My First Season

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.