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
385: Club Management & Drag Racing - Lessons from LuAnn Giovannelli CCM CAM, CMAA Fellow
In this episode, we sit down with LuAnn Giovannelli CCM CAM, CMAA Fellow & GM/COO Bay Colony Community Association. a trailblazer in the private club industry and one of the first female General Managers in the country.
With over 30 years of experience, LuAnn reflects on her rise in a male-dominated field, sharing how she broke barriers while staying true to herself. Her guiding principle? “There’s no right way to do the wrong thing.” This mantra has not only shaped her leadership style but has also helped her mentor young professionals in the club industry.
You will learn about the evolution of club management from the 1980s to today, including how work-life balance expectations have changed for younger generations. LuAnn also opens up about her passion for drag racing, drawing parallels between racing and making fast, confident decisions in leadership. Whether you’re a seasoned club professional or new to the field, LuAnn’s insights on authenticity, mentorship, and handling boardroom dynamics are invaluable.
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Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club Radio Show Podcast, the industry's choice for news trends, updates and conversations all in the world of private golf and country clubs. Whether you are brand new to the industry or a consummate professional, welcome. We are glad you are here. I'm your host, denny Corby Welcome. This is the show where we go over any and all topics related to private golf and country clubs. I am stoked, I am excited for this episode.
Speaker 1:I get to chat with Luann Giovinelli, who is a hoot, an amazing woman. She is GM, coo of Bay Colony Community Association. In our chat we go over a lot of things. We talk and go deep on a lot of facets of club management, of the club industry. We talk about the challenges and things that she's faced in the evolution of working in the industry over the years, being a strong leader, female general manager. A big part of what we talk about is the importance of authenticity and not being afraid to admit when you don't know something.
Speaker 1:One of Luann's mantras and one of the great mantras she shared with us in the show is and one that she lives by is there's no right way to do the wrong thing. There's no right way to do the wrong thing and just a lot of good advice for professionals, industry professionals, young and old. A lot of focus on the young professionals in the industry and really encouraging them to be authentic and honest in their work. And that's really important because, when it comes down to it a club, a board they're hiring you, the manager, and they want to make sure that you and your authentic self matches with the club's authentic self and their culture and their place. And we get to use one of my favorite words, which not too many people know about PETA. One of the coolest things that I learned is Luanne and her husband drag race. They have dragsters and we learn about how and what drag racing has to do with club management. It's a great episode. Private Club Radio listeners. Let's welcome to the show Luann Giovinelli, one of the first female GMs in the country.
Speaker 2:Yes, actually, you know that means I'm an old person. But yeah, I mean, I think I was thinking about this. I think I got my first GM job in the late 80s maybe, and there were very few of us in the association. You know, there may have been more in the country that we weren't aware of, but in the association there were very, very few of us. I can remember going to a Florida chapter meeting and there were three women and all men you know. So yeah, I mean it was interesting. I always joke and say the lines are longer now at the ladies room, which is such a bummer, but it's not a bummer really. You know, it's really wonderful to see all the women in club management now. But yeah, yeah, what was it like in the eighties?
Speaker 1:But yeah.
Speaker 2:What was it like in the 80s? Well, I mean, honestly, when you went to any kind of a CMA event, I mean it was just all predominantly men, and I was blessed because I went to my first chapter meeting with a gentleman who actually my stepdad had worked for which is a whole other story, which is a whole other story. But the you know, jd, pietro, bill Wagner, jim Singerling, I mean some of the guys that were just icons in the industry kind of shepherded me and said, hey, you know, we want to help you succeed in the industry, and they really did. I mean, they were always there for me as a sounding board and to kind of give me a push or kick me in the butt, you know, and say you need to move. So I was really lucky in that regard, you know.
Speaker 2:So I didn't feel that, you know that I was isolated at all in any way, and we hear that sometimes now. I didn't feel that. You know, the, the gentlemen in the, in the association, were very supportive of me and really, really pushed me into growth. So, yeah, but it was different. I mean, you know, you're, you're the only woman, you know, you, you learn to be. I always say well, you learn man speak and you learn to be one of the boys and you know you. Just that's how you evolve in the industry and I think those of us who started way back when all feel that you know we were one of the boys.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean it must have had some thick skin, because I'm sure you've probably heard and seen things and experienced things that you know the average, you know person, let alone females, just anybody could have just easily just pivoted, turned, whether you're male or female or not, just you know hospitality could be a tough industry as well. So that had to be.
Speaker 2:You probably had to have some some touch tough skin, had to walk through or handle some situations with your head high sure, and I mean I think where you, where I saw that most was in the boardroom because I was dealing with, and still do deal with, you know, older gentlemen who are captains of industry and then you know very tough, tough industries themselves. So they didn't, they didn't pull any punches, you know they. They didn't soft soap things just because I was a woman, um and, and I think we all feel that. But so you know, there were some days when you, you just had to have a stiff upper lip and you know the old never let them see a sweat thing. But yeah, you learn that way though. I mean, you know I learned some hard lessons. You know you learn never to. You know it's okay to say, hey, I don't know, you know, and come back later and you learn some lessons. Growing up in an environment like that, with with gentlemen that have that have really been in tough industry and and they're you know there's tough cookies.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that that that had to be a a a big move in their eyes too, to have someone you know where you could have easily just said yes to something and we're like I really I'm not sure. Can I go back, can I double check to then you know, kind of put your hand up and go like timeout, let me go back, do my research, let me ask him more questions, like I'm sure they probably respected that also, assuming that you would just say yes or just you know can comply when it's like, oh wait, no, I need some clarification, I need, I need to do a little bit of research.
Speaker 2:I were my board members and some of those you know men that I worked for over time. And you know, two of them really stand out. You know a gentleman named Don Early, who worked for General Electric, who always said Luann, make a decision Whether it's wrong, just make a decision. You know, don't do paralysis analysis. He always called it and you know so he taught me that. And then there was another gentleman who basically said hey, you're not going to have all the answers, so don't pretend that you do. People will respect you more.
Speaker 2:So I mean again, you know, I think I was blessed in in really meeting some wonderful people who who were invested in my success. You know, they wanted me to succeed. And I think it's really cool that I had men from that era that actually took a chance on a woman, because, you know, it just wasn't heard of at that time and when I would go for interviews I would usually go thinking, well, I'm not going to get this job because I'm a woman, you know. So I really appreciate those men that took the chance and said you know, she can do this job for us that took the chance and said you know she can do this job for us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's, that's really cool.
Speaker 2:Was were you? Were you always in clubs? How'd you even get into clubs?
Speaker 1:No, no, we're we're clubs before or after drag racing.
Speaker 2:Oh, before, way before. So. So my stepdad actually was a superintendent and built courses in Pennsylvania, and one of the courses that he built was a links course for the Rockwell family at Nemecol and Hunting Reserve, which is now I think it's called Nemecol and Woodlands. And I worked in the business office when I was in high school. And then I worked in the inn, which was a little. You know, it was an inn where corporations actually came for retreats all the time. Well, the gentleman that was the GM there, his name was Bob Rhodes and you know, bob taught me a lot about the industry.
Speaker 2:I never really had any interest in doing it for a living. I was going to school to be a psychology major and then I followed the love of my life to Florida in the mid 80s and I was working for a tax accountant, intending bar at a country club, just to you know, just to kind of get through school and do some stuff till I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. Well, I'm looking at the reservation book and I see the name Bob Rhodes and I'm thinking what are the odds that this is the guy right? So I called the number and sure enough it was the guy. So he said, hey, you have to come and work for me. You know I he was managing the yacht and country club in Stewart Florida. And I said, well, you know what's the job, bob? And he said, well, I need a food and beverage director. And I said I don't know anything about that. I mean, if anything, the only thing I knew about was golf course stuff, you know. And he's like no, no, no, you, you'll be fine, you'll be fine.
Speaker 2:So I quit both of my jobs to go work for Bob and when I got there there wasn't a job. I mean there was no job. He, you know he would. He was going to create the job but it hadn't really been vetted by the board. I mean it was just a crazy situation and I was like great, now what do I do, right? So I went to work for him. I ended up working in the business office. I ran the dining room, I did you name it, I did it right. And I worked my way up in the club and I became the assistant GM.
Speaker 2:He ended up getting terminated and they brought in a consultant, a gentleman, ken McQuaid. He was the GM at the Knickerbocker Club in New York City, just the most amazing guy. He's gone now but we remain friends forever. He was there to evaluate me to see if I could actually do the job Right, and he recommended that I get the job.
Speaker 2:Well then I get the job and I'm like, wait a minute, I don't want to do this. I mean I, I cried, I went home and to my husband I'm like, oh, I don't want to do this. It's such a huge commitment. You work a lot, you know you trade holidays and you know your life. I always said for the job and my husband was actually the one who pushed me and said you're so good at this, you, you just have to do this. And you know the rest is history. So it was just like this crazy chain of events from my childhood really until, you know, my early mid twenties, that I fell into it and I did fall in love with it and and then I met people like Jay and Bill and Jim and you know other people in the industry and and they just kind of kept pushing me along and you know I love it. I can't imagine doing anything else for a living. I can't.
Speaker 1:Do you ever dip back into any of your psychological or psychology trainings and stuff? Cause I'm sure all that definitely came into place and helped, whether you know it or not, in some capacity, especially dealing with boards and people, and you know just how people think.
Speaker 2:Oh sure, absolutely you know, um, you know, and of course you learn things as you get older too, just about people in general. But yeah, absolutely you know, it came into play a time or two, no doubt about that.
Speaker 1:I remember when we first chatted you you, you said the line you've watched the evolution of everything.
Speaker 2:I like that line a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like I have, you know I mean it's not like I'm the beginning of club management, but I certainly have watched the evolution of women in club management and the evolution of the I don't want to say kids the students and the generations that we're dealing with now, and how things have changed. You know, in my day we worked 70, 80 hours a week. We felt like that was expected of us. You had to do that to prove that you were really good at what you do, and I kind of really love it that the young people today are like, hey, I'm not doing that anymore. You know, I'm not doing that. And and there are a lot of people that think, oh, they, you know, they don't have a work ethic or they don't have this or that. And I think, heck, why didn't we think of that? You know, why didn't we say, hey, we're not working 80 hours a week. You know, we want to be with, see people not being able to go to their children's events and sporting events, you know, because they feel like they have to be at the club. So I'm kind of I think it's cool that that the younger people today are going, hey, I need a life, but you know I've also watched the evolution of boards and clubs, where they've also, they're not so, they're not so rigid about hey, we want our GM in the dining room every night. You know you have that old maitre d' syndrome, I call it. You know. So clubs and people in clubs and boards and the next generation, I mean all of it has evolved into what I hope will continue to be a much more balanced life experience, you know. So I mean it's not like you can take every holiday off, but you know you can at least alternate. You know my staff here, when we have holidays, um, my beach club manager, uh, does a shift in the early day and a shift in night. So you get to at least experience that holiday with your staff, I mean with your family, and you have a little bit of life balance.
Speaker 2:But it is interesting, I mean right down to how we dress and how we wear our hair. You know I can remember my hair used to be very, very long and I used to wear it in a bun every day of my life, because that was the expectation. You had to have a suit on and you had to have your hair in a bun, and you had to, you know, and stockings and you know all that craziness. So you know, and now I never wear my hair up, you know, I wouldn't even think about it and my members don't have that expectation that I have to look like, you know, a librarian nothing against librarians, but you get it, you know. I mean that whole like persona. So you know. And even the way we dress, you know everybody doesn't wear the. You know, the suit and the. You know, every single day you can be a little more casual. So I think it's all evolved into a, into a more casual and life balance kind of situation. So that's good. How do you?
Speaker 1:how do you handle your staff? So, like you know, your, your staff comes to you and says, hey, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that, for lack of better words. How do you, how do you handle and work with your team and how do you find that balance for everybody?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean we have multiple departments here, but we we set the expectation when they're hired. You know, I mean we have multiple departments here, but we set the expectation when they're hired. You know this is, this is the expectation that we need you to work these days, x number of hours, holidays, weekends, whatever. And we will, we will do our best to give you time off whenever you'd like to. And you know all of our department heads are super flexible with that, you know to, even to the extent where they my security director will work a shift for one of his guys if they, if they, really need to be somewhere. So I think we all have recognized that it's important to give our staff you know that time, and that doesn't always happen. I mean, there's lots of times when we say, gee, just just can't do it. But they also know that deep down, we're flexible and we care about them. So you know we will if we can. So I think initially we just set the expectation and do what we can as we go.
Speaker 1:Did you purposely stay in a lot of yacht clubs or did that just sort of happen along the way?
Speaker 2:It just happened. It just yeah, it just happened. And you know they all had golf as well. So you know, some of it was yacht, some of it was golf. It was all predominantly golf until I went to Cherokee. I managed a Cherokee town club for a year and now I'm in an HOA, which is like I died and went to heaven because it's a Monday through Friday job, even though I have a beach club and a tennis club. It's a very different animal than managing a country club.
Speaker 1:What are some of the main differences?
Speaker 2:a country club. So what are some of the main differences? Well, when you're managing a property owners association, you're really dealing with people and their homeowners issues. So you know putting a new roof on your house or painting your house, or I want this tree removed from my backyard. Or you know my neighbor's doing something I don't like you know. So you're really dealing with homeowner issues versus. You know my neighbor's doing something I don't like you know. So you're really dealing with homeowner issues versus um, you know a golf course, or you know I I am ultimately responsible for my tennis club and beach club, but I have amazing people in those positions, so they really run those and I get to. You know I get to do the fun part of talking to people and walking around and smiling a lot, so it's just different. I miss the country club industry. I really miss golf a lot of the time because I did that for 30 years, but still great job.
Speaker 1:Do not judge me. No one judge me. So I just always I just find the funny in everything. So one of my favorite things to do I don't do it all the time, but if I specifically know I'm in like a HOA. So if I'm going to, like you know, performing a club somewhere, and I see people like out doing stuff around there like yards or just house, cause I'm in, I'm in my rental car, so I'll slow down and I'll roll down the window and I'll just yell I'm calling the HOA and then just drive away. It is so much fun.
Speaker 2:I love it. It is Just to see their face like what am I doing?
Speaker 1:Like it is. The look of panic is just amazing.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. I wish I could do that, but I am the HOA that they call so. Did you know what you? That's awesome.
Speaker 1:I wish I could do that, but I am the HOA that they call so did you know what you were getting into when you went from club management to the HOA?
Speaker 2:well, I thought I did right. So I thought, oh, how different can this be? You know, management is management. I knew there was a beach club and a tennis club. I really wasn't ready for sort of the dialing back of time commitment, and I also wasn't ready. There aren't very many committees here and they're all people that were really in corporate America, so I was used to people emailing me constantly or texting me or somebody calling me, and you know so it was constant after I went home, at night, weekends, whatever. So when I first got here, like nobody ever talked to me. They didn't talk to me, they didn't email me, they didn't text me, they, you know it was like, oh, wow, they don't like me. You know that was my initial like, oh, I don't think about that.
Speaker 2:And so the gentleman who hired me, I finally he called me one day and I said look, I have to ask you. You know, like nobody ever really communicates with me here, and I'm used to a lot of communication and he said gee, luann, we hired you to manage the association. We don't want to talk to you. So basically it was kind of like and I loved it, it was my wake up call for like, oh, oh, yeah, okay, great, they trust me, they just want me to do my job and I don't have to deal with this anymore, you know, so it that probably took me a good year to kind of get used to people not talking to me all the time. And the other thing was I kept trying to make the HOA like my country club. I kept trying to do events like the big party, the big dance, you know, the big everything. And I kept trying to initiate these events that I'd always had at my country clubs and in my golf club life and at some point went, wow, they hate this, they just don't like it, you know. And there were people that were forthright enough to say to me this is our private restaurant. We just want to come here and have dinner. We don't want to dance, we don't. We don't want to do this, you know.
Speaker 2:So that was another year, you know, of me going. Oh, this is a whole different world, you know. So once I kind of settled into the the differences of what I had done for 30 years, you know, versus what I was now doing, it was fine and it's great, and we do still have entertainment and we still do some events. Every year. We have a great event planner here, but it's it mainly revolves around the holidays, when everyone has their family and their grandkids here, and you know we do a lot of stuff at Christmas for the kids. We do a lot of stuff at Easter, you know so. So we do still do events. But that that was the hard transition for me was to give up. You know the old life. You know it was like shedding a skin. I was giving up that old life and you know doing something new.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how. How did how did this position come about? Did of doing something new? Yeah, how. How did how did this position come about? Did? Were they looking for you? Were you looking for something?
Speaker 2:else. What was that progression? Well, I I had actually moved to Atlanta, Um, I was. I was offered the job as the first woman managing the town club at Cherokee town club, town and country club, and my husband and I picked up, after, you know, 20 something years of living here in Florida, and went to Atlanta. And great club great people still keep in touch with that staff.
Speaker 2:You know two of the people on that staff I'm very close to still, but we just didn't care for the weather or the traffic or, you know, it was just it was not for me, and so, unfortunately, I moved my husband back to Florida in a year. But I contacted a friend of mine who was, you know, someone who did placements and he had two jobs that he sent me on. One was at Cat Cay Island in the Bahamas, Um, and the other one was Bay Colony and um, you know, I guess luckily I did not get a cat cake job, um, even though it was really cool place and and I think my husband would have liked that much better than I did, but, um, but I was just lucky, I got this job and um, the rest is history. I've been here for 11 years, which, you know, time has flown by.
Speaker 1:That's great and well, I mean you, you've most of your places, you've, you've, you've had good 10 years. And speaking of 10 years, most of them have been for about 10 years.
Speaker 2:Okay, I know right, it's fine. So the interesting thing is I've worked at three of my clubs twice. So if you look at my resume, you'll see I went back and forth, back and forth.
Speaker 1:I thought I was miss-scrolling. I thought it was like my page.
Speaker 2:No, it's not. I actually worked at three clubs. Three clubs two different times. Right so it, I had accumulated more years because I did work at them multiple times.
Speaker 1:but there's something to be said about that. You must have really made a good impact too, cause I mean, there's oftentimes, you know, people don't even want to sit, you know, go near the same city that they've, you know, managed to club in, and you, for, you know, three for three, been brought back. That's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2:It was interesting. You know there are some people who go wow, that's kind of psycho. But you know there are lots of circumstances about why those those things happened at all three different clubs. But, um, I did love the clubs and the people there and you know it was, it was easy to go back and in a in one instance I had gone to another club and was very unhappy and it was just a fluke. You know that the president called and said hey, are you happy? Because we really want you to come back here. And I jumped I mean, I didn't even tell my husband. I'm like, yes, you know I'm coming back.
Speaker 2:So different circumstances for all three, but no regrets. You know it is a it is an interesting thing to do, um, because you leave for a reason, right, you're either another job or you're not particularly happy, and then you go back and things have changed somewhat. But you know they're always those same things that you remember about why you left as well. So, you know, would I recommend it? Yes, under certain circumstances, but it doesn't always work.
Speaker 1:I'm sure there must have been some checks and balances in place and some, like you know, good, bad columns and all that stuff. Sure, it's 2024 and it's time to change the way you vet your new members. Some traditions are worth modifying. The new member process hasn't changed really in the past 150 years, relying almost solely on social relationships and casual interactions, but lacking in factual data. And this is where Kennis comes in, because the traditional application process tells you very little about someone's behaviors and character. Until now, kennis has created an innovative and confidential comprehensive applicant information gathering process that provides an unraveled depth of information. The world of member vetting has evolved to a new standard and Kennis is your turnkey solution to meet this new industry best practice. You can rely on Kennis to provide the facts that you need to make fully educated member decisions, because what you don't know can hurt your club and your members. To learn a little bit more, or to set up a call head on over to membervettingcom, fill out the form. You're going to have a chat with Paul Dank. It's going to be good, he's a great guy. Also, be sure to check out our episodes of member vetting here on Private Club If you're looking for a way for your club to help attract the right members stand out from the crowds and you don't want to advertise, but you want more exposure in the marketplace, then you need to check out Golf Life Navigators. They are the only resource that helps golfers discover experience and ultimately secure their ideal club membership and golf community home. They're experts at connecting your club with people who will truly appreciate what you have to offer. It's like eHarmony meets Zillow for golfers. If you're interested in learning more, head on over to golflifenavigatorscom.
Speaker 1:You've been doing this for so long. What are some? And you've had great mentors. You've had great people who've pushed you and shared you know things, you know success traits with you along the way. What are some things that you may have learned from you know Bob, back in the day or maybe it was, you know, back in high school working in the business office Was there anything that you've learned early on that stuck with you? Mantras, sayings, any little bits of business that just kept with you that you know, maybe even stuff that you were told earlier that people you know that didn't really click until you got a little bit older.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, I think, early on, you know, I love, I love this expression and I don't know where it came from, certainly not mine. But there's no right way to do the wrong thing, and I learned that pretty early on from um, a gentleman that I worked for at my first club. You know it's like, and, and there was perfect example of that at that club. You know, where it may be easy to do something, but if it's not the right thing, don't do it.
Speaker 2:So I mean, that has always, always stuck with me and just being yourself, you know, you have to be authentic, you know, and that took me a little while to learn because I, as a young woman in the industry, I, I think, early on, I thought, oh, this is how they want me to act, so this is how I should act. And it did take me a while, after working with some of the men that I worked with on boards, to go, hey, I can be myself, and I can be myself with this guy, then I can be myself with everyone. So that takes a while. But, um, you know, I think being authentic is always very important.
Speaker 1:What do you? What do you tell young professionals now who are looking to get into the industry? What do you tell them? What are your words of wisdom? What are your, you know, words to the wise. What are your two cents?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean back to a lot of things we've talked about today. You know, be authentic, don't be afraid to say you don't know, don't BS people. I mean, they see it coming, they know it. You know, whenever you're not telling the truth or you're I call it dancing, you know, so I those are. Those are some big ones, but I think my own mantra of no way, no right way to do the wrong thing, you know, I hope that sticks with a lot of the people that I've mentored and talked to on a regular basis, because you know it's, it's easy to fall into that trap of not doing the right thing because it's easy.
Speaker 1:Very, very. Now what if you're chatting with a club professional and they're a known PETA? How do they change that about them?
Speaker 2:A peer or a member.
Speaker 1:No, they are. No, I was kidding, I was saying no. No, you're chatting with a club professional who is a known PETA. How do they change that?
Speaker 2:PETA.
Speaker 1:Pain in the ass. Pain in the ass yeah, I was trying to make a joke, all right, no, no, okay, so you might have to make a joke, all right, no, no, okay, so you might have to edit this or start over again. I know.
Speaker 2:I know how do they change that. I think, you know, I think if, oh, you're talking about the guy, the guy charging 50 cents, I forgot, I forgot, I told you that story. Oh my God. Oh, I forgot, I told you that story. Oh my God. Oh charging 50 cents every time they come in.
Speaker 1:That was the greatest story ever. Can you tell that story for the audience right now?
Speaker 2:No sure. I mean, it was such a long time ago. So there was a member at one of my clubs, who shall rename, who shall remain nameless, but let's just call him Quiet Wyatt, right? So he would come to the club every single day for lunch and he was a little bit difficult to deal with. He was loud and he would talk over top of everyone and he wasn't particularly nice to the staff. And one month he came into the accounting department and said I don't understand why I have a 50 cent charge on my check. Every day I come to lunch for pita bread. He said I don't even like pita bread and I wish I could imitate him.
Speaker 2:He had the heaviest southern accent, and so the accounting department was kind of befuddled, you know, and said oh well, you don't eat pita bread. And so they started looking up all the chips and recognize that there was a young man who always waited on him and, I'm sorry, who always waited on him. And so we contacted this young man and said Gee, every time Mr Wyatt quiet Wyatt comes into the club, you charge him for pita bread. And he said that he doesn't eat pita bread. So what's going on?
Speaker 2:So this young man kind of put his head down, his face was red and he said well, it's a pita charge because he's so difficult to deal with. And we were like pita charge, pain in the butt, right. So we we didn't know whether to die laughing or or reprimand him, you know. So it was kind of one of those moments where you're like, oh, this is really creative, you know, and amazing, but you really shouldn't be doing this to members. So we had to have a little chat with the young man and tell him, you know this was inappropriate.
Speaker 2:Obviously, we had to have a little chat with the young man and tell him you know this was inappropriate. Obviously, we had to credit every 50 cent Pita charge on quiet Wyatt's bill, but just thousands of dollars. One of the best, best stories ever. And and the young man actually I'm still friends with him on Facebook and every once in a while we we have the quiet, quiet laugh. But that's amazing, yeah, and you couldn't be mad at him. I mean, you just couldn't be mad at him. It was just so perfect.
Speaker 1:So good, so good. And just going back to being being authentic, you know I love this, you're big into drag racing and and not like you know, not like a Corvette on the strip, like the legit dragsters, like the ones with the umbrellas, like with the parachutes, right?
Speaker 2:Like they go that fast. Yes, it's kind of an interesting story. So I golfed for most of my life. Since I was eight I golfed almost every day because we lived on a golf course. My dad maintained golf courses and in Pennsylvania back in the old days, you know, the superintendent lived on the golf course. So golfed my whole life, loved it. Met my husband.
Speaker 2:He didn't really particularly like the sport. He, you know, he loved going out riding on the golf cart because he loves nature, but he didn't like the sport. And he was a barefoot skier. He loved the water. He had jet boats. You know, he was always on the water. I hate the water. I'm absolutely terrified on the water unless it's going putt, putt, slow, right.
Speaker 2:So we did. We did not have hobbies. That worked, you know. We just didn't like each other's hobbies. So we did love the sport of drag racing and so we would go to lots of national events and go to local events.
Speaker 2:And in 2004, we were at an event and my husband said gee, you know what I really would like to get? A dragster and drag race. You know, meanwhile, none of it, neither of us, had ever done this. And drag race. You know, meanwhile, none of it. Neither of us had ever done this. And I'm like, okay, you know. So he got a dragster and we were going to the drag strip. He was racing, I was the tire checker girl, you know, putting the gas in, doing the tires, and after a couple of years I was like this this stinks, I want my own car. You know, I want to drive. So he gave me his car and he, of course, got a faster car. So we both have rail dragsters and that's what we do for a hobby. So I gave up golf, he gave up water skiing and we we now both drag race.
Speaker 1:So so fun so what's your fastest? Zero to 60?.
Speaker 2:Um zero.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, we do quarter mile.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we, when they'd actually don't do quarter mile anymore, they do eighth, but when we were doing the quarter mile it was. My car does about 190 and 6.9 seconds. So his is a little faster than mine. I think he does two, 10 and six seconds. I can't remember what his does, but mine's yeah. So does 210 in six seconds. I can't remember what his does, but mine's yeah. So so fun. You know, and I will tell you when you first start, it's an out of body experience. When I used to come back to the pit in the early days, he would say so how did that feel? What about this, what about that? I'm like Are you kidding? I didn't even remember anything that happened in that six seconds. But the more you do it, the slower it becomes. You start seeing people in the stands and you start seeing all kinds of stuff. So initially it feels very fast and then, the more you do it, I understand why people want to go faster and faster, because after a while it doesn't feel fast anymore.
Speaker 1:How many times do you go more than like when you go? How many times like? How many like do you do you go more than like when you go? How many times do you run?
Speaker 2:Well, it depends. So there's nights when you go and it's just it's called test and tune and you just run your car as many times as you can, depending on how many cars are at the track. Now, if you're actually racing, you're in, you end up in a in a 16 car bracket, usually sometimes 32. And then it's. You know, every race there's a loser. So you know it depends. It depends on how well you do. I've never won a race if that's what you're going to ask me next.
Speaker 1:Maybe if you had the faster car.
Speaker 2:Maybe you know and it's not uncommon, I mean it's you know we always laugh and say second place is the first loser, but it's just fun.
Speaker 1:It's just such an adrenaline rush and that's got to stink because you're both going so fast. You're losing by like what milliseconds.
Speaker 2:Like what's even the centimeters? Thousands of a second, thousands of a second.
Speaker 1:Oh man. So if you can describe that of like racers and then like the lights, go like, because it's what?
Speaker 2:yellow, yellow, yellow green, or how it depends on the light but yeah, yellow, yellow, yellow, green and you don't want it to be red um it's just like you're so amped up and tense and you know, ready, ready to go, and it's actually you have a trans button, so you lift that button and then you just push your foot to the floor and your car launches. And I mean, when I say launch, it launches. So it's a, it's an out of body experience. It is. And I would say, even though you get used to going fast and you don't feel that that rush of going fast anymore, that launch off the starting line never changes. I mean, that's always just an incredible like wow, Every time you do it.
Speaker 1:Well, how many G's is that G for? Is that that's G forces that called you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and my car, my car, I can't tell you. I mean, I know, in the big, big cars that go 340 miles an hour, the g's are like fighter pilot jets, you know. So those are, those are real g's. I'm sure I have a g, I don't. I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1:It's not like that oh man, that must be such like a good too of just being able to, just Because you can't think about anything else really, in that moment, you have to be in on it. It's not like your brain can't wander, so that's got to be a nice way to just zone in and focus and be hypervigilant.
Speaker 2:It really is, and it is a stress reliever. It's just like you said. You really can't think of anything else either.
Speaker 1:Thank you, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 2:I truly appreciate this has been such a fun conversation. Thank you so much, denny. It's been my pleasure, and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Hope you all enjoyed that episode. I know I did. If you're enjoying the content, like share, subscribe. That's this episode. This episode until next time. Catch on, flippity flip.
