Season #25 Episode#:72 Shaun Boyce & Andrew Minnelli

In this engaging episode of the GoTennis Podcast, host Shaun welcomes Andrew Minnelli, a GSI Executive Search Consultant and Director of Racket Sports at BIGHORN Golf Club. Andrew shares his inspiring journey from a collegiate tennis player at Kalamazoo College to a seasoned professional in the racket sports industry. He discusses his career pivot from teaching tennis to executive search, driven by a desire to help others find fulfilling roles in the industry. The episode highlights the new partnership between the American Racket Sports Association and GSI, aimed at providing career services and job opportunities for racket sports professionals nationwide. Andrew also reflects on work-life balance, sharing insights on prioritizing family while thriving in a demanding career. Tune in for valuable tips, industry insights, and Andrew’s vision as “King of Tennis” to create a more balanced schedule for professionals. Visit LetsGoTennis.com for more racket sports content and career opportunities!

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Full YouTube Video

King of Tennis Video

Shaun Boyce USPTA: shaun@tennisforchildren.com

https://tennisforchildren.com/

Bobby Schindler USPTA: schindlerb@comcast.net

https://letsgotennis.com/windermere

Geovanna Boyce: geovy@regeovinate.com

https://regeovinate.com/

https://letsgotennis.com/

Key Takeaways from the GoTennis Podcast Episode

1. Career Evolution in Racket Sports: Andrew shares his journey from a collegiate tennis player to a key figure in racket sports, transitioning from coaching to executive search, highlighting the diverse career paths available in the industry.
2. Work-Life Balance: Emphasizing the importance of balancing a demanding career with family life, Andrew discusses how his role allows summers off to prioritize family, offering a model for professionals to maximize personal time.
3. Industry Partnership: The episode introduces a new partnership between the American Racket Sports Association (ARA) and GSI Executive Search, aimed at enhancing career services, including a job board to connect racket sports professionals with opportunities nationwide.
4. Career Development Advice: Professionals are encouraged to use downtime (e.g., slow times at work) to enhance skills, pursue certifications, and broaden their expertise to become more marketable in the racket sports industry.
5. Leadership Beyond the Court: Success in racket sports careers involves more than coaching; it requires leadership, mentorship, and management skills to oversee programs and collaborate with other departments.
6. Community and Connectivity: The racket sports industry is described as a close-knit community where networking and collaboration, such as through ARA and GSI, can elevate professionals and grow the sport.
7. Vision for Change: As "King of Tennis," Andrew advocates for a less grueling schedule for professional players, suggesting breaks to improve well-being, applicable to both players and coaches.

Relevant Keywords

• Racket Sports
• Tennis
• Career Development
• American Racket Sports Association (ARA)
• GSI Executive Search
• Job Board
• Work-Life Balance
• Leadership
• Coaching
• Professional Tennis
• Career Services
• Industry Partnership
• Networking
• Community
• Certifications
• Country Clubs
• Program Management
• Family Priorities
• Tennis Academy
• Mentorship

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(upbeat music)

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(upbeat music)

- Hey, this is Shaun with the GoTennis Podcast,

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Check out our calendar of tennis events at LetsGoTennis.com

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please look in your podcast app

where to leave a review and do that for us.

We would love to earn your five star reviews.

And today we have a special guest,

GSI Executive Search Consultant Andrew Minnelli,

joined us in person to talk about the partnership

between the American Racket Sports Association and GSI.

Have a listen and let us know what you think.

(upbeat music)

Who are you and why do we care?

- I don't know why you care, but Andrew Minnelli,

I actually started my career, well, I'll back up.

Graduated from Kalamazoo College

and I played tennis there

and it was a great experience.

We played for a national title, my sophomore year.

- Exciting.

- It was very, very, very fun, very neat.

I was okay.

I was never gonna be top 10 in D1 or anything like that

or go on the pro tour.

So to be able to do that at the level,

but then also be in an academic institution

where that was probably more important than sports,

because there's a balance there

and sometimes maybe that doesn't exist.

Anyway, I graduated in '01,

was done with tennis burnt out,

put the racket down, my internship experience

was with the ATB tour and IMG.

- Oh, fun.

- So I wanted to be more in that realm

versus be on the court because I was done with tennis.

Put the racket down, I was head 10 and ice in the shoulder

and all of that just wanted to be,

wanna put that chapter behind me.

And anyway, '01 happens, 9/11 hits, job market tanks,

I am not bilingual last time I checked.

So when I was going for jobs at my former places

where I worked as an intern,

when you're not bilingual, we're in a hiring freeze.

Okay, well, fast forward to going back

to Kalamazoo one weekend to go support the guys at a match.

I wanted to get up in parents' basement

and I saw the women's coach who was there

and he had some good juniors that he coached on the side

as he was Tom Walker.

Great, great guy, good coach.

And so on the side, maybe for more beer money,

I'd help him out and work with his kids

and not with the women's team, his kids.

And I go back one weekend, he looks at me,

goes, "Manali, what the hell are you doing with your life?"

You look like a stiff.

And I'm dressed in like, you know, about nicer clothes

and you know, and you know, wasn't me.

And I go, "Well, I'm interviewing for banks right now

because that's really all that was available.

I was going for bank retail jobs

and I was interviewing with a Federal Reserve Bank.

And I was getting kind of far along in the process

and he goes, "Well, would you want to maybe teach tennis?"

And at that point, I'm starting to circle back and go,

"I swore I wasn't going to get into this.

I wanted to do the business side of things.

I'm maybe looking at, you know, going to banking.

I was like, "Wait a second.

Nothing's hitting.

I need to get out of my parents' basement."

type of thing.

Still granted from, you know, fifth grade

when I do that one thing.

(laughing)

But I said, "All right, look, happy to explore that."

And then literally the next week later,

I got a call from Billy Sterns in Stan Smith.

And they go, "We're starting a junior tennis academy

in Hilton, how did you like to do that?

Would you like to come down and check us out?"

So I did that, I said, "Screw the bank.

See you later, Cleveland, Ohio.

You know, I'm trying to get to nicer weather

and packed up a van and just like, grow down."

And I've really never looked back since.

You know, I moved from Academy to the more private sector

where maybe it's tennis for the masses,

but if it's private country club, you know what I mean there.

It's just more than just high performance kids.

- Yep.

- And I think once I started to get, you know,

more into the Atlanta market, when I came here,

you know, I realized this actually really could be a career.

And that it's more than just teaching tennis lessons

and you know, making okay money

and it's more than just a stop, you know,

it's actually very satisfying.

I don't want to be sitting in a cubicle at a bank.

You kind of find the love for the sport

that you put the rack down and you were done with.

You're like, "Man, this has really given me a lot.

Here's an opportunity to give back."

You know, and then I realized, "Wow,

I can actually do a little bit better

than just, you know, make money on lessons."

So I tried to raise my hand, join some boards, you know,

give back, you know, learn a little bit more than just,

you know, "Okay, I can teach a couple,

a couple hours a week, you know, more of the program,

management, you know, all of that."

And then just realized, "Hey, this can turn into something."

And I got really lucky, you know, my first job,

director's job was at the Riviera Country Club

in Pacific Palisades, where the fires were a few months ago.

- Yeah.

- And I had to get out to California

because my wife was doing her residency out there.

So I was, you know, just trying to really make it out there.

And I fooled them, got that job.

And it was-- - But before that in Atlanta,

you were, you left to go to California

from Atlanta Athletic Club, right?

- Right, right.

- Okay, I was the associate director

at the Atlanta Athletic Club before that.

- That was Jeff Chandling.

- Jeff Chandling, I was with Matt Grayson

at Gretchen, where Roswell Proud of that.

- Okay.

- So yeah, that leading up to that,

that was my first director's job.

I was able to get out on the same time zone as my wife.

You know, we were newlyweds,

and then I've been out west ever since.

So was at the Atlanta Athletic Club,

Riviera Country Club, then I moved up to Seattle Tennis Club,

beautiful club, traditional iconic place.

And, you know, as luck has it,

we are back now in the Southern California Desert.

I get a little bit more vitamin D again,

not that Seattle's a bad place.

- Just gonna have indoor place.

- Yeah, it's exactly.

But yeah, it's been a really fun journey.

And then, you know, coming down there,

I actually didn't have a job.

Again, it was just, you know,

being a cheerleader for my wife

and joining a practice, a medical practice,

and being dad.

And then, you know, it's funny how things work where,

you know, when I'm starting my career,

9/11 terrible job market.

And when I moved down to, you know,

back to Southern California,

where the Indian Wells area,

I don't have a job and now COVID hits

and the world shuts down.

So you've got all these, you know,

circumstances that kind of puts you at hold

and you have to do some reflection.

All right, well, I'm gonna get back into this eventually,

you know, and I think the answer hopefully is yes.

But really what went on coming first is, you know,

when COVID hit, I would get calls from pros

around the country going, hey, Andrew,

I just got furloughed.

I just got fired.

Or I've kept my job and I'm nervous.

- So I wanna get into this transition at some point.

But 2001, September 11th hits,

and I know where I was, I was already teaching tennis

with my first club job in coming,

working for Kate Sharp and Justin Yo.

- How cool is that?

- And I like, I remembered clearly,

as many of us do, I'm sure.

But then that was the, I remember as you talked about,

the feeling of getting back into it,

'cause I was the same way.

Put the ragged down, I'm gonna go get a real job.

- Yeah.

- And then as I get into it and I realize the career thing,

and I think that's one of the big pushes right now

with the certification organizations and USDA as well,

saying this is a career, this is a real job.

This does have a payroll, it does have scheduling.

The product or service might be a sport,

which is okay, if not great.

But that was the thing, Darryl Lewis was great

about pushing me when he said, Sean,

you should raise your hand and get on some boards

and do some things, I didn't.

And what that allowed was for me to fizzle out

of the career in a completely opposite way.

- Sure.

- Of what you're talking about.

But how did you get to the point,

and you've told me this before,

so I get to kind of lead the question,

which I find interesting is,

you've been in the tennis industry,

you had a few jobs,

but people were calling you as though you were a career

specialist already, because you said you got into,

we're gonna talk about GSI in a second,

but you got into that because there was already

this incoming stream of conversation.

- Yeah, I mean, I think part of it was because,

I had raised my hand for boards,

and I think I was trying to ascend in the career

fairly quickly and really get that director's job

and all of that.

It was important when I was in my early 30s

when I realized it could be a career.

So I was kind of on that path.

And again, it kind of just to the point earlier,

great, you can teach, great, you can run a mixer,

but what's all behind that in the programming?

And I think when the decision makers of clubs

actually look at you, it goes beyond

just what can you do on the court or run a mixer.

- We can all teach a tennis lesson.

- Right, right.

And it's, what can you do to be a leader, a mentor,

manage a department, coexist with other department heads?

There's a lot more to that.

And having some experience with Riviera Country Club,

Seattle Tass Club, and both were equally great

challenging positions, both good and bad.

I wouldn't say bad, but maybe more challenging, right?

You learn from a lot, and then maybe just because

I've kept in touch with all my friends in the industry

and because I volunteered for boards,

maybe that's why I got those calls.

I don't think it was anything else.

It's not my good looks, that's for sure.

But it's, it turned into almost a lesson book

where they were leaning on me,

"All right, well, go get your pick-up all certification."

- Yeah, what do I do next?

- Round yourself out.

This is an opportunity while the world is shut down

to reinvent, rebrand yourself.

You're not losing your identity of a pro,

but what can you do to add to your resume

or your menu at your club?

So that way, hopefully, when things open back up

and the world is to somewhat of a new normal,

you're that much more marketable

because you use this time wisely.

And so that became a conversation with a lot of people

and the company that helped vet me

on the back-end for Riviera Country Club,

GSI Executive Search, I called them up and I said,

"Hey, I'm doing this thing.

I just helped one of my former staff get a great job

in Arizona and helped them along the way."

And this, you know, I'm doing this career counseling

and it's kind of turning into a lesson book

and I may be interned before you.

I'm like, "Ain't Drew, we don't need an intern.

Join us."

And that actually was a natural fit.

So that actually happened first.

That was my first job coming in the desert.

I've now been doing this for five years and I love it.

It's not a job, just like tennis and, you know, it's fun

'cause, you know, we're all, I think, you know,

they are industry and not just tennis anymore.

It's rackets, it's court sports.

However you want to call it, we're all family

at the end of the day and we just have to help each other out.

So that was just more of a natural fit

'cause I'm just talking to a buddy, going,

"Well, maybe you should think of doing this."

And not everything I say is right.

Ask my wife that.

But at the same time, you know, at least it helped lead

some people into some good situations, you know.

And again, it's satisfying to be able to pair

a deserving club with a really great pro.

And then vice versa.

It's got to feel good.

Yeah, it's awesome.

And I don't remember the time of how long I was doing

that before the club that I managed in the desert came along.

But it did come on my radar that there was a job opening up

at Big Horn, Big Horn Golf Club.

But we call it Big Horn.

We've dropped the golf in the club, although that is our pride

and joy in our big amenity.

And it's a cool place.

It really is a dream job.

And I really, you know, like we talked about this earlier

about how, you know, there's really no perfect job.

You know, there's the good and the bad of everything.

This is pretty darn close.

I've seen pictures of this place.

It looks like the perfect job.

It's really cool.

So I hunted them down.

And I go, "No, no, no, no, no, I'm not trying to do your search."

I am your search.

Yeah, like I think I can do both.

Okay, because that was going to be my next question.

You already have a job.

Yeah, I have a job.

I think I can do both because both can kind of co-exist

a little bit.

Right.

And, you know, I'm always going to help my friends.

It's satisfying to help place somebody at the club

and then help a deserving club find a pro for long term.

But at the same time, I'm missing that directorship position.

You know, you kind of go through the love and the hate with tennis, right?

And you know, those spurs.

I'm like, "Ah, I don't know if I want to do this again.

No, I miss it."

I don't want to come back to that.

And wow, that is a very unique and very cool place.

I don't know if I keep saying cool, but there's not another way to say it.

And I interviewed for the job.

I think there was a couple other people up against me and I was very lucky to get the position.

And so I'm at, I'm the Director of Rackets Sports at Big Horn as well as Associate Rackets

Sports Consultant with GSI.

At Big Horn, I managed their Rackets and Courts Sports arena for eight months out of the year.

And it's a great blend where I can both jobs can coexist.

And what's great because it's eight months out of the year, you know, I also get to spend

time with family in the summer.

Did I say what happens the other four months?

Yeah.

They have somebody else do it or they just do nothing.

You know, 105 to 110 plus degrees.

Is it hot there?

Yeah, and then we want to play tennis in the morning.

And if you do do it early, it's, you can do it.

It's bearable or pickable, right?

Or pedel.

But you do it in the morning.

So we don't really need an operation of summer because our members go away.

Got it.

You know, and we hear more about that in the Northeast where in the winter, you know, your fancy

clubs kind of shut down.

Yeah.

And the tennis and sailing clubs kind of thing.

But on the East Coast, we don't think about the desert very often.

We don't have them over here.

So I guess it's just between May and September, you just don't bother going to the club because

those people are all the members of some other club where the weather's nicer during that

time.

We're a bit transient.

You know, I think COVID did change things a lot where we do have some year rounders.

I mean, I'm a year rounder in the desert.

But a lot of our members do go elsewhere, maybe they'll travel, you know, maybe they go home

to their other home.

You know, it's a home away from home.

These are the type of people that have other homes.

Yeah.

And we pride our sell.

Yeah.

Not everybody has other home.

Yeah.

I wouldn't necessarily say that they're out to collect home.

They're not.

They're not.

You collect watches.

They collect houses.

It's true.

True.

And some people collect memberships, right?

Yes.

But no, we've got my segment of the population over club.

It's their great people.

It really is family.

We have fun.

And I think at the end of the day, like, you know, four rackets and court sports, it is a job.

It is spelled J-O-B, but it's also fun.

And this is pretty darn close to having at least for me.

And kind of getting back to like the balance of things.

You know, I lost my father probably almost two years, almost to the day.

And you know, at the end of the day, you do have to think about this.

You know, we all have a shelf life.

Life is somewhat short on this planet.

And so you need to maximize it in all the areas.

And I think what's great, at least for me, and again, I didn't set out to do all these things

that just happen.

And you know, maybe it's hard work.

Maybe it's here in Dipiti too, you know, but it just kind of like happened.

You know, I really get to spend the summers with my kids almost like a school teachers off

for the most part of them, then maybe doing some summer camps and lesson plans.

You know, but I'm really at home with the kids.

And I don't get that time back.

You know, whereas I think when we all grew up, you know, we had parents that were on the

go and we just saw them at dinner time.

And that's neat for me.

Or even most parents now.

Two jobs.

Yeah.

You see your kids, not you.

They, most parents see their kids.

They wake them up in the morning, feed them, stick them on a bus.

And when they get home from work, they pick them up from daycare.

They feed them, they put them to bed.

Yeah.

And they come back.

I don't want to talk about it.

You know, I'm playing about, oh, I'm raising kids.

It's so tough.

No, you're not.

You bathe the kid every once in a while.

You're not raising children.

And this is me picking on the.

Yeah.

The parent that has two jobs, but that's a different life.

It's a different thing.

They don't get summers off.

So they have to maximize that morning and evening time.

I get to work from home as well.

So I get a chance.

Yeah.

I get to work from time with my wife and son.

And the other kids when they come to visit, which we appreciate.

And this might be a little bit of a tangent.

And we can get into it.

But, you know, I think too, you know, as our industry changes, yes, we work holidays.

Yes, we work hard.

You know, yes, we put the hours in.

And sometimes we don't see family, too.

But is there a way to be efficient within the hours that you have at the club, but then

make sure that you're at home because really at the end of the day, that's most important.

You know, you think about like, how do you leave your legacy?

I mean, for me, like, I want to be remembered as a good dad.

First and foremost, you know, if anybody says anything else, okay, they're probably lies.

But, you know, my legacy with being a good parent and a father, you know, and a good spouse.

It's a great target.

Right.

You know, of course, you know, rackets and court sports are a passion and that helps fuels

and, you know, put some food on the table for the family.

But, you know, my priorities kind of switched a little bit and I'm in a situation now where

again, didn't set out for this to happen, but I got really lucky.

Yeah.

Some people would say there's no such thing as luck.

Yeah, I think that-

Obi-Wan says that and he's almost always right.

Sorry.

My college coach at Kalamazoo, Tim and Kaurwin, he said this one day and it stuck with me.

He goes, "We don't, you know, if you hit that serve, you know, and it just dribbles over

and it's in or you hit that winter and, you know, you kind of day with your eyes closed

and you hide out and I do that."

You may be luck, but remember all the hard work that you put in.

It's not luck.

It's work.

It's work for you.

It's-

Yeah.

You do all this stuff, but you really only see like, you know, that part of it, but it's that

whole journey below that's what's most important.

Absolutely.

And I'm sure we can wax it intellectual and feel asophical all day long.

So I want to jump into the main reason we're here.

So one, you get summers off.

That's fantastic.

So that's why I'm here.

You're here.

Yeah, get out of the heat and the helicopter.

Exactly.

You left, came all the way to Beaufort.

Yeah.

No, you're here because we're doing a deal.

You, me, us.

Do you want to do that?

I'm not sure.

And not necessarily go tennis specifically related, but the ARA, the American Racket Sports

Association and GSI are coming together and we are going to support the Racket Sports

world with some career services that GSI will provide.

So we're creating this partnership.

You guys are going to be sponsors of the Association.

Yeah.

And we're going to create basically as much as we can possibly create in that world.

We've got a jobs board, basically a jobs posting system that's just come out.

It's weeks old.

So nobody's on it yet, but we're going to build that out.

So tell me a bit about without getting technical within the contract, but tell me a bit about

what GSI and Andrew Monelli are going to be able to do for the American Racket Sports

Association membership beyond just tennis coaches.

Because this isn't just if you're a coach type.

This is anything in the Racket Sports industry, what I've been saying is if your Racket Sports

adjacent, if you are near anything like this, then this is number one, somebody you want

to talk to.

We want to put people in touch with you specifically because at one point, it's not just, can I get my

next job down the street or what's the next country club that I can go to, but it really

is what about the rest of the country?

What about everywhere else?

Where do the guys that are already running country clubs go next if they're looking for that,

rather than just assistant pro going to head pro and the typical path staying within Atlanta?

So you get a chance to help us expand what we can do.

Yeah, this is exciting.

Thanks for partnering on this.

I look at it more as a blank canvas, and I know there's other partnerships with other

relations and our competitors and all of that.

It's great.

We're not really out to duplicate that.

I've been doing this for a while.

Pro Bono until my wife said, "Figure how to monetize that.

You dummy."

But I—

Why is there good with that?

Yeah, yeah.

You're doing a lot of work.

They are.

What are—

But this is an opportunity for a lack of better words.

There's no silver bullet on career journey.

There's not one right way.

There's lots of different segments.

You can work in the industry.

Our firm is not just me.

My colleagues within the firm are all former general managers and most of them are platinum

clubs.

We have a wealth of knowledge within the firm.

Based on my rack, it's background.

I'm able to at least share the story, share the journey, kind of like what we're doing

now, help people understand maybe what their short term and long term goals are.

If there's a club that happens to have a search and they want assistance with it, that

can be a luxury to have somebody help you.

But in a lot of ways, it's nice to have that unbiased voice to come and go like, "Look,

I understand where you are.

Put your politics aside.

This is where the industry is going.

You know your membership.

Let's merge all that information together and find somebody that can be a good fit for

you for long term."

On the back end of it too, if there's a club that needs some assistance and you're very

happy with your staff but you want that unbiased voice to come in and help as well, GAsI can

do that.

But mediation, you mean?

We're just trying to figure out comp packages and stuff.

That can be part of it.

Also, it could be programming, budgeting, all of that.

We can come in and we can help with that.

It can help me do my job better.

Yeah.

Okay.

And I'm not stepping on your toes.

I would say that the partnership between GAsI and the American Racket Sports Association

is an enhancement.

How can we all share knowledge?

Because again, at the end of the day, that's how we all get better.

Yeah.

And that's one of the things we're doing.

And I say we now, when I talk about the American Racket Sports Association, is trying to create

more connectivity.

Trying to create more cooperation, tennis, Racket Sports, very competitive.

We're competitive people by nature.

We make good salespeople.

We make good winners.

We're going to go figure out how to win.

But sometimes winning isn't growing the pie.

It's trying to get my piece of it.

And so this kind of scenario is coming together and saying, okay, we need somebody like GAsI

to say that they can help us not just with Atlanta.

Okay.

We've built the job system.

It works.

It's in Atlanta.

It's going.

Okay.

That's going to go so far.

Right.

And the question is, what about the guys that are doing the hiring?

What do they look at?

How can we help everybody in this industry?

And career services is not what we do.

That's what you do.

And that's where the partnership is.

We try to get more people to, I don't want to say maintain your lane.

But if you have an expertise, then stick with that as best you can.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be like COVID.

You mentioned like round yourself out.

Go learn to be a different thing.

Improve your menu.

I think it was a phrase that you used.

But people went out and tried to be everything to everyone.

And we don't always have to be that.

We can go find an expert, partner, offer more, that actually creates some scalability.

We're happy to help.

Again, we're all family at the end of the day.

That's what I want the relationship to feel like.

Of course, it's nice in the business end of things for both organizations, until hopefully

scale nationally.

But at the end of the day, I talked about priorities in life.

Obviously, family is important, but career I'm very passionate about.

I didn't know that when I first get out of college because I was done with it.

But I've gone through this journey.

It's okay.

My journey might be different from somebody else.

But they're all relevant at the end of the day.

And we are all within the same cloth here.

How can we make it better for everybody?

And it's just an opportunity to share.

Yeah.

Yeah, I agree.

Okay, so pretty much covered everything.

And before we blow past our time frame, because I'm sure we can talk for hours.

Yeah, we can.

Yeah.

Anything else you want to share specifically that I didn't ask or that we want to talk about

before I ask you about King of Tennis?

Is there anything interesting that's happening?

You got a search coming up?

You got something we can announce?

I don't know.

I always like to give a platform if there's something on your mind.

If not, we can pull it as well.

Well, we got a few pending searches, but maybe a plug for the job board.

You know, as this is more formalized, is look for details on that.

You know, because anything that we have going on, whether I know you or I don't, it's always

an open door.

I'm approachable.

And let's hear your journey.

Let's figure out what can work.

Maybe one of the opportunities that we have available through our firm that's relevant to

the association could be a good fit.

And let's see where that conversation leads us.

But other than that, no.

I'm just excited about the partnership.

It's good to see you again.

It's been many years.

In the flesh?

In the flesh.

We've gotten older and hopefully a little wiser.

Hopefully.

We hope.

We hope if anybody's going to put us in charge of anything.

Yeah, that's a mistake.

And we'll make sure that your contact information is there because one of the things you want

to be clear about, you use the word approachable.

Yeah.

Because anybody can call and say, hey, I have some questions.

I want to figure it out.

It doesn't necessarily have to be the fancy country club.

I'm looking for a director's job.

Anybody in the industry, anybody that is interested in it?

Yeah, I feel, you know, going into that for a second, you know, our industry, like I said,

there's a lot of different segments to it.

You've got colleges.

You've got resorts.

You've got private clubs.

There's different levels of what a private club is.

Here in Atlanta, you've got HOAs that are very strong and amazing teams that come out of

it, right?

And then you've got public facilities.

And some of those jobs can be great as well.

So there's a lot of different segments, you know, and you can, you know, based on how you

shape your journey, you can put yourself in a good position to get either one of those.

And there can be some crossover.

You're going to be some challenges with that, but it's not impossible.

But it's just a matter of strategizing and figuring out what you can do to put yourself in

the best position based on what your goals are.

And there's a lot that's out there, you know, and even if I'm not doing the search, come

talk to me.

Yeah, come call me.

Just know that in California, there's a three hour difference.

So if I don't get to, it might be, it might be 4 AM.

I feel like that's a dig because every once in a while I schedule a meeting with you and

I show up three hours early.

Well, I appreciate the problems.

I'm like, oh man, I forgot about the timeframe.

Yeah, so I'm one of those guys where it's like, look, great if we can schedule something,

but you can also call me on the costume.

And you know, and I wanted to feel like that because I want this, I want this partnership

between the firm and, you know, any relationship, you know, that I have with a member, you know,

maybe they don't know them or I didn't know that person, you know, it needs to be organic.

Yeah, that makes sense.

And you're well connected in Atlanta.

So it's not as though these guys haven't heard of you.

So that's another reason why I like the relationship is because it isn't just, hey guys, we found some

search firm.

Frank's coming in, and like, this is great because it's a little bit of a homecoming and not

that this is home for you really, but for us, you're one of us, not just a tennis type or

a racket sports professional, but we worked with you.

It's a homeaway from home.

I have a lot of great memories.

It's a special place.

You know, and I think I do too, again, talking about our community.

Our community is like a Kevin Bacon, you know, game where you might not know somebody directly,

but you're one person removed.

And you know, that's the way it works with careers, you know, and there's, it can intersect

and you never know.

And if I can ever help bridge the gap in some way, that's why I'm here.

Well I got myself one person away from Andy Roddick, and we got to do a podcast trade.

Yeah, let's work with that.

We got to figure that one out too.

All right, so let's wrap this up.

So King of Tennis, I did a pretty good job of not letting you know it was coming.

So you're going to have to come up with something on the fly here.

The question, my favorite question I was asked is if you, Andrew Manelli, were King of

Tennis, whether it's the entire world or just California or just the United States, if

you were King of Tennis, is there anything you would do or change?

Boy, really good question.

I should have done my homework.

No, give me enough time.

Yeah, you didn't give me any time.

Everything is better on the fly anyway.

Sometimes.

Think so.

So getting back to the situation that I'm in, you know, where I've been able to carve out

this unique balance.

So if I was the King of Tennis, having that in mind, I still think that the tennis schedule

is absolutely brutal.

You know, and I mean, tennis schedule as a coach, as a pro, like on tour.

Oh, as a professional tennis player.

Yeah, and we could probably even dig into that as well, right?

You know, I think there's different layers to that.

It's complex and it's not.

But on tour, I mean, those guys and gals, how much time do they actually really get off?

Not much.

I don't want to quote it.

Like a few weeks, six weeks, something like that, six weeks at best, after the world title

has been crowned.

So what can they do to change that?

If I was the King of Tennis, you know, find more balance.

I don't know what the answer is, but that's my answer.

But you're the King.

They were go.

So you have to actually do something.

Because right now, you just sound like someone coming to petition the King and saying,

please help me come up with an answer.

Can the King petition?

Sure.

You want an answer?

Wait, does that make me King if I give the answer?

Yeah.

I got an answer for you.

I don't know.

These guys can play--

There's not like a politician where there's no answer.

Exactly.

Yeah, okay.

Hey, no, you're going to start with, look, what I'm trying to say here is, and I've

said this a thousand times.

You don't even study anything yet.

They can play whatever they want.

Can you talk about it?

They can take off March.

I think is there a way to install some breaks within the calendar?

These are independent contractors.

They are not forced to play.

They can play whatever they want.

So why is this a brutal schedule?

They're not playing for an NFL team where if they don't show up, they get fired.

You know what?

If these guys don't want to play in October?

If the season is year long, you know, and I get how it all flows, but can there be some

breaks in between?

So if I was King, I would do that.

There you go.

Okay.

And then on the other level of what we all do and what our passion is, again, it's getting

back to what I said earlier.

It's be efficient with your hours there.

You know, if you can do 12 hours of work in six and go home and see your kids because you

don't get that time back.

And is there a way to, you know, maybe it's tough if you're a one person showing you're wearing

a lot of hats, you know, because that scenario can exist.

But if you're lucky enough to have a staff where you've got a lot of people that are good

in different areas and they're shining, can everybody have a break and go see their family

or go hang out with friends or go talk to their parents because again, you know, the Grim

Reapers coming for us at some point, right?

So let's maximize our time on this planet and have fun, you know, in our career, but as

well as with our family and our friends.

Beautiful.

There you go.

If I was King, that's what I would do.

Making families better.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Nothing to do with tennis, just if you have a job, if you have kids, if you have a family,

make that the priority.

They make that why you go to work.

Right.

Not in the way like I'm trying to get away from them, the why I go to work.

But for me, it is the driver.

It is why I get out of bed in the morning.

And it's nice to be able to leave your mark, you know, on what you love to do.

But again, I think it's, you know, if that happens, that's a bonus.

But I don't think it should necessarily be your goal.

You know, I think it can happen through passion.

Family comes first.

Well, there you have it.

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