From answering phones to overseeing more than $1 million in fundraising, there’s no job at the Washington Athletic Club that’s too big—or small—for Suzana Sakay. Fourteen years ago, she began her journey with the organization as a merchandising manager in the spa, and has since moved through the ranks, helping improve membership experience and club profitability along the way.

Last year, Sakay’s leadership efforts culminated in a historic promotion: She was named the eighth president and CEO in the club’s history—the first woman to hold the role and one of the few women in the country to lead an athletic club.

Now, as the WAC heads into its 95th year, Sakay is poised to usher the organization into a new era, while facing lingering post-pandemic challenges that have required creative thinking to address the evolving needs of its members.

“I think women lead differently,” Sakay says. “We think more holistically. When we think about our membership, we  think about the whole family and how the club can serve everybody.”

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Accomplishments

Being named president. It was a big challenge just to get this far. But it was also very affirming of my body of work and all the things I’ve done in my past that have brought me here. I’ve been here 14 years, and I think it’s highly unusual to stay at a job for that long.

But for me, as a working mom, it was really important to find a place that aligned with my values. If you’re going to spend time away from your kids and family, I think it’s important to be at a place where you’re doing important work, you have a good team, and you’re in an environment where you feel a lot of support.

Challenges

I’m probably going through my biggest career challenge right now, because it’s a big job. It’s a big task at hand. It’s also coming at a time when the city is still in flux. At the Washington Athletic Club, our main revenue lines have to do with membership. But we also have a hotel. We also have catering. So, we definitely feel any kind of socioeconomic ebb and flow in downtown—our destinies are so closely linked. Corporate travel has been disrupted. Offices have been disrupted. There are fewer people in the city: most of the commercial buildings around the WAC are still 30% to 40% vacant, compared to 2019. These are all the challenges that we have to navigate. We have to pivot. We have to be nimble.

Not every day is going to be a huge victory sometimes it’s just little incremental improvements, and that’s okay, as long as we’re moving in the right direction. —Suzana Sakay, Washington Athletic Club

Lessons learned

As an internal hire, one of the things I started to lean into early on is just the power of storytelling. It’s not something I really understood as a younger professional. But when I got into this role, I experienced how important it was to tell stories about our brand in a way that makes sense to our membership, my team, and the community at large, so that we can move our agenda forward, and also do it in a way that’s engaging and interesting and that resonates with people.

Overrated traits

As women, we are really hard on ourselves. We want to do everything perfectly because we’re spread so thin, and we are such perfectionists. I’m learning not to do that to my team. It’s overrated when people think that everything needs to be perfect all the time. As leaders, we [can aim] for excellence, but also celebrate small wins. Not every day is going to be a huge victory. Sometimes it’s just little incremental improvements, and that’s okay, as long as we’re moving in the right direction.

Leadership

I think a leader needs to be a really good listener. As a leader, you have to pay attention to what the customer is saying. My job is to look for things that come up over and over again, because if they are and people are telling me these things, then I have to do something about it.

Advice

If we’re going to put our heart and soul into a role, we have to feel like we’re in the right spot. We feel supported, we feel like we have opportunities to grow, and a good, work-life balance. Finding an employer that really aligns with our values, I think, brings out the best in us.

Do differently

I can speak to my own example as a working mom; I think we sometimes don’t spend enough time on developing relationships after business hours. When I was younger and up-and-coming, I don’t think I spent enough time networking, putting myself out there in the community, getting to know other people, and really becoming more integral in the downtown Seattle business community. I think it puts you in front of the right people. You start building relationships, promoting your business, and talking about your brand to different audiences. I think that’s really important.