Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1531607
You've spent the last 45 years in the spotlight, from first running onto the Husky football field in 1980 to holding the highest position at Seattle's most prestigious club. How will you look back on your career? I have had an incredibly blessed pro- fessional life. I've had four dream jobs, including getting to spend the last 13 years doing very satisfying work with a fantastic group of people with a shared commitment and appreciation for the Club. Starting with rebuilding aer the Great Recession, through the Amazon/ tech boom in Seattle, obviously the depths of COVID and building the Club back successfully, it has been a non-stan- dard time, that is for sure. e WAC is a special place, and I am honored to be a part of it. Overall, I could not possibly have had a better career. The Club has undergone major im- provements during your tenure. What do you hope your legacy will be? We've improved every floor of the Club, from the lobby to the Inn at the WAC. We've also started the WAC Foundation, which will outlive all of us as a way for members and others to support WAC history. I have always believed that our responsibility to the WAC is to be great stewards of what it has always been and creators of what it needs to be. I hope that we've been able to continue the culture and values and character of the Club while evolving it in all aspects to make sure it's serving the membership and the Seattle com- munity in the right ways for today and going forward. You also led the Club through the unprecedented downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic. What will your memories be of that experience? In many ways it is still hard to be- lieve the whole thing ever happened. Sometimes it seems like decades ago. Sometimes it seems like yesterday. e impacts of COVID on the city and the Club are still being felt, but at least there is some stability. It was absolutely heart- breaking to walk through the Club and see it dark and empty. Logistically, when we could reopen, the rules kept changing—masks, 25 percent capacity, 50 percent capacity, 6 feet apart, plexiglass, Purell. And with so many different "industries" in the build- ing, we had to know and follow different rules. You could shower aer swimming, but not aer working out. en we had to set up an entire vaccination verifica- tion system. I am proud of how well our entire team adapted and solved problems and created opportunities for our members to get as much value as possible out of their membership under the rules we were required to follow. I am also hum- bled by the reaction of the membership, continuing to pay full dues even while the Club could not provide full activities. It shows the support and love for the WAC that we all hoped was there. at spirit still shows through. I have always believed that our responsibility to the WAC is to be great stewards of what it has always been and creators of what it needs to be. 36 WAC Magazine | wac.net