June 30, 2025 • 49 mins
David Sweet’s journey from the luxury hotel world to the private club space is anything but typical—but his impact at Boca Woods shows what’s possible when a leader aligns people, purpose, and values.
In this episode, David shares how Boca Woods has evolved by investing deeply in culture, communication, and brand—from the inside out. From forming a marketing dream team to reshaping how members engage with the club, this is a masterclass in modern leadership.
We cover:
How Boca Woods earned a nomination as a Distinguished Club of the World
The importance of clarity in values—and how to make them live in your operations
How storytelling (internally and externally) has transformed engagement
Building a healthy internal culture that supports mental health and belonging
The value of mentorship—and how one mentor helped him negotiate a GM role on his terms
Why people and culture aren’t just “nice to have”—they’re your competitive edge
This one is for anyone who believes clubs are about more than just amenities—they’re about people.
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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.
This episode is exactly what Ineeded, because today I am
joined by a guy who's not just akiller club leader but one of
the kindest, most groundedhumans I've had the pleasure of
laughing with.
Here on Private Club Radio wehave David Sweet, ccm General
(00:41):
Manager and COO of Boca WoodsCountry Club in Boca Raton,
florida.
David's had a wild ride fromexecutive steward at the
Ritz-Carlton in New England andBoston to managing TGI Fridays,
to transforming a private clubin a way that would make even
the most skeptical board memberscry tears of operational joy.
(01:03):
We talk about everything frompersonal branding and bourbon to
board negotiations and balancesheets.
You'll hear how man's plan andGod laugh isn't just his
favorite quote but kind of theGPS for his entire journey.
We get into the evolution ofclub culture building trust
through consistency, creating ateam that breathes the brand,
(01:24):
and why every GM should have anexit strategy and also maybe a
good bottle of Whistlepig BossHog.
David shares how Boca Woods hasgrown.
We get into leadership lessons,mentorship, mental health and,
yep, even how he proposed to hisnow wife on a rooftop, with a
surprise dinner menu courtesy ofa Ritz-Carlton wedding
downstairs.
(01:44):
No big deal.
This episode is warm, smart,hilarious and full of moments
that make you rethink how youshow up as a leader, teammate
and human.
I am super stoked for it.
Before we dive in though, quickthanks to some of our show
partners.
We have our friends Golf Life,navigators, members, first
Kennis Member, vetting ConcertGolf Partners, as well as myself
(02:07):
.
The Denny Corby Experience.
There's excitement, there'smystery.
Also there's magic, mindreading and comedy.
A ton of laughs, gasps and holycraps.
If you want to learn more, headon over to dennycorbycom.
And I've also developed andcreated a guide for you to have
the best comedy night possible.
Now, I don't do straightstand-up comedy, but I've had
too many clubs tell me they'vehad bad comedy nights, so I made
(02:29):
the comedy guide on how you canhave the best comedy night.
It's the Comedy NightBlueprints If you want to check
it out, go to dennycorbycomslash comedy guide.
And also, I have to tell youabout something very, very
special and something I'mextremely passionate about that
I'm putting on September 22nd.
It's called Management inMotion and I am hosting it at
the Monticello Motor Club, akathe private racetrack where
(02:52):
dreams and tires go to burnout.
Now you've been to leadershipevents before.
You sit, you listen and maybeyou get a cookie and then you go
home wondering if anythingreally stuck.
This is not that.
Management in Motion is for clubpros who want to move literally
and professionally.
We are talking full day accessto BMW M's 2's, 3's and 4's,
(03:15):
drifting on the wet skid pad,precision autocross, drag racing
, high speed laps, karting thewhole shebang.
And in between all of theadrenaline we are learning real
leadership lessons from club GMswho actually have spent time on
the track.
So not just talkers but doersand how.
That all relates to what we'redoing on the track, but as well
as club management.
(03:36):
It is something you are notgoing to want to miss.
It is so affordable and so muchfun.
If you want to learn more, headon over to privateclubradiocom
slash management in motion orprivateclubradiocom slash mim
M-I-M for management in motion.
It's going to be so much fun.
Seats and registration isfilling up quick.
We are only limited to 50people and I would love to see
(03:59):
you there.
Enough about all of that,though.
Let's get to the episode.
Private Club Radio listeners.
Let's get to the episode.
Private club radio listeners.
Let's welcome to the show.
David sweet.
Had you know, quite a killerjourney from you know the ritz
carlton to boca woods uh, that'svery true do you ever just like
, think, like, how did I end uphere?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
definitely reflect on that once in a while.
Yes, it's, uh, it's pretty cool.
It is not at all where weexpect it to be, but I'm so I we
feel blessed that this is wherewe are.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean your quote says it best man
plans and God laughs, yeah forsure.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, that about sums , up life.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, do you have like a memory or anything or a
moment that like embodied thatquote for you?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, absolutely memory or anything or a moment
that like embodied that quotefor you?
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I come out of collegegung-ho, I did really, really
well in school and I I got thisvision of being a corporate
executive for hotels, and thenthe great recession hits and I
got laid off in, I want to say,2008.
Like boom, how does this happen?
(05:08):
My departments are doing someof the best sales in the entire
hotel, but people are makingbusiness decisions at that time,
and so it really kind ofchanged the way that I looked at
the world.
And yeah, there it is man plansand god laughs and and then over
time the fmv director who I wasworking with back then.
(05:31):
He ends up as an agm down herein florida at a country club and
I get this crazy phone call tocome join the team, kind of
again.
Laugh like this is not my planyeah, and then from from new.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It's funny because we overlapped.
Like we must have met some ofthe same places in in boston,
which is even funnier.
Uh, there's been a couple otherpeople I've like chatted with.
It's like we were in the sick.
That's so cool.
Like what are the?
It almost makes you think likehow many times, like you know,
we were probably in like thesame ball or just somewhere, or
like walk past each other on thestreet and just had like no, no
(06:04):
, like what's the word?
Uh, you know no idea who, whowe were, um no clue that we
would connect what.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
What is it like 20 years?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
later.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Okay, maybe not that yeah or to say that no, no oh
yeah, oh, that hurt.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
That actually really doesn't hurt that.
I don't like that at all I knowI, I know, and now you've been
at Boca Woods for a while nowand I think from our chat and
just from reading and everything, it's clear a lot has evolved.
How would you describe thejourney the club's been on?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I think it's been an incredible journey at Boca Woods
.
It's been an incredible journeyat Boca Woods and when I
characterize it and kind of lookat everything that has gone on,
I think that this club over thelast 10 years has really leaned
in to the education provided bythe club managers association
and has really done the workthat club benchmarking talks
(07:01):
about and realized what neededto happen for the club to be
something that's viable and thatpeople look forward to in the
future.
So in the last 10 years, we'vetaken a property that Ray Cronin
at Club Benchmarking woulddescribe as not reinvesting, not
doing the things to maintainthe balance sheet, but cash
(07:24):
flush and then helping membersto understand how important it
is to reinvest in theirenvironment and building, I
guess, relationships of trust tobe able to pass the votes that
needed to happen.
And, yeah, it's been anincredible journey to see where
we are now.
We were recently tapped anomination for Distinguished
Clubs of the world and superhumbling Like, yeah, super
(07:48):
humbling.
I shared with you a story whenwe were talking before I came to
hookah woods in 2016, touringthe property to consider working
here, and I go home to my wifeand I said, jamie, there's no
way I can't do this.
This club isn't in alignmentwith what we believe in.
It's not my brand.
And she says to me Dave, thinkabout it for a minute, does it
(08:08):
have potential?
And so I'm reflecting oneverything.
And the people here werewonderful, just genuine human
beings the membership, the staff, everybody, really really good
people.
And then, when you did theresearch and actually looked in
on the balance sheet, they hadthe resources.
They just the team in themembership wasn't agreeing on
(08:28):
what needed to happen to get itto the next level.
And so another moment where manplans and God laughs.
She kind of helps me to refocusmy energy and direction and,
(08:49):
instead of trying to align withall the brands that I believe
match who I am, here's anopportunity to take something
from where it is or where it wasand help it to realize its
potential.
I think that's incredible.
Very very cool.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Let's dive in about personal brand.
Have you always been like apersonal brand person and like a
value person, or has that maybegrown over time?
Just because I've talked withso many people and everyone has
their own journey of how theygot to where they're at.
And some people, you know it'smaybe something happened and
they're like oh, like a lightbulb clicks, like oh, I have to
(09:19):
take this more seriously.
So like how, how has that beenfor you on that journey of like
a personal brand?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So I think if you take the word personal brand and
match it with the wordreputation, the answer is yes.
I've always been very, veryconcerned about my reputation
and the impact that I leave onothers.
But when you think of all thenuances of quote branding, I
think personal brand is reallyfor me taken on a higher level,
(09:47):
meaning in the last, I'd say, 15years, and again I get it, I'm
dating myself.
But if you look at where wewere as a society in the States
and like, let's look at like the90s, unemployment rate is like
10%.
When you look at the Bureau ofLabor Statistics you can see it.
So basically translate that tothe job that you're looking for.
(10:10):
There are probably 10 otherpeople, nine to 10 other people
looking for the exact same job.
So you don't really have thetime or the energy to think
about who you are, what yourvalues are.
You're pounding the streetstrying to get the job because
you've got bills to take care of, you've got responsibilities.
Yeah, I don't think that shiftsfor society until much more
(10:33):
recently, when they'rehistorically low unemployment
rates and all of a sudden, foreverybody looking for a job,
there are all these jobsavailable.
Well, now people can be morethoughtful.
They can think to that who am Ias a person and what lines up
with that?
What are the brands, what arethe right places that line up
with that?
So I think it's an evolution.
I was always concerned withreputation, understanding values
(10:57):
and brand.
I think it's a luxury thatwhere we are in society today
affords all of us.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
So how do you bring because we're talking about the
personal branding how do youbring that to life?
What are those steps?
What do you do to bring apersonal brand to life?
What does that entail?
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
So the concept that we're talking about is personal
branding and then in today'sworld, how people want the
places they work to align withtheir personal brands in the way
that they.
The way that that happens is agroup, company, a club, puts a
lot of time and energy intoestablishing what their values
(11:40):
are, in sharing those values andbringing those values to life.
So I think the hard part aboutthat is that sometimes the
concept of values sound reallygood to people and they think
that it's a match for them, butit doesn't truly resonate and
fit who they are.
(12:00):
So in my mind, you can't bringa brand to life until you've got
the right people on the bus.
It's all about surroundingyourself with people that you
love and that you trust andinvesting in those people, in
helping those people tounderstand what's important to
you.
And that's what brings acompany's brand to life is when
everybody's kind of speaking thesame language, right, and
(12:27):
believing in the words thatthey're speaking.
To me, that's when a brandreally comes to life and once
it's alive.
Now it's about how you tell thestory, and for us, we've been
blessed to put together a reallygood membership and marketing
team.
Greg Friedlander is our memberengagement director Cool kind of
(12:48):
side story.
We rebranded the concept of themembership role completely and
it is totally focused onconnecting with people and
helping people connect with theexperiences they want out of the
club.
So advocacy is a huge part ofit, understanding the data of
where people are actuallyparticipating huge part of it.
And then she works that withour communications director,
(13:10):
nihala Hillhouse, and ourcontent creator, michael McMinn,
and together that team helpspeople on the outside understand
our brand through content.
So there's some really coolvideos out there.
There's some really coolstories.
There's a new concept thatMichael piloted called the faces
of character, character beingour, our, our shared values, our
(13:31):
acronym Um in me.
That's how, once the brand istruly alive and people are
breathing it and believe in it,that's how you share that brand
is is to bring those stories tolife for people on the outside,
and then they can kind of lookat that and say is this
something I want to be a part ofor does it not fit who I am?
(13:52):
Yeah, and the reality is that'sokay.
Not every brand is for everyperson.
When people spend the time andthe energy to identify the right
brand they're, they're probablyentering into something that's
more meaningful for them, andwhen people spend a lot of time
and energy trying to become thebrand they think they want to be
a part of in today's market, Idon't think that that's the
(14:15):
right use of people's time.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
And then do you also do the same for internal
communications and the contentand stuff like that too.
So you have your front facing.
But I'm assuming I'm a big, big, big assumption I'm assuming
then you're also creating reallygood content just for internal,
that stuff that the outsidenever is going to see also.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
So that team is super engagedwith creating newsletters and
retelling stories, and we havewe love the concept of FOMO,
right?
Somebody has the fear ofmissing out, and so we will
regenerate what happened at anevent and resell that story to
people so they can look at whatthey missed out on and want to
(14:56):
be a part of it next time.
And yeah, I think that internalbranding that you're talking
about relates to something thatwe touched on earlier.
When you're in sort oftransition management or change
management, helping peopleidentify what that path looks
like and where you're headed,that's a huge responsibility of
branding.
When your brand is helping totell that story and drive it
(15:19):
home for people, that givespeople the runway to make the
right decisions for themselves.
Is this a brand I identify withas a member?
Do I want to be on this journeywith this club?
And if the answer is no, that'sokay.
But how do we continue toextend grace and help that
person to fulfill the next stepsin their lives in a way that's
(15:41):
meaningful and doesn't feel likethey're being just left out in
the cold right?
yeah we're a really unique clubin that every member votes for
the annual operating budget.
So think about that for asecond.
If the citizens of the unitedstates could vote on the federal
budget, I've got a feeling wewouldn't have highways, we just
(16:02):
wouldn't have them.
So the need, the need tocommunicate and help people
understand where we're going ishigher than it's.
It's a very high threshold thatthat we have to reach for
people to understand and to makethe right decisions I love that
(16:24):
.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
And to go back a moment to when you were
considering the position at Boca, you were almost not going to
take it at Boca Woods.
You almost were going to takeit, but then didn't they ask to
talk to your wife.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Oh yeah, that's a cool story, so that's actually
that's a really cool story.
So that's, that's actually notBoca Woods.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
That takes us back.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
My bad, my bad, so I love this, though this is.
This is funny, so again, neverthought country clubs were in my
future.
Um, I came from a small town inupstate New York.
The country club was like a bigroom on a golf course.
I always saw myself ascorporate hotels, resorts, and I
(17:15):
come down to Woodfield actuallywas the club, and I'm touring
this club and it's gorgeous.
I'm like oh my gosh, this is aresort.
And I get all excited and I gohome and then Jamie and I we
talk ourselves out of it.
We're like we're a two incomefamily.
We've got to move 1200 miles.
We don't know where we're goingto live.
We don't.
It's going to take months tofind a job.
(17:36):
We can't make this work and soI declined.
And Eben, who's still the GM atWoodfield today, great, great
guy Eben calls me up the nextmorning.
He says so, I heard you turn usdown.
He says can I talk to your wife?
And rose me I'm coming out ofcorporate.
That's not a common thing inthe corporate environment in
2010 or 12 when we're makingthis consideration.
But I say, yeah, I guess.
(17:58):
So I hand her the phone andshe's pacing all over the house,
she's walking the stairs,they're laughing.
I'm like what is going on?
An hour and a half goes by andshe finally hangs up the phone.
I go Jamieie, what justhappened in?
We're in new england, so someof the language might be a
little off color and sheresponds and she goes.
I don't know what the f thatwas, but I have a job at the
(18:22):
country club across the streetfrom your club, and we both
start in october.
So evan, through all of hisrelationships, knew he could
land her a job immediately,didn't even ask them first and
we end up making this hugeplunge because they're willing
to take the risk on us.
It gets to the point wherewe're being foolish if we're not
(18:45):
willing to reciprocate yeah andI think that is one of the key
differences between clubs andcorporate.
Clubs have heart and when clubmanagers are are, would they
believe in something thatthey'll work really hard to help
make those things happen.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
And I think club managers in today's world really
believe in their people andthey work really hard to bend
heaven and earth to help theirpeople achieve what they need to
achieve to be successful yeah,yeah, is there something that's
that you're proud of that mightnot show up on like a
spreadsheet, because you know wewere talking about like the,
(19:22):
the numbers and stuff at, at, uh, at boca, but uh, is there
something maybe that might notshow up on the spreadsheet, but
you feel it every day onproperty.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Yeah, for sure.
We try to incorporate it in ourbrand with a lot of the
videography and stuff that we do, but it's the feeling that you
get when you're interacting withthe members and the staff here.
Boca Raton has a tough name,right.
It's known to be a verypretentious area in the country,
but our little slice of heavenover here in West Boca is very
(19:55):
unpretentious and you could bestanding next to somebody whose
net worth is just absolutelywild, but you'd have no idea,
because they're down to earthand they treat you like people
and they want to be treated justlike another person.
And that's something that istruly special about this club
that I think we fight reallyhard to preserve, and the way
(20:16):
that we fight those battles arethrough our vision, our mission
and through some of our goalsand things.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yeah, and have you felt that shift to the positive
since you've started Like, hasthere been like a bigger shift
in that direction, shift to thepositive, since you've?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
started Like.
Has there been like a biggershift in that direction?
Yeah, I mean, I would say thatunpretentiousness was something
that always made Bocowoodspecial, I think how it's
defined, though, has beenshifted over time right.
Unpretentious was a part ofthat story of deferred
maintenance, where maybe thingswere kept up but not upkept, not
lifted when it comes tofacilities.
(20:50):
So we've done a really good jobof elevating facilities but at
the same time continuing todrive that unpretentiousness
through the relationships.
And so, over time, boards haveadopted all sorts of fun
employee engagement activities.
We do an event where membersactually come down the golf
(21:11):
course maintenance and we set upa huge barbecue and things and
the members do a role reversaland they'll serve all the golf
course maintenance staff and dosome really fun things like that
.
And so those little things arehappening all over the place and
it's not just a boardinitiative right.
All the membership leans intoit.
People look forward to thosethings.
They get really excited aboutthose things.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Yeah, yeah.
Now you've, you've, you've donea lot of you know from the
corporate side.
But all hospitality, was theresomething or anything that you
picked up in your early daysthat still helps you or that
that you keep, keep with now?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
I think that if I were to lookat clubs 10 years ago and that's
my barometer I guess I joinedclubs 12 years ago.
But if I were to look at clubs10 years ago, I think that there
were a lot of differencesaround the way clubs were run.
Evan was really passionateabout the concept of bringing
some corporate thought processesand how we manage business in
the corporate world to clubs,and I think I've brought some of
(22:14):
that here to Boca Woods.
But more importantly and that is, I think, the foundations that
I took from Ritz-Carlton here atBoca Woods we have a credo card
very similar to what you mighthave seen at Ritz-Carlton back
in the day, and the credo cardoutlines our vision, our mission
, our shared values, and when Isay shared, these aren't the
(22:35):
values of just the team, they'rethe values that we also share
with the membership, becausethat's what makes the place
special is that we share a setof values.
There's a list of guidingprinciples that helps us in
decision-making, and so thoseare things that came to life for
me through Ritz-Carlton.
Every day, whether we wereworking as a team in the
(22:57):
stewarding department in DISH orwhether it was the senior
leadership meetings every daystarted out the same way.
It started out with that credocard in hand and just a
reflection on what the visionwas for the company and what we
were doing that day that helpedto roll up to that greater
process.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah, and what you managed?
Like 200 grand worth of China.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right Yep.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
That's a big responsibility.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, it was fun.
I had a team of like 24.
We did the overnight cleaningfor the place.
That Ritz-Carlton property wasspecial.
There was a rooftop that was awedding venue that had an
independent sort of kitchen upthere, and then we had the main
events and activities took placeon the fourth floor.
(23:47):
It was just cool.
It was really, really, it wasspecial was that the ritz in
boston?
Yeah, on the corner ofarlington and newberry street
beautiful, beautiful funny story.
I was the I.
I grew into the executivesteward role.
From a stewarding supervisor Iwent to the fmb director.
I'm like, hey, I, uh, I've gotthis woman who I want to ask to
(24:13):
marry me, but you're aware of myfinancial situation.
I don't have a ton of resources.
And he was so sweet, robertRecterman.
He's a GM now a differentcompany, but great, great guy.
He asked the catering team towork with me and so there was a
wedding going on on the fourthfloor and the girls in catering
(24:34):
put little candles out onto therooftop deck and put a little
sweetheart table in the cornerand they gave us the same menu
that the wedding was servingdownstairs for for this
engagement dinner.
She had no clue it was coming.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
It was magical, it was magical yeah, yeah yeah,
hospitality is special yeah,that's cool, that's really cool.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
You must have felt like a baller that night, I mean
honestly I she probably did I Iwas just super grateful and in
the back of my mind is the sweatdripping down.
You know I'm thinking to myselfwhat am I gonna?
Speaker 1 (25:11):
owe everybody for this.
Like, how am I gonna make?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
up for what these people have done, because it was
just.
It was super heartfelt.
There were some really goodpeople that put a lot of energy
into making it special yeah, wasthere any any shifts at the
club?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
that, uh, that required a lot of, like, finesse
and patience, maybe.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah, yeah, there are multiple and I think that takes
place in every club.
One of the key things going onright now, I think, in the
industry as a whole, is thisconcept of regeneration.
You've got original members atmany of these clubs who are sort
of attritioning out.
Right, they're either aging out, really dying off some um,
(25:55):
choosing to sell off before thathappens, and so you've got this
new population, youngergenerations, coming in.
So all of a sudden, as the clubregenerates which is great
because it's whole right we havethe membership base to be
successful.
But you've got members indifferent generations that are
all maybe volleying for the samemembership dollars, for
(26:17):
different experiences thatthey're looking for.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
So I think navigating that, for both for the
membership and for themanagement, it's it's
challenging yeah, yeah, how haveyou and it's probably more so
in Florida than a lot of otherplaces yeah, maybe, maybe Good
for you, but no, yeah,definitely a lot more.
I'm just saying because I thinkthe concentration in Florida,
(26:42):
but what have you done to helpwith that, that regeneration?
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I think just being open and honest about what we're
facing has helped.
Right in the beginning peopledidn't realize what was
happening.
They just felt like they maybethey were losing a piece of what
they were used to, because it'sthe same dues dollars to now
help more people.
So we spent a lot of time inenergy building a communication
(27:09):
strategy that could help sort ofbring people along with the
story and help them understand,and that communication strategy
included things like some focusgroup meetings or some by
invitation sessions.
We called it.
The president at the time wasnamed Joanne, so it was a cup of
(27:29):
Joe with Dave and Joe, and sowe would sit down and we would
just tell them hey, these aresome of the things that we're up
against.
Is we're planning next year'sbudget?
Um, you know, we did some openinvites.
Um, in more recentadministrations, president has
held um discussions with themembership and it's open invite.
People can come in and justshare what's on their mind.
(27:51):
We use those platforms to alsoshare.
Hey, this is where we are andwe know that what you're paying
is important to you and we alsoknow that value is defined by
what you're getting.
But there are all thesedifferent people now with
different needs that are lookingfor value, and here's the way
that we believe is right toapproach this.
I think as long as it hits thelogic test, people tend to get
(28:15):
behind it.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Yeah, yeah, really, we're all just in sales, it's
all just sellable.
No, but I think, becausesometimes change is more about
unlearning than learning.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Is there anything that you or your team had to
maybe unlearn to move forward?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
No, when I got here in 2016, the operations weren't
known for consistency.
They weren't very smooth and atthe same time, looking at it,
there were certain resourcesbeing denied the operations team
(29:02):
.
That would have maybe createdthat consistency.
So the membership had learnedwe don't have budget increases
more than 3%.
That was their expectation andthe reality of.
I guess the psychology behind adues increase is that it really
matters, like when you'releading up to it, but after it
(29:23):
happens it's yesterday's newsand people forget about it.
What they don't forget about isthe fact that the dinner I had
tonight was wonderful, but threedays later I had dinner and it
was a mess.
So if you can help peopleunderstand the resources that
you need to do the job that youbelieve they want you to do, and
then you can deliver on thoseexpectations, that's how trust
(29:44):
is built.
So we had to unlearn certainthings that people were taking
for granted.
Help them understand the thingsthat historically, we've never
done.
Well, it's within our abilities.
We just need to be resourcedcorrectly to do it.
And new guy walking in can'tsay that.
So I come in and I'm bustingtables and I'm, you know,
(30:08):
learning everybody's names anddeveloping the street credit to
be able to tell that story laterdown the line.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Have you had any mentors or youknow, guiding voices, so to
speak, that shape you and whatyou've done?
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Yeah, yeah.
So I'm blessed, I was.
I was blessed to be alignedwith eban malloy, who's a gm at
woodfield.
That was phenomenal.
Uh, former gm at woodfieldwho's now the coo at hunter's
run.
Larry sabitas has been awonderful mentor for me.
Mike mccarthy, um, has been aphenomenal mentor.
He's the gm and ceo over ataddison.
(30:45):
In fact, when I was ready totake the step from AGM to GM,
mike helped me negotiate mypackage with the board.
He was amazing, quick, kind ofside step story, side quest.
Love it, okay, cool.
So they present me with thisoffer and I, you know, I want to
(31:08):
be grateful and I just I thankthem and I say I need some time
to think about it.
You know, looking at it in thereality is it is not
representative of what this jobshould be worth or even what an
entry level GM should be making.
So I reach out to Mike and wehave some conversations and he
says Dave, maybe, I don't knowsend your president over here,
I'll feed him the lunch, we'llhave some conversation.
(31:30):
So my president comes back withthe past president and she says
well, that was eyeopening.
I said I don't understand.
What do you mean?
She says well, he basicallytold me that he could rip you
out of the seat that you're intoday and have you be the AGM
somewhere else, making twicewhat we offer you.
I said, oh wow, I can see howthat.
(31:51):
I can see how that that might,yeah, but it trends.
So he delivered in a way thatjust showed genuine love and
trust and that stimulated somereally good conversations, and
so probably took three monthsfor us to get to the place where
I was signing on the dottedline, but he helped to create
(32:13):
this environment ofreceptiveness where they were
ready to to think throughrealizing maybe all my expertise
in what I've done through mylife doesn't necessarily prepare
, prepare me to be the expert inthis particular negotiation
(32:35):
that that that was just amazing.
Having a mentor step into thatkind of role, that that was huge
.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Yeah, yeah.
Were there any big?
Were there any other bigtakeaways from from that
negotiation, from that?
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Yeah.
One thing that both Mike andLarry will tell you and I preach
this to all the guys coming upwho I work with and talk to is
that one of the most importantthings that you do in your labor
negotiations is negotiate areally strong exit strategy, and
I get that sounds dark, but thereality of the industry that
(33:08):
we're in is that our careers aredependent upon a political
process right.
A popular vote determines whothe next board seats are, and
the board seats determinewhether or not what you believe
is performance is or is notconsidered performance.
So an exit strategy might looklike.
If you were to be separatedwithout cause, how many months
(33:34):
of severance pay would you beentitled to, based on your years
of service?
In preparing that exit strategyis what causes a board to come
in, and, let's face it, newboard seats coming in have been
sitting on the outside of thetent the entire time.
They have no real clue what'sgoing on.
They might be really greatpeople, right, but their
(33:57):
impression of what is or is nothappening is not based in
reality.
It's based in the rumors thatare circulating around the club.
So when you've created a reallystrong exit strategy, you cause
them all to pause really,really hard before making what I
would consider a very dumbdecision.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
That might be the highlight of the episode there,
that little last three minutes.
Yeah, it's important, yeah,very.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
And if you think about it, what do they want from
you?
The board that's hiring you?
They want you to be a strong,independent leader.
They want you to lead with your.
What do they want from you, theboard that's hiring you?
They want you to be a strong,independent leader.
They want you to lead with yourheart and they want you to be
honest with them.
But if they've prepared yourlabor agreement in a way that
you're very worried about allthese outside influences, well
now your instinct as a father,as a husband, as a caregiver,
(34:48):
your instinct might be toprotect all those who you're
responsible for outside of theorganization, when your
instincts should be focused onprotecting all those within the
organization.
And as long as the people whoare outside of the organization
that you care for are protectedthrough your agreement, then you
can focus on the people who arewho you're responsible for
(35:09):
within the organization.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Yeah, I'm sure it saves both parties, both sides
also.
Yeah, so no one you know with ahothead or something just goes
in from the GM or the board.
You know it saves both sidesfrom, I guess, maybe blowing the
top off.
It has a nice little cushionthere, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Yeah, you think about it.
There's a great guy and I won'tshare his name, but he shared
with me a story.
He was looking for a job andthe GM who he was applying with
reached out to his former GM andhe shared with me what the
(35:53):
former GM said was listen,sometimes bad things happen to
good people.
In the reality of the clubspace that we choose to to
operate in and that we love andthat we believe in, that can
happen if the politics arepermitted to kind of go on their
own way, unfettered.
So it's our responsibility toput the oxygen mask on ourselves
(36:18):
first so we can think abouteverybody else who are
responsible for it, and that'sboth members, that's future
boards and that's staff.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I think we touched on ita little bit.
We can probably think of someother stuff, but what do you
think the next generation ofclub leadership needs to be
ready for, or that like we'rejust not talking about enough?
Speaker 2 (36:42):
There are two things that I think we're just starting
to touch on, and one of them ismental health, and I am so
proud of what happened at thislast year's World Conference.
Joe Mendes should be applauded.
Everybody with CMA who leanedinto that should be applauded.
The world that we're coming outof, the Generation Xers, were
kind of taught not to look in onthemselves, and I still believe
(37:05):
that a huge part of that wasthe unemployment rate.
They didn't have the time orthey couldn't afford the luxury
of looking in on themselves, andI still believe that a huge
part of that was theunemployment rate.
They didn't have the time orthey couldn't afford the luxury
of looking in on themselves.
But the reality of the luxuryof options today is that
awareness of mental health comesto the forefront.
If we're not providing thetools and the resources for our
team to have the rightexperiences both at work and
(37:27):
maybe outside of work, get thesupport that they need, then
it's tough to believe thatthey're going to stick around
and be a part of what we'redoing.
That leads to my second one,which is workplace culture.
I'm calling what we'reexperiencing right now the
people and culture revolution,and I don't believe that it's
(37:49):
just happening because, ultrarealistically, it always should
have.
I believe a huge part of what'sdriving it is the current
demographics, in the fact thatthere are so many jobs available
in the marketplace.
So all of these thingsconverging coming together
create the situation where theemployee who we're targeting has
so many options and it could bea single thing that happens on
(38:13):
the job that triggers somebodyto just walk out the door and
they don't have to worry about asafety net because there are so
many jobs available for them.
Within the week they couldprobably be earning a paycheck.
So if you're building the rightstructure internally, people
have people to turn to safe,safe spaces they can talk to and
I joked with this, this withyou before.
(38:35):
The safe space isn't the softseating, the Google couch where
you can cry for the day.
The safe space is just knowingthat there are people on that
team that you can trust, whoaren't going to abuse what you
share with them, who aren'tgoing to share it, who are just
going to be there for you tovent sometimes and not hold you
responsible for those thingsthat need to come off your chest
in that moment, but help you torealign how you're approaching
(38:57):
a situation, rethink throughyour position in a certain thing
and when you're providing anenvironment that helps everybody
to get stronger, that's wherepeople want to be.
They're not going to go lookingelsewhere.
So, people in culture yeah, theparties are fun.
Yeah, having music day is cool.
(39:19):
But people in culture is deeperthan all of that.
Those are check boxes.
The meaningful thing happenswhen you create spaces where
people can be themselves, theycan be authentic and they can
share openly, behind any doorthat they feel comfortable,
what's on their mind and what'sconcerning them, because that's
an opportunity for that leaderor that coworker to help them
(39:40):
reframe, refocus and be on thepath that they want to be on if,
for a moment, they're feelinglike they're not sure which way
to turn, yeah, how do you unwindwhich?
Speaker 1 (39:52):
what's the what's the sweet way to unwind and relax?
Speaker 2 (39:57):
well, if you asked me , two years ago, it was probably
three fingers of bourbon everynight.
But a part of that mentalhealth journey is also
understanding coping mechanismsthat aren't necessarily, you
know, self-medicating.
So, um, I think, I think nowthe way that I unwind is I'm
reinvesting in myself.
Um, one of the cool thingsabout the club here is that we
(40:22):
have some policies that provideaccess to the sports amenities
to team members, so you'll findme on the tennis courts three,
four days a week.
Um, I participate in some of themember clinics and it's just a
break from the grind yeah andit's reinvesting in physical
fitness, which is something Ineglected, probably for solid 20
(40:42):
years, right when the badge ofhonor that we're growing out of
from starting the workplace inthe 90s is how many hours you
put in and we're definingpassion as the sacrifices we
make for the job, not thesacrifices that we make for our
families or for ourselves.
When you redefine what passionis, I think that helps you to
(41:07):
unwind and decompress, and Istill enjoy those three fingers
every now and then.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
What's your?
What's your?
What's your?
Bourbon of choice?
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Oh, that's a good question Um okay, I grew up yeah
, I.
So I grew up with my dad, withmakers, um, I'm a big Woodford
fan and more recently I've Ireally liked exploring rise um
yeah.
So, uh, let me see boss hog.
(41:36):
Um, yeah, I'm a big fan of, ofuh, the new rise that are coming
out yeah, so I'll tell you uh,yeah so so bourbon came to me,
though, because I decided my myrecession um back in 20, 2008,
2010,.
The way I was going tocontribute was I was going to
ignore scotch and I was going todrink bourbon.
(41:58):
My contribution to the localeconomy.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
So so this is like a weird side quest, so uh,
whenever, this is like a weirdside quest, so uh, whenever I
fly, my like drink of choice isjack and diet dr pepper love it.
I'm just a big big jack jackfan.
On american airlines, they,they have jack, also woodford.
But to me, like woodford, evenlike makers like I, to me, like
(42:23):
those are just bourbons youdon't mix.
There's just one that that maybe like an ice cube, whatever,
maybe like an old-fashionedwhatever, that's fine, but to me
, woodford, you just don't mixyeah.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Classic cocktails only.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Yeah.
So I'm flying the one day and Igot bumped up to first and I'm
sitting there and I was like youknow what F it I'm going to do
Woodford and Diet Dr Pepper.
So I go, can I get a Woodfordand Diet Dr Pepper?
And the flight attendant femaleshe goes you're going to mix
Woodford with soda.
And I was like let me explain,I wasn't and I had to like she's
(42:57):
like okay, bud.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Like it was.
And then here I am trying tobacktrack and I'm like what are
the odds?
Speaker 1 (43:03):
that the one time I like convinced myself, like no,
it's okay, I'm going to doWoodford in a soda, I get just
blasted in front of the wholefirst class cabin for doing it.
It was so funny.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
I died, I died.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
It was uh, what that'll live.
That'll live in my head.
Rent free for years, um and uhand shameless plug for you and
other listeners, if you're abourbon people, I had on a
bourbon steward.
He's a bourbon GM, kevin RiceIs it Kentucky Country Club?
I think it was, but he's like abig bourbon steward and his
(43:40):
club has a great collection.
And so we kind of talked on thewhole episode.
It was just all about bourbonsand stuff.
It was really cool.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
He could package that and bring it on the road, like
people are so excited by thosecraft bourbons and the cool
things that are coming out.
Yeah, I'll never forget whenwhistle pig first hit the market
.
Dan lavin, great guy, um, he'sour former director of
facilities.
His wife, karen sherman lavin,was the director of golf at
Addison Reserve.
She's actually somebody elsewho I would call a mentor.
There's some really cool Karenstories out there.
(44:12):
But we're gearing up and werealize that Whistlepig is great
and that they make this highproduct called Boss Hog and it's
just hit the market but it'snot available anywhere.
So he calls me one day.
He goes, dave, I was drivinghome.
There's a bottle on the shelf,do you want it?
I said yeah, get it for me.
And he told me the price.
(44:32):
And like 10 minutes later Icall him back with buyer's
remorse and he goes, dan, youknow I think I made a mistake.
He goes, dave, I couldn't do itto you.
$110 to over $650 three weekslater Blew me away.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
Who do they think they are Pappy?
No, I went to Kentucky with abuddy of mine in 2019 and ended
up being a horrible trip becauseI ended up having two extruded
discs that I didn't know I had.
So I'm trying to walk aroundand I'm like an old man.
Even the alcohol is like, evenlike the, the.
The alcohol is not eventouching the pain Like one of
(45:12):
those.
But uh, I was at we were atBuffalo trace and I did like an
Instagram story of there.
Like they're like just like theone like room I cannot within
10 minutes, my was blowing uppeople like can you give me a
bottle of this?
Give me a bottle of that?
You get?
I'm like yo time out.
Like like we don't even talk.
Like where'd you come from?
um, but yeah, no yeah, yeah,it's, uh, it's.
(45:36):
It's a fun thing to, you know,enjoy with other people and have
like conversations about, andit was.
It was actually really cool.
My parents were just down therefor the kentucky derby whenever
it was a few months ago, lastmonth, month before, I don't
know but they got me a.
They must have went to like adistillery and did like a from
the barrel to like the bottleand at the bottom was all like
(45:58):
the wood shard stuff, and then Idid one of those when I went.
I did one of those when I wentand I thought what I thought was
the alcohol proof of the bottlewas the price, and I was like,
oh, okay, I thought we weretalking about the proof, all
(46:20):
right, well, whatever, whatever,bud, yeah, it's a fun story.
I still have the bottle becauseit's the thing was it wasn't
even like that great, like itwas like okay, like I wish it
was a little better, so it'sstill just like sitting over
there.
I wish I should have finished it, but um, that's great oh man
this.
This episode has been so sweet.
(46:41):
This has been so good.
David, thank you so much forcoming on.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
I much for coming on.
I really appreciate it, thankyou, thank you, thank you.
I really appreciate you takingthe time.
It's cool connecting withpeople that resonate.
You're clearly one of thosepeople who believe in what
you're doing super passionate.
Thanks for sharing this moment,denny.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
Hope you all enjoyed that episode, David, that was
absolutely amazing.
Thank you so much for coming onand sharing and laughing and
making it such a really greattime.
If you want to learn more aboutmanagement and motion, what I
am hosting and putting on, I amsuper stoked.
Head on over toprivateclubradiocom slash mim.
Privateclubradiocom slash mim,M-I-M.
That's this episode, Until nexttime.
(47:20):
I'm your host, Denny Corby.
Catch y'all on the flippityflip.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club
Radio Show, where we give youthe scoop on all things private
golf and country clubs, frommastering leadership and
management, food and beverageexcellence, member engagement
secrets, board governance andeverything in between, all while
keeping it fun and light.
Whether you're a club veteranjust getting your feet wet or
somewhere in the middle, you arein the right place.
(00:20):
I'm your host, denny Corby.
Welcome to the show.
This episode is exactly what Ineeded, because today I am
joined by a guy who's not just akiller club leader but one of
the kindest, most groundedhumans I've had the pleasure of
laughing with.
Here on Private Club Radio wehave David Sweet, ccm General
(00:41):
Manager and COO of Boca WoodsCountry Club in Boca Raton,
florida.
David's had a wild ride fromexecutive steward at the
Ritz-Carlton in New England andBoston to managing TGI Fridays,
to transforming a private clubin a way that would make even
the most skeptical board memberscry tears of operational joy.
(01:03):
We talk about everything frompersonal branding and bourbon to
board negotiations and balancesheets.
You'll hear how man's plan andGod laugh isn't just his
favorite quote but kind of theGPS for his entire journey.
We get into the evolution ofclub culture building trust
through consistency, creating ateam that breathes the brand,
(01:24):
and why every GM should have anexit strategy and also maybe a
good bottle of Whistlepig BossHog.
David shares how Boca Woods hasgrown.
We get into leadership lessons,mentorship, mental health and,
yep, even how he proposed to hisnow wife on a rooftop, with a
surprise dinner menu courtesy ofa Ritz-Carlton wedding
downstairs.
(01:44):
No big deal.
This episode is warm, smart,hilarious and full of moments
that make you rethink how youshow up as a leader, teammate
and human.
I am super stoked for it.
Before we dive in though, quickthanks to some of our show
partners.
We have our friends Golf Life,navigators, members, first
Kennis Member, vetting ConcertGolf Partners, as well as myself
(02:07):
.
The Denny Corby Experience.
There's excitement, there'smystery.
Also there's magic, mindreading and comedy.
A ton of laughs, gasps and holycraps.
If you want to learn more, headon over to dennycorbycom.
And I've also developed andcreated a guide for you to have
the best comedy night possible.
Now, I don't do straightstand-up comedy, but I've had
too many clubs tell me they'vehad bad comedy nights, so I made
(02:29):
the comedy guide on how you canhave the best comedy night.
It's the Comedy NightBlueprints If you want to check
it out, go to dennycorbycomslash comedy guide.
And also, I have to tell youabout something very, very
special and something I'mextremely passionate about that
I'm putting on September 22nd.
It's called Management inMotion and I am hosting it at
the Monticello Motor Club, akathe private racetrack where
(02:52):
dreams and tires go to burnout.
Now you've been to leadershipevents before.
You sit, you listen and maybeyou get a cookie and then you go
home wondering if anythingreally stuck.
This is not that.
Management in Motion is for clubpros who want to move literally
and professionally.
We are talking full day accessto BMW M's 2's, 3's and 4's,
(03:15):
drifting on the wet skid pad,precision autocross, drag racing
, high speed laps, karting thewhole shebang.
And in between all of theadrenaline we are learning real
leadership lessons from club GMswho actually have spent time on
the track.
So not just talkers but doersand how.
That all relates to what we'redoing on the track, but as well
as club management.
(03:36):
It is something you are notgoing to want to miss.
It is so affordable and so muchfun.
If you want to learn more, headon over to privateclubradiocom
slash management in motion orprivateclubradiocom slash mim
M-I-M for management in motion.
It's going to be so much fun.
Seats and registration isfilling up quick.
We are only limited to 50people and I would love to see
(03:59):
you there.
Enough about all of that,though.
Let's get to the episode.
Private Club Radio listeners.
Let's get to the episode.
Private club radio listeners.
Let's welcome to the show.
David sweet.
Had you know, quite a killerjourney from you know the ritz
carlton to boca woods uh, that'svery true do you ever just like
, think, like, how did I end uphere?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
definitely reflect on that once in a while.
Yes, it's, uh, it's pretty cool.
It is not at all where weexpect it to be, but I'm so I we
feel blessed that this is wherewe are.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean your quote says it best man
plans and God laughs, yeah forsure.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, that about sums , up life.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, do you have like a memory or anything or a
moment that like embodied thatquote for you?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, absolutely memory or anything or a moment
that like embodied that quotefor you?
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I come out of collegegung-ho, I did really, really
well in school and I I got thisvision of being a corporate
executive for hotels, and thenthe great recession hits and I
got laid off in, I want to say,2008.
Like boom, how does this happen?
(05:08):
My departments are doing someof the best sales in the entire
hotel, but people are makingbusiness decisions at that time,
and so it really kind ofchanged the way that I looked at
the world.
And yeah, there it is man plansand god laughs and and then over
time the fmv director who I wasworking with back then.
(05:31):
He ends up as an agm down herein florida at a country club and
I get this crazy phone call tocome join the team, kind of
again.
Laugh like this is not my planyeah, and then from from new.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It's funny because we overlapped.
Like we must have met some ofthe same places in in boston,
which is even funnier.
Uh, there's been a couple otherpeople I've like chatted with.
It's like we were in the sick.
That's so cool.
Like what are the?
It almost makes you think likehow many times, like you know,
we were probably in like thesame ball or just somewhere, or
like walk past each other on thestreet and just had like no, no
(06:04):
, like what's the word?
Uh, you know no idea who, whowe were, um no clue that we
would connect what.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
What is it like 20 years?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
later.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Okay, maybe not that yeah or to say that no, no oh
yeah, oh, that hurt.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
That actually really doesn't hurt that.
I don't like that at all I knowI, I know, and now you've been
at Boca Woods for a while nowand I think from our chat and
just from reading and everything, it's clear a lot has evolved.
How would you describe thejourney the club's been on?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I think it's been an incredible journey at Boca Woods
.
It's been an incredible journeyat Boca Woods and when I
characterize it and kind of lookat everything that has gone on,
I think that this club over thelast 10 years has really leaned
in to the education provided bythe club managers association
and has really done the workthat club benchmarking talks
(07:01):
about and realized what neededto happen for the club to be
something that's viable and thatpeople look forward to in the
future.
So in the last 10 years, we'vetaken a property that Ray Cronin
at Club Benchmarking woulddescribe as not reinvesting, not
doing the things to maintainthe balance sheet, but cash
(07:24):
flush and then helping membersto understand how important it
is to reinvest in theirenvironment and building, I
guess, relationships of trust tobe able to pass the votes that
needed to happen.
And, yeah, it's been anincredible journey to see where
we are now.
We were recently tapped anomination for Distinguished
Clubs of the world and superhumbling Like, yeah, super
(07:48):
humbling.
I shared with you a story whenwe were talking before I came to
hookah woods in 2016, touringthe property to consider working
here, and I go home to my wifeand I said, jamie, there's no
way I can't do this.
This club isn't in alignmentwith what we believe in.
It's not my brand.
And she says to me Dave, thinkabout it for a minute, does it
(08:08):
have potential?
And so I'm reflecting oneverything.
And the people here werewonderful, just genuine human
beings the membership, the staff, everybody, really really good
people.
And then, when you did theresearch and actually looked in
on the balance sheet, they hadthe resources.
They just the team in themembership wasn't agreeing on
(08:28):
what needed to happen to get itto the next level.
And so another moment where manplans and God laughs.
She kind of helps me to refocusmy energy and direction and,
(08:49):
instead of trying to align withall the brands that I believe
match who I am, here's anopportunity to take something
from where it is or where it wasand help it to realize its
potential.
I think that's incredible.
Very very cool.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Let's dive in about personal brand.
Have you always been like apersonal brand person and like a
value person, or has that maybegrown over time?
Just because I've talked withso many people and everyone has
their own journey of how theygot to where they're at.
And some people, you know it'smaybe something happened and
they're like oh, like a lightbulb clicks, like oh, I have to
(09:19):
take this more seriously.
So like how, how has that beenfor you on that journey of like
a personal brand?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So I think if you take the word personal brand and
match it with the wordreputation, the answer is yes.
I've always been very, veryconcerned about my reputation
and the impact that I leave onothers.
But when you think of all thenuances of quote branding, I
think personal brand is reallyfor me taken on a higher level,
(09:47):
meaning in the last, I'd say, 15years, and again I get it, I'm
dating myself.
But if you look at where wewere as a society in the States
and like, let's look at like the90s, unemployment rate is like
10%.
When you look at the Bureau ofLabor Statistics you can see it.
So basically translate that tothe job that you're looking for.
(10:10):
There are probably 10 otherpeople, nine to 10 other people
looking for the exact same job.
So you don't really have thetime or the energy to think
about who you are, what yourvalues are.
You're pounding the streetstrying to get the job because
you've got bills to take care of, you've got responsibilities.
Yeah, I don't think that shiftsfor society until much more
(10:33):
recently, when they'rehistorically low unemployment
rates and all of a sudden, foreverybody looking for a job,
there are all these jobsavailable.
Well, now people can be morethoughtful.
They can think to that who am Ias a person and what lines up
with that?
What are the brands, what arethe right places that line up
with that?
So I think it's an evolution.
I was always concerned withreputation, understanding values
(10:57):
and brand.
I think it's a luxury thatwhere we are in society today
affords all of us.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
So how do you bring because we're talking about the
personal branding how do youbring that to life?
What are those steps?
What do you do to bring apersonal brand to life?
What does that entail?
How does that work?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
So the concept that we're talking about is personal
branding and then in today'sworld, how people want the
places they work to align withtheir personal brands in the way
that they.
The way that that happens is agroup, company, a club, puts a
lot of time and energy intoestablishing what their values
(11:40):
are, in sharing those values andbringing those values to life.
So I think the hard part aboutthat is that sometimes the
concept of values sound reallygood to people and they think
that it's a match for them, butit doesn't truly resonate and
fit who they are.
(12:00):
So in my mind, you can't bringa brand to life until you've got
the right people on the bus.
It's all about surroundingyourself with people that you
love and that you trust andinvesting in those people, in
helping those people tounderstand what's important to
you.
And that's what brings acompany's brand to life is when
everybody's kind of speaking thesame language, right, and
(12:27):
believing in the words thatthey're speaking.
To me, that's when a brandreally comes to life and once
it's alive.
Now it's about how you tell thestory, and for us, we've been
blessed to put together a reallygood membership and marketing
team.
Greg Friedlander is our memberengagement director Cool kind of
(12:48):
side story.
We rebranded the concept of themembership role completely and
it is totally focused onconnecting with people and
helping people connect with theexperiences they want out of the
club.
So advocacy is a huge part ofit, understanding the data of
where people are actuallyparticipating huge part of it.
And then she works that withour communications director,
(13:10):
nihala Hillhouse, and ourcontent creator, michael McMinn,
and together that team helpspeople on the outside understand
our brand through content.
So there's some really coolvideos out there.
There's some really coolstories.
There's a new concept thatMichael piloted called the faces
of character, character beingour, our, our shared values, our
(13:31):
acronym Um in me.
That's how, once the brand istruly alive and people are
breathing it and believe in it,that's how you share that brand
is is to bring those stories tolife for people on the outside,
and then they can kind of lookat that and say is this
something I want to be a part ofor does it not fit who I am?
(13:52):
Yeah, and the reality is that'sokay.
Not every brand is for everyperson.
When people spend the time andthe energy to identify the right
brand they're, they're probablyentering into something that's
more meaningful for them, andwhen people spend a lot of time
and energy trying to become thebrand they think they want to be
a part of in today's market, Idon't think that that's the
(14:15):
right use of people's time.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
And then do you also do the same for internal
communications and the contentand stuff like that too.
So you have your front facing.
But I'm assuming I'm a big, big, big assumption I'm assuming
then you're also creating reallygood content just for internal,
that stuff that the outsidenever is going to see also.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
So that team is super engagedwith creating newsletters and
retelling stories, and we havewe love the concept of FOMO,
right?
Somebody has the fear ofmissing out, and so we will
regenerate what happened at anevent and resell that story to
people so they can look at whatthey missed out on and want to
(14:56):
be a part of it next time.
And yeah, I think that internalbranding that you're talking
about relates to something thatwe touched on earlier.
When you're in sort oftransition management or change
management, helping peopleidentify what that path looks
like and where you're headed,that's a huge responsibility of
branding.
When your brand is helping totell that story and drive it
(15:19):
home for people, that givespeople the runway to make the
right decisions for themselves.
Is this a brand I identify withas a member?
Do I want to be on this journeywith this club?
And if the answer is no, that'sokay.
But how do we continue toextend grace and help that
person to fulfill the next stepsin their lives in a way that's
(15:41):
meaningful and doesn't feel likethey're being just left out in
the cold right?
yeah we're a really unique clubin that every member votes for
the annual operating budget.
So think about that for asecond.
If the citizens of the unitedstates could vote on the federal
budget, I've got a feeling wewouldn't have highways, we just
(16:02):
wouldn't have them.
So the need, the need tocommunicate and help people
understand where we're going ishigher than it's.
It's a very high threshold thatthat we have to reach for
people to understand and to makethe right decisions I love that
(16:24):
.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
And to go back a moment to when you were
considering the position at Boca, you were almost not going to
take it at Boca Woods.
You almost were going to takeit, but then didn't they ask to
talk to your wife.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Oh yeah, that's a cool story, so that's actually
that's a really cool story.
So that's, that's actually notBoca Woods.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
That takes us back.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
My bad, my bad, so I love this, though this is.
This is funny, so again, neverthought country clubs were in my
future.
Um, I came from a small town inupstate New York.
The country club was like a bigroom on a golf course.
I always saw myself ascorporate hotels, resorts, and I
(17:15):
come down to Woodfield actuallywas the club, and I'm touring
this club and it's gorgeous.
I'm like oh my gosh, this is aresort.
And I get all excited and I gohome and then Jamie and I we
talk ourselves out of it.
We're like we're a two incomefamily.
We've got to move 1200 miles.
We don't know where we're goingto live.
We don't.
It's going to take months tofind a job.
(17:36):
We can't make this work and soI declined.
And Eben, who's still the GM atWoodfield today, great, great
guy Eben calls me up the nextmorning.
He says so, I heard you turn usdown.
He says can I talk to your wife?
And rose me I'm coming out ofcorporate.
That's not a common thing inthe corporate environment in
2010 or 12 when we're makingthis consideration.
But I say, yeah, I guess.
(17:58):
So I hand her the phone andshe's pacing all over the house,
she's walking the stairs,they're laughing.
I'm like what is going on?
An hour and a half goes by andshe finally hangs up the phone.
I go Jamieie, what justhappened in?
We're in new england, so someof the language might be a
little off color and sheresponds and she goes.
I don't know what the f thatwas, but I have a job at the
(18:22):
country club across the streetfrom your club, and we both
start in october.
So evan, through all of hisrelationships, knew he could
land her a job immediately,didn't even ask them first and
we end up making this hugeplunge because they're willing
to take the risk on us.
It gets to the point wherewe're being foolish if we're not
(18:45):
willing to reciprocate yeah andI think that is one of the key
differences between clubs andcorporate.
Clubs have heart and when clubmanagers are are, would they
believe in something thatthey'll work really hard to help
make those things happen.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
And I think club managers in today's world really
believe in their people andthey work really hard to bend
heaven and earth to help theirpeople achieve what they need to
achieve to be successful yeah,yeah, is there something that's
that you're proud of that mightnot show up on like a
spreadsheet, because you know wewere talking about like the,
(19:22):
the numbers and stuff at, at, uh, at boca, but uh, is there
something maybe that might notshow up on the spreadsheet, but
you feel it every day onproperty.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Yeah, for sure.
We try to incorporate it in ourbrand with a lot of the
videography and stuff that we do, but it's the feeling that you
get when you're interacting withthe members and the staff here.
Boca Raton has a tough name,right.
It's known to be a verypretentious area in the country,
but our little slice of heavenover here in West Boca is very
(19:55):
unpretentious and you could bestanding next to somebody whose
net worth is just absolutelywild, but you'd have no idea,
because they're down to earthand they treat you like people
and they want to be treated justlike another person.
And that's something that istruly special about this club
that I think we fight reallyhard to preserve, and the way
(20:16):
that we fight those battles arethrough our vision, our mission
and through some of our goalsand things.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Yeah, and have you felt that shift to the positive
since you've started Like, hasthere been like a bigger shift
in that direction, shift to thepositive, since you've?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
started Like.
Has there been like a biggershift in that direction?
Yeah, I mean, I would say thatunpretentiousness was something
that always made Bocowoodspecial, I think how it's
defined, though, has beenshifted over time right.
Unpretentious was a part ofthat story of deferred
maintenance, where maybe thingswere kept up but not upkept, not
lifted when it comes tofacilities.
(20:50):
So we've done a really good jobof elevating facilities but at
the same time continuing todrive that unpretentiousness
through the relationships.
And so, over time, boards haveadopted all sorts of fun
employee engagement activities.
We do an event where membersactually come down the golf
(21:11):
course maintenance and we set upa huge barbecue and things and
the members do a role reversaland they'll serve all the golf
course maintenance staff and dosome really fun things like that
.
And so those little things arehappening all over the place and
it's not just a boardinitiative right.
All the membership leans intoit.
People look forward to thosethings.
They get really excited aboutthose things.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Yeah, yeah.
Now you've, you've, you've donea lot of you know from the
corporate side.
But all hospitality, was theresomething or anything that you
picked up in your early daysthat still helps you or that
that you keep, keep with now?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
I think that if I were to lookat clubs 10 years ago and that's
my barometer I guess I joinedclubs 12 years ago.
But if I were to look at clubs10 years ago, I think that there
were a lot of differencesaround the way clubs were run.
Evan was really passionateabout the concept of bringing
some corporate thought processesand how we manage business in
the corporate world to clubs,and I think I've brought some of
(22:14):
that here to Boca Woods.
But more importantly and that is, I think, the foundations that
I took from Ritz-Carlton here atBoca Woods we have a credo card
very similar to what you mighthave seen at Ritz-Carlton back
in the day, and the credo cardoutlines our vision, our mission
, our shared values, and when Isay shared, these aren't the
(22:35):
values of just the team, they'rethe values that we also share
with the membership, becausethat's what makes the place
special is that we share a setof values.
There's a list of guidingprinciples that helps us in
decision-making, and so thoseare things that came to life for
me through Ritz-Carlton.
Every day, whether we wereworking as a team in the
(22:57):
stewarding department in DISH orwhether it was the senior
leadership meetings every daystarted out the same way.
It started out with that credocard in hand and just a
reflection on what the visionwas for the company and what we
were doing that day that helpedto roll up to that greater
process.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah, and what you managed?
Like 200 grand worth of China.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right Yep.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
That's a big responsibility.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, it was fun.
I had a team of like 24.
We did the overnight cleaningfor the place.
That Ritz-Carlton property wasspecial.
There was a rooftop that was awedding venue that had an
independent sort of kitchen upthere, and then we had the main
events and activities took placeon the fourth floor.
(23:47):
It was just cool.
It was really, really, it wasspecial was that the ritz in
boston?
Yeah, on the corner ofarlington and newberry street
beautiful, beautiful funny story.
I was the I.
I grew into the executivesteward role.
From a stewarding supervisor Iwent to the fmb director.
I'm like, hey, I, uh, I've gotthis woman who I want to ask to
(24:13):
marry me, but you're aware of myfinancial situation.
I don't have a ton of resources.
And he was so sweet, robertRecterman.
He's a GM now a differentcompany, but great, great guy.
He asked the catering team towork with me and so there was a
wedding going on on the fourthfloor and the girls in catering
(24:34):
put little candles out onto therooftop deck and put a little
sweetheart table in the cornerand they gave us the same menu
that the wedding was servingdownstairs for for this
engagement dinner.
She had no clue it was coming.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
It was magical, it was magical yeah, yeah yeah,
hospitality is special yeah,that's cool, that's really cool.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
You must have felt like a baller that night, I mean
honestly I she probably did I Iwas just super grateful and in
the back of my mind is the sweatdripping down.
You know I'm thinking to myselfwhat am I gonna?
Speaker 1 (25:11):
owe everybody for this.
Like, how am I gonna make?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
up for what these people have done, because it was
just.
It was super heartfelt.
There were some really goodpeople that put a lot of energy
into making it special yeah, wasthere any any shifts at the
club?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
that, uh, that required a lot of, like, finesse
and patience, maybe.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yeah, yeah, there are multiple and I think that takes
place in every club.
One of the key things going onright now, I think, in the
industry as a whole, is thisconcept of regeneration.
You've got original members atmany of these clubs who are sort
of attritioning out.
Right, they're either aging out, really dying off some um,
(25:55):
choosing to sell off before thathappens, and so you've got this
new population, youngergenerations, coming in.
So all of a sudden, as the clubregenerates which is great
because it's whole right we havethe membership base to be
successful.
But you've got members indifferent generations that are
all maybe volleying for the samemembership dollars, for
(26:17):
different experiences thatthey're looking for.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
So I think navigating that, for both for the
membership and for themanagement, it's it's
challenging yeah, yeah, how haveyou and it's probably more so
in Florida than a lot of otherplaces yeah, maybe, maybe Good
for you, but no, yeah,definitely a lot more.
I'm just saying because I thinkthe concentration in Florida,
(26:42):
but what have you done to helpwith that, that regeneration?
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I think just being open and honest about what we're
facing has helped.
Right in the beginning peopledidn't realize what was
happening.
They just felt like they maybethey were losing a piece of what
they were used to, because it'sthe same dues dollars to now
help more people.
So we spent a lot of time inenergy building a communication
(27:09):
strategy that could help sort ofbring people along with the
story and help them understand,and that communication strategy
included things like some focusgroup meetings or some by
invitation sessions.
We called it.
The president at the time wasnamed Joanne, so it was a cup of
(27:29):
Joe with Dave and Joe, and sowe would sit down and we would
just tell them hey, these aresome of the things that we're up
against.
Is we're planning next year'sbudget?
Um, you know, we did some openinvites.
Um, in more recentadministrations, president has
held um discussions with themembership and it's open invite.
People can come in and justshare what's on their mind.
(27:51):
We use those platforms to alsoshare.
Hey, this is where we are andwe know that what you're paying
is important to you and we alsoknow that value is defined by
what you're getting.
But there are all thesedifferent people now with
different needs that are lookingfor value, and here's the way
that we believe is right toapproach this.
I think as long as it hits thelogic test, people tend to get
(28:15):
behind it.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Yeah, yeah, really, we're all just in sales, it's
all just sellable.
No, but I think, becausesometimes change is more about
unlearning than learning.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Is there anything that you or your team had to
maybe unlearn to move forward?
Speaker 2 (28:40):
No, when I got here in 2016, the operations weren't
known for consistency.
They weren't very smooth and atthe same time, looking at it,
there were certain resourcesbeing denied the operations team
(29:02):
.
That would have maybe createdthat consistency.
So the membership had learnedwe don't have budget increases
more than 3%.
That was their expectation andthe reality of.
I guess the psychology behind adues increase is that it really
matters, like when you'releading up to it, but after it
(29:23):
happens it's yesterday's newsand people forget about it.
What they don't forget about isthe fact that the dinner I had
tonight was wonderful, but threedays later I had dinner and it
was a mess.
So if you can help peopleunderstand the resources that
you need to do the job that youbelieve they want you to do, and
then you can deliver on thoseexpectations, that's how trust
(29:44):
is built.
So we had to unlearn certainthings that people were taking
for granted.
Help them understand the thingsthat historically, we've never
done.
Well, it's within our abilities.
We just need to be resourcedcorrectly to do it.
And new guy walking in can'tsay that.
So I come in and I'm bustingtables and I'm, you know,
(30:08):
learning everybody's names anddeveloping the street credit to
be able to tell that story laterdown the line.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Have you had any mentors or youknow, guiding voices, so to
speak, that shape you and whatyou've done?
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Yeah, yeah.
So I'm blessed, I was.
I was blessed to be alignedwith eban malloy, who's a gm at
woodfield.
That was phenomenal.
Uh, former gm at woodfieldwho's now the coo at hunter's
run.
Larry sabitas has been awonderful mentor for me.
Mike mccarthy, um, has been aphenomenal mentor.
He's the gm and ceo over ataddison.
(30:45):
In fact, when I was ready totake the step from AGM to GM,
mike helped me negotiate mypackage with the board.
He was amazing, quick, kind ofside step story, side quest.
Love it, okay, cool.
So they present me with thisoffer and I, you know, I want to
(31:08):
be grateful and I just I thankthem and I say I need some time
to think about it.
You know, looking at it in thereality is it is not
representative of what this jobshould be worth or even what an
entry level GM should be making.
So I reach out to Mike and wehave some conversations and he
says Dave, maybe, I don't knowsend your president over here,
I'll feed him the lunch, we'llhave some conversation.
(31:30):
So my president comes back withthe past president and she says
well, that was eyeopening.
I said I don't understand.
What do you mean?
She says well, he basicallytold me that he could rip you
out of the seat that you're intoday and have you be the AGM
somewhere else, making twicewhat we offer you.
I said, oh wow, I can see howthat.
(31:51):
I can see how that that might,yeah, but it trends.
So he delivered in a way thatjust showed genuine love and
trust and that stimulated somereally good conversations, and
so probably took three monthsfor us to get to the place where
I was signing on the dottedline, but he helped to create
(32:13):
this environment ofreceptiveness where they were
ready to to think throughrealizing maybe all my expertise
in what I've done through mylife doesn't necessarily prepare
, prepare me to be the expert inthis particular negotiation
(32:35):
that that that was just amazing.
Having a mentor step into thatkind of role, that that was huge
.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Yeah, yeah.
Were there any big?
Were there any other bigtakeaways from from that
negotiation, from that?
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Yeah.
One thing that both Mike andLarry will tell you and I preach
this to all the guys coming upwho I work with and talk to is
that one of the most importantthings that you do in your labor
negotiations is negotiate areally strong exit strategy, and
I get that sounds dark, but thereality of the industry that
(33:08):
we're in is that our careers aredependent upon a political
process right.
A popular vote determines whothe next board seats are, and
the board seats determinewhether or not what you believe
is performance is or is notconsidered performance.
So an exit strategy might looklike.
If you were to be separatedwithout cause, how many months
(33:34):
of severance pay would you beentitled to, based on your years
of service?
In preparing that exit strategyis what causes a board to come
in, and, let's face it, newboard seats coming in have been
sitting on the outside of thetent the entire time.
They have no real clue what'sgoing on.
They might be really greatpeople, right, but their
(33:57):
impression of what is or is nothappening is not based in
reality.
It's based in the rumors thatare circulating around the club.
So when you've created a reallystrong exit strategy, you cause
them all to pause really,really hard before making what I
would consider a very dumbdecision.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
That might be the highlight of the episode there,
that little last three minutes.
Yeah, it's important, yeah,very.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
And if you think about it, what do they want from
you?
The board that's hiring you?
They want you to be a strong,independent leader.
They want you to lead with your.
What do they want from you, theboard that's hiring you?
They want you to be a strong,independent leader.
They want you to lead with yourheart and they want you to be
honest with them.
But if they've prepared yourlabor agreement in a way that
you're very worried about allthese outside influences, well
now your instinct as a father,as a husband, as a caregiver,
(34:48):
your instinct might be toprotect all those who you're
responsible for outside of theorganization, when your
instincts should be focused onprotecting all those within the
organization.
And as long as the people whoare outside of the organization
that you care for are protectedthrough your agreement, then you
can focus on the people who arewho you're responsible for
(35:09):
within the organization.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Yeah, I'm sure it saves both parties, both sides
also.
Yeah, so no one you know with ahothead or something just goes
in from the GM or the board.
You know it saves both sidesfrom, I guess, maybe blowing the
top off.
It has a nice little cushionthere, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Yeah, you think about it.
There's a great guy and I won'tshare his name, but he shared
with me a story.
He was looking for a job andthe GM who he was applying with
reached out to his former GM andhe shared with me what the
(35:53):
former GM said was listen,sometimes bad things happen to
good people.
In the reality of the clubspace that we choose to to
operate in and that we love andthat we believe in, that can
happen if the politics arepermitted to kind of go on their
own way, unfettered.
So it's our responsibility toput the oxygen mask on ourselves
(36:18):
first so we can think abouteverybody else who are
responsible for it, and that'sboth members, that's future
boards and that's staff.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I think we touched on ita little bit.
We can probably think of someother stuff, but what do you
think the next generation ofclub leadership needs to be
ready for, or that like we'rejust not talking about enough?
Speaker 2 (36:42):
There are two things that I think we're just starting
to touch on, and one of them ismental health, and I am so
proud of what happened at thislast year's World Conference.
Joe Mendes should be applauded.
Everybody with CMA who leanedinto that should be applauded.
The world that we're coming outof, the Generation Xers, were
kind of taught not to look in onthemselves, and I still believe
(37:05):
that a huge part of that wasthe unemployment rate.
They didn't have the time orthey couldn't afford the luxury
of looking in on themselves, andI still believe that a huge
part of that was theunemployment rate.
They didn't have the time orthey couldn't afford the luxury
of looking in on themselves.
But the reality of the luxuryof options today is that
awareness of mental health comesto the forefront.
If we're not providing thetools and the resources for our
team to have the rightexperiences both at work and
(37:27):
maybe outside of work, get thesupport that they need, then
it's tough to believe thatthey're going to stick around
and be a part of what we'redoing.
That leads to my second one,which is workplace culture.
I'm calling what we'reexperiencing right now the
people and culture revolution,and I don't believe that it's
(37:49):
just happening because, ultrarealistically, it always should
have.
I believe a huge part of what'sdriving it is the current
demographics, in the fact thatthere are so many jobs available
in the marketplace.
So all of these thingsconverging coming together
create the situation where theemployee who we're targeting has
so many options and it could bea single thing that happens on
(38:13):
the job that triggers somebodyto just walk out the door and
they don't have to worry about asafety net because there are so
many jobs available for them.
Within the week they couldprobably be earning a paycheck.
So if you're building the rightstructure internally, people
have people to turn to safe,safe spaces they can talk to and
I joked with this, this withyou before.
(38:35):
The safe space isn't the softseating, the Google couch where
you can cry for the day.
The safe space is just knowingthat there are people on that
team that you can trust, whoaren't going to abuse what you
share with them, who aren'tgoing to share it, who are just
going to be there for you tovent sometimes and not hold you
responsible for those thingsthat need to come off your chest
in that moment, but help you torealign how you're approaching
(38:57):
a situation, rethink throughyour position in a certain thing
and when you're providing anenvironment that helps everybody
to get stronger, that's wherepeople want to be.
They're not going to go lookingelsewhere.
So, people in culture yeah, theparties are fun.
Yeah, having music day is cool.
(39:19):
But people in culture is deeperthan all of that.
Those are check boxes.
The meaningful thing happenswhen you create spaces where
people can be themselves, theycan be authentic and they can
share openly, behind any doorthat they feel comfortable,
what's on their mind and what'sconcerning them, because that's
an opportunity for that leaderor that coworker to help them
(39:40):
reframe, refocus and be on thepath that they want to be on if,
for a moment, they're feelinglike they're not sure which way
to turn, yeah, how do you unwindwhich?
Speaker 1 (39:52):
what's the what's the sweet way to unwind and relax?
Speaker 2 (39:57):
well, if you asked me , two years ago, it was probably
three fingers of bourbon everynight.
But a part of that mentalhealth journey is also
understanding coping mechanismsthat aren't necessarily, you
know, self-medicating.
So, um, I think, I think nowthe way that I unwind is I'm
reinvesting in myself.
Um, one of the cool thingsabout the club here is that we
(40:22):
have some policies that provideaccess to the sports amenities
to team members, so you'll findme on the tennis courts three,
four days a week.
Um, I participate in some of themember clinics and it's just a
break from the grind yeah andit's reinvesting in physical
fitness, which is something Ineglected, probably for solid 20
(40:42):
years, right when the badge ofhonor that we're growing out of
from starting the workplace inthe 90s is how many hours you
put in and we're definingpassion as the sacrifices we
make for the job, not thesacrifices that we make for our
families or for ourselves.
When you redefine what passionis, I think that helps you to
(41:07):
unwind and decompress, and Istill enjoy those three fingers
every now and then.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
What's your?
What's your?
What's your?
Bourbon of choice?
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Oh, that's a good question Um okay, I grew up yeah
, I.
So I grew up with my dad, withmakers, um, I'm a big Woodford
fan and more recently I've Ireally liked exploring rise um
yeah.
So, uh, let me see boss hog.
(41:36):
Um, yeah, I'm a big fan of, ofuh, the new rise that are coming
out yeah, so I'll tell you uh,yeah so so bourbon came to me,
though, because I decided my myrecession um back in 20, 2008,
2010,.
The way I was going tocontribute was I was going to
ignore scotch and I was going todrink bourbon.
(41:58):
My contribution to the localeconomy.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
So so this is like a weird side quest, so uh,
whenever, this is like a weirdside quest, so uh, whenever I
fly, my like drink of choice isjack and diet dr pepper love it.
I'm just a big big jack jackfan.
On american airlines, they,they have jack, also woodford.
But to me, like woodford, evenlike makers like I, to me, like
(42:23):
those are just bourbons youdon't mix.
There's just one that that maybe like an ice cube, whatever,
maybe like an old-fashionedwhatever, that's fine, but to me
, woodford, you just don't mixyeah.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Classic cocktails only.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Yeah.
So I'm flying the one day and Igot bumped up to first and I'm
sitting there and I was like youknow what F it I'm going to do
Woodford and Diet Dr Pepper.
So I go, can I get a Woodfordand Diet Dr Pepper?
And the flight attendant femaleshe goes you're going to mix
Woodford with soda.
And I was like let me explain,I wasn't and I had to like she's
(42:57):
like okay, bud.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Like it was.
And then here I am trying tobacktrack and I'm like what are
the odds?
Speaker 1 (43:03):
that the one time I like convinced myself, like no,
it's okay, I'm going to doWoodford in a soda, I get just
blasted in front of the wholefirst class cabin for doing it.
It was so funny.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
I died, I died.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
It was uh, what that'll live.
That'll live in my head.
Rent free for years, um and uhand shameless plug for you and
other listeners, if you're abourbon people, I had on a
bourbon steward.
He's a bourbon GM, kevin RiceIs it Kentucky Country Club?
I think it was, but he's like abig bourbon steward and his
(43:40):
club has a great collection.
And so we kind of talked on thewhole episode.
It was just all about bourbonsand stuff.
It was really cool.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
He could package that and bring it on the road, like
people are so excited by thosecraft bourbons and the cool
things that are coming out.
Yeah, I'll never forget whenwhistle pig first hit the market
.
Dan lavin, great guy, um, he'sour former director of
facilities.
His wife, karen sherman lavin,was the director of golf at
Addison Reserve.
She's actually somebody elsewho I would call a mentor.
There's some really cool Karenstories out there.
(44:12):
But we're gearing up and werealize that Whistlepig is great
and that they make this highproduct called Boss Hog and it's
just hit the market but it'snot available anywhere.
So he calls me one day.
He goes, dave, I was drivinghome.
There's a bottle on the shelf,do you want it?
I said yeah, get it for me.
And he told me the price.
(44:32):
And like 10 minutes later Icall him back with buyer's
remorse and he goes, dan, youknow I think I made a mistake.
He goes, dave, I couldn't do itto you.
$110 to over $650 three weekslater Blew me away.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
Who do they think they are Pappy?
No, I went to Kentucky with abuddy of mine in 2019 and ended
up being a horrible trip becauseI ended up having two extruded
discs that I didn't know I had.
So I'm trying to walk aroundand I'm like an old man.
Even the alcohol is like, evenlike the, the.
The alcohol is not eventouching the pain Like one of
(45:12):
those.
But uh, I was at we were atBuffalo trace and I did like an
Instagram story of there.
Like they're like just like theone like room I cannot within
10 minutes, my was blowing uppeople like can you give me a
bottle of this?
Give me a bottle of that?
You get?
I'm like yo time out.
Like like we don't even talk.
Like where'd you come from?
um, but yeah, no yeah, yeah,it's, uh, it's.
(45:36):
It's a fun thing to, you know,enjoy with other people and have
like conversations about, andit was.
It was actually really cool.
My parents were just down therefor the kentucky derby whenever
it was a few months ago, lastmonth, month before, I don't
know but they got me a.
They must have went to like adistillery and did like a from
the barrel to like the bottleand at the bottom was all like
(45:58):
the wood shard stuff, and then Idid one of those when I went.
I did one of those when I wentand I thought what I thought was
the alcohol proof of the bottlewas the price, and I was like,
oh, okay, I thought we weretalking about the proof, all
(46:20):
right, well, whatever, whatever,bud, yeah, it's a fun story.
I still have the bottle becauseit's the thing was it wasn't
even like that great, like itwas like okay, like I wish it
was a little better, so it'sstill just like sitting over
there.
I wish I should have finished it, but um, that's great oh man
this.
This episode has been so sweet.
(46:41):
This has been so good.
David, thank you so much forcoming on.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
I much for coming on.
I really appreciate it, thankyou, thank you, thank you.
I really appreciate you takingthe time.
It's cool connecting withpeople that resonate.
You're clearly one of thosepeople who believe in what
you're doing super passionate.
Thanks for sharing this moment,denny.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
Hope you all enjoyed that episode, David, that was
absolutely amazing.
Thank you so much for coming onand sharing and laughing and
making it such a really greattime.
If you want to learn more aboutmanagement and motion, what I
am hosting and putting on, I amsuper stoked.
Head on over toprivateclubradiocom slash mim.
Privateclubradiocom slash mim,M-I-M.
That's this episode, Until nexttime.
(47:20):
I'm your host, Denny Corby.
Catch y'all on the flippityflip.
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