you know it was rightthere out in front and all the
(23:37):
members knew that I was runningthe campaign and he was the
congressman and it was you know,we agreed to disagree, but at
the end of the day I think I'vetold you this before, but I have
great admiration for anyonethat does the public office
stuff.
It is brutal brutal for peoplethat are working for the
campaigns, the politiciansthemselves it is.
(24:00):
I have full respect for anyonethat wants to endeavor in that
arena, because I'll tell you, gowatch House of Cards and I've
done everything except pushingsomeone in front of the subway.
You know it's, it's real lifeout here on the West Coast or on
East Coast.
You know news cycles.
So you're at fundraisers tillmidnight.
(24:20):
Then you have to get up by youknow three, four in the morning
to make the news cycle.
It is not a job for the weary.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
you sort of it's part of the job and you know it's
part of the uh, you know, uh,hazard pay that comes along with
it.
Um, and I think, just like inclub life and political life,
you start taking things personal.
You're going to have a rough goat it.
I definitely think that youshould have a personal
connection to everything and youeverything and your instinct to
everything, but you can't takethings personally.
(25:14):
At the end of the day, I feelit's just an insecurity by the
other individuals if that's whatthey have to go to.
I don't have Twitter accountsagainst me here at my club right
now, at least that I know of.
Hopefully they're all beenblocked if they're happening.
But you know it's sort of justwhat goes with the job.
(25:35):
You know you're not here to wineveryone.
I always say at the club youhave about 70% of the members
that you've got to win over, andthen 15%.
I'll give a million dollars andthey'll be like why didn't you
give me $2 million, chuck?
And then I got 15% that I'llburn their house down tonight.
Invite me over to dinnertomorrow night still.
So you just have to know thenature of the beast and it
(25:59):
definitely happens on both sideswith politics and club
management and you just can'tback down Confidence.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Is there anything you've learned from politics
that you wish every club generalmanager or club professional
could understand?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yeah, I would tell every club professional that you
know, knowing, you know,obviously, knowing the law is
huge, knowing the legalstructure of everything,
especially, you know, dependingwhat state you're in in
California here you know mylovely, litigious state that I
live in.
Um, you, you definitely need toknow the law because it's going
(26:37):
to help you be on your side.
Um, you also need to like, youneed to learn that it's okay for
not everyone to like you.
I think a lot of club managerswill like go out there and try
to want every single person tolike them.
I'm not here to be my members'friends.
I'm here to be the bestprofessional in this to make
their club the best possible andI have no qualms not being
(27:00):
friends with my members.
Am I nice, am I amicable?
Am I respectful?
100%.
But we're here to do a job andI think if you have that
mentality going into it and youcan't, you can't be afraid to
lose.
I'm sitting at my desk here inSan Diego today and not at, not
in Capitol Hill, because I lost.
You know we lose, it happens.
(27:21):
There's only one winner,there's one loser and it's okay
to be wrong.
So sometimes you got to takesome risks, but you just can't
be afraid.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
It's not about being liked, it's about being
effective there you go, you'relike taking notes, like I'm
going to use that my nextcampaign.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Let's get a Denny here.
He can run my campaign.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Is there anything that peopleassume about?
Politics's totally wrong andmaybe also applies to clubs.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
It's all true and it's actually worse.
I would tell you everything youread in the papers or watch on
TV.
If you see it on Fox News, yousee it on CNN, whoever you watch
you get your news from, there'sdefinitely some truth in all of
it.
It's not a clean business.
(28:17):
I think there's ways we canlook at it and making it better.
In this country, there'sprobably a good amount of
general managers that actuallymake more money than our
president.
They definitely make more moneythan our congressmen and women.
I think that money is really amajor issue in politics.
It leads to slippery slopes.
It's been the most rewardingthing I've ever done in my life,
(28:42):
because you feel like thatyou're giving back to society as
a whole, but at the same time,it's definitely the one that
will make you want to pull yourhair out, and it's an addiction.
I have to tell you, I haven'tbeen on an active campaign since
2018.
I've been very fortunate.
I have an amazing spouse.
Now I have a four-year-old.
(29:02):
Those aren't really conduciveeither, by the way, for politics
families but it's a painstakingbusiness.
But at the end of the day, youlook at that bright, shining
light that is, hopefully, you'remaking a difference for not
only yourself, but you know herenow I sound like a politician
but for you know, 350 millionother Americans out there that
(29:24):
are really wanting what's bestfor them, their families and the
well-being of the country.
And it's an amazing.
I remember telling my mom thefirst time I became a
congressional campaign manager.
She was like what the heck areyou doing?
What are you thinking?
I'm like, mom, do you notrealize that there's 900 Major
(29:47):
League Baseball playersbasically 30 teams, or whatever
and 30 players on each team?
I'm like there's like 900 MLBplayers Basically 30 teams, you
know, or whatever and 30 playerson each team.
I'm like there's like 900 MLBplayers.
I'm like there's 435congressional seats and there's
two candidates.
There's only 870 of us.
Mom, I'm like there are lesscampaign managers on
congressional campaigns thanthere are Major League Baseball
players.
And then that put into thisperspective, she's like, oh, wow
(30:09):
, that's pretty cool.
And I'm like, yeah, it's prettycool, it's gnarly, it's
interesting.
And then congressionalcampaigns you lose, and then
three months later they call youbecause they're running every
two years.
So it's like this endless cycleof fun.
I don't know how else to say it,but I think our country's got a
(30:31):
lot of things that you know wehave opportunities, I think, to
make some positive changes, youknow.
But who can say?
You know, at age like 28,you're writing foreign policy
pieces for stuff that you thinkshould be used as legislation
for what goes on over in theMiddle East.
Or you know, when somethinghappens in the world like here's
a story I think I shared withyou.
You know, when the wholewithdrawal from Afghanistan
(30:52):
happened, one of my employeeswas from Afghanistan.
She called me up.
She's like Chuck, I still havesome friends over there.
You know anyone that can helpthem get out, when you can pick
up that phone and call theCongressman because you have a
personal relationship and helppeople in.
You know, a couple months later, you know that gentleman and
his family were able to come outbecause they're friends of our
country, you know, and we helpedhim get out of Afghanistan.
(31:14):
Just an amazing likeopportunity.
You know I've done.
I've been a part of some greatthings.
You know prior to me.
You know, getting reallyhardcore into politics, worked
with the Red Cross.
I was at Hurricane Katrina whenthat hit and you see the like
the worst of times incivilization.
But it also brings the best outof a lot of your fellow
(31:35):
citizens, so it's just great tobe able to do that.
I was at a lunch like a monthago, right after they announced
all the tariffs and all mymembers are freaking out.
What's going on?
What are we going to do?
We're building a new golfcourse, renovating our golf
course, everything.
That week I was fortunateenough because I had a private
lunch, you know, with thecongressman, and I just straight
(31:55):
up there and asked him what theheck are we doing?
What's the plan?
And then I also, and then heloved it too, because I gave him
my own policy plan and you getstraight answers and it's so
great to be able to do that.
I had someone come to me andsaid that they're having issues
because their pastor had someyou know, immigration status
issues.
Can you reach out and help?
(32:16):
So with access comes theability and the opportunity to
help people you know indifferent ways.
So it's really awesome, highlyrecommend it.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, the word that keeps coming to my mind is
persuasion, and you've been onboth sides of that.
What is your secret to winningpeople over?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
I think it's really.
You got to lead with humility.
You got to be honest withpeople, respectful, passionate.
Danny, my career path is youknow I've had some cool things
in my life but I think fulldisclosure now I don't have my
college degree.
I, you know, I don't want tosay I'm self-educated, I
(33:03):
obviously went to school andeverything, but I put in the
time and worked and as far asthe persuasion of the people is,
I think if you lead from thefront, lead by example, and
you're fine to get down in thetrenches and do what you got to
do, you know I remember workingon a golf course and being the
guy that had to clean, pick therange Sunday nights at five
o'clock, you know, and wash allthe golf balls in the desert
(33:25):
heat at 110 degrees, you know.
Or I remember you know carryingluggage for guests at hotels.
I remember you know carryingluggage for guests at hotels.
I remember you know bookinghotel reservations.
Sometimes you got to do theunglamorous things but that
gains trust in not only yourconstituents but also in your
staff and in your members,because you have the real world
experience.
I wasn't silver spooned andjust handed this on the platter.
(33:45):
You know you're going to be ageneral manager of a club You're
going to, you know, you goingto run three congressional
campaigns, or whatever.
It all took hard work,determination, and my passion in
life is really to make thingsbetter on a small scale, whether
(34:08):
it be for my members or, on alarger scale, of people
throughout the country.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Yeah, between all the different jobs you know guest
services, campaign manager, coo,gm, like looking back on
everything what job do you thinktaught you the most about
leadership?
Speaker 2 (34:23):
That's a tough one because I think, um, I look at
every opportunity and all myjobs of how you know, I've
always, you know, been a leadersince I was a little kid, you
know, being on studentgovernment, you know, being
involved in stuff at school andtrying to, you know, lead my
packs of my friends and stufflike that.
I know that a lot of peoplethink that this isn't true, but
(34:46):
there's other people that dothink it's true.
I think that some of us arejust natural born leaders and
you know, I believe also thatyou know, we have callings to do
things for a higher good for us, as for whether it be your
members or whether it be thepublic, but I try to take my
opportunity, whatever position Imay be in, and try to do it
(35:08):
where I can make a betterexperience for, especially my
employees.
I start off any job I go into,especially in a leadership
position.
I'm not a manager, I'm a leader.
I'm here to lead my employeesand the things that matter most
to me is taking care of my staff.
So my last two clubs inparticular, out in Illinois at
Inverness, and then here at SanDiego Country Club, my first
(35:30):
focus for the first six months.
It wasn't about the members, itwasn't about me, it was about
the staff and your team aroundyou.
So I think you just have to.
And that's the same thing whenyou're developing a campaign, it
just happens a lot quicker.
Usually campaign season goesfrom about January till November
.
You have primaries and then yougo to the general elections.
(35:50):
So you know it's like an11-month sprint.
So you got to do all this a lotquicker.
General managers I think welast.
They tell us now about threeyears, two months in the
industry before we move on.
So you got a little bit longerbecause you know you got boards
switching over and recruiterscalling you hopefully and keep
growing your career.
But I think and I believe youknow, there's the old saying of
(36:15):
servant leadership.
I don't like to call it thatbecause I don't think any of us
are servants to anyone exceptfor, hopefully, ourselves, but I
like to call it.
You know I don't know civicleadership and you know that's
leading in all areas of yourlife.
You know try to lead by exampleand you know try to do the best
things that you can to justmake your lives a little bit
(36:36):
better for the people around you.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
You're going to get me crying here, denny, or
something.
Jeez, I didn't know I was goingto have to like go down that
path, but you know it's seriousstuff.
But you know you have to liketake a look at it and realize
that you know we got seriousissues at our clubs.
We got serious issues in ourcountry.
We're at a point in a lot ofthe parallels because our clubs
(37:05):
are successful when things aregoing successful in our country.
Our demographics of all of ourmembers of our clubs are very
successful people in thiscountry.
You know that's just the nameof the game.
That's where our members comefrom.
So the success of the nation isbig for the success of our
industry and they sort of workhand in hand.
(37:26):
I know great clubs can surviveany recession or depression or
anything, but you need to havethe leaders of industry, the
leaders of commerce, the leadersof politics, the leaders of
everything in this are usuallythe people that are your club
members, and you know there's alot of crossover when it comes
to that and it's so easy, youknow, nice to be able to.
(37:47):
You know I get up, you know Ican go walk around all the
members.
You know there's still themembers you know reading the
newspaper that we get deliveredevery day.
You know the paper version, notthe digital version, and you
can connect with them whenyou're up on.
You know you know what's goingon in the world, you know what's
going on in the economics.
So I think that there's so muchthat's intertwined that I would
(38:08):
highly recommend, you knowanyone to just go spend some
time.
You know I'm not saying to gorun a campaign or anything, but
just go check it out and seewhat's actually going on or at
least participate, volunteer.
Obviously vote all the time.
I'm not going to be like getout the vote, but you definitely
have opportunities.
Part of what I've done too isI've been fortunate enough that
(38:29):
I've been elected to boardswithin my communities that I've
resided in and worked in,communities that I've resided in
and worked in, and it's anawesome feeling to be able to
sit up there and represent, youknow, your citizens within.
Like La Jolla, I was on thetown council there and it was
awesome to be able to, you know,be a part of what's going on in
the community.
You know, I was on our businessassociation down in our little
(38:51):
region as well.
I was on the other association,so I've had, I've tried to give
back.
Any way you can give back isreally critical and I think as
club leaders, we have a greatplatform to give back because we
might have some more resourcesthan just the average Joe Schmo
on the street to be able to giveback to the communities.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Yeah, looking back on the journey so far campaigns,
clubhouses is there a moment ortwo that you're most proud of?
Speaker 2 (39:23):
You know, any time that you finish a campaign, win
or lose.
I've been, unfortunately, on alot of losing sides in the
political campaign life.
You're humbled number one.
Losing sides in the politicalcampaign life You're humbled
number one.
But I think that I look back inmy life.
I just recently, about a yearand a half, two years ago I
(39:44):
achieved my CCM, my CertifiedClub Management Certification.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Brr, brr, brr.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Thank you.
And I'm halfway there to get myCC the Certified Club Executive
.
You know, I'm halfway there toget my CC the certified club
executive.
Nice, you know, which is evenmore prestigious.
I think that those moments isbecause you put in the hard work
, determination getting your CCM, you know, for six years.
You know doing all theprogramming and everything.
I you know being able to walkacross stage and you know my
(40:10):
family being there to celebratewith me.
That was a great accomplishmentin the club world.
There to celebrate with me.
That was a great accomplishmentin the club world.
Signing that first CEO-GMcontract two and a half years
ago, that was pretty cool.
All that hard work going fromdriving boats around the
Marriott Pond to running acountry club is pretty cool.
(40:31):
I remember I started off as avolunteer on campaigns.
You know how great was it,going from knocking on doors and
stuffing envelopes in a littleoffice you know, with you know,
people that are 50 years olderthan you and you're the only
person you know bringing thatage demographic down.
Pretty low it was.
It was pretty cool to.
Then, you know, 10, 12 yearslater you'd be like, oh, I'm
(40:54):
actually the campaign manager ofa congressional candidate for
the House of Representatives inthe United States.
So, I guess, seeing theprogression and then getting to
the pinnacle, I sometimes, youknow this is, I guess, sort of a
personal struggle with me.
My grandmother taught mesomething before she passed away
.
She said you know, charlie, inlife you always want more, never
(41:15):
stop wanting more.
And I've been so fortunate,danny, in my young life.
Well, I guess I probably lookolder than I am nowadays because
of all the stress and anxietyand everything, but I have been
able to achieve that few have insuch a short amount of time.
(41:37):
You know, becoming a generalmanager before the age of 40 at
a club.
You know, becoming a politicalcampaign manager geez, when was
my first one?
2014.
So what?
11 years ago?
You know, be prior to 30 yearsof age, being a campaign manager
for a congressional candidate.
I'm so humbled that I've beenable to do that.
I had my 40th birthday a littleover a year ago and I sort of.
(42:01):
You know I'm a talker.
I don't know if people can tellor not, but I like to say I'm a
man of few words.
But you know and they alwaysmake fun of me I never shy away
from a speech.
There's always a speech to behad or a toast to have and you
know, one more drink for anothertoast right.
(42:23):
So at my 40th birthday, youknow, sort of my mantra in life
is the first 40 years were allabout me and the next 40 years
are all about everyone else, andmy dedication to whether it be
the industry of club management,politics or, most importantly,
being a father, is for everyoneelse.
You know, my family, my son, myclub members, people in the
community.
(42:43):
So I just feel that this senseof like, the need to get back,
and I, um I I try to demonstrateit in my life as far as I'm
very involved in philanthropicventures of all different
natures.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
What do you think the future of club leadership
should look like?
Instead of servant leadership,humble leadership.
But we should be leaders thatare humble, that we're not
managers, that we lead people,that you know we have greater
respect for work-life balance.
(43:22):
I used to work, you know, 16,17, 18-hour days, no problem.
That's just not fair to thefamily, to your life, your
well-being, your livelihood.
I try to let my team know that.
You know, work is great.
We're going to execute and behighly efficient while we're
here, but you need to have thatwork-life balance and I think a
(43:45):
lot of club managers the newgeneration of us need to really
instill that for our employees,because the industry has been
known for a long time to youknow a lot of hours, and I'm not
saying that there isn't a needfor that, but there's a time and
a place and we got to respectthat.
People have families and a lifeoutside of the club and I also
think that we need to like workin a more respectful manner and
(44:09):
be.
You know I love to.
You know I usually go to theworld conference, you know,
every year and it's a great timeto see colleagues throughout
all the country and we have sucha great association with CMA.
Like that's the best thing thatprobably ever happened in my
life Professionally was joiningCMA.
So love them to death.
Hopefully there'll be asponsoring this podcast now.
(44:30):
But I would just tell you thatyou know, it's great to see how
the club world has evolved withyounger people.
It's great to see you know morefemales involved in the
industry, people of differentbackgrounds and ethnicities.
It's really cool to see thatbecause when I first started it
was just a bunch of ChuckMerrimans walking around, you
(44:50):
know a convention hall.
But that has evolved and Ithink that's great for our
industry because our membershipshave evolved as well and I
think you know the new world ofclub life is coming up with
creative new ideas that push theenvelope and are exciting
opportunities and experiences wecan create for our members.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
Yeah, I want to.
I want to circle back quick.
You mentioned, you know, havingsome stress and anxiety stuff
like that.
How do you handle and managethat?
Because that's also been a veryI don't want to say a common
topic, but I've talked about ithere on the podcast.
Two ish is then, like you know,if a manager is listening, club
professionals listening, youknow what do you do when you
(45:40):
feel like stuck or frustrated,like how do you, what do you do
in those moments?
Speaker 2 (45:45):
I think you got to step back and, like you really
just got to take a step back.
Take yourself out of thesituation and at the end of the
day, we're managing a privateclub, which is one of the most
fortunate opportunities foranyone to be involved in and
realize that there's biggerissues in the world than
probably the sprinkler broken ona whole eight.
(46:06):
Or the cheeseburger wasovercooked today.
Or, you know, my tuna fishsandwich was.
You know the bread was a halfinch shorter than it was last
week when you had a differentbread vendor.
You know, I think you reallygot to step back and look into
perspective.
There's greater things in lifeand the thing like for me it's
all about going home and seeingthe family.
You know, seeing my little guywhen I come home is like the
(46:29):
greatest thing ever.
Just being able to step awayand realizing that there's more
to life than you know, the roughbeing a half inch too thick.
Or the greens rolled at a 12today and they were supposed to
roll at an 11 and a half.
You know just all perspective.
You know I like to.
You know I also tell my team weactually have a section of our
(46:51):
staff meeting every week wherewe talk about everyone's
upcoming vacations and it's notto be like, oh, who's not going
to be in the office.
It's more what are we lookingforward to next?
I, on my calendar, always findsomething to put out there.
That's my next new adventurethat I can look forward to.
So put milestones in your lifethat you can look forward to and
share those with your team.
I'll hear from my chef oh, he'slooking forward to going to a
(47:13):
concert this weekend, or I'mgoing to see my family, or I'm
going with a friend here orthere.
Always look at things thatbring excitement to your life
and find that balance ofseriousness and being effective.
But I want my employees to comeinto work and have a smile on
their face but, more importantly, a smile when they walk out of
here every day.
(47:33):
So stress management is critical.
I tend to eat my way through it, as you can see by this lovely
physique, but I but no, in allhonesty, I think you got to find
some balances.
You know I go into myinterviews now and I tell them
I'm like I have a family.
I would like to, you know, tryto have dinner with them.
You know, most of the time I'mfortunate enough to be able to
do that here, but in previousclubs that wasn't always the
(47:56):
case.
But set boundaries for yourselfand just don't let yourself get
overwhelmed or taken advantageof, because it's important to
make sure that you're in a goodheadspace, because mental health
and wellness is huge in thisindustry.
I've had to deal with somemajor issues and I see it a lot
with young males that have somuch pressure in their lives
(48:17):
that succumb to horrible,horrible things, and it
devastates me to see what'shappened and I think if they
just had an opportunity tocommunicate and feel comfortable
and confident and I'm just gladI made through some of those
tough times in my life, as muchas it was fun, exciting high
fives and everything at the sametime, there's real issues that
(48:40):
people are facing with stressesin life and it's heartbreaking
to me.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
Is there someone?
It doesn't have to be frominside the club world, but, like
inside the club world, outsidethe club world it doesn't matter
.
But who's inspired you in yourleadership style, or just you in
general?
Speaker 2 (49:00):
Um, you know I've been fortunate.
I've worked with some greatpeople.
I look at some industry, someof the people in the industry
that are just awesome, that Ican, you know, pick up the phone
.
That's the great thing aboutbeing a club manager.
I feel like we can pick up thephone and talk to anyone and
they'll, you know, give us anear and listen to us.
In my life, though, really youknow, my guiding light in my
(49:21):
life as far as my mentor, was mygrandfather, before he passed
away, you know, you know healways said you know, charlie,
everything in life, when you doit, make sure you do it, and
it's awesome, make sureeverything's awesome.
You know, and you know that'swhat I said you know at his
funeral, that I'll always, youknow, awesome and greatness,
(49:41):
everything I bring to in my life.
Uh, you know, sometimes thatcan be your worst enemy too,
because I do like to push theenvelope and definitely take
greatness to another levelsometimes, but uh, it, you know,
between my grandmother tellingme never to give up and always
want more and my grandfathertelling me, strive for greatness
, those are sort of my callingcards.
(50:02):
I'm so fortunate that you knowthey're both here in San Diego
and their final resting place soI can go over there and have
some Zen with them.
But you know, I think you needto live a life of greatness and
trust me, it does.
It can cause issues, um, becauseyou know levels of greatness
sometimes can be amisinterpreted yeah, um, and you
(50:23):
know, always wanting moresometimes is, you know, not
always a good situation, eitherin certain predicaments, um, you
don't want more strokes on thegolf course, that's for sure.
Or you know you probably don'tneed, you know, another martini
sometimes at dinner or something.
But I look to them for myguidance and I look into my.
You know I give myself, youknow, sunday morning, you know
(50:47):
I'm not going to like my routineis, I know some people do yoga
and stuff.
I go to mass every Sundaymorning and it sort of gives me
my repositioning for the week.
You know I'm not going to goout there and start preaching
for anyone or anything, but I Iget my moral, I call it
adjustment every week to sort oflike, you know, just
restructure and clear your brainfor that hour every Sunday
(51:09):
morning and it's a great placefor me to like decompress and
sort of be left alone from theworld and I I highly recommend
people find that for them intheir life.
Whatever that may be, I stilllove the game of golf.
You wouldn't be able to tell bymy handicap, but I totally
enjoy going out and spendingtime with my friends.
I try to plan, you know, threegolf trips a year with my
(51:30):
buddies.
Look forward to that, you know.
Just find happiness in whateveryou can in life.
Life's too short not to behappy.
If you need help with that oryou're having problems with that
, I'm here to listen to anyoneand I'll talk to anyone.
I'm going to do anything I can.
Don't be afraid to seek helpeither.
(51:51):
I've been in places in my lifewhere sometimes you've got to
talk to someone to make thingsbetter and you just can't be
afraid.
Speaker 1 (51:58):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:01):
You're going deep on me today, denny.
This is going into the deep endof the pool.
You know, I thought we werejust going to stick to the you
know, the kiddie pool today andI'm going to have to take my
floaties off.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Make it awesome or don't do it Right, you know what
I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (52:16):
My Nana, my pap up, would be very proud of you, for
you pushing the envelope with metoday.
Speaker 1 (52:22):
And plus, I'm still still running a high.
I did a a virtual show todayfor 11,000 people, so I'm still
like hyped up from that.
Speaker 2 (52:30):
That's awesome man, I love it.
But you know it's a, it's socool, like everything we get to
do in like club management, andthen just the experiences I've
been in with life.
You know I've met so many.
You know whether it bepresidents, you know people that
elected officials it's likeit's a true honor and a
privilege to like I feel like mylife and I count my blessings
(52:52):
every day because I know I'mvery fortunate and you know I
just'm so thankful foreverything I've been able to
achieve and, dude, I lookforward to like the next day and
the next.
You know she's 25 years.
Hopefully I'll get to retirearound then, um, but uh, god
willing, and but you know it'sjust just, I don't know.
(53:21):
My wife always makes fun of mebecause she was like my first
crush at my last job or my clubin La Jolla.
So we worked together.
So maybe I'm going too muchhere, but they know, whatever,
it's all good.
So she was my first crush.
She's a couple years older thanme and you know at the time she
had been, you know, previouslymarried and everything and no
kids or anything.
So everyone was like, oh, noway, that will never happen.
And, man, had I taken that bet,I would probably be sitting
(53:44):
pretty well right now.
I think the odds were like oneto a million.
So there's an old saying, Ithink that never give up.
I'm a big believer in never,never give up, and I think this
is what an old Houston Rocketsquote never underestimate the
heart of a champion.
That's how I live my life Like.
I just don't believe thatthere's anything in life that we
(54:07):
can't do as individuals.
And if you keep working hard atit and determined, you're going
to be able to get anything youwant in this life.
And that's what's really cooland that's what I love about you
know club management, or likeour country, like you, know
anyone can really achieveanything.
You know I, I have to just sortof.
You know I, she's telling menever to go back into politics
(54:30):
right now, but, man, I got thatburning sensation inside of me
that you know, come on, doesn'tvote for Chuck sound great, you
know, it's just, it's it'sinteresting times and I think
that I'm so.
I think I have a uniqueperspective to be able to like
bring people together and I loveit.
I love sitting with people andyou know you're like Chuck, shut
(54:50):
up, you're talking too much,but I can sit here and you and
and I, I feel like are alreadybest friends and you know, high
five across, you know, and wecan definitely like I think it's
a really cool thing and that'spart of what we do in the club
life yeah, no, it's, it's anamazing world.
Speaker 1 (55:07):
We live in a great country and you know, with the
internet and everything you know, uh there's I don't perform for
like too too many schools uh,but there's like like around
like this this time now I get todo a couple like high school,
like after prom and graduationlock-ins.
You know they'll lock them infrom 11 to 5 am.
So I'm like you know, the 3, 30to 5, 30, you know,
(55:31):
entertainment, whatever and Ialways tell like listen, if you
ever think you can't do anythinganything in life, think back to
this moment and go.
If this guy can make a livingdoing magic, I can do anything
uh we live a magical life, right?
Speaker 2 (55:47):
you know like it's a magical life and it's totally
cool and like, yeah, I, I justthink you know like I don't know
about the Internet, though youknow it's scary.
You know this AI thing isstarting to scare me a little
bit, but you know it's funnythat you know.
Thank God I was like bottom ofthe ninth inning, two outs bases
loaded and I avoided the onlinedating thing.
(56:10):
Thank God I would have beenscrewed man, danny, I would have
been all alone the rest of mylife.
Personality doesn't comethrough Tinder or Hinge or any
of that.
I'll tell you that I feel badfor any people that have to go
through that, because I wouldhave been screwed.
Speaker 1 (56:28):
Thank you so much for coming on, thanks for sharing,
thanks for being open,especially with a slightly
touchy subject, and justgenuinely appreciate all of it.
Speaker 2 (56:38):
Thank you so much.
Cool Thanks, danny.
Take care, buddy, and we'lltalk soon.
Speaker 1 (56:41):
Hope you all enjoyed that episode.
I know I did.
Chuck, thank you so much forcoming on and sharing so much.
If you're interested, sign upfor Management in Motion.
September 22nd, monticello, newYork, really close to New York
City, really close to Philly.
We are going to have so muchfun.
Privateclubradiocom slashmanagement in motion.
(57:02):
That's this episode.
I'm your host, danny Corby.
Until next time, catch y'all onthe flippity flip.
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