Episodes

by Ed Shanaphy, CMAA We often say “mentoring,” but what we really mean—especially within private clubs—is advancing. Mentorship is not simply guiding or teaching; it’s creating an environment where your staff can grow, achieve, and in turn, enhance the member experience. Every interaction between staff and member is an opportunity to refine skill, build confidence, and elevate service. A club manager’s greatest legacy is not the number of events executed or budgets balanced—it’s the people they...

Colin Burns had only 4.5 years of experience in hospitality when he applied for the club manager’s position at Winged Foot, one of the most storied private golf clubs in the nation, if not the world. And, after an eight-month search process, he was selected as the club’s next general manager – all 31 years ago when Colin had just crossed the line into his thirties. He recalls the president of the club asking him if Colin weren’t a tad young for the job. Colin replied: It’s not a permanent condit...

Our first in a series of live podcasts, celebrated ATP Tour coach and director of racquets, known to his intimates as Van, our colleague and friend Allan Van Nostrand joins the BeyondTheBaselines.com podcast. You Might As Well Win Van Nostrand says, “If you’re going to be on court, you might as well win.” He took that coaching mentality to his students and he brought it to, what is really his third career, the country club setting. As a beloved director of tennis at his childhood club Southwar...

How do you make a private members club a destination? Aaron James, one of the leading club managers in our industry, believes it’s all about creating a sense of community. His experience at facilities from the global Club Med to Atlanta’s Cherokee Town and Country Club forced him to realize that member service is key to creating a destination. The Country Club of Asheville, one of the oldest and most established clubs in North Carolina and the nation, is now the focus of James’s efforts, where ...

Tennis and golf are two sports central to all country clubs. With such a concentration of players and spectators emanating from the private members clubs, is it that tennis is still inaccessible to many? We ask this question with famed writer Amisha Savani, the co-author to The People’s Wimbledon. How the media and contributors views tennis, both at the major tournaments and at the private members club, is so important to our club industry. Last year we brought on the podcast the publisher of R...

Jesse Gotlib, having served as Director of Junior Tennis at one of New England’s most elite clubs, has brought his learnings to the public sector and the inner cities of Eastern Massachusetts. After five years in the private club industry at Sippican Tennis Club in Marion, Massachusetts, Gotlib set out on his own to bring tennis to the inner cities of the port towns on Buzzards Bay along the South Coast of Massachusetts. Jesse Gotlib took what he learned in the club business to the youth in the...

Before Breaking Ground, New Club Has Hundreds Of Applicants Patricio Misitrano has been a Director of Racquets at some of the best-known clubs in the country. From the hallowed clay courts at both Wee Burn and Greenwich Country Clubs through to the tennis courts at New Canaan Field Club, Patricio has served elite memberships across both Westchester and Fairfield counties for decades. But now not only will he be a service provider, he’ll also be a stockholder and shareholder of his new club. Th...

Princeton University is known for its eating clubs: Cap and Gown, Charter, Ivy and Colonial. But this private members club isn’t associated with the university and doesn’t hold open houses to find new members. The Nassau Club was founded by Woodrow Wilson to bring the townsfolk and the University together. It now stands as one of the most elite dining clubs in the nation and Nathalie Wilson is its Director of Food and Beverage. Nassau Club’s Food and Beverage Director Nathalie Wilson Wilson has...