My First Season

My guest today and I crossed paths in Club Med Columbus Isle in 1997/1998 where she was in training to be a Choreographer, but her first season was in Club Med Copper Mountain in Fall of 1996 as a Reception G.O. Originally from Atlanta, but now living in Marina del Ray, please help me welcome the amazing, Ouija Whittemore! Before Club Med, Ouija (and yes, we will get into her name!) was a professional dancer until she was thirty years old and her first dance class was at just four years old. She was also a regular on The Mickey Mouse Club and even got to interview Milli Vanilli (you have to see this video!). Ouija went to Club Med Cancun in 1995 as a G.M. and wanted to work for them based on her experience as a guest. When Ouija got home from Cancun a few days later, she saw an ad in the newspaper that Club Med was hiring and she promptly applied. During the span of her first season, Ouija went from Reception to Yoga Instructor to Assistant Choreographer! Ouija entered Club Med specifically with dreams of being a Choreographer and after a season in Club Med Sandpiper in 1997, she was sent on a three-month stage to become a Choreographer. The training took place in three separate Club Med villages: Paradise Island, Columbus Isle and Eleuthera. After Club Med, Ouija became a professional cheerleader for the Orlando Predators in 2001 and presently works in legal cannabis sales and distribution. Ouija is currently training for a half marathon on October 22, 2022 and is running as part of a team of EXGO’s, led by Tracy Nathan. The team is collecting donations that will go to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) TNT. The link is provided below, so please donate to this worthy cause if you are able, thank you! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. The link to Leukemia & Lymphoma Team in Training Fundraiser: https://pages.lls.org/tnt/calso/yourway23/OWhittemore?fbclid=IwAR0MpZTVCIBZGa6kcR8qtJ7Mp9hslBYx7MSRwMaG4ZaUyrTbKtnaCCxy_QE Her Mickey Mouse Club interview with Milli Vanilli (Ouija asks her question at the 3:05 mark) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpWyx1THQgY And please check her out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ouijatheog/

My guest today and I met in the main restaurant of Club Med Playa Blanca during the 1996/1997 winter season. I was a Landsports G.O and he was a G.M. His first season was as an au pair in Club Med Playa Blanca in May of 1992 as a Landsports G.O. From Orange County, California, please help me welcome to My First Season, Stan Bruckheim!! Before Club Med, proud Army brat Stan actually lived in France the first six years of his life and then spent three years in Berlin. His teenage years were spent in Philadelphia and he went to college at Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and obtained a Political Science degree. After graduation he went to work in Washington, D.C., but his employer sent him West to open their California office. Stan’s first experience with Club Med was as a G.M. in Martinique in 1988. While Stan was a G.M. at Playa in ’92, the CDV Gregg Snyder made an offer to Stan to come back as an au pair. Stan, who was a Media Director for an Ad agency, then went to his employer to ask for a one-year leave of absence. Not only did his employer grant his request, but they also told him his job would be held for him that entire year. After Playa, Stan then drove his red, Mazda RX-7 from California to Florida (in just four days) and went to Club Med Sandpiper during the Fall of 1992 as Landsports. He then went to Club Med Cancun in the Spring of 1993 as Public Relations and finished his Club Med career in Turks & Caicos in October of 1995. If you were a G.O. in the 1990’s, then you will remember the group “Carnage” that used to come to Club Med. Stan founded this group, but surprisingly, Carnage was not started at Club Med, as you will hear in this interview. When the conversation turns to Stan’s season in Cancun in ‘93, we cover what the picnic sign-up was like, the night he had dinner with Steven Seagal and Kelly LeBrock and when Playboy came for the week. Stan’s regular job is Advertising in Latin America & Latino Media Services, but he is also the proprietor of “Kids Rule Sports”, a quality sports cards and memorabilia store (see link below) that is his passion. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. Please check out the link to his store and Instagram: http://www.kidsrulesports.com/ https://www.facebook.com/kidsrulesportsoc https://www.instagram.com/stanbruckheim/?hl=en

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Playa Blanca during the 1996/1997 winter season, but his first season was in Club Med Cancun on May 8, 1988 (yes, he knows the exact date!) as an Assistant Traffic G.O. From Mexico City, please help me welcome Salvador Cortés! Salvador worked for Club Med from May1988 to May 2022! Before Club Med, Salvador worked for Pemex (the Mexican state-owned petroleum company), as a certified pipe fitting specialist and was also a professional Mountain Climber and Guide and was an instructor in “Ice Climbing” techniques (yes, I learned there is ice in Mexico!). He was also a volunteer in the Socorro Alpino Mexicano (Mexican Alpine Rescue). He climbed mountains such as Aconagua, El Capitan and Chamonix, to name only a few. Salvador was actually a G.M before he was a G.O. He stayed for two nights in Club Med Huatulco and was impressed by the way he was welcomed by the many smiling faces of the G.O. team. Salvador worked in villages such as Huatulco, Paradise Island, Ixtapa, Eleuthera, Sonora Bay, Punta Cana, Columbus Isle and Turks & Caicos. Since Salvador was in charge of Traffic for his whole career, I asked him for a “traffic nightmare story” and he delivered with Hurricane Gilbert! Salvador’s first season coincided with category 5 Hurricane Gilbert (for which they had no warning of), so he takes us through what that was like during a time before TV’s were in the rooms and the internet did not exist. When he had his interview with Club Med, the only position available was Assistant Traffic, but Salvador had some prior experience with that when he was taking guests on mountain climbing expeditions. We recorded this interview on July 14, 2022, so I had to ask him about his first ever Bastille Day in Club Med! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. And please check out his social media: Salvador Cortés (@salcortes) • Instagram photos and videos (8) Salvador Cortes (@montagneur) / Twitter Salvador Cortes | Facebook

My guest today and I met when he was the Chief of Village of Cancun and I was there for the EXGO Reunion 3 in 2010. He arrived in Club Med Sonora Bay on July 13, 1993 for his first season as a Specialty Restaurant Manager. He is the FIRST Mexican Chief of Village in the history of Club Med, so please help me give a very warm MFS welcome to Eduardo Rojas! Before Club Med, Eduardo was working in a night club in Mexico City. One day while walking down the street, he noticed the Club Med office and went in and asked for an interview (as he did not have an appointment). The rest they say, is history. Eduardo worked for Club Med from 1993 to 2019 in positions such as Restaurant Manager, Chief of Sports, Chief of Entertainment, Leisure Service Manager and Chief of Village. Eduardo worked in many villages such as Cancun, Sandpiper, Punta Cana, Ixtapa, Cherating and Guilin, China to name but a few. Eduardo has many stories to tell and I hope you enjoy the journey he takes you on as he shares his incredible and inspirational story and the people he met and who helped him along the way. One special story in particular he shares is the one where he finally learned that he would become a Chief of Village. Eduardo is currently the General Manager of the luxury hotel, Villa del Palmar in Loreto, Mexico and it was named the world’s leading family resort in 2020 by the World Travel Awards. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. Here is the link to the luxury hotel where Eduardo is the General Manager: https://villadelpalmarloreto.com/ His social media: https://www.instagram.com/eduardo.rojas01/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduardorojasvergara/ https://www.facebook.com/edylatinorojas

My guest today and I have never met, but his name was mentioned on a previous episode by an another EXGO. His first season was in Club Med Sonora Bay during the summer of 1998 as the Animator/DJ. Everyone, please help me give a warm welcome to a very, very funny EXGO from Montreal, Christopher “Christo” Williams!! Christo worked for Club Med from 1998 to 2000 and went on vacation to Club Med as a teenager to the resorts of Huatulco, Playa Blanca and Martinique, so he was no stranger to the life. Christo did many things before applying to Club Med. Among them, Christo attended a comedy school in Montreal called “École National de L’Humour” and even sold men’s underwear! Remembering the great times he had as a G.M. in Club Med, Christo decided to apply to Club Med and had his interview in Montreal. He was sent for two weeks training to Playa Blanca to train under none other than, “Adrenaline” and was even picked up at the airport by the CDV, Houria! After his training was over, he went to Sonora Bay where Hammer was the CDV and the rest is history. As an Animator, you can imagine that Christo has many funny stories and one of his funniest stories involves the magician/nail polish gag that someone did not find amusing! Christo was in Club Med Cancun for Y2k with Hammer and then Paradise Island with Kevin Batt. After Club Med, Christo continued his comedy career in Montreal and even performed at the “Just for Laughs” comedy festival, which is the largest international comedy festival in the world. Christo has nothing but good memories about his time in Club Med and I hope you have as much fun listening to this episode as we did recording it! (special shoutout to MC Mario!!) **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. *You can download any episode on your smartphone and listen to it later. Please check out his Facebook below: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.williams.7902 And his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/secretmaverickboy And the "Evil Hand" number we spoke about during the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfiQegzjERY

My guest today and I have never met, but I did interview her brother-in-law, Boone, for this podcast in February of 2022. Her first season was in Club Med Cancun in 2013 as a Waterski and Wakeboard G.O., but you could say her actual first season was when she was conceived in Club Med Turks & Caicos (both her parents were G.O.’s for nine years)! Everyone, please help me welcome the amazing and talented, Carly-Ann Dell! Before Club Med, Carly attended the University of Washington and obtained a degree in Early Childhood and Family Studies. Carly then enrolled in a Master’s program in School Counseling at Seattle Pacific University, but left after a year to pursue a Club Med experience. Carly has her own podcast called “Crazy Over Easy” (available on all podcast platforms) as well as a Health and Wellness website and her Instagram account (@carlyanndell-the links are provided below). She wrote and published a book called “Choosing Crazy over Easy” and it comes out tomorrow on her website and will be available on Amazon in two weeks. One fun fact about Carly is that she competed in the Junior Olympics in Downhill Skiing when she was fifteen years old and another is that she met her future husband Casey in Turks & Caicos while on vacation in 2012 and then got married to Casey there in 2019!! Carly worked in the Club Med villages of Cancun, Turks & Caicos and Sahoro Hokkaido in Japan and is kind to share her stories with us. We have something in common in that we both LOVE the movie “Christmas Vacation”, so I would be remiss if I didn’t ask her what her favorite scene or quote is. In this episode we cover a lot, but some of the highlights are Carly and Casey’s unconventional love story, her cherished JoJo the dolphin recollection and the absurdity of being “in couple” in Club Med then having to adapt their relationship when going back to “reality”. Please enjoy this episode with, Carly!! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. Please take a moment to visit her website: https://carlyanndell.com/ And her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlyanndell/?hl=en

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Playa Blanca during the 1996/1997 season, but his first season was in Club Med Cancun in April of 1996 as a Tennis G.O. From Mexico City and now living in Cancun, please help me welcome Vladimir Mayllen! Vladimir worked for Club Med from 1996 to 2014 in resorts such as Cancun, Playa Blanca, Sonora Bay, Sandpiper, Turks & Caicos, Ria Bintan in Indonesia and Phuket in Thailand. Vladimir did everything from Tennis, Landsports, Chief of Traffic, Community Liason, Chief of Sports, Leisure Services Manager to interim Chief of Village. Before he started working at Club Med, Vladimir (who was 7 years old at the time) and his family would live at Club Med Ixtapa while his parents would manage some businesses they had in the area. After that, Vladimir would go on to attend UCLA and obtain a Communications degree. A chance meeting with ex-CDV Ricardo Gonzalez at a BBQ in Mexico City, led to Vladimir being offered employment with Club Med. Although Vladimir may have started as a Tennis G.O. his first weeks in Club Med, he quickly went from Tennis to Bar to Standard (phone operator) all in the span of his first season, but I will let him explain that progression! Since we both worked at Club Med Playa Blanca in 1996/1997 and had an amazing season, we reminisced a little over our time there. We shared “Uncle Larry” stories and I tell Vladimir how in awe I was the first time I saw a Mexican G.O. celebrate his birthday in the main restaurant. This memory has stayed with me the entire time, so you will just have to listen to his amazing episode to find out why and also if you don’t know who Uncle Larry (RIP) was. Vladimir is currently a General Manager for Royalton Luxury Resorts at the Royalton Rivera Cancun Resort & Spa. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. Please check out his social media below: https://www.instagram.com/vladimir.mayllen/ https://www.facebook.com/vladimir.mayllen

My guest today and I have never met, but we do have 46 mutual friends in the Club Med family. Her first season was in Club Med Turks and Caicos as a Scuba Instructor in April of 2014. From Quebec City, please help me welcome Jennifer “Jen” Keays! Jen was born in Quebec City, but moved to Whistler, B.C. when she was seventeen years old. Before Club Med, Jen attended Capilano University (CAPU) in Vancouver and obtained a degree in Tourism and Outdoor Recreation. Jen was actually on an internship at Club Med Turks & Caicos as part of her degree requirement! Jen also worked as a Financial Accountant for one year for Norwegian Cruise Line, but in her spare time on board the ship, would also dress up as “Dora the Explorer” to entertain the kids as breakfast time! Jen worked for Club Med from 2014 to 2020 and worked in not one but TWO different villages in China: Club Med Dong’ao and Club Med Guilin. Jen also worked in Club Med Cancun and she helped open Club Med Charlevoix (the first Club Med 4-season resort in Canada) in December 2021. There, she had two jobs at that resort: Boutique and Club Med Artist in Circus. Jen was working in Club Med Punta Cana in March of 2020 when Covid hit and she tells us what that experience was like. One of Jen’s many funny stories, this one involving culture shock and chicken soup, happened in Club Med Dong’ao, but I’ll let her fill you in on that one! Jen worked many jobs in her time at Club Med: Landsports, Fitness, Sailing, Circus, Chief of Sailing, Chief of Circus, Water Activities Manager, Guest Relations/Creactive and Boutique. Please enjoy this interview with a very special person! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. Please checkout all her Social Media links below: https://www.instagram.com/jenkeays.cpt/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/majestik.sports/ https://www.arbonne.com/ca/en/arb/JenniferKeays?fbclid=IwAR2M9JDeZrDRMhboKl-1Gv_cnjtsksuHxnZkmpngKReoOTpN67kS2u83DHw

My guest today and I met at an EXGO Reunion in Cancun in 2008 or 2010 (we’re both not sure), but his first season was in Club Med Turks and Caicos in 1989 as a Sailing and Windsurfing G.O. Fun Fact: he did not know how to do either of those things!! Everyone, please help me welcome, from Vancouver, Cheez! Before Club Med, Cheez (Glenn Jensen) was at the start of a three-month, ten-stop Pacific Rim tour with his brother Jenner and friend, Hammer. They stopped off at Club Med Moorea before the trip began and met Hansel Moss there, who was the Chief of Sports. The rest they say is history. Cheez might be the only G.O I know of who bought an acre of land while he was an au pair at Turks in ’89 and then sold said acre years later for a tidy profit. He had the chance to buy more acres in Turks and become very well off, but I will let Cheez tell that story! Hurricane Hugo hit Turks that year and he was evacuated to Sandpiper. Cheez then went to Playa Blanca in November of 1989 as a Sailing G.O., but wound up doing circus as well. He got married in February of 1992 in Paradise Island where Jenner was working and conceived his daughter Emily (her episode link is posted below) there on his honeymoon. He has many stories to tell so please enjoy this episode with Cheez! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. His daughter Emily's interview: https://www.myfirstseason.com/e/my-first-season-emily/ And check him out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheezjensen/

My guest and today and I worked together in Club Med Cancun in 2004/2005. His first season was also in Club Med Cancun, but in September of the 1999/2000 season as a Bar G.O. From beautiful Montreal, please help me welcome, Eric Laflamme! Before Club Med, Eric was attending Concordia University in Montreal for Jazz Interpretation (Eric plays the sax) and a friend suggested he would make a good bartender. Then another friend, who he was working with at a golf course, suggested he’d make a good fit at Club Med and to apply. That friend turned out to be a recruiter for Club Med, but she did not tell Eric that! Eric had his interview in Montreal and was sent to Cancun not long after that. He recounts his first season in great detail and the highlight for him that season of many highlights, was hosting Atlantis for the week. After our season together in 2005, Eric went back to work for Club Med in Punta Cana in 2019 to be the GM of the Indigo beach lounge, but also to unwind and recharge his batteries. Fun fact: his niece started working at Club Med the same year he went back! Eric also shares his tip when asked how to get the bartender’s attention and to get served first (assuming you cannot tip and looks are not a factor), when it’s very busy at the bar. Please enjoy this episode with Eric! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. And please check out his YouTube Channel & Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdxdAfD7v7K3WykbRrfQk0A https://www.instagram.com/laflammeperso/

My guest today and I have never met, but I did interview her daughter Sydney Gaudreau for this podcast in February of 2022. Her first season was in October of 1989/1990 in Club Med Ixtapa as the G.O. Nurse. From California, please help me welcome to MFS, Lili Bronner Gaudreau! Before Club Med, Lili was a professional ballet dancer, but a knee injury from a wipeout in skiing caused her to change vocation. Lili went to school to become a nurse but would also accompany her mother (who was a travel agent) on Club Med “Fam Trips”. She is probably one of the only G.O.’s I know who could not leave on their assigned departure date to Club Med because a 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook San Francisco on October 18 1989 (during game 3 of the World Series and not game 2 as stated during this interview). The damage closed the runways of the airport and Lili arrived a week later in Ixtapa, where, she also met her future husband! Lili worked for Club Med for two years in the villages of Ixtapa, Cancun and Sandpiper. Today, Lili runs a Circus company called Trapeze Arts with her husband and they are based in San Francisco. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts. Please check her social media for Trapeze Arts below: https://trapezearts.com/ https://www.instagram.com/trapeze_arts/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/trapezearts/

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Cancun in October of the 2004/2005 Winter season, which just happened to be her first season as a Bar G.O. From Vancouver, please help me give a warm welcome to Nicole Morrow! Nicole had just completed a degree in Hospitality Management and was planning to move to the city to work at the Hotel Pan Pacific when a friend of hers introduced her to an EXGO. This EXGO then gave Nicole the name of another EXGO, who then set up her interview with Club Med. Not soon after that, she had the good fortune to be sent to Club Med Cancun under the guidance of the one and only, Hendel. Since it was Nicole’s first and only season, she has quite vivid memories of her special time there. She shares a hilarious story about an anteater showing up the to the bar one night and literally dancing on the bar to music (I swear this is true!). I ask her what her favourite bar was in downtown Cancun and it’s the same as mine (hint: it rhymes with Moco Gongo!). **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts. Please check her out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicmor/ And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicole.morrow.7792

My guest today is a British-born, Spanish-based adventurer, writer and windsurfing instructor. In 2015 he achieved his childhood ambition to windsurf around Britain, becoming only the fourth person to complete the circumnavigation this way, and the first to complete it alone and without support. Everyone, please help me welcome to MFS, Jono Dunnett! Jono’s expedition started and ended at the town of Clacton-on Sea. The voyage included the following crossings: Devon to South Wales via Lundy Island; South Wales to Southern Ireland; and Northern Ireland to Scotland. During this time, Jono used his expedition website to raise funds for the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). Jono is the author of the book “Long Standing Ambition: The First Round Britain Windsurf”, which chronicles this incredible expedition. In this interview, we talk about where he got the idea to windsurf around Britain, what the preparation was like, the gear that he used and the close calls he experienced in this 98-day voyage. And if that were not incredible enough, in May of 2017, Jono set off on a solo expedition to windsurf the European mainland coastline. He windsurfed a continuous track from Norway’s Artic as far as Batumi, Georgia, in the Black Sea. He finished this incredible expedition on June 10 2017. In two years he had sailed about 16,000km, a distance that almost doubled the record for a windsurfing journey. Jono is in the midst of publishing a book on this European expedition, so the hope is that he will come back on the podcast and talk about that exciting expedition. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts. Please check out his links below and please give him a follow: https://twitter.com/jonodunnett https://www.instagram.com/jonodunnett/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChLPNwhDWYpJJF4d_2040ww https://www.facebook.com/jonodunnett https://onebubble.earth/ The link to his book: https://www.amazon.com/Long-Standing-Ambition-Britain-windsurf-ebook/dp/B06XWVQV19/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JXCV5NED6XXI&keywords=long+standing+ambition+jono+dunnett&qid=1648308714&sprefix=long+standing+ambition+jono+dunnett%2Caps%2C37&sr=8-1

My guest today and I have never met (though we do have 78 mutual friends) and his Club Med career ended when mine began (1994). His name was dropped on another episode of MFS (Jenner) and I did hear his name mentioned throughout my career. His first season was in October of 1987 in Club Med Cancun as a Sailing G.O. From England and now living in Virginia Beach, please help me give a warm welcome to Grant Simmons! Grant worked for Club Med from 1987 to 1994 and before Club Med, he taught sailing in England and Australia. Grant even had a summer job as a waiter in Ontario, Canada and applied to Club Med from there. Grant was interviewed in New York and left the following day for Cancun! Grant worked at so many diverse villages and we try to cover them all: Huatulco, Paradise Island, Martinique, Sestriere in Italy, Corfu Ipsos and Guadeloupe. Grant’s post-Club Med life is very interesting as well, as he is an online marketing strategist, motivational and keynote speaker, entrepreneur and much, much more. We touch on his area of expertise in SEO (search engine optimization) and I try to follow! Grant has so many stories that take place over seven years that you will just have to listen to the whole episode! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts. Please check out Grant’s social media links below: https://www.instagram.com/grantisms/ https://twitter.com/simmonet https://www.linkedin.com/in/simmonet/ https://www.grantsimmons.com/ http://www.grantisms.com/?fbclid=IwAR23e0UKZFwZ12qYOiVhQklfVWpwjekuaTsiAw3IG1GsM06SY8oBmCt8AzA

My Guest today I and met during my first season in Turks in summer of 1994, but his first season was in Club Med Cancun in July of 1988 as Aide Gestion. Everyone, please help me welcome, Steve Cohn! Before Club Med, Steve attended Georgetown University and obtained a degree in International Finance. After his graduation, Steve went backpacking in Europe and met a few G.O.s on vacation that told him about Club Med. He applied to Club Med (by first calling 1-800 Club Med!) when he got home from his trip and asked to be an Excursions G.O. in his interview. His first season in Cancun was cut short due to Hurricane Gilbert, but he went on to work in many amazing villages from 1988 to 2006. In fact, we only covered a small fraction of the villages he worked in during this interview. We talked about his time in Sandpiper, Arziv, Wengen, Bali, and Itaparica, to name but a few. Steve also met his fair share of famous people as well: 90’s model Ashley Richardson, French Open champion Yannick Noah, former world No. 1 tennis player Monica Seles and eleven-time F1 Grand Prix winner, Rubens Barrichello. As you can imagine, Steve has a lot of stories to tell, but my favorite would have to be when he exchanged English lessons for Lambada lessons with his future wife in Itaparica (before you flip out, it was her idea!). Steve is also the longest-serving American G.O. in his position (Gestionnaire) in the history of Club Med. I hope you all enjoy this trip down memory lane like we did. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora, Podchaser and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

My guest today and I met at Club Med Ria Bintan in Indonesia in 2001/2002, but his first season was in Club Med Bali as an au pair Mini Club G.O. in Summer of 1998. Everyone, please help me welcome the first Indonesian EXGO to MFS, Marthen! Uncovered during this interview is the fact that Marthen, who was born in Indonesia but now lives in Malaysia, studied French literature at a private university in East Jakarta and I do not think he even mentioned that to me when we worked together the entire year! Marthen worked for Club Med from 1998 to 2011 and worked in many villages in the Asian sector such as Bali, Bintan, Cherating, Phuket, Kabira and Kani. Marthen has stories and recollections from each village, so I hope you enjoy this interview with a very kind and charming man. I asked him to do his “Takashi” impersonation (this will be explained during the interview and check out the video below) and he kindly indulged me. We fondly reminisced over Ria Bintan a little and have a laugh about why the “Swimming Contest” pool game used to freak and stress me out, how impossible it was to win at Janken (rock paper scissors) with Japanese GM’s, trying to outrun the ever-present and noxious, mosquito-spraying truck and the wonder of Korean honeymooners arriving to Bintan dressed exactly the same. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora, Podchaser and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts. Please check out his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marthen_rorintulus/?hl=en And his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJFh2sntOrhLLwI4Q0IJ0eQ You can see Marthen at the .47-second mark doing his Takashi impersonation (Takashi was my amazing Chief of Circus in Ria Bintan). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIzEK2xP-n0

My guest today and I have never worked together, but each of us had our first season in Turks and Caicos. Her first season in Club Med Turks and Caicos was in September of 2014 as a Sailing G.O. From Vancouver, please help me welcome to MFS, Emily Jensen! Interestingly, Emily’s father was also a Sailing G.O. in Turks almost twenty-five years ago to the day Emily started working for Club Med. Her uncle Jenner (whom you all know or have heard of as well as her father) also worked in Club Med. Not many G.O’s can say they were conceived in Club Med Paradise Island on their parent’s wedding night, but Emily can, thus proving that she was born to be a G.O! Emily worked for Club Med from 2014 to 2020 and worked in villages such as: Cherating in Malaysia, Phuket in Thailand, Ixtapa and Columbus Isle. Emily’s last season in Turks in 2020 got cut short by Covid and she tells us what that was like. Emily also helped open the first Club Med in Canada in December 2021 in Charlevoix, Quebec and shares that experience with us and how she felt being a Boutique G.O. there after so many years as a Sailing G.O. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. **And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts. And please check her out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emjensen9/?hl=en

My guest today and I met in Club Med Cancun in 2004 where I was working and she was a G.M. Her first season was in Club Med Paradise Island in February of 1986 as a Snorkeling G.O. From Boston, and now living in Arizona, please help me welcome to MFS, “Keri”! Keri has a rather unique story as she started working for Club Med straight out of high school. She received a trip to Club Med St. Lucia in December of 1985 as a graduation gift from her mother, the week it opened no less. But after a few minor setbacks from the opening week, the guests were offered a free stay at another Club Med resort. That is how Keri found herself at Club Med Paradise Island. Keri’s Club Med stories sound like they are straight out of 80’s disaster movies as well: A huge tropical storm hit Paradise Island in 1986 flooding the theater pit with fish! Another storm hit Club Med Playa Blanca the Summer of 1986, sinking all the boats, and the 1987 5.9 magnitude Whittier Narrows earthquake aftershocks were felt all the way in Club Med Sonora Bay where Keri was a Snorkeling/Silk Screen Arts G.O. Keri also had the fortune of working for the greatest Chief of Sports ever (and one of my most favorite people in the world), Hansel Moss! In February of 2002, Keri also worked in the Club Med Sales office in Scottsdale, Arizona. After Club Med, Keri pulled a Van Wilder and attended both Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University for several years, with a double B.A. in Art & History with five (count ‘em five) minors! She later then obtained a Master’s degree in English history. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to (and add-free)and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. .And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts.

My guest today and I have never worked together before, but we did meet at the EXGO Reunion 2 in Cancun in 2008. His first season was in Club Med Cancun in October of 1999 as a Snorkeling G.O. Please help me welcome, from Mexico City, the one and the only, G.o Nzo! Before Club Med, G.o Nzo was working part time in the day and going full-time to Intercontinental University (UIC) from 4:00pm to 10:00pm. He was going at this pace for roughly 6 years (without a vacation) and when the chance came to work for Club Med, he took it and never looked back. G.o Nzo worked for Club Med from 1999 to 2002 and worked in the villages of Punta Cana, Sonora Bay and Ixtapa. He worked as a Snorkeling, Archery and Sailing G.O. and has quite the stories to share. G.o Nzo shares a snorkeling trip anecdote from his first season and a rather humorous story that involves getting stung by a jellyfish in Sonora Bay in the mouth, but outside of the water (you have to hear it to believe it!). We recorded this episode with G.o Nzo from Mexico City, and if you did not know, Mexico City is the most populous city in North America (and quite likely the loudest), so you will hear a lot of sounds! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple podcasts. Please check him out on Instagram and give him a follow: https://www.instagram.com/g.o.nzo/

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Paradise Island during the Winter 2002/2003 season, but his first season was in Club Med Sandpiper in February of 2001 as a Golf G.O. Originally from Vermont and now living in Indianapolis, please help me welcome, Cory DeCoteau! Cory got into golf at 10 years old because it was the family business: his parents managed a golf course. Later on, Cory played golf at a Division II university called Mercyhurst in Erie, Pennsylvania and then attended the Golf Academy of America in Orlando, Florida. Cory worked for Club Med from 2001-2005 and even went to one of my favourite villages, Club Med Ria Bintan in Indonesia, and of course we talk about our shared experience in Asia. As you can imagine, Cory has amassed lot of stories along the way and he does not hold back. Granted, his funniest stories involve injuring himself in some way, but they are worth a listen! One funny story takes place in 2002 in Cancun during a “High Potential” (hi-pot) team-building weekend that involves Cory and a once-in-a-million occurrence that I do not want to say anymore for fear of spoiling the story. And needless to say, we both think that “Caddyshack” is the greatest golf movie ever! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. *And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

I thought I knew my guest a little when we worked together in Club Med Cancun in 2004/2005 (where she was the Choreographer), but as it turns out, I did not know her at all. Her first season was in 1996 in Club Med Rio das Pedras as a Waterski G.O. You know her, you love her, please help me welcome, Patchy!! Patchy had quite the interesting life before Club Med, to put it very mildly. You may not know that Patchy did Equestrian Vaulting (please Google it) for ten years and went to four World Championships all over Europe. If that wasn’t amazing enough, she has an Engineering degree from Escola de Engeharia Maua in Brazil! Patchy worked in many villages from 1996 to 2005: Itaparica, Huatulco, Paradise Island, Punta Cana, Crested Butte, St, Lucia and Kani in the Maldives. And, she even did a season as a Sailing G.O before she switched to Choreographer. We cover most if not all her seasons in Club Med and she has many funny and interesting stories to tell. Please enjoy this episode with the amazing Patchy! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. Please check her out on Instagram and give her a follow: https://www.instagram.com/patppeixoto/

My very special guest today and I met in Club Med Bodrum, Turkey in the Summer of 1999 in what was my first season as a Chief of Sports and her first season as a Kayak G.O. From Ankara, Turkey and now living in Montreal, Quebec (and no, she did not follow me here!), please help me welcome the amazing Ece! Before Club Med, Ece (who speaks four languages) was studying French in Bilkent University while pursuing a degree in Translation and Interpretation when she first heard about Club Med from the father of the son that she was tutoring. She applied, had her interview in Istanbul and was sent to Bodrum at just 18 years old (and not 17 ½ years old as was mentioned in the interview). Even though Ece was a “Kayak G.O.” that is not what she thought she was going to be doing. This is one of the most hilarious and confusing 1st season stories you will ever hear and I am so grateful that I was witness to it, so no spoilers, please listen!! After Bodrum, Ece switched to Excursions and worked in the villages of Foca, Kusadsi and Palmiye. After Club Med, Ece put her translation skills to work for various human rights organizations and NGO’s as well as law firms and for-profit corporations. Ece was also hired as a translator in Turkey’s office of the United Nations and currently has her own translation company. If you need high-quality translation and proofreading services in English, French or Turkish, please visit her website (please see link below). **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts. Translation | Freelance Translator | Canada (ecetranslator.com) And please check out her Instagram and giver her a follow: Ece Tepedelenli (@ece_tp) | Instagram

My guest today and I have never met, but we do have 56 mutual friends on Facebook. His first season was in Club Med Sandpiper in October of 1991 as a Mini Club Scuba G.O. Originally from Chicago and now living in the Golden State, please help me welcome, Dan Beeman! Dan flew from Chicago to New York for his interview with Club Med and because he had taken a Scuba course in school, he was offered the Mini Club position in Sandpiper. Eventually Dan became a Scuba instructor while still working in Club Med. As you can imagine, he has many funny stories and he shares them with us in this episode. Before Club Med, Dan was an Airborne Paratrooper in the US Army stationed in Germany. He has a Masters of Hospitality degree from UNLV where he studied tourism with a specialization in Sustainable Tourism. Dan is also a pickleball ambassador for Head, USA Pickleball and the International Pickleball Federation Ambassador in California, Mexico and the Caribbean. And because of his love for the sport of pickleball, Dan also wrote an award-winning, buddy comedy screenplay called “Pickleballs!-The Movie”. Please visit his website (see link below) which has links to the two books he wrote and it is here you can see pictures of the famous “Pickle Palace”, a luxury, turnkey bed and breakfast that he owns in Palm Desert, California. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. Pickleball Travel - Superlative Pickleball

My guest today and I have never met but her first season was in Club Med Sandpiper in February of 2007 as a Mini Club G.O. Please help me welcome, from London, Ontario (and not England as I discovered), Jessi Weeks! Jessi was going to Fanshawe College in Ontario and she applied to Club Med on a student contract to satisfy her Co-op requirements for College. Jessi had her Club Med interview in the most Canadian of all places, you guessed it, a Tim Horton’s! Jessi held many positions during her time in Club Med from 2007-2016: Mini Club/Teen Club, Boutique, Landsports, Lifeguard Supervisor, Animation Manager, and Animation/Sports Manager. She even worked in the ski village of Club Med Yabuli, China from November 2014 to March 2015 (and yes, we will talk about that experience). Jessi is an amazing singer, so we cover her musical influences and how she got into singing. Jessi also helps me introduce a new segment to MFS called, “Harmonize with Hannah”. She has too many stories to cover in only 45 minutes, but we did have time to talk about hosting the tour group "Olivia" for 2 weeks in Punta Cana, being terrorized by wild monkeys in Cherating, Malaysia, to having emergency appendicitis surgery in the Dominican Republic without a translator, and to having to play charades to communicate with the Chinese G.M’s in Club Med Yabuli, China. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM and Listen Notes. Please check out her Instagram and give her a follow! https://www.instagram.com/jessi_canadian_traveller/

My very special guest today and I met in Columbus Isle in Winter of 2000, but her first season was in Club Med Paradise Island in October of 1997 as a Reception G.O. From my hometown of Montreal, please help me welcome the amazing and funny Sabrina Fagen! Sabrina heard about Club Med from her parents who were frequent guests, so she decided to apply in 1997. Sabrina worked about 3 ½ years in Club Med and has many stories to tell. One of them involves a tongue piercing gone awry in Ixtapa on her day off and she shares her thoughts on what it was like working at the Club Med in Cuba during the 1999/2000 Winter season. Sabrina and I also share the same feelings whenever we see a FedEx truck in the neighbourhood-meaning that we have a Pavlovian response because we think the truck is bringing us our plane tickets (old school G.O.’s will understand the reference!). We also cover her favourite crazy signs, La Charanga, Gala-Freed from Desire and Mila. During her time in Club Med, Sabrina worked at the Reception, Mini-Club, Landsports/Fitness and Sailing. She also explains her reasons for wanting to transition from the Mini Club to Sailing. And lastly, we get to hear her recollection of the Jay Tighe, Sabrina & Greg "fence story" from Columbus 2000! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

My guest today and I kept missing each other at various villages and have never met, despite having a whopping 102 mutual friends. Her first season was in Club Med Punta Cana in November during the 1992/1993 Winter season as a Fitness and Dance G.O. Originally from London, Ontario and now living in beautiful Vancouver, please help me welcome Shelley Markevich Lawrence! Shelley has a very good memory from her first season and lets us take that first season journey with her in this interview. Shelley actually had an ex-boyfriend drive her to her Club Med interview in Montreal, from Ontario, which was conducted by Kevin Batt. From her first season with CDV Howard McCarly, to hosting Atlantis for the week, Shelley has a ton of interesting stories. Shelley worked in Lindeman Island, Australia as I did (her season was with Kenton Smith in 1998), so we speak of the good times we both had there. Discovered during the interview is that both Shelly and I share a love for all things Jennifer Lopez and we end the podcast talking about the acting industry in Vancouver, Canada. Please check her out on Instagram and give a follow: https://www.instagram.com/shelleymarkevich/ **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

My guest today and I have never worked together before despite having a combined 20 years in Club Med and 45 mutual friends. Her first season was in November of 1990 in Club Med Paradise Island as an au pair Snorkel/Picnic G.O. From Montreal, please help me welcome, Silvy Dufour! Silvy initially went to Paradise Island as a G.M was but was invited to come back as a G.O by the interim manager. Her first season was jam-packed with talent and there were a lot of future CDV’s in Paradise Island that season: Xavier Corne and Saber Fajr (both at Tennis) and Jean-Marc Desy (Golf) and ET (Animation) and Momo was the Chief of Sports. She also worked alongside Jenner and Red at Snorkeling. As you can imagine, Silvy has many great stories to tell. To meeting author Mary Higgins Clark, actor Antonio Sabàto Jr., Judge Judy and former NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg. From teaching three-time Super Bowl champ Emmitt Smith how to snorkel in Eleuthera, to helping build Sharkies bar in Turks, to hanging out with Pavel Bure and Trevor Linden from the NHL, to watching internationally renowned marine photographer Bob Talbot in action in Columbus Isle, Silvy has got them all! You have got to hear her 1992 NYC/Martinique charter story! It has to be heard to be believed, trust me!! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

My special guest today was one of those rare G.O’s that I always heard about during my time in Club Med, but sadly never got the chance to work with. He does confirm one of the stories I heard about him if it was true or not. Do you want a hint? Okay, it involves something called a “Stuntman Shot”. We did, however, finally meet at the EXGO reunion 2 in Cancun in 2008. His first season was in Club Med Sonora Bay in March of 1998 as a Waterski G.O. He only goes by one name, because one name is all he needs! Everyone, please help me welcome to MFS, the one and only, Boone! Boone was going to school at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington (where they had a collegiate waterski team no less!!) and it was a professor who told Boone about Club Med. Boone did not want to pass out towels for 3 months to earn credit for a course, so this professor told him about a former student who did an internship at Club Med. The rest they say, is history. We talked about so many different subjects during this interview that I completely lost track of time. So if you want to listen all the way to the end, please do so! We also cover Boone’s stand-up experiences and his comedy influences. Boone had so many great and funny stories to tell that I don’t want to ruin any of them by mentioning them here, but I will say that we both share a love for all things Rocky Horror, Bugs Bunny, and Ryan Leach. Boone does have a very funny Neil Diamond impersonator story you have to hear, as well as a scuba diving story involving Corona beer in Sonora Bay. And lastly, he has a very full-circle moment with the person that interviewed him for Club Med all those years ago, Steve Miller, that I swear will not sound believable. And we do get his version of the story about how he and his wife Suzie met in Sandpiper in 2003 and yes, I mention my “Brouette theory” to Boone! **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. MFS is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. Check him out on Instagram and please give him a follow: https://www.instagram.com/joeboonedell/?fbclid=IwAR3UJsnLwViLnQKMZTJxZ-xXcvhr1BF7wC_-zIXhh01j9dpxx7Cn-TVRNeE And please subscribe to his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI0sA_8fGU8t6OfnCdd6e4A And please check out his wife Suzie's sites! https://oakandpark.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakandpark/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/OakandPark

Hello everyone, and welcome to a very special episode of MFS. It’s not often you get to interview a student at the university where you work, which is Concordia University in the Gina Cody School of Engineering & Computer Science in Montreal, Quebec, and who just happened to win a bronze medal at the XXIV Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China! The closing ceremony was held this past Sunday, Feb 20th, and this very special Aerospace engineering student-athlete has agreed to come on and tell us what it was like attending her first, of what will be many Winter Olympics appearances, I am sure. Please help me welcome back to My First Season, a bronze medal winner in Mixed Team Aerials, the amazing Marion Thénault!! Marion is a recent recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal, awarded to people who have made a significant contribution to their community, province or territory, or have made outstanding achievements abroad. **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available to download on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora, and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Please check her out on Instagram and give her a follow: https://www.instagram.com/marionthenault/ And if you would like to listen to Marion's first interview on MFS from December 2021, please see the link below: https://www.myfirstseason.com/e/marion-thenault-2021-almaty-world-cup-1st-place-winner-aerial-skiing/

My guest today recorded her episode of MFS on December 10 2021 and she had just stopped working for Club Med at the end of November 2021, making her the most recent EXGO I have interviewed thus far. Her first season was in Club Med Sandpiper in November of 2018 as a Meetings & Event Co-ordinator. Please help me welcome to MFS, Sydney Gaudreau! Both of Sydney’s parents were G.O’s in Club Med and she spent her whole life going to Club Med on vacation, from Mini-Club to Teen Club. It was at her parent’s company in Oakland, California, Trapeze Arts, Inc. (since 1994), where Sydney took a liking to event planning. Trapeze Arts has shared the art of Flying Trapeze with many corporate groups from Google, Pixar, Wells Fargo, and American Express, to name just a few, so there was a lot of event planning involved when these companies came to Trapeze Arts. Sydney also has a Liberal Studies degree from Oregon State University with an emphasis in Event Coordination and Production, so she was well-prepared to start her new job at Club Med. Sydney has so many interesting stories to share, including describing what it was like working at Club Med Turks & Caicos in November 2020 during Covid and the many protocols that had to be followed when you worked there. I hope you enjoy this episode with an amazing, funny, beautiful and charming person. Please check her out on Instagram and give her a follow: https://www.instagram.com/sydneyyalexxa/ To check out Trapeze Arts, Inc. please see the link below: https://www.trapezearts.com/ **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

My guest today was a Scuba G.O. in his first season in Club Med Columbus Isle in June of 1997. Please help me welcome, from Calgary, Alberta, Jay Tighe! Jay started to scuba dive at a young age in Indonesia of all places and got certified in Thailand. Fast forward a few years later and Jay was working as a Scuba instructor in Harbour Island, Bahamas where he would meet the odd G.O and they would tell him about working at Club Med. He snuck over to Club Med Eleuthera one day to check it out and found it was for him. Jay worked roughly 10 years in Club Med and has quite the stories to back it up. From Jennifer Lopez getting a private boat on her honeymoon in Columbus in ’97, to six-time NHL Stanley Cup champion Mark Messier buying about $1,500.00 in bar books to treat the G.O.’s on Canada Day, to catching an end zone touchdown from New Orleans Saints & Atlanta Falcons NFL quarterback Bobby Hebert during a game of beach football, to playing hockey with another NHL six-time Stanley Cup champion, Glenn Anderson in Turks, he’s got ‘em all! He even saw the current Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, on the dive boat in Columbus in 2005 on his honeymoon. One of Jay’s other stories from Columbus 1999/2000 (a hilarious story I had completely forgotten about) involves Jay, myself, a beautiful girl from Montreal named Sabrina (that we both liked) and a late-night, fence-scaling mission gone awry (for Jay) coming back from the Riding Rock. You will just have to listen to this entire entertaining episode to find out what happened. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

Hey everyone, today is a special day as it’s the one-year anniversary of My First Season! So let me officially welcome you to the second season of My First Season (see what I did there?) I called upon a special person to do a My First Season takeover, the amazing and current Vegas Golden Knights super-fan, Gabrielle Seidenberg! (wife of the Coney Island Striker-she’ll hate that I wrote that). Gaby graciously agreed to interview yours truly, Greg Hannah, (mostly to make fun of him) and I could not be happier with the interview as she is an amazing host! My first season was in Club Med Turks & Caicos on June 4, 1994, as Scuba Gestion. I was working in Westmount, Quebec as an investment banker when a client and EXGO first told me about working at Club Med. Having never been to Club Med or any resort for that matter, I did not understand the stories he was telling me about his former job. I discovered upon my arrival to Turks that judging by the many stories he used to tell me, he was an Animator. I have very vivid memories of my first season in Turks and I recount them here: The amazing “70s Celebration” that we had that summer with the Village People (and others), my late-night arrival, my special encounters with JoJo, my first very confusing Bastille Day, my trauma of being put in the Rocky Horror Picture Show (my first show ever) and so much more. Spoiler alert: though everyone knows I did not like the power walk, water aerobics, or midnight rehearsal (I'm still on the fence about Crazy Signs...), I LOVED everything else! Fair warning, this interview with Gaby and myself goes slightly off the rails at times, but in a good way (I think?). If you are looking to bookend this interview with another episode, then I suggest listening to Gaby’s interview first so you will get an idea of her sense of humour (I spelled humour the Canadian way to irritate her). You can follow My First Season on all the socials (see below). **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM and Listen Notes. **It might be a good idea to listen to Gaby's interview first if you have not yet! (see link below). https://www.myfirstseason.com/e/my-first-season-gaby/

My very special guest today has a career spanning 25 years as a professional skydiver, BASE jumper and Wingsuit pilot, He is one of the most experienced extreme sports athletes on the planet with over 13,000 jumps combined. His adventures have taken him around the globe with success in all areas including becoming a world champion, a world record holder and representing his native country ​of Australia in both skydiving and BASE jumping in several disciplines. Please help me welcome to the podcast, from Melbourne, Australia now living in Switzerland, Chris “Douggs” McDougall! Through his extreme sports background and expertise in risk management, Chris founded the world's leading BASE jump school Learn to Base Jump, training hundreds of students ​- from beginners to experts. His life has been a series of mind-blowing ups and harrowing downs-life experiences that he brings to his courses.​ Chris McDougall is also an author and motivational speaker. He lives by three words: Dream, Challenge and Inspire-Dare to Dream, Challenge yourself to live out those dreams and then inspire others to do so themselves. Please subscribe to his amazing YouTube channel (with over 38 million views!) and please give him a follow on Instagram (douggsbase) and Facebook. And to check out the book he wrote, please head over to Amazon.com or wherever you buy books. Please enjoy this episode with Chris McDougall. He gives great advice that everyone should hear. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM and Listen Notes. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. https://www.youtube.com/user/douggsloosedude https://www.instagram.com/douggsbase/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/ChrisDouggsMcDougall https://www.douggs.com/?fbclid=IwAR33cRJc182VuFsyK1jcJbmmJgcKx1GKcV5iSisXZGhRCDByNiqNKkNYZTQ https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Idiot-Colourful-Tale-Freefall/dp/0620449756/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=confessions+of+an+idiot+chris+mcdougall&qid=1638477999&sr=8-1

My guest today and I have never worked together before, despite having a whopping 80 mutual friends on Facebook. Her first season was in Club Med Sandpiper of March of 2003 in the Mini Club. Originally from Chicago and now living in Atlanta, please help me welcome to MFS, Susan “Suzie” Dunford Dell! Suzie’s introduction to Club Med came via her mother, who was a travel agent, and Suzie went to her first Club Med at 5 years old. During her first week at Sandpiper, she saw onstage the man she was going to marry (yes, it was Boone!) and they were even in the married couple skit of the Tennis Cabaret. Suzie said that it was Boone’s sense of humour that drew her to him, but I jokingly suggest a theory to Suzie that the Waterski Show number called “The Brouette” might have played a small part. Suzie also has a family business called “Oak and Park”, which makes all kinds of arm bags: mesh, clear, and XGO arm bags to name just a few. Her arm bags can be currently found in the first Club Med to open in Canada, the beautiful resort of Club Med Québec-Charlevoix! So if you are in the Club Med resorts of Sandpiper, Turks and Caicos or Charlevoix, please stop in and buy some! You can also visit her website and please give them a follow on Instagram (please see below for links). Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. https://oakandpark.com/ https://www.instagram.com/oakandpark/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/OakandPark https://www.tiktok.com/@oakandpark

This is part three in the series, “Amazing Women Doing Amazing Things”. My guest today is a pop-culture geek with seventeen years in the travel industry as a Travel Consultant and Tour Director. She is the owner and operator of "The Geek Travel Agent". From Ottawa, Canada, please help me welcome, Erin Novodvorsky! Erin shares with us at what age she got bit by the travel bug and how she got the idea to be a geek travel agent. Erin runs tours for TV shows and movies like Game of Thrones, Lord of The Rings, K-Pop/K-Dramas on Netflix, Anime tours to Japan (Studio Ghibli) and the TV show “Outlander” on the Starz network (and oh boy, does Greg have thoughts on Outlander!!). If you want to hear me rant and rave about “Outlander” while Erin tries to talk me down, then this episode is for you! Though we may differ slightly on Outlander, we do agree on "Gilmore girls"! Erin shares a Hurricane Dorian story from 2019 that involved a nine-day trip to the East coast of Canada and a busload of tourists. She also attended Ottawa Comic Con on November 19 2021 and let’s us know what it’s like attending a Comic Con from the vendor side (no Sailor Moons?!). Please check out Erin’s website below and give her a follow on Instagram and check out her Facebook! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. https://thegeektravelagent.wordpress.com/ https://www.instagram.com/geektravelagent/ https://www.facebook.com/GeekTravelAgent

My guest today was a Nurse G.O. in her first season in Club Med Sandpiper in May of 1997. She is from Connecticut, so please give a warm welcome to, Kendra Welch! As a nurse in Club Med, you can imagine they have seen it all and must have great stories to tell and Kendra does not disappoint! Kendra and a friend went to Club Med Cancun on vacation as G.M.s and it was there that she decided to apply to Club Med to be a nurse. Why? She got bit by something in the water while snorkeling in Cancun that required 10 stitches. They took her to see the nurse and she didn’t know at that point that Club Med resorts had nurses (light bulb moment). When she showed up for her interview with Club Med, she was told she’d have to showcase a talent. Kendra’s talent involved a bowl of mints and that is all I will say so I don’t spoil the story! The stories don’t stop there either. Kendra has so many stories over so many seasons that it would be tough to list them all here so I will try to economize: She recounts a story about a G.M that did an excursion to the Cancun waterpark, Wet’n Wild, that definitely was wet and wild for this guest. Another story involves a German G.M that got stung by a stingray in Cancun and this story has such an unusual ending that you just have to listen to the entire episode. Another story involves Kendra and a tarantula in Punta Cana and no, it wasn’t her pet! Please enjoy this episode with Kendra and listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeart Radio, Player FM & Listen Notes.

My guest today was an Excursion G.O. in his first season in Club Med Rio Das Pedras, Brazil in February of 1998. I knew him as a Sailing G.O in Club Med Paradise Island during the Winter 2002/2003 season where we met. He was working in a travel agency in Rio de Janeiro when he applied to Club Med. He actually had his interview with the South American president of Club Med! (no pressure, right?). He first learned to sail with an uncle who had a 45-foot yacht and he also learned how to surf in Brazil. Everyone, please help me welcome to MFS, Phillipe! I am pretty sure Phillipe is the only G.O to ever choose to bike ride to the village instead of taking the bus. The difference? The resort was a 6-hour bike ride away! Phillipe takes us through his first season in Rio Das Pedras, as well as the season we met in Paradise Island. During the interview, I bring up the song by Coldplay that Phillipe played incessantly in the sailing shack during that winter season that drove me crazy! The happy ending to this story is now that when I hear that song, it brings back only good memories of our time on Paradise island. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest today and I worked together during the Winter 1994/1995 season in St. Lucia. She was right out of high school when she started her first season in Club Med Huatulco in October of 1988 as an au pair Hostess G.O. From Mexico City and now living in Norway (we get into that!), please help me welcome to the podcast, Diana! Diana spent roughly 17 years in Club Med and she has many amazing stories to tell during this interview. I told Diana the impression she made on me in my second season in St. Lucia, as I had a very distinct and long-lasting memory of her that involved windsurfing. Diana worked in many of the resorts in the American Zone but also in Tunisia, Turkey, Israel and Switzerland to name but a few. She shares a story from Punta Cana involving the cover of night, a shipwreck, “borrowed” kayaks and a bottle of Dominican Brugal rum. Also discovered in this interview: she speaks seven languages, had a pet tarantula in Huatulco named Lencha, her most memorable CDV and the fact that she knows how to make Viking beer. Trust me, stay to the end of the podcast because you will be fascinated by Diana’s story! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Below is the link where Diana has been working, which we talk about at the end of the episode. https://www.lofotr.no/en/

My guest and I worked together in Club Med Paradise Island in the 2002/2003 season, but his first season was in Club Med Itaparica, Brazil in Winter of 2000, where he was a Tennis G.O. Prior to joining Club Med, he had never played tennis before in his life (huh?!). Everyone, please help me welcome from Brazil and now living in California, Renato! You see, Renato was a ranked professional Squash player in Brazil. He started playing at 9 years old and by the time he was a teenager, he was the South American and PanAmerican champion and was #10 in the world. Renato lived close to the resort of Itaparica and would visit many times a year as a G.M. The manager of the resort at the time thought tennis and squash were the same as it involved a ball and racquet, and offered Renato a job as a Tennis G.O. Renato left college to join Club Med, but after he stopped working for Club Med, he went back to finish his degree in Business Administration and is now two months away from obtaining his MBA. Below is the link to the “I Want it That Way” Backstreet Boys number we did in Paradise Island that I mentioned during this episode. And again, apologies for the SD quality. The video was HD when I uploaded it 14 years ago (Renato is in the middle in the Kangol hat and Peter Anthony is immediately to his right in the yellow shirt). Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S07ZddsXQY8

This is part two in the series of "Amazing Women Doing Amazing Things". My guest today got 1st place in the 2021 Almaty World Cup in freestyle aerial skiing, qualifying her to represent Canada in the Beijing Winter Olympics in February of 2022! Everyone, please help me welcome, Beijing Winter Olympics-bound, Marion Thénault! Marion is from Sherbrooke, Quebec and while she was and is on the freestyle skiing World Cup circuit in Aerial, Marion is also an Aerospace Engineering student (BEng) at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec in the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science. In 2017, at age 17, she discovered her talent in freestyle aerial skiing and then was invited to join the Canadian National Team in 2020. During this episode, we will talk about her start in gymnastics and trampoline, which led to aerial skiing and we will talk about her first season on the World Cup tour. Below are links to Marion’s gold medal-winning jump in Almaty, Khazakhstan and the link to her Instagram (please give her a follow!) Good luck in Beijing, Marion!! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OhtWlUYlXM https://www.instagram.com/marionthenault/ UPDATE: Marion won a Bronze medal in the Mixed Team Aerials-Freestyle Skiing!

My guest today worked in Club Med Sandpiper in April of 1989 as a Bar G.O. for his first season. He was born in the States, raised in Toronto and now resides in Arizona. Please help me welcome to MFS, Scott Richmond! Before Club Med, Scott played club hockey at Ohio State and after graduation, he found himself bartending at a nightclub in Oakland, California. It was there that a fellow bartender told him about Club Med. Scott drove down from San Francisco to Los Angeles, for his interview at the Hilton Hotel in Universal Studios, Hollywood. Before his scheduled interview that day, he popped into a bar and sitting next to him was none other than actor, Telly Savalas (Kojack)! Scott took this as a good omen and went on to ace his interview. He also shares a hilarious story about meeting the coach of the Boston Bruins, Mike Milbury, during a late arrival in 1990 in St. Lucia. Why is that funny? You will have to listen to this interview to find out! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is first in a series that I am calling, "Amazing Women Doing Amazing Things”. My guest today is the incredible Sarah Williams from England. Sarah Williams is an author, vlogger, motivational speaker, marathoner and ultra runner. Sarah is also the host and creator of the two time award winning “Tough Girl Podcast”, a podcast where she interviews inspirational female explorers, adventurers, athletes and everyday women who have overcome great challenges. Her podcast is listened to in 174 countries around the world and has passed one million downloads. I invited her to talk about her podcast and also her many other achievements. The one I was most excited to talk to Sarah about primarily was that she ran the Marathon des Sables in 2016. Often described as “the toughest footrace in the world”, the Marathon des Sables is a race comprised of 6 stages over 7 days in the unforgiving Saharan desert and is the equivalent to running a marathon a day for 6 days straight in the extreme temperatures of the Sahara desert. The following year in 2017, she thru hiked the Appalachian Trail solo and unsupported (2,190 miles) in 100 days. We will talk about her many other accomplishments, as well as being the founder of her company, Tough Girl Challenges, which is all about motivating and inspiring women and girls to get fit, active, travel, explore and to encourage women and girls to have big dreams and to step outside their comfort zone. Please follow Sarah Williams on all social media below and please subscribe to her wonderful YouTube channel, which has many awesome videos of her adventures that we talked about on the podcast. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.youtube.com/c/SarahWilliamsToughGirlChallenges https://www.instagram.com/toughgirlchallenges/ https://www.toughgirlchallenges.com/ https://twitter.com/_tough_girl?lang=en https://www.pinterest.co.uk/Tough101/

I had the supreme pleasure of working with my next guest in Club Med Columbus Isle in 1999/2000, but his first season was as Landsports in Club Med Les Almadies, Senegal in 1996. Please help me welcome, Laurent “Tarzan” Fraix-Burnet! Tarzan was born in Bordeaux, France and he left his country at 18 years old and was in the medical services in the French army stationed in Senegal (I know, right, Tarzan in the army?!). His uncle conducted business with Serge Trigano and that is how Tarzan found himself to be working in Club Med. I called Tarzan in Guadeloupe for this interview, where he has been living the past decade and connections issues aside, you will hear an honest-to-gosh rooster crowing in the background! Tarzan and I had a lot of laughs and during this interview and we find out how he got his nickname, where he learned the crazy sign “Jessica” (that he used to drive me crazy with in Columbus Isle) and we share our mutual dislike of the dreaded power walk. At the end of the interview we talk about Tarzan being the owner and operator of his own excursion company in Guadeloupe, Tarzan Excursion Guadeloupe. If you are planning a trip there, please look him up! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Please take a moment to visit his website, Tarzan Excursion Guadeloupe and please follow him on Instagram @tarzan_excursion_guadeloupe https://fr.excursionguadeloupe.com/excursion.html https://www.instagram.com/tarzan_excursion_guadeloupe/

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Paradise Island in 2002/2003 where he was Resp. of the Tennis team. I first met him in Columbus Isle in 1997 while he was on the way to his first season in Club Med Paradise Island in Winter of 1997 as a Tennis G.O. Everyone, please help me welcome from beautiful British Columbia, Petri Raito! I distinctly remember meeting Petri at the bar in Columbus Isle in 1997 and when he told me he was a Tennis G.O, I laughed (you will understand why at the start of the episode and if you know this G.O, then you already know why). Before Club Med, Petri was teaching tennis in New York and Connecticut and met someone that had worked for Club Med. He has so many stories that cover about 7-8 years that I don’t even want to mention them in this description so I don’t spoil them. Petri is also the co-founder and GM/CEO of Rossland Beer Company, an award-winning craft brewery tucked away in the glorious mountain town of Rossland, British Columbia (we will talk about how he founded his beer company at the end of the episode). Please check out his website below and give him a follow on Instagram (@rosslandbeerco). Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. http://rosslandbeer.com/ https://www.instagram.com/rosslandbeerco/

My guest today and I met during our first season together in Club Med Turks & Caicos in Summer of 1994. I was at the end of my season and she was starting her 94/95 season as a Boutique G.O. From California, please help me welcome Melissa Cuevas-McIntyre! Melissa has a very vivid account of her first season in Turks & Caicos and she shares her experience with us in great detail, including her favorite JoJo story, getting Padi certified, brushes with minor celebrities, two-cheek kissing Europeans, how to small-talk like a pro at lunch and her favorite Crazy Sign, Crocodile Rock (ugh). Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

I met today’s guest in Club Med Paradise Island in 2002/2003, where she was the resort photographer. Her first season was as an au pair Bar G.O. in Club Med Copper Mountain, Colorado in March of 1995. Originally from NYC, now living the good life in Mexico, please help me welcome to the show Paula Fishman! Paula initially went on vacation to Copper Mountain and then was recruited by the CDV, Carlos Castro, to work at that resort. The rest they say, is history. She worked as an au pair about 15 times before she had her first actual contract in Club Med Sonora Bay in the Summer of 1999. Being from New York, Paula has her own New York GM stories/dumb questions and they are a hoot! Today, Paula is the owner and operator of Casa Preciosa, which is two beach rental casitas 35 minutes from the city of Merida, in the town of Chuburna Puerto. If you are planning a trip to Mexico or are traveling through Mexico and are in the area, please look her up! (link provided below). https://www.casapreciosayucatan.com/?fbclid=IwAR0BOChvXNGZAtNqZOukjTiqm_tunY66mwyY2kyd6RpgKqMyN9PicC_ON18

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Paradise Island in 2002/2003. His first season was in Club Med Punta Cana in Winter of 1999 as a Tennis G.O. From Montreal (yahoo!) please help me welcome, Peter Anthony! Peter started to learn tennis at age 12 and eventually became a ranked competitive junior tennis player in the province of Quebec. He was teaching tennis in Montreal when a fellow tennis pro told him about Club Med. He gave Peter G.A.’s number and the rest is history. Even though it was Peter’s first season, he quickly caught on that he joined one of the most stacked G.O. teams talent-wise, of the late 90’s. Just to give you an idea, Moïses Aykanat was the CDV, Cookie the Chief of Animation, Kiko was the Chief of Sports, Flo was the animator and Monika from Brazil was the choreographer. At Circus you had Mac and Caius and Simon Sez was Landsports, to name just a few. Peter discusses his first season in depth and we also touch on the season we met in Paradise Island. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest today is from Vancouver and we worked together in Club Med Buccaneer’s Creek in Martinique during the 1998/1999 season, which was her first season as an Aerobics G.O. She arrived at the village in November 1998 while it was undergoing a labor dispute. Everyone, please help me give a warm welcome to Cherine! Cherine gives a detailed account of her first season and what it was like starting her Club Med career in such a difficult and challenging time, that was the labor dispute. Before Club Med, Cherine was a member of the UBC All Star Team (Cheerleading) and was on the NBA Vancouver Grizzlies Stunt & Acrobatic Team and she even got a bronze medal in the Canadian National Aerobics Competition (CNAC) in 1998. Today she is a member of the Mom Bop Band, which is 90’s-style pop music suited for moms, dads, parents and kids alike (please check them out on Instagram @mombopband and their YouTube channel Mom Bop). Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClyIcQ91S8q_zFHEOYymv0Q https://www.instagram.com/mombopband/

My guest today hails from the Garden State and is the author of the book “Sex, Surf and Sunburn-My Life Inside Club Med”. His first season was in Club Med Turks & Caicos in the Summer of 1999 as a Scuba G.O. Please help me welcome to the podcast, V.J. “Padre” Mochel! V.J. recounts how he went to Club Med twice as a G.M and that is where he got bit by the Scuba bug. He did not have an interview or audition when he was hired and sent to Turks (I know, right?!). V.J. shares his favorite JoJo the dolphin story and what it was like being the permanent guest host of the foam party in Turks & Caicos and how that came about. There is much more discussed in this episode, so please give a listen and when you get the chance, please check out V.J.’s books below in the links provided. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.lulu.com/en/ca/shop/vj-mochel/sex-surf-and-sunburn/ebook/product-1k8eepky.html?page=1&pageSize=4 https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/vj-mochel/after-the-party/ebook/product-1vkzzpy7.html?fbclid=IwAR2JSsZpj-Q6ptAfVlLpcIcOE9_QOqnaUjWBlab9jxXtzeWRLzYW3PO2_po&page=1&pageSize=4

Very excited for my next guest as he is the first guest on the show to have worked for Club Med in the 1970’s. He is from Montreal and when he applied to Club Med, they sent him to Europe for his very first season (I know, right?!) His first season was in Club Med Porto Petro in Majorca, Spain in 1978 as a Sailing G.O. Everyone, please welcome, Tim Purcell! Tim worked about 8 seasons in Club Med and in only his second season, he opened the village of Eleuthera in the Bahamas! Tim also worked at Cancun, Playa Blanca, Mauritius and Noumea to name a few. We talk about these seasons as well, so I hope you enjoy this episode. *There were some audio/connection issues during taping, so apologies in advance. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.