300: Special Episode! What I learned from 300 episodes of Private Club Radio

Hey everyone, welcome back to Private Club Radio where we discuss and go over all things private club related country club, private club, golf club, city club, athletic club, all the clubs, whether you're a consummate club professional or brand new to the industry. Welcome, we're happy you're here. I'm your host, denny Corby, and welcome to the 300th episode of Private Club Radio. Crazy to be here. Crazy to be here in this moment. If you would have asked me how many years ago when I started my career, if I would be in the private club industry, let alone having a podcast on it, I thought you were crazy. But yeah, that's been a wild journey. We're going to be releasing the winners of the 300th episode giveaway soon, very excited about that. I'm fortunate to be able to have taken the reins over from Gabe Alouisi. Gabe has a channel let's play through now over on YouTube absolutely killing it. He started Private Club Radio back in 2016. Here we are now in 2023, celebrating our 300th episode and me at the reins. It's all downhill from here. I thought for the 300th episode I would just share what I learned from consuming over 250 episodes of Private Club Radio and doing about 50 episodes of my own. This is no particular order. This is just notes and things that I have of what I've learned about the private club world and from consuming way too many episodes here at Private Club Radio. But if you are binging, thank you so much. We do have some tremendous, amazing episodes. We have some great content. So if you have not done so already, just search back through a lot of really fun, interesting topics. I've been having a fun time going back and listening to updates and just seeing what was going on in the world back in 2016, 17, and 18. And then just seeing how things have changed and progressed to current times. Everyone has a story. Everyone has their own unique story how they got into the industry, why they came to the industry, why they've excelled, why they've gone the extra mile. It's just cool to see what fuels people. Everyone has their story. So what fuels somebody, what sparks there? We give them that spark in the morning to wake up and do a really good job and to be the best club professional that they can, whether it's from food and beverage up to management, whatever it is, it's just giving that, giving that all experience. It's why people join clubs, it's why we're alive, experiencing experiences, unique experiences, and anytime we can give that experience to a member. It's priceless. So being able to deliver those moments of wonder, amazement experience to our members is huge and that's what separates some of the very successful clubs from the non-successful clubs, or that's something. That's a difference, that's a differentiating factor, is same with difference between a Disney and a Universal and a Cedar Entertainment Park. They all have different experiences and they all leave people with different feelings. Relationships, relationships are key, crucial. They're important, meaningful relationships with everyone, from your memberships to your teams, other club professionals that you could fall back on, ask, learn from, get mentored. That's what I love about this industry is that it's so tight-knit and it's so big on the relationships, and I love that. It's an industry where, if you can put in a little bit of effort, you can meet your heroes, you can meet your idols, even though it's such a small, tight-knit industry. But that's a cool part. You can't say that for some other industries and some other things. Yeah, so I believe we're super fortunate to be in this position where we have the access and the ability to learn from, reach out with and connect with so many new people and build strong relationships. That's why I loved the club championship conference that the NCAA put on, even though it was a small, intimate crowd. The relationships and friendships that were built from there are priceless, invaluable and will last, hopefully, the rest of a lifetime or into you. Unconnect with them and LinkedIn and power your people. Give them the tools, give them the resources that they need to succeed and grow, and allow them to grow and succeed. When you empower your people, you allow them to make decisions, allow them to make choices, you allow them to make mistakes, all of which are very important, because that's how we learn, that's how we grow is from those mistakes and putting ourselves and putting others in slightly awkward and uncomfortable positions, because, even though it might be a little bit awkward and weird for that moment, in the end it adds to your playbook. So when you encounter a situation oh, I've been in a similar position before, I've been here before I just have to do X, y and Z. That's how I conquered it the last time. Let's see if that works again. And it's just like a jazz song. You know how it starts and ends the middle. You gotta play it around a little bit, Taking risks, taking action, not being afraid to fail. I was just talking with someone and there is the fear of failure, but there is also sometimes the fear of success, which is a whole other topic and a whole different conversation. But taking risks, taking action. We consume a lot of information and we take a lot in, but I'm guilty of it too. It's at the end of the day, it's about putting in the action, taking those risks and knowing it's okay to fail and it's okay to trip and fall. But that's why we have the strong relationships, that's why we're in this community that we're in, because the people will pick you back up. When you do fall, there's a hand there to pick you up and going it's okay. Keep chugging along Can always be worse. Some of my favorite quotes are the only way through is through. If you keep doing what you've always done, you're gonna get what you've always gotten. Something like that. It's all about having fun. The industry that we're in is fantastic. We're about creating moments. We're about creating experiences. I can relate this to an amusement park. People come to our clubs to have a good time. They come for an experience, they come for a feeling. And how do you not have fun at a club? There's so much to have fun with, there's so many people to have fun with, and when you have fun at work, the members see you having fun and they have more fun. It just makes everybody relaxed. And it's important to always be learning A little bit every day, whether it's reading a book, listening to a podcast, joining and engaging with the CMA or the NCA and doing trainings, following up with friends, checking in on friends. All that's just part of the learning process and it's all continues to be part of everyone's story, which brings it full circle. As to what I've learned from two 300 episodes of Private Club Radio is we're all in this together. It's all about learning, having a good time, being the best people we can be, the best professionals, we can be the best managers, whatever position you're in in your club, and that's all just going to add to the story, which then brings us back to the beginning, which then happens to lead into the experience, the progression, the relationships, the taking risks, the empowering your people and having fun. So those are just a little takeaways, a few things I've learned from consuming way too much Private Club Radio. But thank you all for being on this journey. Welcome to the journey If you're new. This is a fantastic industry, super fortunate here on the channel for all of you the listeners, the supporters, our show sponsors. We have some amazing show partnerships, so anytime you hear us talking about them, we encourage you to give them some support. I only work with really cool humans, really good people, so if I recommend somebody, please know that you are in good hands. So thank you all so much for being here on this journey with us here at Private Club Radio, look forward to serving you all more as we continue to grow together, learn together. Cheers to 300 episodes and here's to 300 more. Thank you all so much for your support, for your time, your encouragement, your engagement. It means the absolute world Because when you support the show, you help support us here at the channel and the show, which means you help us give our dogs a better life here in the Corby household Bella and Big Meach. Thank you Until next time. Catch ya on the Floobadoo Floop.