Chris “Hammer” Keeley

In two years of this podcast, today’s guest’s name has come up so often when I ask them which Chief of Village they liked working with, that I had to reach out and ask if he would like to come on. He has done 39 seasons in Club Med and 14 years in the Miami office where he currently holds the position of Senior Director UDT (University des Talents). In Club Med, he is known by only one name and in fact, he is the only Club Med employee around the world that has a nickname in their Outlook address. I can only be talking about one man, from Vancouver, it’s the one and only, the legend himself, Chris Keeley, AKA "Hammer"!! Hammer first learned about Club Med from his friend and EXGO, Sparrow, who had visited Club Med with his parents. Hammer actually had two first seasons, one short-team season in Moorea and one full season in 1989 in Club Med Turks and Caicos. He held many different G.O. positions over the years such as Waterski, Beach, Golf, Animator, Sports & Animation Coordinator, Chief of Sports and of course, Chief of Village. This interview covers his career from his first season as a Sports G.O. up until his last season as Chief of Sports. Hopefully, he will return at a later date for another interview, and there we will cover his first season as a Chief of Village. Before he became one of the most respected Chief of Villages ever, Hammer worked in villages such as Turks and Caicos, Playa Blanca, Cancun, Martinique, Sonora Bay, Phuket and Lindeman Island. In this interview, Hammer mentions a lot of names from the past you will recognize, people that mentored and inspired him. We also get into the origins of his famous nickname, and I’ll bet that you didn’t know it was given to him by a former NFL player! Not only does Hammer have a ton of great Club Med stories, but I also asked him about competing in Iron Man competitions and what that was like (he did his first one in 2015 in Mont Tremblant!). We also talk a little about what he is currently doing in Miami and how Club Med established itself as a premium brand and now offers a luxury range with the Exclusive Collection. We end the interview with the three things he misses the most about working in the villages. Please enjoy this interview with an amazing person!! **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.