469: Sweetest Gig in Clubs - BTS At Hershey Country Club w/ Kevin O'Brien

Ever wondered what it’s like to run a private club inside one of the most iconic hospitality brands in the world?

In this episode of The Private Club Radio Show, we go behind the scenes with Kevin O’Brien, General Manager of Hershey Country Club, to explore what it takes to lead a club that sits at the intersection of tradition, luxury, and the sweetest brand in America.

With over 13 years at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, Kevin brings a rare perspective on:

• Leading a private club within a corporate hospitality structure
• Building a culture of internal growth and leadership development
• Balancing guest experience across resort and member expectations
• Managing multiple outlets, teams, and operations under one vision
• What makes the Hershey model unique — and what other clubs can learn from it

From food and beverage to full club operations, Kevin’s journey is a masterclass in consistency, adaptability, and sweet leadership. 

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (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, every engagement
secrets, board governance, andeverything in between, all while
keeping it fun and light.
Whether you're a club veteran,just getting your feet wet, or
somewhere in the middle, you arein the right place.

(00:20):
I'm your host, Danny Corby.
Welcome to the show.
In this episode, we are talkingwith someone who has one of the
sweetest gigs in the clubindustry.
Literally.
We're chatting with KevinO'Brien, who's the GM of Hershey
Country Club, part of the largerHershey Entertainment and
Resorts company.
And if you think this is yourtypical private club, think

(00:41):
again.
See, Kevin has spent the last 13years growing within the Hershey
system, rising through food andbeverage operations, revenue
operations, the hospitalityleadership, and the park itself.
Before now, taking the reins atone of the most unique clubs in
the country.
And in this episode, we dig intowhat it's like to manage a club

(01:02):
that's part of one of theworld's most popular and most
recognizable brands.
We talk about how the teambalances resort operations with
private club expectations, theimportance of internal
promotions and building talentfrom within.
We also talk about what Kevin'slearned from managing multiple
outlets and cultures under oneroof, under one conglomerate,

(01:22):
and why leading at Hershey ismore about golf food or
facilities.
It's really all about the peoplebehind it.
So if you've ever wondered whatit's like to run a private club
inside of a corporate brand orthat's part of something larger,
or just one of the coolest clubsin the country, this episode is
for you.
Big shout out, big thanks tosome of our show partners.
You hear about them here on thechannel, as well as myself,

(01:45):
Danny Corby, the Denny CorbyExperience.
One of the most fun magic, minddreaming, and comedy shows you
can bring to your club,guaranteed.
I've done over 350, probablyover 400 clubs at this point.
But there's excitement, there'smystery, also there's magic,
mind dreaming, and comedy, a tonof laughs, gasps, and holy
craps.
If you want to learn more, headon over to dannycorby.com.
2025 is sold out.

(02:06):
Beginning of 2026 is prettyfull, but uh second half of the
year a little bit more open.
But if you want to ask aboutdates, head on over to
dannycorby.com, shoot me amessage, and we will chat.
I'm also really active onLinkedIn.
But private club radiolisteners, let's welcome to the
show Kevin O'Brien.
So, you know, most people theyhear Hershey and they think
chocolate.

(02:26):
You know, probably people in ourworld think more complex
hospitality.
But how do you describe theHershey ecosystem to people?

SPEAKER_01 (02:35):
Sure.
Um, so we it I have a lot ofpractice at this because even
when we're hiring employees,sometimes the employees don't
necessarily understand.
We have to kind of walk themthrough in the beginning.
Yeah.
Um so uh Hershey EntertainmentResorts, we are a um a private,
um, privately owned uhhospitality and tourism company.

(02:57):
And our biggest assets um andmost well known is Hershey Park
Amusement Park.
But then beyond that, we havethese supporting assets of that
exist of lodgings.
So the Hershey Lodge, the HotelHershey, um, we have the Hershey
Camping Resort.
Um, and then we also have otherwhat we call legacy assets,
which the Hershey Country Clubis one of them.
Um it was started by Mr.
Hershey, and so um it's uh umyeah, it's very near and dear to

(03:22):
what his legacy is.
Um so we are basically ahospitality and tourism company.
Um we run operations, whetherit's park operations, golf,
hotels, you name it.
Um but we we have the Hersheybrand on us.
Um so we have the use of some ofthese iconic trademarks, um,

(03:44):
both in our naming as well as injust you know a lot of the
collateral that we do.
Um but at the end of the day,those brands belong to uh the
Hershey Company, which is theone that most people are more
familiar with.
They're a global manufacturingcompany um that started with uh
caramels and chocolates andthrough um decades has kind of

(04:04):
diversified in the candy sphereas well as now really,
especially in the salty snacks,they've really made a lot of um
progress in that in that arenain the last few years.
Um so yeah, so they are apublicly traded, enormous global
manufacturing company of uh offood, and we are a tourism
company that um, you know, hostspeople and um and we uh try to

(04:30):
make them happy and make theirdebt.
So uh um the we're basicallysister companies because we're
owned by the same entity.
Um so uh the Hershey Trust,which is what Mr.
Hershey effectively left hisfortune to um with the means of
of supporting the Milton HersheySchool, which again is another
one of the assets, but theHershey Trust basically is
private endowment.

(04:51):
Um and that is really existingto support the school.
Um, but basically the profitsthat our organization makes um
goes as a dividend that's paidto the school um via uh via the
trust.
Um and then on the chocolatecompany side, on the on Hershey
Food side, um the trust isbasically the majority

(05:13):
stockholder and pretty muchprobably always will be the
majority stockholder.
So that makes them in theorytheir owner, even though they're
publicly traded company.
So um so that's kind of the thethe shortest version of that
that I can give.
No, it's uh it kind of thumbs itup.

SPEAKER_00 (05:28):
Yeah, it's it's it's it's such a you know it's a big
operation, then you starthearing about it, you're like,
oh, that really is a bigoperation.

SPEAKER_01 (05:36):
Yeah, yeah.
And I think the the the thingthat further adds to the
confusion for some people islike the town of Hershey, I mean
it's a town.
And so you know, if if you're aperson who owns a dry cleaner,
you might call it Hershey DryCleaners.
Now that doesn't necessarilymean that like it's part of our
company.
Um so so you get you know, youget a little bit of confusion of

(05:56):
people that maybe are newer tothis area where they're like,
well, where does the where wheredo the borders of this whole
thing begin and end?
Um um but yeah, so that's that'skind of um the the history and I
mean I could go deeper, butthat's that's the well I mean in
history you've been you've beenin the Hershey family of
entertainment and companies formany years now, right?

(06:19):
Uh yes.
Uh next year will be my 20thyear.
Um which um boy, I'm gettingold.
But uh it's crazy to think.
Um yeah, it doesn't seem like 20years ago when I joined the
organization, but um um butyeah, it's been a fun ride.
And um I'm fortunate to havekind of gotten a lot of

(06:40):
different opportunities withinthe organization.
Um, you know, and and I thinkone of the things that I tell
people when they when they cometo work for us is um there's
such a diverse uh canvas ofcareers that you can opt to look
at within this organizationwithout actually changing
employers.
Um and I think I'm kind of umI'm a good example of that.

(07:04):
When I started with thiscompany, I was working in the
park operation, food andbeverage.
Um, and then um I got promotedfrom there and was running
basically the revenue operationsof the park as the assistant GM.
Um, probably about 13 years ago,I came over to the club as the
AGM um and was running basicallyeverything except golf.
So I didn't run golf operationsor turf, but clubhouse

(07:26):
maintenance, food and beverage,recreation.
Um, and I did that for threeyears um before then moving over
to Hershey Lodge, one of ourlodging properties.
So, like right there, you countlike, okay, so you got a theme
park, a golf course, andlodging.
I mean, that's those are threevery, very different things.
Um and uh, but they all againthey all exist within our
umbrella.
So that was uh really just oneof the blessings that that I've

(07:48):
had with kind of being in theorganization.
And then I came back over togolf about a year and a half ago
as the GM.
Um, and the nice thing for me islike coming back to the
property.
I kind of already was familiarwith it.
Uh I knew some of the members,and so it was kind of good to
reacquaint with them, but at thesame time, um, some of our staff
here had had you know workedhere 10 years ago, so it wasn't
like a bunch of new faces.

(08:08):
So that's again, it's it's anice blessing to have um some
longer-tenured staff that thatknow their way around the venue
and know the legacy and and kindof have the It's also gotta be
neat too.

SPEAKER_00 (08:20):
Sorry to me interrupt, but it's also gotta
be cool from you know, I don'tknow how many people like follow
you or like know of you in thatarea, but at least it's like to
me, it's cool that other otheremployees see you maneuvering.
So now, you know, who knows?
Because I I I I don't know, I uhhopefully you tell the uh uh CEO
story, but to me it's kind oflike, oh, you know, someone

(08:42):
younger who might have been atthe hotel or maybe still is, and
then now it's like, oh, I'mgoing over the club.
And it's like, oh, like what'sthe club about?
So now it's like you may havebrought somebody more, like, you
know, help them maybe find theircareer path.
It's just neat that like, youknow, that they get to see this
movability happen.

SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
Yeah, I mean, it is nice to be able to because I
it's not uncommon that whetherit's our interns or um, you
know, just some of the thebeginning managers, but we'll do
I don't say career fairs, butbut we'll do we'll do networking
events where you kind of justget to talk about, hey, what
what got you here and what'syour background?

SPEAKER_00 (09:17):
In all the Percy companies.
Yeah, yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 (09:20):
It's really cool.
It's it's not, you know, I canspeak to a lot of different
things just because I've I'veseen a lot of different things.
But um, but yeah, I, you know,it's you you mentioned the the
visibility of kind of going fromone division to the next.
And uh I remember um uh a reallydear friend of mine um who I
don't work with, he was one ofmy college roommates, but um

(09:42):
we're just best of friends.
And um, you know, he's been withthe same employer for quite some
time too, and he doesn't work inin the same sphere that I do.
But um, but I remember, youknow, when I moved to Hershey
and uh and he was like, Oh, whatare you doing?
And I told him about the thepark job.
And then, you know, years laterit's like over in golf.
And then when I told him I wasleaving golf and going to
resorts and you know, uh hotels,and and it this just kind of

(10:04):
blew his mind that, like, youknow, wait, you're you're still
working for the same company.
And I said, Yeah.
And he goes, you know, I'venever forgotten this.
He said, You're either reallygood at your job or really bad
at it.

SPEAKER_00 (10:18):
And they just don't want to fire you to give you the
the the unemployment.

SPEAKER_01 (10:22):
Like, is this one big game of past the trash?
What's going on?
You know, so uh I I I actuallyuse that.
I I kind of bust that out in ina lot of these career sessions
with people, um, you know, justto be a little self-deprecating.
It's pretty funny.

SPEAKER_00 (10:35):
Just come stay here.
They'll never get rid of you.
Like I said, yeah, yeah.
That's all I had.

SPEAKER_01 (10:39):
Just keep moving around.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (10:44):
So funny.
That's so funny.
Well, what was it like?
So you you've worked all thesedifferent spots.
It was there a common themelooking back now, you know, that
now that you're because youknow, to me, like I'm gonna
focus more on clubs and stuff,obviously.
But like, you know, lookingback, has there been a common
theme in maybe your managementand your style?

(11:05):
Maybe it's the hospitality, butit's like looking through the
core things of everything.
Has there been like a commontheme there?

SPEAKER_01 (11:12):
So I think um really just kind of going back to just
core skills.
Um, I came to the organizationas a food and beverage person,
and my original job was food andbeverage dedicated.
Um, the first promotion I got,um, where I was the assistant GM
at the park and I was overseeingrevenue ops, it was the first
time in my career that Iactually had a job that wasn't

(11:34):
dedicated food and beverage.
Now, food and beverage stillrolled up to me as a revenue
operation, but I had multiplerevenue operations and um, you
know, ticketing, uh, the gamesdepartment, um, you name it.
But that was the first time thatthat it was like, wow, I'm no
longer just a food and beverageprofessional, um, which uh for
me uh I loved because thelearning opportunity of now all

(11:57):
of a sudden learning these otheruh disciplines.
I mean, there's a lot to them.
You know, ticketing operationsare very, very different than
food and beverage.
And food and beverage is is issuch its own discipline and and
has all of its lessons that youlearn from from um from
operating and uh you know, andand restaurants are different
than bars, and bars aredifferent than catering, and

(12:17):
catering is different than youknow, premium services and
stuff.
So it's it's it you know, foodand beverage, you can work a
long time in food and beveragein a lot of disciplines and not
get bored.
Um, and I was never bored, butbut I think the the skill set
for me that kind of carriedthrough was I think that the
food and beverage component andand those of us that that have
worked in that region know like,hey, margin management and being

(12:39):
efficient and and being able tokind of be as profitable as you
can um is really what set youapart.
Um and so I I think justlearning how to be a good
operator and a good problemsolver while at the same time
being efficient.
Um I learned those lessons youngand they've served me really.
I mean, I I still use them uhall the time.

SPEAKER_00 (12:59):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And and working in the parks,that's a lot of you probably
encounter more situationsrapidly.
So like if something comes up,like you can probably you can
you probably have to adapt alsotoo, just because the amount of
people coming through it, andand I'm sure because it's all
the same food and beveragestuff, but you put it inside of

(13:20):
a theme park, that changesprobably everything.
Because people can drink andhave fun, but you really don't
want them drunk because thenthey're either going to be
oblivious you know, annoying,puking on rot.
You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 (13:30):
There's so many different layers of stuff and oh
yeah, yeah, and and um it'sinteresting too, because even
you know, concessions within theamusement industry is very
different than concessions otherplaces.
I had a background inconcessions and professional
sports.
So to your point, heavydrinking.
Well, then you come into um atheme park environment where

(13:51):
there's little to none of it.
Um and so um, yeah, I I thinkthe things that you you learn
quickly the things you had tostay ahead of, and then like,
hey, if this pops up in themiddle of the season, this could
be a problem, or how do we keepit from popping up in the middle
of the season?
Um, but the thing that peopleused to ask me all the time, um,
you know, with us, you know,we're not obviously in Florida,
so we're not 12 months a yearrunning a um a uh a theme park.

(14:15):
Um, but they they would alwayssay, like, well, what do you do
in the off season?
And and I would laugh becauseI'm like, well, we don't really
have an off-season.
Like, well, yeah, but I meanlike in the winter.
I was like, well, and this justgoes to show how much simple
things like technology changethe game.
Um, you know, the park um has somany different subsets within it

(14:37):
of operations.
And one of them is just like umsignage.
Like they they have their owncreative team that can make
signs.
And, you know, in a park of thatsize, you make a lot of signs.
Uh well, the food and beverageoperation, the signage that we
would make every year was ourmenu boards.
Um, so they would make the menuboards that would go be the
placards that would go up in theconcession stands every year.

(14:57):
And I remember we had to haveour entire pricing strategy done
by the end of January everyyear, because we're then handing
these files over to an in-houseprinter, so to speak, that
basically has to print all thesemenu boards.
But it takes about six weeks todo that.
So, so in order for the park tobe ready when it opens on

(15:18):
opening day and have all thisstuff in place, you had to
basically have your pricingstrategy done by the end of
January.
And for us, you know, a lot ofthe suppliers work on a calendar
year too.
So they might say, hey, ourprice increases will roll out
one week into January.
It's like, okay, well, thatmight change a lot of what I'm
doing.
But if there's things that,like, hey, we want to look at a
chicken tender that has lesswriting on it this year, like

(15:39):
you want a product cutting.
So there was all this researchthat you wanted to do, and it's
crammed into this small windowof time that you had to get
done.
And people always thought, like,oh, you just must sit around
board in January.
And I I would always tell them,I'm more stressed out in January
than I am in July because uh itI'm racing this deadline.
And of course, now come spend aday.
Yeah, and with the advent oftechnology now, it's hilarious

(16:01):
because it's all digital menuboards now.
So, like, you don't have to doany of that.
Like, I mean, you still have tohave a pricing strategy, but
then you can just hit a buttonand hey, they're all updated.
You know, it's just crazy.

SPEAKER_00 (16:13):
Um, but yeah, well, um, 20 years ago that was like
that, but now it's like Disneyand Universal, they probably
change it by the hour.

SPEAKER_01 (16:21):
So yeah, oh yeah supply and demand.
Yeah, absolutely.
Um so yeah, it's just adifferent world.

SPEAKER_00 (16:27):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And and your boss now was yourboss from years ago too.
Just talking about, you know,because I thought that that was
really cool when when we weretalking uh before the recording.
Um we were talking about likelike networking and just how you
meet people and like you know,you meet people in different
spots, you never know how it'sgonna come back being like full
full circle.

(16:48):
And and now your your currentboss basically, like you guys
were Yeah, so it it is it's agood networking story.

SPEAKER_01 (16:56):
Um so I'll start by saying, um, well, first of all,
Denny, you're my hero becauseyou're doing what I like I
dreamed of doing when I wasyounger.
I wanted to be in broadcasting.
Like so I remember being incollege and and being the poster
child of the kid that didn'tknow what they were gonna do
when they grow up.
And I still tell people I don'tknow what I want to do when I
grow up.
But um, I kind of when I chose amajor, um, you know, you had to.

(17:20):
It's like sophomore is over, yougotta time to launch here, kid.
Um, and so I majored in umcommunication studies with a
concentration of radio TVbroadcasting.
And and my dream was like to doprofessional sports
broadcasting.
Like I thought, like, this isamazing, this would be
incredible.
Um, and um, and I was going toschool in upstate New York, and
when I got out of school, um I Ihad some small level things,

(17:42):
although most of them were afterI moved out of New York, um,
despite New York being this hugemedia center, it was it was
actually easier to find workoutside of New York.
Um, but um I remember myintroduction to what I'll call
my real career, um, which was uhit ended up being a professional
sports, but it's been food andbeverage.
I was living in Charlotte, NorthCarolina, and the um it was the

(18:05):
year that the Panthers got uhthe NFL franchise.
And so they were like the talkof the town.
They were like the biggest thingever.
And I at the time was justworking in restaurants um and uh
waiting tables bartending, um,you know, living the the
25-year-old you know life thatyou live, um, especially as
bartender.
Yeah, maybe play golf in the inthe day and go to work at night,
uh all that fun.

(18:26):
But um so they had this hiringfair, and um I got hired by the
company that um had the contractfor the Panthers um for that
first season, um, basically justworking in the suites, um, uh
overseeing like a block ofsuites on game day.
And the the the that companythen got the contract um to open
the Washington CommandersStadium the following year.

(18:48):
And um, there are two very, verydifferent openings because when
we opened Carolina, like thestadium was built and basically
ready for the Panthers.
So it was like waiting for them.
Whereas with the Commanders, thestadium, I think, was still
being built the day they kickedoff.
Like it was, it was it was anightmare.
Oh, it was brutal.
It was so bad.
So um It was a very roughopening that did not go well and

(19:12):
like you know, left scars.
And um, for me, the job that Igot hired into was a much, much
bigger job than I had with thewith uh with Carolina.
So um it really, you know, it'sone of those times in your life
where you recognize like I amgrossly in over my head here,
but I'm just gonna work as hardas I can to kind of you know be
a successful.
And if they fire me at the endof the year, so be it.

(19:35):
But but it's not gonna bebecause I didn't try my hardest.
Right.
Um and so the other dynamic thathappened during that was the
Cook family, um, Jack Ken CookSr.
had passed away.
And um uh so his son, John KenCook, was basically the owner of
the team, but it was just untilthe estate was being settled.
And as the estate settlementwent, uh Daniel Snyder's

(19:58):
ownership group is the one whobasically bought the team.
So going into that second year,um, we had been running the
suite operation in the stadium.
Going to that second year, welost the suite operation because
Snyder awarded it to um acompany, Bethesda, that I guess
he worked with in otherfunctions.
It kind of didn't matter that wehad a contract like that.

(20:18):
Yeah, yeah, okay, whatever.
So um, because it was a footballcount um and it was not a domed
stadium 12 months out of theyear, you're oftentimes um sent
in the offseason to work otherevents.
So I was out in Seattle openingup the Mariner's New Stadium,
and I got a phone call from oneof the guys that I worked with,
but not for.
Um his name was John Lawn, andhe was the CEO, uh, he was the

(20:41):
uh general manager of um of ourgroup there at the stadium.
And he said, I have some goodnews and bad news.
I was like, okay, what's badnews?
He said, Well, um, we lost thesuite contract.
You know, Snyder hired thisother company, so we we you you
you basically don't have thatjob anymore.
And I was like, huh.

(21:01):
Well, I don't know what the goodnews is, but it better be really
good because that's really badnews.
And uh and so he said, Well, umthe the commanders have agreed
to put a major capitalinvestment in the stadium with
in-seat service on the clublevel, and it's gonna require a
lot of infrastructure.
And I need somebody whobasically run the club level,
the club level bars, the in-seatservice.

(21:22):
And I know you're alreadyfamiliar with the stadium, and I
know you work hard.
Now, we didn't know each otherthat well because the first
couple of seasons, I was reallyon the catering side of that
business with sweet catering,and he was on the concession
side.
So even though our offices werelike literally eight feet from
each other, we barely talked toor even saw each other because
we just worked in differentparts of the stadium.

(21:42):
Um but um but he had always beena straight shooter and and um so
I was like, yeah, okay, thatthat sounds good.
My entire family's on the EastCoast, so let me come back and
and and do that.
And um, over the course of thenext then three years or so, he
and I worked really, reallyclosely together and just had a
lot of fun.
Um and um, you know, he taughtme a lot of lessons about just
um leadership and and at thesame time, um he was very, very

(22:06):
good at making you feel bothempowered as well as confident
in your job.
Because at the time when I firstgot there, it was by far the
biggest job I'd ever had.
I probably wasn't qualified forwhat I got hired for.
But within two years of justbeing around John, um, he was
really good at kind of givingyou credit for things you didn't
even do.
And you're like, uh, you know, Ididn't do that, right?

(22:28):
And he goes, No, no, that wasfine.
You know, it's like, okay, cool.
Um, so you just kind of grew asan individual and and you you
became more empowered and youeventually just became more
confident in your abilities.
And you know, those thingsreally serve you well as you
kind of move forward.
Um so fast forward, um, I endedup leaving professional sports
with that same company and andum taking on a convention center

(22:50):
role that was like down in NorthCarolina.
Um kind of offered a little morestability at the time.
Um, and you know, you didn'thave to move every six months to
handle an opening someplaceelse.
Um but um he and I stayed intouch.
I mean, we're good friends, andI had a lot of respect for him.
And so um it was probably, Idon't know, four or five years
later he reached out with thisopportunity in Hershey.

(23:11):
And at first I said, no way, Ireally enjoy living in North
Carolina.
I don't, I'm not, I'm I'm aNortheast kid, I don't want to
move back up north.
This is this is great being inthe south.
Um, but he did something smartwhere um after I I think I
turned him down two or threetimes, he's like, why don't you
come up with your wife and justlook at the look at the
opportunity?
And you know, when we did thatand we came to Hershey, and you

(23:31):
just saw like what the town waslike, it became very apparent
that it was a great place toraise a family.
And so it, you know, at thatpoint, it's like, yeah, we we
should do this.
This is a good opportunity.
Um, so the job that I got hiredfor was actually the job that he
was vacating because he had beenpromoted um into uh into higher
one.
So I reported to him, which wasnice also.
You know, you're coming intosomething, and the one thing you

(23:51):
know is like, okay, I know myboss is.
Um, but now as the years havegone by, um, he's done well for
himself.
He's now the CEO of ourorganization.
He's done a great job overseeinga lot of, you know, just the
expansion of the company as wellas some of the challenging
times, you know, the challengesof COVID and and and you know,
what that did to the industry.
Um, so he's just proven himselfa very adept leader.
But um, but you know, havingsomebody like that that you know

(24:14):
is in your corner and and youknow, you still learn things
from is a great value.
And and for me, um, you know, II tell that story to the same
thing.
I tell it to to younger peopleto talk about just the the value
of relationships and how um, youknow, hey, um, it's really easy
to just get somebody's name andconnect on LinkedIn and
LinkedIn's great, but but thehuman factor of what we do is is

(24:37):
big and and staying in touchwith people and you never really
know the opportunity that youmight find based on on people
you know or people they know.
Um and um it's it's justeverything we do in in
hospitality is a people it's apeople business.
I mean, you gotta you gotta begood with people.
And um, yeah, that is that hasserved served, I guess, both of

(24:58):
us well.

SPEAKER_00 (24:58):
Yeah.
Yeah, and I'm and I'm sure beingin your role, you've probably
seen a lot of people who getinto hospitality and you're
like, Do you really want to behere?

unknown (25:07):
Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
You realize what the job is, right?
And like you know you work ontips.
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (25:12):
Yeah.
Especially as a customer.
You know, you go places andyou're like, you're aware that
I'm supposed to tip you, right?

SPEAKER_00 (25:20):
You know, I can see your facial expressions.

SPEAKER_02 (25:23):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (25:24):
It it it's it really is mind-boggling.
I I kind of think this is notthe industry for people to just
you know spin their wheels toact like it.
That that's not what it is.
There's there's yeah, other onesyou can do that in that probably
pay you better.
But um, but yeah, that's it'smind-boggling.
And you're right, you still seethat.

SPEAKER_00 (25:40):
Yeah.
And it it it has it been unique,and I I'm just I'm shooting from
the hip here.
Has it been unique because I'mI'm thinking about your previous
positions.
All of them are very fast-paced.
Clubs are a little bit slower.
Yeah.
Has have you has that and andand and by slower, you know, I'm
just thinking, you know, itprobably there probably is

(26:01):
things, there are there thereare things that pop up and
things, but compared to likeconvention center and amusement
parks to clubs, like I thinkprobably a slower pace.
But that's that has to be nicebecause now after years of
finally doing all that.
But I think because you're inall those positions, because you
had a lot of rapid fire thinkingon your feet, now when something
happens at a club, you know,you're you you have so much in

(26:23):
your Rolodex.
Wow, now I'm I'm dating my, youknow, you have so much already
in your experience that now youit's almost just like, oh, all
right, been there, done that.

SPEAKER_01 (26:31):
Yeah.
Yeah, there's definitely acontinuity factor that exists in
in the club industry that um, atleast for me, I find very
appealing.
Um, you know, to kind of compareit even just to convention
center work.
Um, you know, you could havethis great group that comes in
over the course of like three orfour days in a convention center
and and they they're spending alot of money.

(26:51):
You know, they're great, they'rethe exact kind of business that
you want to have.
But if you've never served thembefore, those four days are
going to have a lot ofdiscovery.
Um and and you are to a certainextent at the mercy of how good
the event planner is.
Um, because if if they ifthey're really good at their
job, they've prepared you forwhat's coming.
If they're just okay, you'regonna get a lot of curveballs

(27:15):
that you have to then figure outin in real time.
And and and you also have tokind of be able to keep your
team focused, like not let themget frustrated by curveballs
because it's like, hey guys, Iunderstand that maybe the event
planner should have told usthis, but this is what we do.
We we deal with curveballs everyday.
So don't let it, you know, don'tlet it knock you off kilter.
Um, so um there's definitely notas much of that in the club

(27:38):
industry.
And and um, you know, I had a agentleman that I I you know, he
was he was a mentor of mineyears back, and um it was it was
long before I worked in the clubindustry when I was very curious
about it, and I was kind ofasking questions, and he said,
well, and and and he he said itfunny because he's like, Well,
the bad thing about the clubindustry is the guest never

(27:58):
leaves.
And and by that he meant likeyou see the same people every
day.
Yeah.
Now, I kind of I I laughed atthat, but I I kind of think it's
the exact opposite.
I think that's the great thingabout the club industry is um
that you get to know your guestsand and you find out what makes
them tick and you find out, youknow, not just where they're
from or hey, you know, wheretheir kids go to school, but

(28:19):
they they just you learn theirhot buttons and and the things
that really engage them.
And you can't do that to thesame degree in lodging.
Um, you know, you you the sureyou might have some guests that
come every year, but generallyspeaking, you're dealing with a
new guest, a transient guest,and everything that you do.
Whereas in the club, um youreally, really get to make

(28:40):
relationships.
And um, I personally have reallyenjoyed that.
I I think it's one of theblessings of what we do in this
industry.
Um and I I can't remember if Itold you this story before, but
my my my daughter's a freshmanin college and she's going to
school um down in the state ofFlorida.
And um, so this is the firsttime she's left home.
And I had four differentinstances of members, and none

(29:04):
of them related to the otherone, but they're all members
that um you know spend thewinter in Florida.

SPEAKER_02 (29:09):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (29:09):
And um, they randomly stopped by or called me
and they're like, hey, I'mheading down to Florida next
week with the family.
We'll be there the next fivemonths.
Like, if your daughter needssomething, you call me.
And I'm like, how did you evenknow my daughter goes to the
common quarter?
Like, I but that's that kind ofextended family feel that the
industry has.

(29:29):
And I think it's it's so uniqueto this industry.
There's not a lot of otherthings that I can really compare
that to.
Um and and I love it.
And but it's not for everybody.
I mean, it's amazing.
I meet people, I tell them whatthey what I do, and people are
like, oh, the members must betough.
Like, the members are great.
I love the members, they'reawesome.
Um, and I mean they're thelifeblood of what we do, but but
they're people, and and youknow, getting those connections

(29:52):
is you never get tired of that.
It's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (29:54):
Yeah.
And and and the club's coolbecause you are privately owned.
So So you're not a member ownedclub and you're part resort club
too.
So you have you have yourmembers, you have your
membership, but you also you'realso open to non-members and
people coming coming toexperience Hershey.
And you have a in uh you havewhat two courses?

(30:16):
Like you you have you have a bigpiece of property.

SPEAKER_01 (30:18):
We do, yeah.
So but but you're right, it's abig differentiator.
Being corporately owned, um,because some of um some of what
we do and and why we do it andhow we do it, um, it's just so
different than than in a fullymember-owned club.
Um but yeah, we we have twocourses, 36 halls of golf.
Um actually technically we haveum um 45 halls of golf because

(30:40):
we also have Spring Creek, whichis a uh a public course, uh it's
a public um nine-hole executivecourse that um we kind of run,
but also we'll like inpartnership with Milton Hershey
School because the school wantsto develop um a golf team and
have the you know the kidslearning golf and stuff.
So um uh but that's a publiccourse.
It's kind of across the streetfrom where we are.
Um but the east and west courseum really are are the private,

(31:02):
um, the private venues.
The west course is the originalone, um, and the east course was
uh was built in the 80s, butit's pretty neat because they're
totally different.
Um uh the east course is a uh aGeorge Fazio design.
It just has those those brutalgreens with the soft shelves
that you know you you think youhit this perfect approach shot,
and then you walk up and yourballs 20 yards off the green.

(31:24):
You're like, what happened?
Um but our West Course is ourmore iconic one.
You go by uh what was Mr.
Hershey's home, uh High PointMansion on the fifth hole, which
is a par three, it's probablyour most iconic hole.
Um, and um uh you just kind oftraverse the original property.
It's it's pretty neat.
Um but yeah, I I think the um Iguess the assets that we have

(31:48):
and how we kind of get to usethem is is is fun.
I mean, it's it we we really getto do um some different things.
Um we start every year, usuallyin in May, with a Founders Day
event celebrating like thefounding of the club, where um
Mr.
Hershey, after his wife hadpassed away, uh like I said, his
mansion's like right on theproperty of the of the club, um,

(32:11):
he literally moved into thesecond floor of of the mansion,
and the first floor served asthe original clubhouse.
Um so um, I mean, just again,you talk about you talk about
million and billionaires.
You don't see benevolence likethis.
Yeah, I mean, he was truly aunique person, um, and and very,
very humble and down-to-earth.
Um, so one of the events that wedo is called Founders Day, where

(32:33):
um we basically kick off theseason um and um people they
don't exactly play the originaltrack of how it was laid out,
um, but the whole numbers kindof change a little bit based on
the routing.
Um, so now like the first holeyou're playing is from the front
lawn of the mansion, becausethat's what the first hole used
to be.

SPEAKER_00 (32:51):
Um and um now, do we make people also shoot with like
old school golf clubs and stufftoo?
Like you really make it go allout.

SPEAKER_01 (32:59):
I mean that if if we had a heavy inventory of
persimmon clubs, that would bepretty awesome.
Um but yeah, no, I think theygotta make it over like the
pants with the high socks, likethe hats, the whole there there
are some that will come in insome uh interesting getups,
which I you know we we alwaysappreciate.
But uh yeah, it would be neat ifyou could really kind of bring

(33:20):
it completely back in time likethat.
That would uh that would be afun, a fun thing to do.

SPEAKER_00 (33:24):
Yeah.
Yeah.
From your whole your wholeexperience, Hershey and all uh
the stuff before, are there anylike habits you learned early on
when it comes to like all ofthese spaces that you've brought
with you that like you justalways always have?
Like is there like a habit orjust something like uh a core,
something like you learned earlyon that you just no matter every

(33:46):
position, you've like alwaysbrought it with you?

SPEAKER_01 (33:49):
I I think um when you have the responsibility of
employees, um, and whetherthey're your direct reports or
whether um you know they're theentire employee um uh staff, uh
you have to be human in in whatyou do.
I mean, the the days of of theleaders just yelling and

(34:10):
screaming and barking, likethose things, thank God, have
died.
Um, and and you just don't youcan't survive that way managing
people.
But um, but I think just showingpeople your humanity, um, you
know, if you hear like, hey,this employee, their their pet
died or their or theirgrandmother died, like just you
know just touch bases and say,hey, how are you doing?
It's just something that we cando for you.

(34:32):
Um it it really it leaves amark.
And and as somebody who, youknow, I mean, I've experienced
these things.
And when my employer um wouldunexpectedly send flowers to a
funeral or have people reach outand do things, you're like, wow,
like I I wasn't expecting that.
Um it just totally caught me offguard.
So I think the human element ofwhat we do is huge.
And I think it it really, reallygoes far when you're able to

(34:54):
show people, hey, I understandkind of not necessarily
everything that you do in termsof all the components of your
job, but I understand howdifficult and challenging it can
be.
Um and and one of the um one ofthe tricks that I've used, um,
again, back in my uh going way,way back, you know, in my time

(35:14):
in Carolina when I was workingin in uh at football, well, in
the offseason, I I actuallyworked in a convention center
too, the where I was a banquetserver.
Um and so, you know, I gotbanquet trained.
So like I know how to carry atray.
I know how to stack a tray.
Um, you know, like I know how toclear a room from being a
banquet server.
And um when I moved over fromthe golf club over then into the

(35:38):
convention center, it was prettyentertaining because you know
there was a large staff there, alarge staff of of uh employees
that you need because theconvention center was pretty
big.
And um, the first time we had abig uh meal event where like the
entire staff is there, I madesure at some point during that
event that I went out and juststarted busting tables and then

(35:59):
walking a tray.
And it was just to kind of makepeople know, like, I know how to
do this and I've walked in yourshoes and like I can help you
when you need it.
You know, now it doesn't meanthat every day that I'm running
out and busting tables, but butI think when you're able to kind
of just send those little subtlenuances to people to be like,
now I I kind of know what, like,I know what you're going
through, or I know like, hey, ifyou're gonna do this for 1500

(36:22):
people, that's a lot of trades.
I get it.
Um, you know, and and when youhave those opportunities, just
pitch in and help, and andyou're not doing it to show, it
probably sounds like I'm sayingyou're doing it to show off.
That's not how I mean it.
Um you're doing it to kind oflend some credibility to
yourself, but at the same timemake them understand like, hey,
like if you're having a bad dayand there's aspects of this that

(36:45):
are challenging for you, or youfeel like, hey, if we just did
this, it would make this thingbetter.
Like when you're able to kind ofshow that you've walked in those
shoes, I think you instantlybecome more approachable.
Um and as leaders, we just haveto be approachable.
Like people have to be able tocome to talk to us because
they're gonna talk to us about alot of different things.
And not all of them have to dowith their job descriptions.
Um so I have just found thatthat's been a really, really

(37:07):
useful trait.
Like when you're able to showpeople, yeah, I I kind of have
some knowledge about what to doand how to do this.
And um, it comes in prettyhandy.

SPEAKER_00 (37:15):
Well, I think it probably also helps it lets
people know they can't mess withyou either.
Like it's almost like you know,you can't BS a BSser.
So it's it's like, you know, ifsomeone says something to you,
you're gonna you're gonna knowright off the bat, like, hey,
that's not really gonna takethat long.
Or that's you, you know, you soit it's it's it's yeah.
And just being able to do,especially now, which I you

(37:37):
know, I'm sure I and this islike a big like assumption, but
I would assume you know, youprobably have had some staffing
issues, as has everybody atcertain points with different
events.
So you've probably more recentlythan you might have like to
admit how to grab a couple moretables or clear some things.
And I think that's what I seeoften too now is um between
between good clubs, I shouldn'tsay good, good clubs, bad clubs,

(37:59):
but like, you know, good, goodleaders, okay leaders is you
know, I can almost tell too,like I see a lot more club
leaders taking, you know, goingin the kitchen, running, you
know, like I'm I'm I'm doing ashow and they're like, hey,
listen, I gotta go help in theback, like kitchen's crazy.
And they just like pick up andgo, and I was like, hell yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (38:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I I have a silly um a funnystory about this, and it's a day
that I'll never forget.
Um when I was working uh at thelodge, um So we we were
fortunate that we had a lot ofrepeat business.
So a lot of the groups that wewould get, we would get every
year.
And there was one of them thatwould come in January, like
probably second or third week inJanuary every year.

(38:38):
But a big group, probably likeum, you know, seven, eight
hundred people.
And um, they would have like aplated dinner um on one of the
nights that they were there.
Um now the the the great part ofthis slice of business is the
fact that, you know, in Januaryin central Pennsylvania, that's
typically not when people areplanning conventions, like, hey,
yeah, let's go someplace whereit's snowing and cold.

(38:59):
Um but we'd had this group forlike decades.
They're just a great group.
Um and uh when they they cameinto town, I think on a Sunday
and the plated meal event, Ithink was like that Tuesday
night.
And on Monday night, itblizzarded.
Like, I mean, I think we gotlike two feet of snow.
So the group is alreadyin-house.

(39:20):
So um, so you don't have toworry about the group getting
there, they're already there.
But the employees, they're notthere.
Like they have to commute towork, and of course, they're all
snowed in.
Um, and one of the things thatwe used to do to try to kind of
help ourselves in thesesituations is like, oh, well,
hey, if we know a weathersystem's coming in, we'll free
up some rooms for employees tostay in.
So, you know, hey, the AM cooksand the AM housekeepers, they're

(39:43):
already here and you don't haveto worry about major employee
shortages.
Um, but this group is big enoughthat they used up our room
inventory.
So we couldn't have, it was likethe perfect storm.
You couldn't have employeesalready there, and then you got
this snowstorm that was brutal.
And I remember going into thatday thinking, this is gonna be a
long day.
Like, I need to make sure I'mgetting there early because you
know I don't even know if we'regonna have enough people to get

(40:04):
the continental breakfast out.
Um, so I probably woke up atlike 4:30 in the morning and I'm
getting dressed in my closet andit's it's like pitch black
because I don't want to turn onlights and wake people up.
Um, and so I I uh I knew like Iwas probably gonna have to dig
my truck out.
So I threw on my snow boots andI just grabbed my work shoes and
kind of threw them in the truckand I get to work.
And uh, you know, and that wasan adventure in and of itself.

(40:26):
But uh but by the time I got towork, um, I go to change out of
my snow boots and I realized Ipicked up two black shoes, but
they're both they're differentshoes, they're two left shoes.
So now I can either keep my snowboots on and look like an idiot
all day, or just throw on thesetwo black shoes that actually
looked a lot alike, but therewere two left shoes.

(40:47):
So I'm thinking like, oh, I'm anidiot.
Okay, well, this is gonna bepainful, but we're wearing two
left shoes all day.
No.
And then the the perfect stormthat I just kind of described of
happening where now, like youhave 700 people that you have to
do this plated meal for.
And um we had six banquetservers to do 700 people plated

(41:07):
meal.
Um, and so any manager that wasaround, like, we just grab like,
you need to come over here, youneed to help us just kind of get
this food out.
We did like a crash course tolike show them how to like carry
a tray.
But we didn't even care if theydidn't know how.
It's like just get food out ofthere, it's fine.
But I remember one of the moreexperienced banquet servers.
I basically was paired up withhim, and he's like, All right,
uh, we got this third.

(41:28):
And I'm like, the third of what?
And he goes, the room.
And I'm like, what?
Third of the room, I guess twoof us.
Um, but it was like it was fun.
And I know it sounds crazy tosay it was fun, but it you knew
that you were so screwed,regardless of what was gonna
happen, that it was like, hey,we're just gonna knock this out.

(41:50):
And thankfully, the the guests,um, they were farmers and
agrarian people, and theycouldn't have been more
understanding.
Half of them were trying to helpus.
We're like, no, no, no, sitdown, sit down.
You'll have to clear the table,we'll take care of it.
But it it's a day I'll neverforget uh because you know,
obviously I'm running around twoleft shoes all day.
But um, but you know, what youwere asked to do that day, you

(42:11):
knew you're probably gonna gothe rest of your career and not
have to do something like this.
Yeah.
And being able to put a happyface on this as if like this is
gonna be awesome was kind oflike the only thing you could do
there.
And even in hindsight, like Itell the story, I laugh because
I just think the whole thing wasjust so ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 (42:29):
Because you can imagine anything that happens
that day is gonna be funny.
Like, like I'm like some likesomebody goes, Can I get some
salt and pepper?
Oh, yeah, okay.
Like you you just laugh and walkaway.
Like you gotta get out a hundredmeals in what, 10?
Like it's silly.

SPEAKER_01 (42:43):
Yeah, I mean, it was just it was absurd, but uh, but
I'll never forget that day.
And uh yeah, yeah.
And some people start calling meloopy after that because I'm two
left shoes, and they're like,hey, loopy's here.
I'm like, yeah, thanks, thanksfor that.

SPEAKER_00 (42:56):
Your dogs must have been barking.

SPEAKER_01 (42:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ooh, blisters.

SPEAKER_00 (43:02):
Um so working in the Hershey, you know, well, I'll
I'll just call it the Hersheyconglomerate of of things.
Have you in I would assume clubclub people are, but like when
you're in amusement parks andhotels, I'm sure you get like
really weird requests.
Have you ever had like somecrazy just Hershey things that

(43:23):
because of where it's at, peoplelike, can I get a 2,000 pounds
of kisses like melted in thetub?
Like, do you ever get just realweird stuff?

SPEAKER_01 (43:32):
Yeah, you know, so I I think one of the things that's
funny is um, you know, becauseyou have this association with
this brand.
Um, when you go places, I havenow learned, like, if I go to a
convention or or anything, Ineed to bring chocolate with me.
Because when I show up,everybody says, the Hershey guy
didn't bring chocolate.
And you know, you get shamed onthat like once or twice.

(43:55):
And you're like, all right, I ambringing chocolate every time I
go someplace because, you know,everybody wants to throw it at
you.
Um, so like that's one of thethings I've learned is yeah,
always travel with chocolate ifyou work for Hershey because
people are going to expect youto give it to them.
Um one of the more recentrequests that I got here at the
club, I was kind of alluding toMr.
Hershey's mansion.

(44:15):
Um, so I had somebody who wantedto propose um to their future
fiance, literally uh uh in frontof the mansion.
Um, and and you know, there'ssome intricacies of that that
are a little bit challengingbecause part of it is you got a
golf hall there.
Um, but then the other part ofit is we don't technically own
the mansion.
So I can't just be like, yeah,just stroll through the mansion
and like get get engaged there,and yeah.

(44:36):
So uh so there's stuff like thatthat you kind of have to
navigate.
Um and then probably one of themore common ones, um, one of the
neat things that that I thinkthe destination has done is in
the uh the beverage pro uhprogram that we run, um, we we
generate chocolate martinis.
So good.
Yeah, Hershey branded chocolatemartinis.

(44:57):
And so we like we came up withlike, okay, this is going to be
the signature Hershey chocolatemartini.
Um, but to do that, we literallyhad to meet with the Hershey
company to get their blessingfor the brand to be on a
cocktail, you know, becausethey're not they don't sell
Hershey liquor.
Um you know it's so so you gottamake sure that with these brands
that you're treating with therespect and and at the same time
understanding like I don't ownthis brand, you own this brand,

(45:18):
so I have to make sure thatyou're comfortable with this.
Um so and this is kind of goingback several years, but
originally we started out withlike just this signature
martini, but then since thenwe've we've expanded this
portfolio where there'sprobably, if I had to guess,
like six or eight differentbranded martinis.
There's a Reese's peanut buttercup one, there's like a special
dark one.
Uh Twizzler's one, like they'reall cocktails.

(45:40):
And in each instance, theHershey Company has to approve
it and you know, and like wesend photos.
Try it out.
Yeah, of course.
Um so it's it's been a funventure over the course of time.
Um but probably the most commonrequest I get is people say, Can
you send me the recipe?
Um, you know, they always wantto know what the recipe is.
And and we're happy to share it.
It's not it's not anythingreally esoteric.
Um, but um, over the course oftime, one of the things that's

(46:02):
been interesting is some of thethe liquor suppliers that you've
used, you know, they might go bythe wayside.
So um I know with like thepeanut butter cup one, what it
started out with, you know, wehad to kind of change it because
you could no longer get thisone, you know, Caribbean peanut
butter rum that we were buying.
Like it just like couldn't getit anymore.
So uh you kind of almost had tostart from scratch.

(46:22):
So so those are very those arethe Hershey things that kind of
that come up from time to timethat are that are fun.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (46:30):
That's really funny.

unknown (46:31):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (46:35):
So you you become the guy, like the the candy guy.
He always has candy, which isprobably a good or bad thing.
His kids are coming up.
Hey, do you have do you havecandy?
It's like, don't ask that,please.
Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (46:44):
And and I and honestly, I still forget.
Like, um, yeah, I I it'sridiculous.
And then, oh well, and then thispast summer, I was going down,
um, I was on vacation.
I was gonna be down in Georgiaplaying golf, and there was a a
course down there that that um,you know, the private course,
but they were gonna let me on.
So I thought, okay, well, Igotta bring them chocolate.
So the night before I went toleave, um, you know, I ran out,

(47:08):
bought like two bags ofchocolate.
And then um, I'm home and I'mpacking my bags, getting ready
to go.
And my daughter walks in andshe's eating chocolate.
I'm like, Where did you getthat?
She's like, oh, there's a bagdownstairs.
I'm like, no, no.
How was it for you?
So yeah.
Like the next day now, I gottago out and buy more chocolate.

(47:31):
So yeah, this is uh this is thetricky things about a life of a
Hershey person.

SPEAKER_02 (47:35):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (47:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (47:39):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (47:40):
Um, this is this is really good.
This is good.

SPEAKER_01 (47:46):
Um, I can give you um, I can give you a really
silly story that really doesn'thave to do with Hershey, but but
has to do with my stadium life,if you if you want that one.
Please um so we um that firstyear when we had opened um the
Commander's Stadium, and I wastelling you, you know, it was it
was a rough year.
If things could go wrong, theydid.

(48:06):
And and even things that youthought like you were prepared
for, you weren't.
Um and one of the standardthings that I think uh it
probably to this day stillhappens, um really the day
before a game, you had to turnin all your radios um um to the
safety and security team becausethey would reprogram them and

(48:26):
make sure that the channels hadintegrity of like, hey, this is
Stadium Ops and this is you knowjanitorial services, this is
food and beverage, whatever.
Um, and they just had to makeher all these frequencies were
very dedicated.
And so it was the, I'm prettysure it was the first Monday
night football game that washosted in that stadium.
Um, and the commanders wereplaying um the Tennessee Titans

(48:47):
and Steve McNair.
And um, so the the uh the crowdwas pretty pumped up about this.
They they they were lookingforward to this game and Monday
night, and you know, and we'relike, hey, it's our first Monday
night.
It's pretty, it's pretty neat.
And um, so I'm like runningaround sweet level the entire
time.
Um and um the guy was a seniorvice president of the Redskins,
and now I knew his name becausethe opening had gone so poorly

(49:10):
that like I had to meet with himseveral times.
Um but but like we weren'texactly like you know close
buddies and like you know, hey,he's gonna call me in my free
time to see if I want to hangout.
Um and so all of a sudden inlike the second quarter, I hear
him on our frequency, which hewas never like, you know, he was
never on our radio frequency.

(49:32):
And he's like, Hey, O'Brien, Ineed to meet with you.
Where's O'Brien?
And I'm like, oh, this cannot begood.
And so I'm like telling where Iam.
And of course, he couldn't befarther away from me.
So now over the course of thenext like three minutes, like
we're doing radio calls saying,like, okay, I'm going this way.
He's like, stop talking on theradio, call me.
And of course, there's abajillion people in the stadium.
You can't connect a cell phonecall.

(49:52):
So um, I'm I'm still talking tohim on the radio.
And every time I do, he yells atme.
So when I finally meet up withhim, he's like, Give me your
radio.
And I was like, Well, I'm like,I don't even know what I did
wrong here.
And uh, and so he starts walkingwith my radio.
I'm like, Well, what what areyou doing?
And he's like, You didn't getyour radio program.
And I said, No, they all gotthey all got brought down.
They, you know, safety securitydidn't they they reissued them

(50:14):
to us.
I I I did.
And he's like, Well, yourradio's feeding into Steve
McNair's helmet.
The Titans are destroying us.
They're like, who's this O'Brienguy?
So apparently, like all of myradio communications that night
were feeding into Steve McNair'shelmet while he was trying to
call plays on the field.
And um, my only regret in lifeis I never got to meet Steve

(50:37):
McNair because I would haveliked to have been like, hey, I
don't know if you remember thisgame.
I'm that guy.

SPEAKER_00 (50:45):
Question for you.
Does this sound familiar?
Yeah, we need more cheese.
Like you start like justwondering what if so, what were
you saying that he was hearingin his helmet?
Like, like what sort of thingswere you probably saying that
he's getting?
Like, what in the world is goingon?

SPEAKER_01 (51:04):
So, on suite level, like uh pre-game and right
around the time the game'sbeginning, you're you're putting
out calls because basically allthe food has left the kitchen,
but it's going into pantriesaround the stadium.
And then from the pantries, thestaff will then run it to the
individual suites.
But you generally want to havelike you don't want the suites
on one side of the stadium tolike be done with service and

(51:26):
the other ones haven't startedyet.
So like you're you're kind oflike a big traffic guard of
like, okay, hey, you know,commence, you know, firing
pizzas and sending this stuffout, and you're like just
shooting those kind ofcommunications out.
But then once the once the gameis started, um, there was a
select group of suites that Itypically wanted to get updates
on, either because they wereVIPs or potentially like player

(51:49):
family suites, or they mighthave been a suite that just on
opening day things went reallypoorly.
So I want to make sure likeeverything in that one's pretty
good.
Yeah.
So I was probably making radiocalls asking for status updates
on those suites.
Um, you know, because thatstadium had literally 204 luxury
suites.
It was two levels of suites.
So if I was individually goingto check that myself, it would

(52:12):
probably take more than thefirst half to make it to all of
them because you know, youyou're running around basically
doing loops around the stadium.
And of course, if you go intothe suite, somebody might talk
to you.
So, you know, you're you're ityou needed to be able to
communicate with a bunch ofpeople in a short amount of time
to make sure that things were asthey should be.
So yeah, so I was probably just,you know, hey, sweet, you know,

(52:33):
123, where are we at with likethis?
Did they get their tenderloin?
You know, uh yeah.
So uh I really would have likedto have met Steve McNair just so
I could uh seeing if heremembered that.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (52:48):
Is he dead now?

SPEAKER_01 (52:49):
Yeah, he passed away.
Passed away um unexpectedly.
Um he actually got murdered, Ithink, by his wife or or
girlfriend.
I forget.
But yeah, it was it was uh verycontroversial.
But yeah, yeah, yeah,unfortunate story.

SPEAKER_00 (53:03):
Yeah, maybe I'll take that out.
No.
Well, what happened?
He was hearing voices in hishead, he just went nuts.
Yeah, yeah, that's fair.

unknown (53:15):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (53:17):
Kevin, thank you so much for coming on.
Thanks for sharing your story,story of Hershey, what you guys
got going on.
This was all so much fun.
Thank you so much for being aguest.

SPEAKER_01 (53:25):
No, I really appreciate it.
I uh I and thanks for beingpatient with me.
I know when um when we had firsttouched base, uh I I was really,
really excited about doing it,but I kind of felt like, hey, I
I I need more time to to to be abetter guest.
I'm putting a lot of pressure onmyself with the whole
broadcasting thing of wanting tokind of be good at this.
So uh so yeah, but no, I I'm I'mI'm honored and and privileged

(53:49):
that you asked me, and uh it wasreally enjoyable.
And um, it's always fun to justtalk a little bit about um you
know your surroundings and andthe things that that make them
special to you and the peoplethat have that have made it
special along the way.
So thank you.
I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 (54:03):
And you have such a cool spot too.
That's like, man, this is likethe story, the spot, like
everything.
It's just it was all perfect,though a good perfect storm.

SPEAKER_01 (54:12):
Yes, yeah, yeah.
That's funny, though.
Good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 (54:18):
Kevin, thank you so much for coming on.
What a cool story, what a greatjourney.
I love the stories of people'sjourneys that we're able to
bring on here and share with therest of the industry, and as
well as to have them in theindustry as well.
So, so cool.
So many great perspectives anddifferent stories.
I absolutely love it.
But that's this episode.
I'm your host, Andy Corby.

(54:39):
Until next time, catch y'all onthe flippity flip.