One hundred episodes. Nearly four years of conversations. Five years specializing in private club transformation.
We started Sussner twenty-five years ago building brands across industries. But five years ago, we made the deliberate choice to focus exclusively on private clubs. A year later, we launched Clubs Made Meaningful to explore the strategic questions club leaders wrestle with.
At episode 100, we paused to reflect on what rose to the top. These are the lessons that matter when clubs define who they are, create member belonging, and lead change with confidence.
These ten insights changed how we think about private club identity. They will change how you approach transformation at your club.
Lesson 1: No Two Clubs Are the Same (And That Is Your Advantage)
We hear this constantly: “We are not differentiated. We have the same amenities as the club down the road. Same golf course quality. Same dining. Same dues structure.”
Clubs believe they lack differentiation because they compare amenities.
But the one thing that absolutely differentiates clubs is culture. The makeup of your membership. The values that guide decisions. The way members interact with each other and with staff. The traditions that shape experiences.
You could have two clubs side by side with identical amenities and completely different cultures. One is formal and traditional. The other is energetic and approachable. Same facilities. Entirely different experiences.
The clubs that win do not win just by having better amenities. They win by understanding their culture and letting that culture define everything: how they communicate, how they design experiences, how they make capital decisions, how they attract members who will thrive.
What this means for your club:
Stop asking: “What amenities do we need to compete?”
Start asking: “What culture do we have, and how do we express it with clarity?”
Your culture is not a weakness. It is your competitive advantage. Lean into it.
Lesson 2: Brand Impact Is Biggest at the Beginning of Member Journeys
Brand is not most powerful in your marketing materials. It is most powerful in the first 90 days of a new member’s experience.
Those first three months determine whether members develop genuine attachment or remain perpetually on the periphery of your club’s culture.
What does the first day look like? The first month? The first season? How does that experience set the tone for their entire membership?
New members arrive curious, excited, and unbiased. They do not carry the baggage of past decisions or failed initiatives. They are ready to invest in the club’s future because they have decades ahead of them.
This is where clubs have the greatest opportunity to inspire belonging and build attachment.
What this means for your club:
If budgets are limited or you need to make an impact quickly, start with new member onboarding. What does that journey look like? How do you help someone new inspire the future for your club right away?
Design the first 90 days with intention. Create experiences that immerse new members in your culture, not just your amenities. Give them language to describe what makes you special. Help them feel they belong to something meaningful from day one.
The clubs that do this well turn new members into ambassadors. The clubs that neglect it watch new members drift to the edges, never fully integrating.
Lesson 3: Physical Landmarks Rarely Capture What Makes Clubs Special
Clubs often say: “If only we had a lighthouse. Or a signature tree. Or a historic bridge. Then our identity would be clear.”
This is one of the most common beliefs we encounter. And one of the most limiting.
Physical landmarks work beautifully for public courses and destination facilities. Pebble Beach can use that iconic tree because their identity is about a place you visit once in a lifetime. That tree creates instant recognition and a sense of location.
But private clubs serve a fundamentally different purpose. They are communities, not destinations.
Your identity needs to express community, member values, culture, and belonging. A rock formation or a barn communicates property features. It does not communicate who your members are or what they experience when they gather.
When clubs focus on finding the perfect landmark, they miss the opportunity to create identity that reflects the people who make the club meaningful.
What this means for your club:
Stop searching for the landmark that will solve your identity challenge. Start asking what your culture is and how your identity can express that culture authentically.
The strongest club identities come from understanding member values, traditions, and the unique character of your community. They come from who you are, not what sits on your property.
Lesson 4: Identity Is a Tool for Leadership (Beyond Member-Facing Image)
Strategic club identity does far more than shape how members and prospects see you.
It becomes the framework that helps boards make decisions faster.
The lens that helps staff understand what is expected without needing constant direction. The clarity that aligns capital investments with strategic priorities.
When your identity is clear, it guides everything: how you evaluate capital projects, how you design programming, how you communicate change, how you train staff, how you attract members who will thrive in your culture.
This is why identity work matters at the leadership level. It is an operational strategy, not a marketing initiative.
What this means for your club:
If you see identity work as a marketing initiative, you will get marketing-level commitment and marketing-level results.
If you see identity work as strategic leadership that guides operations and investments, you will get board-level engagement and transformational outcomes.
Frame it correctly from the start.
Lesson 5: Culture Must Come Before Pride in History
History matters. Traditions matter. Legacy matters.
But history is not the entirety of the story you should tell. And it should not be the first story you tell.
New members must understand what your club is about today before they can feel pride in what happened in the past.
When you lead with history, you risk positioning your club as backward-looking rather than forward-building. You risk making new members feel they arrived too late to be part of what made you special.
History creates pride. But culture creates belonging. And belonging must come first.
What this means for your club:
In member onboarding materials, in prospective member communications, in brand narratives, lead with culture. Help people understand who you are today and what makes you special now.
Then layer in history as proof of that culture’s endurance. Show that the values you hold today have been lived for decades. That the experiences members love now are built on traditions that stretch back through generations.
History pays off the sense of who you are. It does not generate it.
Lesson 6: Your History Can Be Meaningful Without Being Public-Facing
Newer clubs often believe their history needs to be formal, official, or publicly recognized to matter. “We have hosted major championships. We have famous members. We have been written about in national publications. That is real history.”
This misunderstands what history means in a private club context.
History in private clubs is about continuity, character, and cultural identity. It can be the story of how your club started. The quirky tradition that began at a party in the 1960s. The founding members who shaped your values. The evolution of your culture over decades.
Members respond with pride to these stories precisely because they reveal character, not because they impress outsiders.
What this means for your club:
History worthy of celebration already exists at your club. Start uncovering the stories that paint a picture of your culture and say “Here is who we have always been.”
History is made in the little moments, the traditions that emerge organically, the values that persist across generations. These moments create connection and pride among members.
Lesson 7: Newer Clubs Have Richer Stories Than They Realize
Clubs that opened in the last 20-30 years often say: “We lack the longevity that creates meaning.”
Then we walk through discovery with them. We ask: What was here before? Why did this club start? Who were the founders? What vision did they have? What traditions have emerged? What moments define your culture?
Every single time, rich stories surface. Stories that members never heard. Stories that would create pride and connection if they were told with intention.
The challenge is rarely the lack of history. The challenge is the lack of storytelling process.
What this means for your club:
If your club is newer, meaningful stories already exist. You need the process to uncover and tell them with intention.
Invest time in discovery. Interview founding members. Document early traditions. Capture the vision that brought your club into existence. Tell those stories deliberately.
Your members want to feel they are part of something with depth and meaning. Give them that foundation through intentional storytelling.
Lesson 8: New Members Are Your Lowest-Hanging Fruit for Inspiration
When clubs roll out new brand work, they worry about resistance from long-tenured members.
That concern is valid. Change is hardest for people with the most invested in how things have always been.
But here is what we learned: new members are your lowest-hanging fruit for building momentum and inspiration.
They do not carry biases from past initiatives. They do not remember conversations from 20 years ago about why something did not work. They arrive curious, excited, and ready to invest in the club’s future.
When you give them a clear, compelling identity to buy into from the start, they become ambassadors for that identity. They inspire others. They model the culture you are building.
What this means for your club:
Do not focus all your energy on convincing skeptical long-tenured members. Focus on immersing new members in your renewed identity.
As they embrace it, they create social proof. They demonstrate that this is who you are now. And over time, that momentum shifts the broader culture.
Lesson 9: Change Management Is Critical Throughout (It Cannot Be Optional)
Change is hard. Even necessary change. Even strategically sound change. Even change that creates clear value.
The clubs where transformation builds momentum are the clubs that prepared members for change with intentional communication.
They communicated what was happening and why before the work began. They shared progress and insights during the process. They reinforced the vision and helped members understand the value after launch.
The clubs where transformation faces resistance took a different path. They developed the work privately, announced it suddenly, and surprised everyone. Members had no context for what was coming, no understanding of why, no insight into what inspired the decisions.
Silence creates confusion. Communication creates confidence.
What this means for your club:
Change management must happen before, during, and after any identity initiative.
Before you begin, communicate what is happening and why it matters. During the process, share progress and insights that build trust. After launch, reinforce the vision and help members see how this serves them.
The clubs that communicate relentlessly through the process build far more momentum than clubs that choose silence upfront to avoid early friction.
Communication creates work. But it prevents crises.
Lesson 10: Clarity Sometimes Reveals Misalignment (And That Creates Strength)
This is the hardest lesson for club leaders to accept. When you clarify your identity with precision, some members will realize the club is heading in a direction that serves them less well than others.
This creates the opportunity for natural transition that strengthens your culture.
Most clubs experience natural membership turnover of 5-10% annually. Your goal is retaining the members who align with your vision while creating space for new members who will thrive in your culture.
Brave leadership means accepting that universal approval is neither possible nor desirable. You can create genuine belonging for the members who fit your vision and values.
What this means for your club:
Prepare your board for this reality. Some members will question the direction you are heading. Some will voice concerns.
This signals you created clarity. And clarity, while sometimes creating friction, is what allows clubs to build genuine belonging for members who share your vision.
Clarity is not about making everyone comfortable. Clarity is about creating the conditions for the right members to feel deeply connected.
Moving Forward
One hundred episodes. Ten lessons. Patterns that emerge when clubs successfully navigate transformation.
Your club is unique. The culture you have, the challenges you face, the opportunities ahead of you are yours alone to address.
But transformation does not require you to start from scratch or figure everything out alone. These principles provide the clarity and confidence to move forward.
Others have navigated this path. Their lessons can guide yours.
We built a process around these principles.
Schedule a 30-minute introductory call. We will show you how clubs navigate transformation without losing member trust or operational momentum.
Ten lessons that change how clubs think about identity, culture, and belonging. Here is to the next hundred.
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Clubs Made Meaningful
A Podcast by Sussner
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