”Winnie”

My guest today and I almost met in 1999 in Columbus Isle, but just missed each other by a few weeks. G.O.’s spoke often of my nicknamed guest over the years, so I feel like I knew him a little. After the interview, we realized that we attended the same EXGO Reunion in 2008 in Cancun! His first season was in Club Med Turks and Caicos for the 1989/1990 season as a Scuba G.O., with Kenton Smith as his Chief of Sports. He was born in New York, grew up in the UK, and now lives in Mallorca. His rather long and amazing name is Nick Stael von Holstein, but you probably know him by another name. Please help me welcome to the podcast, the one and only, Winnie!! Winnie worked for Club Med from 1989 to 2000 in such villages as St. Lucia, Cancun, Playa Blanca, Martinique, Sonora Bay, and Columbus Isle. Before Club Med, Winnie graduated with a Marine Biology degree from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island and became a scuba instructor at just 18 years old. And, as it turns out, one of my favorite people in Club Med, gave Winnie his nickname within 24 hours of Winnie arriving in Turks! If you were an early 90s G.O., then you will love this episode. Winnie name-drops so many people from his past, it will make your head spin how many legends he has worked with-Cowboy, Jean-Paul Morales, Hammer, Kevin Batt, Red, Cheez, Jenner, Sparrow, Lisa Henson (my 1st boss!), Hansel Moss, Angie Boucher, Grant Simmons, Roast Beef, Scotty De Palma, Flower, Eric Turner and Dave the Wave, to name but a few. As you can imagine, Winnie is here to share stories and does not disappoint! Too many to recount here in this small space, but the stories that stuck out for me personally were happy hour at “The House of Kos” in St. Lucia in 1992, Hammer’s wedding in Turks in 1997 (and that same season he cut a very famous G.O’s long “Red” hair) and a Christmas Day scuba dive in Cancun in 1997 with a school of dolphins that will give you goosebumps. Please enjoy this episode with Winnie!!**My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and 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.