Clubs Made Meaningful

Every club has a handful of spaces and traditions that carry more weight than everything else on the property. Almost none of them have decided if that weight deserves its own name.

Join Derek and Tucker as they get into the discipline of building brand sub identities inside a club, from a grill room that becomes its own culture to a golf course that finally needs an identity of its own.

They cover the test for knowing when an experience has earned its own name, the risk of branding something that was never actually different...

Every missed event, every confused member, every call that should have been a click. That is the gap between what a club intends and what members actually experience. 

Join Derek with Jason Lisi, founder and president of ClubLISI, who has spent more than two decades building websites and communications systems exclusively for private clubs. Jason is also a longtime club member himself, which means he feels the friction he is trying to eliminate. His guiding principle is simple: make the club as seamless online as the best experience your members had anywhere else that same day.

Most club events are planned from the front end. Pick a date, book the entertainment, set the menu, and hope the feeling takes care of itself. Denny Corby works in the opposite direction.

Join Derek with Denny Corby, entertainer, magician, and host of Private Club Radio, who has performed at hundreds of private clubs across the country. Before Denny does anything, he asks one question: what should people feel when they leave? Everything else gets built backwards from there. That discipline is the difference between an event members remember and one they attended.

What makes...

Clubs have something almost every other brand would want: an audience that already said yes. That advantage can quietly turn into a liability the moment it becomes a reason to stop asking whether a message is worth sending.

Join Derek with Crosby Renwick, who spent 30 years in advertising sending messages that had to earn attention, and now sits on the board of Marrakesh Country Club.

The clubs winning on communication aren't the ones sending more. They're the ones who know who they are, say it with restraint, and let every member know their message was...

Architecture and brand are not two separate projects — they're two answers to the same question. 

Derek and Howard are both designers working in different mediums, and when they compare notes, the process turns out to be nearly identical. Both start with listening, both are doing discovery, and both are chasing the same result: how a member feels when the work is done. 

The conversation covers where architecture and brand identity meet, why the sequence matters more than most clubs realize, what happens when a club tries to design a space without first knowing who it's for...

Nobody in this industry sees more clubs at once than a CMAA Chapter Director.

Join Derek with Kate Scott, managing director of the Carolinas Chapter of the CMAA, one of the largest and fastest growing chapters in the country. Her job puts her in the room with club leaders across the Carolinas constantly, which means she doesn't just see trends. She sees them forming.

Right now that story includes a labor market that isn't letting up, a generational gap between who's on the board and who's actually using the club, and the question of how...

Most clubs think they have a strategy towards the future when what they usually have is a list of tactics to deal with the now.

Join Derek with Avi Olitzky, president and principal consultant at Olitzky Consulting Group, who has spent his career helping membership organizations understand and close that gap. Avi came to this work not through club management but through years of leading congregations and advising nonprofits, and that vantage point is exactly what makes his thinking on belonging land the way it does. A congregation and a private club have more in common than...

Half of all clubs have a waitlist right now, and the difference between the ones that do and the ones that don’t usually has nothing to do with the golf course.

Join Derek with Ed Heil, founder of StoryTeller Club Marketing, who has spent two decades helping clubs figure out why their story isn’t landing the way they think it is. 

Ed walks through what that disconnect actually costs a club, from the 18 month window when a new member is most likely to become an advocate, to the shift happening right now in how p...

Satisfaction tells you whether someone enjoyed their last meal. It doesn't tell you whether they feel like they belong. April Seifert of Sprocket CX on what clubs aren't measuring, and why the most important question isn't how members feel about the food.

Most clubs survey their members annually. They track NPS scores, read comment cards, and walk away feeling like they've done the work. But a high satisfaction score can quietly mask something more concerning: a member who rates everything a nine and still doesn't renew — not because the experience was bad, but because the belonging was ne...

A milestone is only as meaningful as the intention behind it. A logo on a napkin and a one-night gala check a box. What Casey Newman did at Lakeside Country Club for their 75th anniversary was something different entirely.

Join Derek with Casey Newman, General Manager and COO at Lakeside Country Club in Houston, as she shares how her team turned a yearlong celebration into something members and staff felt genuine ownership of. Lakeside has been through Hurricane Harvey, a pandemic, and a full golf course renovation. The 75th wasn't just a number. It was a chance...

A new website won't save you. Neither will a new logo, a pickleball court, or a redesigned menu if you haven't defined the problem you're trying to solve. Are you mistaking a solution for a diagnosis?

Whether you're a GM navigating a board pushing for quick fixes, a club leader sensing something is off but unsure where to start, this episode gives you a framework to slow down before you speed up. Because the clubs that invest wisely aren't the ones with the fastest answers. They're the ones who asked the right questions first.

Member satisfaction scores look solid. But when the survey asks about value, the numbers soften. Most boards reach for pricing adjustments or reworking their messaging, but what do you do when that shows no results? 

Join Derek Sussner and Aaron Dawson, founder of Viewpoint EQ and a club leader with more than 30 years in the industry, as they unpack why that gap between satisfaction and value has almost nothing to do with cost and everything to do with how easily the club fits into a member's life and how it makes them feel when they are there.

A new general manager inherits more than a title. They inherit a culture, a team, a membership — and a window of clarity that closes faster than most people realize. Join Derek with Luke Burbach, the new general manager at The Club at Golden Valley. This conversation is an on-the-ground look at what principled leadership looks like in motion: how to build structured listening into the calendar before acting, how to find quick wins that signal engagement without forcing change, and why the single greatest risk of a mishandled first 90 days isn't operational — it's relational.

Whether you're a boar...

Most clubs describe themselves the same way. Great amenities. Welcoming culture. Excellent service. And most of the time, the club down the street says the exact same thing.

Join Derek and Tucker as they dig into one of the most persistent and underexamined challenges in the private club world: what real differentiation looks like and how to know whether your club has an identity problem, a communication problem, or both. 

Whether you're a general manager frustrated that your club can't articulate what makes it special, a board member trying to understand why strategic plans aren't p...

A membership director's job isn't just filling seats. It's curating the first year of someone's belonging—one introduction at a time.

Join Derek and Tucker as they sit down with Melissa Hanson, Director of Marketing and Membership at The Club at Old Cypress in Naples, Florida. With 15 years of experience living the brand daily, Melissa reveals what it really takes to transform prospects into advocates, new members into ambassadors, and a marketing role into the heartbeat of club culture.

Whether you're a membership director trying to move beyond transactional tours, a general manager wondering how to...

A new general manager doesn't just inherit operations, they inherit a once-in-a-decade opportunity to see what everyone else has stopped noticing.

Join Derek and Tucker as they explore why the first 90 days of a GM's tenure matter more than most boards realize—and why rushing to "get back to normal" wastes their prime strategic reset.

Whether you're a board preparing to hire a new GM, a general manager starting fresh at a club, or a leader wondering why past transitions didn't generate the momentum you hoped for, this episode offers a framework for turning handoff in...

Training isn’t just about teaching tasks—it’s how culture becomes real.

Join Derek and Tucker as they sit down with James Cronk, co-founder of Guru Collective and creator of Golf Industry Guru, to explore what private clubs can learn from the public golf world about building engaged, accountable teams. James shares why public facilities have been forced to master service and culture in order to survive—and how private clubs risk complacency when they stop “earning” the member experience every day.

Our episode tackles practical ideas for defining your employee value proposition, using data instead...

"We've always done it this way" might be the seven words of a dying organization—unless what you've always done actually means something.

Join Derek and Tucker as they untangle one of the most contentious challenges facing private clubs: knowing the difference between traditions worth preserving and habits disguised as heritage. When members invoke tradition to resist change, are they protecting something essential or just clinging to familiar comfort? And how do the best clubs honor their past while designing their future?

Whether you're a board member navigating pushback on necessary changes, a general manager tr...

Join Derek and Tucker as they sit down with Sean Bleyl, Client Development Executive at MembersFirst, to explore how private clubs can transform their digital presence into something truly meaningful. Sean shares real stories from the field to reveal how the best clubs are planning their digital communications strategy years in advance, treating it as essential as any clubhouse renovation.

Whether you're a general manager navigating a digital transformation, a membership director trying to attract the next generation, or a communications professional balancing the needs of multiple demographics, this episode offers practical insights on creating digital experiences...

This episode explores the role of board members as long-term stewards, discussing why confident leadership, clear vision, and mission-driven decision making matter more than seeking constant member approval.

Derek & Tucker sit down with club industry veteran Kevin Carroll of Peacock + Lewis to discuss a wealth of understanding when it comes to the indispensable assets for your club design.

On today's episode, Sussner sits down to take a deep look at Club Communities and the continuous cycle of club member recruiting through the eyes of the often most overlooked and most valuable asset - the new club member. These members are often your strongest advocate, but do they know your club's true identity? Find our insights on today's episode of Club's Made Meaningful. 

Sussner sits down with Jake Vogt,  the head golf professional at the Club at Golden Valley, about the importance of creating lasting member value in private clubs. They discuss the role of a golf pro, the significance of merchandising in enhancing member experience, and the challenges of navigating branding changes.

Welcome to Clubs Made Meaningful. A podcast by Sussner where strategy, culture, and brand come together to create real belonging. Today we take a look back on all we've learned for private club branding. 

Meet Clubs Made Meaningful - The Podcast by Sussner meant to help you discover your club, your members, and what they stand for. 


For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker discuss why forward-thinking clubs invest in branding, blending tradition with intentional evolution to stay relevant and attract right-fit members.

Derek and Tucker dive in to creating foundational clarity for you and your team.


For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker dive in to creating foundational clarity for you and your team.


For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker are joined by Skip Avery, a Club Development Director, to discuss his wealth of experience in guiding clubs towards their true identity. 


For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker discuss how to strengthen your culture through brand analysis and club perception.

For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker are joined by Amy Dailey to discuss the intersection between club branding and marketing from the perspective of a member.

For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker discuss the intricacies and challenges of creating and maintaining perception in the private club industry.

For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker are joined by Drew Rogers, a seasoned golf course architect, to explore the intricate relationship between golf course design, identity, and culture.

For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

To learn more about Drew Rogers:

Derek and Tucker break down unique approaches to applying your brand to your marketing to attract the right fit.



For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker are joined today by Craig Pratt to discuss finding the courage to challenge the status quo. 



For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker take a look at steps you can take to ensure you aren't selling your club short. 



For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Chris Coulter, Vice President of Club Consulting with the McMahon Group, joins Derek and Tucker to discuss the intersection of branding and consulting in the private club space.



For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker dive into the differences between generational club members, their wants and needs, and how to balance out expectations across the board for a more intentional future.

For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker are joined today by Tom Wallace, Partner at KKandW, to shed light on recruitment practices and employee retention for managers looking to grow and cultivate the workplace. 

https://kkandw.com/

For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com

Derek and Tucker finding the right opportunities to reinvent your brand and how to express your brand with crystal clear clarity. 

For more information, visit us at: www.sussner.com