From Council Chambers to Cattle Farming

That’s the view of Pittwater RSL director Julie Emerson, who says it’s one of the long-term challenges facing the club industry.

“I think the expectation from our members and the community, but also the regulators, is that we have a much better understanding of the role that we play as a director,” she tells the ClubLIFE Podcast in a new episode released today.

“I think now the responsibilities on directors is much greater — the expectation that we can read a financial report, that we understand the financial report, that we can make decisions on often a very successful business, so you have to have your head around it and I don’t think in years gone past there was that expectation.”

Julie believes clubs have a crucial role to play in identifying potential directors will the skillsets required to oversee complex and highly regulated businesses.

“If you’ve got a membership of 20,000 people you’re going to have women, you’re going to have men, you’re going to have older people, you’re going to have younger people — so we need to somehow create a board that is reflective of those members,” she tells the ClubLIFE Podcast.

“It’s very hard to get young people interested in participation, they’re carving out their careers, or they’ve got young families, or they’re just trying to pay the mortgage. They don’t really want to take themselves away from anything else, but I think it’s essential to provide some incentive for them to be on a board so that we can reflect that membership base better.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Julie also discusses the two decades she spent as a local councillor on the former Pittwater Council, her numerous board roles including on the Geographical Names Board, and her semi-retired life as a cattle farmer on the state’s Mid-North Coast. 

She also talks about the competitive landscape when it comes to the hospitality industry and why and how you need to always stay ahead of the game.

“You have to be different because you’ve got to attract people to your place rather than them going somewhere else, so what is your point of difference and who are our members,” she says.

“I think data is really important in that particular space, because without knowing who our members are we can’t sell ourselves to them.

“Why are we different, why would they come to us rather than going to the local pub or one of the other big clubs and so I think that is always going to be a challenge.” 

Click on the link below to hear the full interview with Julie Emerson in the eighteenth episode of the ClubLIFE Podcast, which is also available via ClubLIFE.com.au, Apple, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts.

If you have a suggestion on who might make an interesting guest for a future ClubLIFE Podcast episode, get in touch with the team by emailing [email protected].