Private Club Radio Show
Welcome to the Private Club Radio Show, the industry's weekly source for education, news, trends, and other current developments in the world of private clubs.
Hosted by the talented entertainer and industry expert, Denny Corby,
the podcast offers a unique perspective on the private club industry, featuring expert guests, product spotlights, predictions, and more.
Whether you're involved in a golf club management, yacht clubs, athletic clubs, or business clubs, the Private Club Radio Show is the essential podcast for
anyone seeking valuable insights and information on the latest trends and developments in the private club industry.
Private Club Radio Show
460: Imposter Syndrome at the Top w/ Kent Johnson CCM, CCE, ECM
Ever feel like you are not good enough, even when you are?
In this episode, GM Kent Johnson opens up about his personal experience with imposter syndrome as a leader in the private club world. We talk honestly about the voice of self-doubt that can show up even after years of success, and what it really takes to lead with vulnerability, clarity and confidence.
Kent shares how imposter syndrome shows up at the GM level, why it often goes unspoken, and how he works through it without letting it take over. We also discuss personal growth, leadership style, and learning to stop chasing perfection.
If you have ever questioned your own success or felt like a fraud in your role, this episode will remind you that you are not alone.
Follow us on the socials
Private Club Radio Instagram
Private Club Radio Linkedin
Denny Corby Instagram
Denny Corby Linkedin
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club Radio Show, where we give you the scoop on all things private golf and country clubs From mastering leadership and management, food and beverage excellence, member engagement secrets, board governance and everything 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 are in the right place. I'm your host, denny Corby. Welcome to the show. In this episode, we are going to chat with someone who's been quietly shaping the future of club leadership and club culture in a way that feels real, honest and incredibly impactful.
Speaker 1:I get to sit down with Kent Johnson, gm of Baltimore Country Club, and his story isn't your typical rise through the ranks and I know he's been doing a lot and speaking more and being open more with the club community, speaking at BMIs, cmaa events all over and of course, I wanted to talk and learn more about him and his story. But I didn't want to have him come on and talk about some things that he would maybe speak about, because I want you to hear that come from him when you see him in person and you see him speak in person and when we were chatting and game playing the episode he brought something up and the light bulb went off for me because I thought it was something that a lot of people don't talk about often and it's something that I struggle with myself, have been for years and still do today and that is imposter syndrome, that inner voice that tells you you're not good enough, you're not qualified enough, you're not ready, you're never going to make it. This is you're going to bomb. That inner voice that tells you all those bad, negative things, even when you know you are ready, and you know you are good enough and you know you're qualified and you know you're the right person for it. So it's something that I've struggled with myself and I know I'm not alone and you know we're bringing and talking about mental health and wellness not just in the club space a lot, but also just in the world, and this is something maybe we don't talk about enough either because it kind of does relate to mental health and wellness. But so when he brought that up I was like, yes, this is what I want us to dive in on and he was all in on it. So I'm super stoked to be chatting with him today here on Private Club Radio about imposter syndrome, because it's something that it wasn't just early on in his career. But even after reaching milestones and accomplishing so, so much, you still feel it, and he still feels it and I still feel it, and we talk about working through it and ways to get over it and how to you know, calm down that voice in your head that tells you, man, you're not good enough for this, when really you are and you're probably going to kill it.
Speaker 1:I think that's what makes this episode so special is it's not just Kent's resume, it's it's his openness, and we just dive into more about his leadership and culture style and how he's just learned to work through it and help others work through their own limiting beliefs and mindsets. Also, how to recognize self-doubt, not in yourself but also in your team, and how to support them through it. Why it's important to choose values over titles and paychecks and why success doesn't have to be loud and powerful, and how it's very particular and specific to you it doesn't have to be about anybody else. This episode is so, so good. I cannot wait for us to dive in really, really quick. A big thanks to some of our show partners. As always, you're going to hear their ads. You're going to see me post about them. All I ask is if you ever want to use their products or if you're in the market for their product or their service, give them a shout, give them an at bat and if you can say, hey, we appreciate you supporting Denny and Private Club Radio, because that means the absolute world.
Speaker 1:Speaking of Private Club Radio, I have my Management in Motion Leadership event coming up very, very soon, september 22nd, monticello, new York. It's gonna be so much fun a day of ripping up amazing, beautiful vehicles, bmws and while learning relevant information about what we're doing on the track and how that relates to cloud leadership and management. It's gonna be so much fun. Head on over to privateclubradiocom slash management in motion to learn a little bit more or to sign up. We have a few more spots left.
Speaker 1:And quick, shameless plug for myself the Denny Corby Experience it's a comedy, magic and mind reading show. Very crowd work focused experience. It's a comedy, magic and mind reading show, very crowd work focused. 2025 is pretty much sold out. I have very, very, very few dates left but, more importantly, I am booking for 2026 and well into the year. So if you want to head over to dennycorbycom, fill out the form reach out. We'd love to have a conversation about what it looks like to bring me into your club for a really fun evening for your members. So enough about all of this. Let's get to the episode. Private Club Radio listeners. Let's welcome to the show Kent Johnson For Private Club Radio listeners people who don't know who is Kent Johnson.
Speaker 2:Who is Kent Johnson? That's a great question, Danny. Well, I guess I would tell you, first and foremost I'm a husband and a father. So my wife, Shannon, is very patient, very understanding about the trials, tribulations and hours that are associated with this particular career choice. We have three kids Jimmy, Max and Bella. So this is second marriage for Shannon and I. So we've been together now, I guess, 16 years. So we she had two kids from her previous marriage, I had one.
Speaker 2:But the interesting part about that, Denny, is our boys are the same age. They're literally two weeks apart, went to the same high school, same group of friends, but the kids couldn't be any more different from one another, so there was never any competition or anything like that. The most interesting part of that is Shannon and I met when she was my son's football coach, so kind of a funny little thing there. And then Bella is the youngest, Bella's, 20. She's now a junior at Mount St Mary's. So we're definitely in a different phase of life at this point. So we're really just adjusting to what that looks like. And you know, if I'm not here at the club then you can probably find me sitting in a tree somewhere. So that's, that's kind of my, my hobby.
Speaker 1:Tree sitting.
Speaker 2:Tree sitting, so you know hunting hunting those kinds of things. Yeah, you never know how people are going to respond to that, so Well, I was like tree sitting.
Speaker 1:I was like it could be a. You know, I don't know birdwatching. There's a lot of ways you could take sitting in a tree. Yeah, exactly, and you've been doing a lot more speaking the last couple of years through different CMAA events, chapter events, conference, bmis, all that fun stuff. What are some of the things that you've been speaking on?
Speaker 2:Mostly it's leadership and culture, and those are two things that we focus pretty heavily on here at BCC.
Speaker 2:And it's an interesting thing on our side and even on my side personally too, because I hate public speaking in more ways than I can tell you and it's something that takes a lot of work on my part to have the courage to be able to do that, and that's a relatively new development, I'd say, probably in the last four years.
Speaker 2:I guess the only good part about that is, you know, we believe that things should be built organically, so we don't do a lot of posting about the different things that we do, but I think we found that the message and the way that we do things has sort of resonated with people, which I think has been really awesome to see that that's happened and so to be able to use, you know, a platform to be able to share what we do and how we do it, and if that helps others, then that makes it pretty well worth it. So I'm going to ride this train as long as I can because it is truly rewarding. I think if I could have another career path outside of, you know, doing what I do now teaching would probably be at the top of the list.
Speaker 1:And I shouldn't say but funny enough, you didn't even go to college, Wasn't that a big thing?
Speaker 2:I did go to college. I want to be clear I did not graduate from college. That was it, college. I want to be clear. I did not graduate from college because at the time I was working for a restaurant and the owner said, hey, I need a GM, would you do it? And at the time I'm kind of thinking to myself well, I didn't even know that a hospitality degree was a thing, or maybe I would have actually stayed in school. And so I was like, well, why am I? This is what I want to do with my life. I want to own my own restaurant. Why am I wasting my time and my father's money? And so that's exactly what I did. I dropped out and then things didn't work out from that perspective, but I had already made that decision and you know, here I sit a number of years later.
Speaker 1:So yeah, but you're crushing it, Like I said a number of years later. So yeah, but kind of crushing it, like you know your CCM, you know you got all of like your creds, you got the, you know you're, you're still crushing it. Did was did. Was there any feeling of not finishing?
Speaker 2:In fact, it's something that I struggle with all the time, denny, to be honest, you know, it's kind of that one nagging question that, denny, to be honest, it's kind of that one nagging question that hopefully I don't ever have to go through another job interview again, but it's that one question that I know that I'm going to have to answer or address that says, well, why didn't you finish your college degree? And, like I said, the answer is really simple I thought I was wasting my time and my father's money. So, yeah, it's definitely a dark cloud that hangs there, and I'm not sure that there's a specific certification that I could achieve. That's going to make me feel differently about that. It's a source of a little bit of conflict with my wife and I. Really, it just hangs there, yeah.
Speaker 1:So even if you got your MCM, you'd still be like you know what Never got that bachelor's degree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so, and I do have the intention of finishing or doing my MCM. So, um, I'm just now at the point where I can do that too. Um, but yeah, I think at some point, if I can find the time to do it, I'll do it, and you know, then I can at least check the box and make sure that I accomplished something that I should have done a long time ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I and, and when we chatted a few weeks ago before the recording, there was a common theme and correct me if I'm wrong but almost this, and I think we touched on it a few minutes ago but this imposter syndrome, a little bit almost, and I know, for me it's not something I talk about, I know I have it to the nth degree. It's like who am I to be doing? X, y and Z and blah, blah, blah. And just hearing you open up to me about it and share with it, I was like, oh my goodness, like you know, I was like you. I was like you know you've you've led some of like you know, some great big historic clubs in the country. You know, when people look at your, your resume, they're probably never assumed there's any imposter syndrome or like, anything like can you share, like when, when that like started to come up, and like why you maybe got that um, I think it's.
Speaker 2:It's probably been a chip that I've carried on my shoulder for a long time, and I shared with you a story about the transition between jv football and varsity football what you know, back right as I was getting ready to go into high school, and I think things probably started there, do you want to share the story here?
Speaker 2:So okay. So interestingly enough, I was actually a pretty good athlete, growing up Compulsively competitive, I think is probably the best way for me to say that. But at the end of the day I wasn't the most popular kid in school. I certainly wasn't the least, but you know, a lot of the popular kids were football players. And so here came my time to transition into varsity, from junior varsity and there really wasn't a coach, so most of the practices were kind of player-led and I didn't think that putting myself into that situation was going to be a good thing. So I stayed on JV and you know, of course, in hindsight that probably wasn't the best decision for me to make.
Speaker 2:So in getting into my freshman year of high school and playing football, fine, I've still excelled. Same thing in my sophomore year. But then junior year comes and you know, going from being a leader on those lower level teams to all of a sudden being on varsity, and so I get up to start leading the exercise and the coach put me right in my place and I think that's probably a lot of of where that started. And so for me it was just I'm going to work really, really hard and do the best that I can do and whatever that situation was going to be and for me that happened to be working in restaurants, which was that's kind of where it came from, and so there's always been sort of this desire that I have to continue to prove myself and so on.
Speaker 2:But it also has manifested itself into this fear, right, like I remember the very first CMA event that I ever went to and I was just wildly uncomfortable that I was going to be judged, for you know the fact that I didn't have a degree that that was going to.
Speaker 2:Somehow, advice that I give to young people is, you know, address that fear head on. And you know where I would have never gone up to a me to start a conversation, or to you know, the Mitchell Platts, the Joe Fulcos, the Michael Wheelers, any of those guys that I always felt were, you know, just the gods. Know the gods for lack of a better word of of our, of our industry. I would have never, I would have never addressed that and you know, hindsight being what it is, would have said you know, those are some of the best guys in the industry that would have put their arm around you and, and you know, walked you through any of those things and you know. So yeah, so that's, that's kind of. I want to be different than that in my more wiser years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and and and I don't know if you have experienced this or you know might might be able to agree to, but it's, you know. You see, some of those people you know, I just know, if I'm like my own experience, and it's like you finally get the courage to go up and they're like amazing and nice. And you're like, oh, why'd I wait so long? And then there's the other ones who you like looked up to and when we went to go chat or say hi or introduce or whatever, and they just blow you off or they're just rude or arrogant and you're like why'd I wait so long? And still look up, like if I would have just reached out sooner, I would have known focusing on other people or putting my eggs, or, you know, farming and harvesting with different, better like relationships and stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100%, and that's fully accurate and I, you know that's, I've certainly experienced that too. But that's one of the things is that I just I never, I never want to be that guy Right? So any time that I've had the good fortune of being able to speak or teach or, you know, engage with somebody, I'm always free to give my contact information and when I tell people that I want them to reach out, I absolutely will make sure that I stay in contact with those folks Because, again, I just I think back to you know the situations that I put myself in and I would just prefer to be more helpful than not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, seeing as you've been able to be open about this and recognize it as as a leader. You know you guys have a, have a, have a great culture, you know, and all that fun stuff. And you know, I know you talk about that and do all that. And then I didn't want to dive into that on this cause it's, you know, people would have maybe heard it or whatever, and plus, I don't want to. You know, it's almost like the you know doing like a magic show. I don't want to give away like the tricks. You know what I mean. I want people to hear from you in person, like live on stage so you know but.
Speaker 1:But so I want to dive into more of like the imposter stuff, like when we were talking. So as a, as a leader, are you able to now also almost see it with younger people? Can you see when somebody maybe has it and maybe they, you know, you can kind of see not like your younger self, but you can just almost see the like same. I don't know if it's hesitations or whatever, but like that same feeling, and you know, maybe they don't always say it out loud or ask for help, but like you know, how do you kind of support those team members? You know those, those younger ones or younger, older, cause you know it could be any age Like how do you see it, find it, support it and like make them comfortable enough to come out of like a little bit there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, um, you know, there was an experience at conference this year.
Speaker 2:I met um, a young woman that um clearly had some confidence struggles, um, and in hearing this young woman speak you realize just how incredible this woman is and the potential that she has.
Speaker 2:And so being able to just reach out and just say, hey, look, you know, I believe in who you are as a person and you know what I think that you know you can be doing, and so on and so forth, and being able to continue that conversation and then having this individual literally hadn't heard from them for a while. And then I reached out, maybe I don't know, six weeks ago or so, had a nice conversation with them and I got a text back maybe a week or so later that says, hey, can I ask you a question? And I said sure, and she said, would you be my mentor? And so when you look at those kinds of situations and I think we could all hope that there's going to be that one person or two people that they're going to look back on their lives and say, you know, wow, whether that's you know through doing what we do or you know just by trying really hard to be a good human most days yeah.
Speaker 1:What? What conversations do you have with you know team members or just other people? Like what are those conversations that you have when you know people are doubting themselves? Like how do you normalize those feelings for them without letting it stall their growth?
Speaker 2:For me, it's a lot about drawing on past experience having been into those and been in many of those situations that have zapped my confidence for one reason or another, or mistakes that I've made or, frankly, successes that I've experienced and being able to make those relatable to the individual and trying to break things down in a way that are that it's digestible and human, frankly, and you hope that that's what has, that, that's ultimately what makes it, what makes it resonate with that person.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah Do you have any tools or habits that help you kind of quiet that imposter voice? Yeah, I just, whatever the situation is, I just need to do it and just be me. And if I can do that and be true to myself, then I find that, you know, most things are going to be pretty good, and at times you have to quiet things the other way too, that says, hey, look, you know, we've done some really good things, We've gotten recognized for some really cool things, but you know, don't forget all the things that you did to get to where you are, and so that's on both sides of that, Right. So, um, yeah, I mean absolutely you have to quiet the noise and and just realize that you know you want to be the guy that you've told everybody that you are and that you've spent your entire life being that you've spent your entire life being.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I know, for me it's definitely probably having that. I was gonna say that that like I-S, but then it sounds too much like I-B-S and I don't wanna say that. Got that I-S acting up again. Yeah, no, I know, for me I think it's helped a bit because you know, you know, after like a show for me, you know it could be a killer show, be like that was great, like the back of my head, I'm like you have that one moment you know I could have, or like, oh, still so, and so is better. Like whatever you know, do you ever find it's helped? You keep you humble and just, you know, for, for me, I know it keeps me hungry, keeps me learning, keeps me relatable. Do you think like the same?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, um. I mean, I think it's. I think it wouldn't be normal if you just got off stage or did whatever and didn't look and say, oh my gosh, I missed making this point or I missed that part, this trick was supposed to go that way. Yeah, 100%, I do that, and I'll kind of kick myself if there are days that I didn't prepare for something as well as I should have, but I also, at the same time, I want to be prepared, but I don't want to be rehearsed, if that makes any sense too. So I think I think probably I'm hardest on myself, um, with those kinds of situations, and that definitely helps, helps keep things in check.
Speaker 1:Yeah, are you. Are you a journaler, like, like, what do you? What do you lean? Lean into when you, when you need it the most, like you know, are you a journaler? Do you lean to mentors? You know you're like groups, like what's your, what's your go-to muse, so to speak.
Speaker 2:Well, that allows me to sort them some things out, just because you know you're sitting in a tree for hours on end by yourself, so nothing with your, but your thoughts.
Speaker 1:I just see, I just have a visual now of you in a tree Doing like duck calls, sorry, doing like duck calls.
Speaker 2:Sorry, no, it's kind of funny because, you know, if you see the bowtie version of me right and then you see the unshaven, camouflaged version of me, and it's, it's a tale of two individuals um, shannon and I get a good kick out of that still wearing a camo bowt, but still on brand. Funny, I get that comment quite a bit.
Speaker 2:Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt no, no, no, no. Um, you know, certainly with any struggles or you know questions and things like that, I lean into Shannon a lot, who is, um, she's successful in her career too, and and so she's, she's. She's a really good person to help help me reason through some things. And then you know there's a network of some individuals that you know I can pick up the phone and call and say hey, how would you handle the situation? What would you do? Am I thinking about this the right way? And I find that I use that more frequently than not to, and I find that I use that more frequently than not to and I've talked about this in a lot of the talks and presentations that I've given is easiest thing to cancel.
Speaker 2:And so for the first year of the program, I don't think I attended a single thing.
Speaker 2:And then, finally, I was just I've got a little whiteboard here in my office that keeps my schedule on it, and so I looked up and there was one of the extraordinary leader calls. I'm like, oh my gosh, let me just, I've got some time, let me get into this. And so I did it, and I'm so glad I did, because I think that has significantly helped dealing with the imposter syndrome, dealing with fear and some of those things. And frankly, I wouldn't probably be talking to you if I had not been on that, been involved in that program. So I'm really fortunate that I've done that coaching, done that coaching too, and you know, frankly, the group. You know you get on that call and you could be with GMs, you could be with head pros, you could be with, you know, servers and bartenders and different things like that. You just never know and I think that's one of the most rewarding pieces of that. So I've counted on that group in more ways than I can, than I can tell you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's probably nice having such an eclectic, wide range of the people in the club spectrum because you get that perspective and and and you know it could be, I could be wrong but it you probably have had one of those moments where someone who you would have never thought like the bartender just chimed in and maybe said that one thing and you're like SOB, that was really good, like that's exactly what I needed. You know, it's not always some something from like the top of the top or the best of the best. Sometimes it's from the person you like least expect that gives you that one little nugget or that one thing and you're like that was, that was exactly what I needed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's it. I mean, you never know where the next great idea is going to come from. Next great idea is going to come from right, or in some cases there's a little story that I tell there was. You know, a lot of folks have what are called like comparative shopping allowances, where you know the club wants to go out and experience what's going on in other restaurants, and so my last club they had said, oh, you got to go, you got to go try this restaurant up in, like Haverd or Grace or wherever it was. So you walk into this place and it's like where in the hell am I Like this cannot be the place that you know? They felt that I should go and very quickly it was confirmed that it was not a place that I should have gone.
Speaker 2:But I learned one very important thing that I was able to pull out of that. There's one sandwich that had blackened tomato slices, which I thought was, you know, maryland is known for tomatoes and so on and so forth, and blackening was just a different approach to it. So I'm like, oh, so that made the trip kind of worthwhile and got to laugh about some of the other things. But you know, so you do you never really know in the experiences of life where that, that thing that's going to help you. You know, learn something or do something differently than what you do it, and so you just have to be open to some of those things at times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what do you? You know you've, you've been able to work with your own people, people across the industry, conference, what, what when you're talking to young managers and and and I should young is young as an age, but you know, maybe somebody who's moving up the career ladder, cause everyone starts at different points in their, in their lives and careers what do you tell somebody? What do you tell people stepping into like that next important role, so it could be from banquet server to banquet captain, or to banquet manager, or maybe it's AGM, uh, you know. Finally, you know, to F&B director, what do you tell or you know, at least, like your own team you know for for experience, or just anybody, what do you tell, what advice do you have, you know, to kind of help them get through that next level and maybe dealing with those doubts, and that, you know, is.
Speaker 2:It's one. It's a lot of listening, because you do have to be able to listen and you have to ask a lot of questions, and so we do try to make sure that we're getting that point across as quickly as we can. And at times, like with, you know, with our own leadership team here, we have what are called huddles. So those are things that occur every three to four weeks that will address goals and different things of that nature, and that's a perfect opportunity for us to sit down with those individuals and say, hey, tell me, walk me through, why you made this decision this way. Or if I have somebody that I'm sitting across from that is maybe struggling with something, it's asking them if I have their permission to speak the truth to them, and then just kind of lay things out at that point, because you know, sometimes that's exactly what.
Speaker 2:You know, what we need to, what we need to convey is you know that there's, you know there's a different way, there could be a better way, and you know we have to be able to talk through what those, what those things are better way, and you know we have to be able to talk through what those, what those things are. Um, and you know, I think sometimes as leaders and I'm guilty of this too we can have a tendency to speak at people rather than with people, and you know, so just you try to make that as much of a two-way conversation so that you're open to listening, but at the same time, you know we have standards and expectations that we, you know, we expect are done in a very specific way, and you know, giving them the tools that they need to be able to achieve that in that fashion.
Speaker 1:How do you talk with people instead of to them Like, like, and how can you recognize if you're talking at them, not with them?
Speaker 2:just by how, pay attention to how much you're talking, right, and I know this is kind of like communications, one-on-one, right, but making sure that you're asking questions, and some questions that you know maybe you're asking because you want them to recognize why you're asking the question, and some questions that you know, walk me through why you made the decision that you made, some questions that you know, walk me through why you made the decision that you made. And then you know listening, truly listening, and not just waiting to respond. And so sometimes it'll be just making sure that I'm jotting notes down and so on and so forth so that I'm present in the conversation. But I mean, just you've got to be able to speak the truth to them and you know, sit back and understand that some days it's not about you being the one that's speaking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, did you ever run into a scenario where it's both people who are trying to like ask the questions but no one wants to like talk? So it's just two people like oh, so what do you think about this? Like oh, what prompted you to ask that question?
Speaker 2:it's just like it's the dance those are exhausting right at the end of the day. I mean, you know somebody's got to make the decision or the determination on what it is yeah and no.
Speaker 1:I was just busted on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's true, though it's true, though it's true. Those can be really frustrating conversations.
Speaker 1:It's like you know, the last one to, or the first one to speak loses, so everyone just sits there in silence. No, yeah I know.
Speaker 2:I know I hope that at some point that I can be an example of you know that you don't have to be perfect to be successful, right, and success is a relative term, too, right? So everybody defines success differently and we choose to look at that here says that you know, success isn't what we can achieve in our own careers, but what we can help others achieve in theirs. That makes the difference and that really is the truth. And so I hope that you know if we can truly inspire people to think more about others right even as they're you know, sort of getting to the point in their own careers where you know they're right at the brink of success, and so on is never forgetting the why behind. You know what got you there, and I think that's probably a pretty important message that I'd like to make sure that everybody of success and so on is never forgetting the why behind you know what got you there, and I think that's probably a pretty important message that I'd like to make sure that everybody understands is you know it's.
Speaker 2:You know it takes a village for all of these things to work, especially in clubs, and you know when you look at some of what the best run clubs in the country are. You see, this connectivity between you know, between the managers and the staff and the board and those kinds of things and those relationships, man, they're just, they're critical and you know, truthfully, that's kind of where I think that you know, when I look at the eight years now that I've spent here at BCC, that's why I don't think I see an end in sight, like it's the relationships that you know the way the club treats the staff and rallies behind them, and you, the relationships that you know the way the club treats the staff and rallies behind them. And you know and it's not that they don't hold us accountable either, they certainly do, but I think that's that is probably one of the best and most rewarding things that I get. That I that we see in clubs right Is. That's just not something that should be taken for granted.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you've, and you've had substantial runs at all your clubs, I think. Well, you're like. You know your shortest run was three years, like and so like that's. There's something to be said about that. Like all of your clubs have had substantial 10 years in runs. It's really impressive.
Speaker 2:Well, better lucky than good, I think, is the way that goes right.
Speaker 1:Better, what is it? Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know? No, we'll just keep on here, you know.
Speaker 2:I mean, we don't know who else we're gonna get in here and but that's, but that's okay.
Speaker 2:So think about this right, so you can look to be in a club where things are really really good and you can see that there's, you know, job x, that's, you know, going to be down wherever it is and you, you know, carries a bigger paycheck.
Speaker 2:And so we sometimes get, you know, we get blinded by oh my gosh, I can do A, b, c and D and my life is going to be different if I take this, and you know, then we forget to ask questions about values and you know the things that really should be important to us in addition to you know how much money we're going to make, and I think a lot of times that's what leads to failure. And if you're not aligned with your values and you know the direction that the club wants to go, or any organization for that matter, then I think things have a less than good chance of being successful. So I guess a lot of it for me is right place, right time and right opportunities, and you know, I certainly know, that those are, you know, forces at play that are bigger than me, and you know I'm just incredibly fortunate to have experienced the clubs and the leaders that I have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, definitely defining your own definition of success. Because it's one thing I think people it's like oh, I want to be successful. It's like well, what does that mean? Everyone's version is different, and this just reminds me of a couple of like just previous guests I've had on who it's like. It's similar things.
Speaker 1:It's you know what is your version of success, what do you want to accomplish, what's important to you, and then that helps you guide your decisions and not moving around or not taking that you know other club, because you're going to get whatever X more, but you're going to be now an hour away from work instead of 20 minutes, and now for all your kids' sports games. You know, I was talking with Ryan Brennan from Manasquan River and he's been at his club forever because he knew he could have taken so many other opportunities, but he likes his area. He knew the progression, he knew he wasn't going to get gm as quick as he wanted, but he knew the vision, the goal, success, the, the vision of the club, like he, the strategic plan, like it was all there. And then also going back, you know, one of my favorite episodes was with uh alfredo hildebrandt, and it was I was.
Speaker 1:Oh man, that is probably still one of my top episodes. When he said I was like I forget, I forget the question I asked exactly. But I was like you know what, what got you to here, like you know what was your progression. And I was like he said uh, you know, I came from a line of studs picking my bosses, I was picking my managers and I was like damn. I was like he was like I was just wanting to work for the best of the best it didn't matter what, what club they were at, it was about the manager and want to learn and be the best. And you know, the rest was going to like find itself, so to speak, and I was like geez like why and how wild.
Speaker 2:And his personal journey is an inspiration what he's doing with his life and how that's impacted everything else that he's doing. I mean it's really impressive, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, hey, I want to thank you so much, genuinely. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing and being open and for all you're doing for the industry. Thanks for being on here. It means the absolute world, thank you.
Speaker 2:Well, I appreciate this too. You know, I've seen all the stuff on LinkedIn and so on and so forth. I know it took us a while to kind of be able to figure this out but I'm really thankful. Is that what we're going to go with, denny? Yes, yes, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, that's fair by me. Kent, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate your openness and willing just to share, and not just here on the channel, but everything else you do for the industry when you speak at BMIs and leadership events and the mentorships that you give to many. So thank you so much once again. Private Club Radio listeners. Hope you got something from the show from this episode. That is this episode. I'm your host, denny Corby. Until next time, catch you on the Flippity Flip.
