Meredith Otero

🎙️ Keepin’ It Rio Podcast – Episode 251!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the Keepin’ It Rio Podcast, where we talk business, growth, and the stories behind the people building incredible careers and brands.

Today we’ve got a fantastic guest joining us — Meredith Otero, a seasoned marketing strategist with nearly two decades of experience helping businesses build stronger brands, connect with their audience, and tell their story in a way that actually moves the needle.

Meredith’s career has taken her across multiple industries, including real estate, hospitality, and the private club and golf industry, where she held senior leadership roles in marketing and communications for several major clubs.

She’s also the founder of MET Marketing, where she helps organizations elevate their brand, grow their reach, and build smarter marketing strategies — blending creativity with real-world business results.

Most recently, Meredith stepped into the role of Director of Marketing with Bloom Golf Partners, bringing her expertise to help golf clubs and organizations strengthen their messaging, engagement, and overall brand presence.

But beyond the titles and the résumé, Meredith’s story is also about reinvention, balance, and building a career that fits your life — transitioning from on-site leadership roles to running a successful marketing business that allows her to stay connected to the industries she loves while raising a family.

Today, we’re going to talk about marketing strategy, brand building, career pivots, entrepreneurship, and what it really takes to stand out in competitive industries.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy this conversation with Meredith Otero.

This is Episode 251 of the Keepin’ It Rio Podcast.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. It is your favorite time of week, which we've already established over the last 250 weeks, is keeping it real time. And I am extremely honored today because we are now on episode 251. And I was just joking, closer to 500 now than we are to the first one, which is crazy. But the second 250 is going to kick off with an amazing guest. And I am ecstatic to welcome to the program this afternoon, evening. It's Thursday when you're watching it, but what time is it really? It's your guess, it's anybody's guess to figure out where we are in real life. But I'd love to welcome my guest, Meredith Otero, to the program. Meredith, how are you doing this evening?

SPEAKER_01 0:48

I am great. I am still adjusting uh from a lot of travel over the last month. Um, I felt like I had narcolepsy yesterday because I came in from a red eye and arrived Sunday, well, even no, yesterday morning. It's all blurring together. So um it was good I gave myself a day before I came on here.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Yeah, I'll tell you what, I can definitely um sympathize with that. I do a lot of travel, I own a roofing business, but because of the roofing industry, I get to do a lot of trade shows and events, and I do sales training for some roofing companies, and they usually you know fly me in. So I know what it's like to not know what day or time or week it is. And I was just joking before we hit record. I actually reached out to you last week to apologize for being late for our episode, and I was actually a week off, so made it on time. It was cool. I had an entire week to get ready, but I can certainly appreciate it. So tell me a little bit about yourself, and then we'll kind of dig into what all this travel is for, and uh we'll we'll wrap everything up. This is gonna be a great conversation. I guess that sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

I look forward to it, and thank you for having me. Um, it's just funny how we connected, but I am a born and raised Jersey girl, so um, you know, I I fist pumped it my way through uh through my years, and uh I went away for school. I was a division one athlete. I played field hockey in college. I went away to uh Miami of Ohio, but ultimately I knew I was coming home. So I um uh my family's here in New Jersey. I am married, I have two two kids. I have Charlie, which brought us together because we we um his nickname is Chuck. We we go by we say Chuck and I have little Sienna to Sienna Capri. And um my my background is is in the private private golf club industry, so I know that we'll dive into that, but I um as far as my professional side of things, sales, marketing, but it's always been in the sports and golf industry, so that is where where I am today.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

I love it, and I do want to give a shout out to Miami of Ohio. I am in San Antonio, but I'm from Columbus, Ohio. And if you look in the background, you see I got Brutus Buckeye and I got all the oh you do try and autograph footballs and everything going on, so I can appreciate that, and I can also appreciate wanting to leave Ohio and go back somewhere nicer. So oh yeah, no, no animosity. I was born and raised there, but I got out and I'm happy that I did.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

So but they're crushing it right now in basketball, they are crushing it. So good luck, good luck, Red Hawks.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

There you go, and I'm I'm any any of the Ohio programs I love to debt, so we're good. And I I love playing golf too. This is this is gonna be a lot of fun. So I play golf a couple times a week on any good week I do. Now, okay, I'll I'll give you a little backstory on this because I I need some advice. I started playing golf. Now, I'll go back in time. This is probably 25 years or so ago, maybe even more than that, probably 30 years ago. I hate to date myself like this, but about 30 years ago, I got invited to be a sub in a golf league, and I was a young man at that point, and I was by far the youngest person in the the golf league that I was being a sub for, and I had no ability, I'd never really been good at golf. I don't know why I was even asked to be a sub, but I decided that day that I was gonna retire from golf because I was being taunted by an elderly woman, and it was really kind of you know, it was it was grating on me a little bit, and I thought, well, I can't fight her because she's old and she might beat me. I don't want to lose a fight like that, so I decided not to, and I went back and said, Okay, I am going to retire from this game completely. I'm humbled, you know, I'm more of a I don't know what I am, but I'm I'm not a golfer. So we fast forward about 20 some years, and I get invited to play golf. Now, this is not just any regular golf outing, this is at the PGA course here in San Antonio, and I'm gonna be playing with like national managers from major roofing manufacturers.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Well, it was amazing, I'll give it that. So I show up, I am absolutely horrible. I didn't even own golf clubs at this point. I rented clubs, and I'm doing my thing, and I'm absolutely embarrassing myself and playing horribly. And at the end of that day, I decided I want to learn how to play this game because this is now twice where I've been completely defeated, demoralized, 20 some years in between. But my experiences are both negative. So I'm gonna learn how to play golf, right? And for the next three years, I have been practicing and playing and doing the best that I possibly can, and I am so much better than I was three years ago. I'm still not that good, but I have come to find the clubs make all the difference. So tell me a little bit about how you get into the golf club industry because you're gonna be the first that I interview in the golf club industry, and I'm actually incredibly interested in learning more.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Do you do you want to laugh? So I have worked in private clubs for 15 plus years. I mean, I'm on the business side now, I'm not like on property anymore. I've played a total of nine holes, nine holes, like total, my whole career. I I'm like, I'm here all day. Am I gonna spend another four hours out there?

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Right, out there actually having fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

I know, I know, but so I but it is I am determined. I am determined this spring um that I'm gonna get some lessons. Well, actually, I just found out that there's a simulator right up the road, so I might start there because we are under two feet of snow as of this morning, and um I gotta start somewhere, I gotta get into it. And I'm an athlete, like I'm a I'm a very competitive person, so I want to hold my own when I go out there.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Well, this is where it gets a little sketchy, okay? And I'll tell you this I'm the same way. Uh but I had to accept the fact that I'm not that talented when it comes to this specific thing. And the way that I did it was I started playing golf with people that are way better than me because I know that there's no possibility that I could ever beat them, and therefore I don't let that competitiveness get to me. But when I get out on a little roofing seminar where there's you know a bunch of guys that are similar in skill, that's when it gets dangerous. And I will say this my advice to anybody beginning just play golf with people that are way better than you, and then your expectations will be low enough to where you actually enjoy it and you don't get mad.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

So and quite frankly, I think that that goes for any sport, you know. Like, do you ever just play, I don't know, a team and they they were far worse, and you like somehow play down to them. So I feel like it's better to play to play up, you know. It you may be humbled, but I think it's it's overall worth it. But um, so yeah, I mean, when I graduated college, I was, I mean, I was determined. I just wanted to start working. I was like, I want to make my own money. I my parents are like, you just had two full-time jobs. You were an athlete for full time, like full-time and you were a full-time student. Like, take a break. I said, No, like I want, I want my own money, I want to do my own thing. And like, I was just, I'm just a very independent person. I just so I I ended up um landing a front desk receptionist job at Trump National Colts Neck, which um Trump had just taken over the property. It used to be, it was Shadow Isle was was the name of the course. And um, so I got to experience like the complete overhaul Trump, you know, stamp on everything, that whole process. And this is obviously far before any of his, you know, current, current state.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Um he's a normal guy at that point, just a normal bazillionaire, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:32

I know, right? Like he's a terrible like his bank account is obviously for a reason. Like it's whatever. But no, it was it was it was cool. I mean, it was he's a tough guy, but he he knows his stuff when it comes to that. I mean, it is what it is. But um, I was taking lunch orders, I was, you know, answering the phone, I was just sitting there, kind of like greeting members and that sort of thing. And the marketing director, her office was behind me, like closed door behind me. So she would often, you know, ask me for some help. And then more and more she started integrating me into her role, essentially. Like I was her right hand and she put a lot of trust in me and uh essentially she my mentor. So kind of just fast forward a few years. I um, well, in that time period, I did meet my husband, who is a prior golf course superintendent. He's also now on the business side. But um, so we're very, you know, it's it's a crazy industry. But so she essentially just kind of gave me the confidence to take the leap for a new director position at another private club in in New Jersey and went for it, got it. I was there for five years, crushed it, um, selling memberships, marketing. Um, and then from there, I so I was down in South Jersey. I was commuting quite a bit, but then another awesome opportunity came up. Um, the the club is Montclair Golf Club here in New Jersey. It's a 36-hole uh private facility up in up in North Jersey. And they had actually just purchased a second property about a couple miles down the road, and they needed someone to navigate the sale of memberships for both. So that came up, went for it, was accepted for that position. I was there for three years, and and I also ran the golf outings there too. So it was a big job. It was um, it was fun. I mean, you meet a lot of people. I'm you you may have technically, you know, when it's member owned, you have like 1,500 bosses, but you meet a lot of people um from all walks of life. So um really the the reason that I left was started a family, and quite frankly, just the the hours that it requires in order to be successful in that type of position were nights and weekends. So with a little one, it just wasn't something that I um wanted to even try to tackle. Not to mention my husband had started traveling quite a bit. So it just wasn't conducive to our like family lifestyle. So I missed it though. So I mean, obviously I love my kids. They're like, they're my limbs, but I missed, you know, I miss working. I like working. So what I did was ultimately converted, I'm like, how can I how can I get back in it without getting back like in a property setting? And I created an LLC and I converted my skill set and my experience to remote services and started offering digital marketing and sales consultation for clubs around the nation. Um, I worked for a software company that had a managed marketing service. So I had access to a ton of um ton of courses across across the country. I mean, uh coast to coast, a lot of everything private, semi-private, public, you name it. So I was, I was able to learn, you know, the different sectors of the business that way. And they all require something different, but still had some, you know, my freelance, obviously, one-off non-golf club clients, one of which is who I now work full-time with. They were my my client independently for three years. Um, the company's Bloom Golf Partners. They are, or we are, an executive search firm that places employ, you know, people in golf country, uh, golf country, golf and country clubs. So uh specializing in agronomy, so superintendents, um, director of agronomy, uh controllers, chefs, GMs. I mean, we do, we do it all. So, and I I handle his marketing. And so it's my way of being able to, you know, stay connected with the same exact network and people, but in a team setting, but remotely. So the best of both worlds. And um, I'm just have it, it's just been the best transition for me that um I can kind of like touch on it all, which is really nice.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Yeah, I love that. And it's it's really cool that you were able to, you know, step back, like say, and not stress yourself out and be able to actually focus on family, which I think is the most important aspect in life. And then, like everybody, it just drags you right back in. And I love that. And before we get into modern times and the remote position that you've created and and all the the work that you're doing now, I have to ask when you started and you're at the Trump property, you spoke, you know, as though potentially you may have actually met the current president of the United States. I need to ask because you're gonna be the first person that I know. I didn't have somebody give me a story about Ted Cruz not that long ago, but Trump is a different level than Ted Cruz. I'm here in Texas, and you know, this is the president. So tell me a little story about President Trump from maybe a personal experience that you had with him, or maybe the first time you met the guy, and just kind of, you know, is he a is he a normal guy, or is he just, you know, is it all for show?

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Honestly, so like you look at he he's what you see is what you get. What you see is what you get. Um I'll tell okay, so there's two, there's two. I'll tell you about the first day that I met him, and then I'll tell you a second follow-up story. So as you know, my uh my husband also worked for him for 10 years, um, left on his own terms, did not get fired, which is like a huge, a huge accomplishment.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

When was yeah, firing people is one of one of his favorite things to do.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Yes, but he did leave on his own terms for an awesome opportunity. But so the first time that I experienced Mr. Trump in the flesh was I was at the front desk and we obviously knew he was coming. He was in his in the phantom, we knew he was coming up to the property, pulled in the front. So, you know, I'm the first person that he sees, so I'm standing. Well, he comes in blazing, like guns ablazing, screaming about the trees. He was this big tree guy. I mean, everything about I mean the trees, big big, big tree guy.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Um, he's guess he's he's screaming at he's I can only assume the first person he sees.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Not me. Oh, in with my now husband. Nice, he's ripping him to shreds about trees, like a new one or two, you know what, like as he's walking through the front doors, then all I could do is like stand there, like, geez, like, hi, Mr. Trump. And I just get the look from and again, like my husband's not like, well, he wasn't my husband at the time, obviously, but he's just looking at me like absolutely mortified, but like, quit, you can't roll your eyes because God forbid he sees you you roll your eyes. Um, but he he he made it, he made it through. Um, and actually was asked to go and oversee the the grounds ultimately of his like showcase property bedminster in northern New Jersey. So he was very as as respected as you can be by Mr. Trump in his position, he very much was. Second story. So he did Mr. Trump call called my husband personally on our wedding day to wish him, you know, congratulations and good luck. Um he did, they did get us a wedding gift. They did get us a wedding gift. It was like a Tiffany's bowl, I don't know, some like centerpiece bowl thing. It was not my style. It had it literally was like a gold, it looked like it came out of like a Trump shrine. Um, beautiful, obviously. Um, it's and this is really bad. I probably shouldn't even have this recorded, but I tried to return it.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

That is tremendous.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

The woman at the Tiffany store, she talked me out of it. She talked to me, she goes, It may not be your style, but how many people can say that they, you know, have a wedding gift from Donald Trump and Melania? So I held on to it. Fast forward 10 years, we're moving. I still held on to this damn thing, and it sh it during the move dropped, shattered, yeah, in yeah, inside of a bag. So I'm like, okay, well, it's all together. I had all these grand plans of like melting it down and maybe like creating something else, and then we went through a renovation and got thrown out. So no, I have nothing to show for it, nothing at all. So now it is truly just a story. That's a hell of a story, though.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

I'm not gonna lie. I love that. That is awesome. It is and and I respect the lady at the Tiffany that tried to talk you out of it because at the end of the day, you could have also said, Hey, how many people can say that they returned a gift from Donald Trump for their wedding gift? You know, you're gonna be one of a kind no matter what. And I love that, that is awesome. And I always like to get those kind of stories because it's like, you know what? Yeah, that's a real guy that that cared about the people that were working for him enough to know and call and say, Hey, you know, congratulations on your wedding. And that's pretty awesome. I love that. Thank you for sharing. Absolutely. Let's let's go a little bit move into the future, into the current realm where we're at now. Like you said, you got got the itch to get back in after getting out for a little bit, decided to start your own thing, and I love entrepreneurs, it's my favorite, uh, my favorite topic to discuss on keeping it real. I know people that have started businesses of all types all over the world, but I don't know anybody that started one similar to what you have. So let's learn a little bit about this experience. You have the previous experience, obviously, from years of doing this and and make the connections and the networking and all that, but I know this for a fact. I started a roofing company that was out of business, and I had never been to San Antonio a day in my life until I got here to resurrect it. So I understand what it's like to have to get yourself out into the marketplace and make yourself known. Tell me a little bit about the experience for you when you decide to go out and do your thing, and you know, who are the people that you start contacting? Who are the people that you reach out to? What are you telling them? And how does this initial venture, you know, this this initial foray, how does this go as we get started?

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Yeah, I mean, just like anything else, it's uh it's a learning curve, obviously. You're you kind of gotta set this the foundation, and quite frankly, you have to realistically set your expectations as well. Um, but I will say the beauty of the golf industry is gosh, I mean, even the guy I work with right now, I mean, obviously, again, an entrepreneur, uh, started it in COVID, both of us really in 2020, but uh didn't really kind of come together until a few few years later. But um it's who it's referral based. I mean, it it really is like I I'm I'm happy to say. That I have not had to really do any like paid advertising, luckily. Um, granted, I am a one-man band. So I even if I did, I wouldn't have had, I wouldn't have been able to comfortably have the bandwidth to maybe take on more volume. So I was able to to really kind of temper that by taking on certain pro, you know, started project-based and then getting on retainer, and then, you know, when I I kind of outsource some things, and then there's other pieces of it too, you know, from a digital marketing standpoint, you know, that there's obviously the graphic design offering paid services, website development. I mean, it's the list can go on through that, you know, realizing what my strong suits are and like really, you know, not trying to do it all myself because one, it's inefficient, two, it's just not going to be good. It's not, you know, and that's my name at the end of the day. So recognizing what like your strong suits are, what you can support somebody else that's maybe freelancing, like here, have at it, you know, and and outsourcing things to stay on, like just learning all of those things, um, just to keep, you know, a positive, obviously, service, you know, a service experience for your clients. But um I I learned a lot about myself, you know, my bandwidth. And again, at the same time, I have two little heathens at home that obviously, you know, they they come from a band, you know, they contribute to the bandwidth or lack thereof, I should say. Um, that kind of navigating all of that is it's a lot. I mean, you you know it, you, you've you know what it takes. It's just um lear, just really learning what your strong suits are and and capitalizing on those. And you don't have to offer it all. That's I think the short story is that you don't have to offer it all. Um, you don't have to be the superstar of everything in a certain, you know, realm. There's there's room at the table for everyone. So um you don't have to be a hero or afraid to you know outsource help in certain things. So that's been a big, you know, learning piece that has honestly from a quality of life made a difference.

SPEAKER_02 24:40

Absolutely. And this is amazing to me because it it there are so many parallels between what you're doing and what I'm doing. And it's the same, you know, everything business related is it all boils down to the same basic principles. And it's like, do what you're good at, don't do what you're not good at, don't waste your time, find your your ideal clients and and basically hone in on them. And I love what you just said because I have been a victim of trying to do everything and and really getting to the point where I was so stressed out that I didn't want to do it anymore. And I love when I talk to new entrepreneurs who have started this journey that get into this and realize okay, just because I have the ability doesn't mean that I should do everything. So tell me a little bit about this. When you you start off, obviously, like you say, you kind of have to do a little bit of everything to get your foot in the door. Yeah, now you get your foot in the door and you realize, uh oh, now I'm doing everything and I don't think I can keep myself in the door very long because I'm gonna go crazy. What is that conversation like in your own mind with yourself when you say, okay, maybe I can't do everything to the highest level and I need to pare it down a bit. What was that like with you?

SPEAKER_01 25:56

Yeah, um, well, I don't keep a whole lot to myself just because I am very, I'm very outspoken. So I'm like, you know, spitting fire. And and I started to realize that I mean, again, I'm a young mom. I have like that's already like stressing you out, right? And you're trying to like contribute to the family, but like not lose your shit at the same time. And I started to realize I'm like, I'm like starting to resent what I wanted, what I ultimately love to do. And once I started recognizing that, I'm like, I gotta make some changes here. You know, I have to find this is this isn't this isn't gonna last very long. Like, and like how embarrassing is that, right? And um I I'm like, I gotta find some trusted people. I gotta find some, and they don't even have to be directly affiliated to the golf industry. Like, if you have a skill set that can apply, like you can learn the industry. That's that's the easy part. But um just finding a strong, reliable kind of like list of help, you know, that you can outsource too. And uh gosh, that makes such a difference. Such a difference. And I started saving a lot of time. I wasn't, you know, working crazy evening hours, you know, I just found I found my people that I could I could lean on. And um then I was more I was more comfortable bringing on new new clients um because then it's just copy paste, you know. Then you get a system, you start getting comfortable and rinse and repeat, right? And um while still being able to maintain a high level of customer service. Because at the end of the day, like especially in the private club industry, it's hospitality. I mean, it's it's customer service. So, and because it is such a tight known night, such a close-knit industry, you get one bad review, it spreads like wildfire, which I'm sure even in like you know, in probably any industry, I just know that I've seen it happen uh firsthand. So it's pressure, but you you just can't do it all, you'll lose your shit, and then it'll catch up to you eventually. But I just didn't want to start resenting what I was proud of, and I could see it creeping, it was creeping, but um, you know, just gotta wrangle it and don't be afraid to ask for help.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

That's it, and I think that's the life lesson that we all need to learn. And episode 251 of keeping it real has basically just solved life's greatest problem, which is don't try to do everything yourself, everybody, because we're all here, we can all work together as a team. So I love that, and I love that you were able to recognize it pretty early on and to say, okay, I'm not going to let this get to the point where I see it coming. Because at that stage, everything in life sucks. You're mean to your family, you hate getting up in the morning, you hate your job, you hate everything that you do and everything that you see. And I've been there, so I know how that feels. And it's often when you recognize it beforehand and say, Okay, no, we're not gonna do that. So you recognize this, you've got a nice client base, like you said, you started off kind of having to do a little bit of everything. We're able to kind of refine it down and say, Okay, this is my strength, this is what I'm gonna do. Tell me first off, what are those strengths? Let's say that I am a private golf club owner, and you just called me and and Chuck Acres, we're gonna call this, and it's it's gonna be like the greatest club in the state of Texas, and I need some help. So you're gonna call me and I'm gonna say, Meredith, how can you help me? What are your strengths as far as helping me to get this bad boy up and running? Because I want the PGA here in like two years.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Oh, that's a that's a big one. No pressure.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

We got a dream big, right?

SPEAKER_01 30:18

I know you're right, you're absolutely right. Um, so for me, from a bird's eye view, I I take pride in the strategy, like the long-term strategy, you know, big picture, and then kind of like working backwards from there. So finding your pain points in terms of like, are you looking to grow your membership? Do you want to keep it small and tight knit? Do you like what is your ultimate goal? Right. Because the strategy could be, you know, member centric, or it could be food and beverage centric. So, you know, social events and that sort of thing. So I I take, I like I said, my my big thing is the overall marketing strategy and where, you know, where that applies within your operation. Cause again, it's it's so different for for every club. Um, but then from a more like tangible aspect, graphic design, uh, which kind of filters into your social media. So like your whole social media plan and obviously all of the content images and and assets that go with that, as well as your website and your email marketing. So those funnels kind of go hand in hand. They have a little bit of a different approach for each, but um, you know, and I I dabble a little bit in advertising, like not many private clubs do that because of either their either their non-for-profit or whatever their kind of limitations are. Many just don't do the paid advertising, but um I can certainly do it. And if I have my plate full, I got my go-to people. I do have go-to people for website too. They're just like, I mean, I could do maintenance and all of that, but if you're starting from scratch, oh god, that's going to somebody else. I can't, you know, because it's it's a very intricate thing. But there's I have people that can put a brand new gorgeous website up in like two hours and it's mint and gorgeous. And I'm like, do your thing.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

I understood. I wish that my brain worked like that. I I didn't know that my website wasn't active for a year, and then I found out one day, and it was like, all you have to do is click this one little thing and it goes back on, and everything's fine. It was off for an entire year. That's how oblivious I am to everything. So I definitely can appreciate it. And I know that there's a lot that goes into it. So I guess let me let me frame this question a little bit differently. And I I love the perspective because this is stuff that I've never thought of in my entire life. Let's say that you and I are going to start our own golf course, and I'm putting you in charge of our course, and we want to have an elite club. We want people to really think, you know, this is the spot. Chuck Acres is awesome, and and we want to have our events and everything there. So, what would your ideal vision be if you were to start your own private golf club? And how would we get this thing off the ground and who would we cater to? That's and I guarantee you are not expecting these kind of questions when you logged onto this podcast a half an hour ago.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

As an owner, we I mean, it sounds selfish, but we can choose who we want. Who do and we have to determine who we want to be at the club. So all right, so it's obviously not gonna be just a boys' club.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

Nope, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Nope, not gonna be just a boys' club.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Definitely don't want that. That's no fun.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

I actually, well, I was just at a conference and it's uh I met someone there in Texas. Actually, the the club is in Texas. I gotta, I could, I I'll text, I'll message you the name of it. But it is an all gentleman's club, and I'm like, gosh, I didn't even think that they still existed, but they do. Um you uh well first and foremost, you have to determine what that is. And if you want super, super elite, you gotta figure out how much how what the what's the dues or the initiation fee gonna be? Are we talking like 500 grand just to walk in the door? Probably.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

I like it.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

Yeah, probably minimum that just to walk in the door. That's one time. Bye, thanks for applying. And then we're probably looking at I don't know, but like I said, it depends on how big the property is, you know, what kind of conditions the golf course, you know, that that greens keeper or that that aggress that superintendent, he needs some coin. If they're all golfers, he's gonna need some coin to maintain mint conditions. So I mean, we gotta pull in, we gotta pull in some big coin, but you don't want a big membership, you know, traipsing all over the golf course and people that don't know what's going on. They're gonna be tearing it up. So we want to keep it small, right? So I'd probably say, let's look for the uh the the high profile, you know, immediate area people, couples, let's just say families, whatever. Um but but make a destination. Like there should be amen amenities that people will want to travel to.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

So you're not just it's kind of like a JW Marriott type.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

Yes, like you're not just relying on the direct area so that people will be cool stuff.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

Exactly. So we gotta make it we have to make it like Oasis type of destination that basically they can find anything that they would want on a luxury high-end vacation at our club and pay top dollar for it. But invitation, invite only, invite only membership.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

I like it. I think we've got a great idea, and I'm gonna say this right now on keeping it real, episode 251. If I ever hit it that big to where I can afford to build a golf course, a private club, you are gonna be the person that helps me do it. So we're gonna crash me in the pipeline, follow up with me every couple years. One of these days, I've been doing roofing 28 years, and I haven't made it yet, but I have a feeling it's right around the corner. So that's my next step is to buy a huge golf course and only let rich people in and ignore the people that have have looked down upon me over the years as a roofer because now I'm a roofer that owns a golf course. And and you know, you know who you're gonna invite is that probably gonna invite President Trump too.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

You're gonna invite that little old lady that was mean to you. Wasn't there like an old lady that was mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 37:29

She's well, she's probably no longer with us. I think I I outlasted her. I made it to the 12th round, and I don't think she did. She's pretty old, like 25 years ago. So I hope that she's alive and well and and out there still hitting those drivers down the middle. I hope she's got a whole new generation of teenage boys that she can taunt, and maybe she can be the stories 20 years down the road for some other poor guy that's was traumatized and had to give up golf. So there you go. We're not inviting her, she was a public course lady, and we don't have time for that at our at our place. So I love that. And this is this is so much fun. Um, let's talk a little bit about reality of the future. We just built our own golf course, and I think it's the best one in America for sure. But let's say that you are working with some of your clients, and you've put your team together now, you've put people in the right places to help with your weaknesses, which I love. I've done the same thing myself with my roofing company, and it's been amazing. So now it's time to start scaling up, it's time to start building something that you can leave behind, or something that you can, you know, potentially sell down the road and retire at a very young age and travel the world with your kids. So, what is the future looking like as far as the plans? Now that you're up and running, you've got a team, you've got some established clientele, you're you're making your mark in the world and you're loving what you're doing with no resentment. So, how long does this go? What's the future look like?

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Well, you know what? I it's funny. I so the the company, the company that I work with, uh obviously full-time as well, they they have like own that side of the industry. And and really I I would like to see my kind of contribution and legacy building building more awareness. So maybe in like a higher agency level, like it maybe scales beyond just you know, like your tangible marketing, right? But moving toward the awareness of career pathways in sports for women, honestly. Um, it's something that I'm super passionate about. So I, you know, I want to just create those opportunities. And if I can't create them within my own, you know, direct ability or like employment offerings, opening up those doors, you know, for other women because I feel like former athletes, that's like all they know, right? Like I mean, I grew up in in sports and it's an extremely near and dear season of life. You know, I was very lucky to obviously play through college that paid for college, but it's like, okay, now what? You know, this is all I know for all of these years. That how can I stay, how can I stay attached to it in some way, shape, or form? You know, obviously I didn't grow up playing golf, but it's still that like sport is atmosphere, it's uh it's that industry that I think I would like to be kind of known for, like opening up or widening the door for women to find leadership roles in in the sports industry, like it is possible. And quite knowing that golf, the it's a very, very male-dominated industry, it really is possible. Like it's very much possible. So um just getting that out there. So for me, it's not even necessarily like making all the money. I mean, obviously that'd be fantastic, but um I think the impact long term for you know, young women, young athletes, that the this the sky's the limit in really careers in in sports. So I feel like that at the end of the day is something that I would like to be known to leave behind. So um, yeah, it's like a a long-term passion project for me.

SPEAKER_02 41:47

Heck yeah. And that is what everything successful starts off as and ends up being. It's like, I did it for the love. You'd be shocked. I love roofing to the point where, you know, I would just do it for free if they let me, but don't tell anybody I said that because they will all let me do it for free. But it's it's so awesome. And I just I'm sitting here and I'm amazed by the parallels because, like you just said, you know, I'm in an industry that is also, you know, in air quotes, we'll say male dominated. Although some of the most successful people in my industry are females and sales, ownership, and all those roles. It's so awesome to see people that step out and and you know, take that chance and put themselves out there for the love and to do the same thing for others. And that's exactly what you're doing. So I applaud you for that. I think that's the coolest thing, and that is that's why we do what we do because we want to ultimately leave an uh impact and have people say, you know what? She was pretty cool. I like that. So I'm going to start winding down a little bit here, but I have a feeling this next one might be this might be one of those questions where you're like, All right, Chuck, I already asked you what it was like meeting President Donald J. Trump. Obviously, he's a pretty cool guy, was a human being type situation. I have gone to several golf clubs in my life, and one thing I do know not everybody that shows up at these clubs are a fresh bed of roses or rainbows and sunshine type people. And I know that some have egos and some believe that they're better than others. And I ask this question to every entrepreneur, I've already asked you your, you know, your famous guy's story, but there's always one, and it's like, okay, Meredith, tell me about the worst absolute human being that you have gotten the pleasure of meeting along the way. And you don't have to mention any names because they probably watch the podcast, I'm sure. So we can just call them anonymous John Doe or whatever. But tell me about the worst human being you've met in a private golf club. I'm not saying a lot, there's some pretty bad ones. Not to be a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

You caught me off guard with that one. Oh man. I can't think of one off the top. I'm like trying to think because I've gosh, there's so many people that you meet. Oh boy.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

That is a tough question.

SPEAKER_01 44:19

You got me.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

There you go. I love it. You've not had to deal with anybody that was so unbearable.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

That's a great and I'm usually like front facing. I mean, and I I must, I must have just charmed my way. I I I mean, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Nothing wrong with that. That's how I've gotten to this point in life, too. I get it. You know, hey, I mean, I'm just gonna talk about is my charm, so I can appreciate that. And the fact that you've had nobody, I've had a couple that I'd like to discuss, you know, sometimes in in my podcast that I've met some unique homeowners along the way, people that live differently, but it's it's pretty cool. And what that tells me is you have earned the respect because most of the time people don't respect you. And the only time I ever got thrown out of a roofing client's house, it was a dude that lived on a private golf course. And the cool part about it was I ended up getting back in the house, I ended up doing his roof, and after I did his roof, there was another problem, and he told me, You will never do another roof in this neighborhood because you don't know who I am. And Meredith, you know what I did? I went right next door, I knocked on his neighbor's house, and I ended up doing his neighbor's roof, and then on top of all of that, about four years later, I lived on the same street as him. Get out the guy who was too good for me, my lowly little roof herself, lived on the same street in the same neighborhood.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

And there you go, it's just a suck sandwich, man. Yep, and it was fun though.

SPEAKER_02 45:56

I I've always gotten to uh enjoy my career, and I love when people do that. This guy literally within 13 seconds, his words were, you know, it rhymed with Chuck, get the blank out of my house, and to come back from that and make all that stuff happen, and then ultimately end up being the guy's neighbor. It was pretty darn cool.

SPEAKER_01 46:14

So that's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

I that's the story of my life. It's crazy. So let's let's wind it down a little bit here, my friend. I have enjoyed our conversation tremendously. I didn't know if we'd have anything in common, and then come to find out we run complete parallels. Everything we have is in common, and that's that's business for you, you know. You treat people right, you do the right thing, and you try your best to be the best you can, and and ultimately it works out for most of us. So let's say that someone's been watching this show, and they either just say, Hey, you know what? I like her, she's got positive energy, she's got great vibes, or somebody is a multi-bazillionaire, and I have a lot of these friends that are super wealthy. Maybe one of them's thinking that they're gonna open a country club, and they need someone to advise them along the way. What are the best ways that people can either follow or get in contact with you to you know start that process or just kind of follow along with your journey and and you know, cheer from the background?

SPEAKER_01 47:18

Awesome. Yeah, I mean, I am I'm most active on LinkedIn. So um the best way is probably LinkedIn, and um that's under my company technically, but M E T Marketing L L C and Um I'm sure it'll probably be in the show notes too. But um otherwise, if you want more personality, you are more than welcome to follow me on Instagram, which is Motaro927. And um, I've posted, we've been super active this winter season with conferences and trade shows. Um, we were just at the Genesis invitational in Palisades, uh Pacific Palisades just this past weekend, Tigers event. So that was super fun. Um, and just posting our golf, you know, adventures and happenings and all of that stuff. So that is mainly active on my Instagram. And of course, we can DM and take it from there. But um, I'd say LinkedIn, LinkedIn or Instagram is the best way to get me.

SPEAKER_02 48:28

There you go, ladies and gentlemen. I love it. This has been so much fun, and before we bid adieu to the audience, there's one final piece of business I need to tend to. And I love this because you probably don't know anything about what I'm getting ready to speak on, and that is my sponsor. My sponsor, Meredith, is an amazing company called roofer.com. R-O-O-F-R. And what Roofer is, is your all-in-one platform for roofing professionals that takes you from your first contact with the homeowner all the way through the final bill, the payment, and follow-ups for years to come, everything inclusive in the Roofer CRM. And last week on episode 250, I actually had Richie Nelson, the CEO of my sponsor, and Roofer's been my sponsor for four years. I love everything that they provide. So thank you to Roofer. Thank you to everybody that watches keeping it real. It's 251 episodes deep. And I always joke and say, you know, even if nobody watches, I could still do it. But I appreciate every single person that does watch. All the guests along the way have been amazing, and today has been so much fun for me. So thank you for that. If you would stick around for just a second after I cut this off, we will conclude our conversation. But ladies and gentlemen, I end it with the cheesiest tagline in the history of podcasts every single week. And y'all know, keep on keeping it real. I will see you guys next Thursday. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 49:53

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

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