Nick Carter is the general manager of the exclusive River Club restaurant atop the Modis Building. He has been on the job since October.
WHAT DOES HE DO?
“I motivate the club staff, provide the vision for the club, establish expectations in terms of standards of service, food, beverages and facilities and achieve budget. The club is a special animal but it is a business. I have to make sure it is viable and well-run.”
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
“The club has been around for awhile so it is always in a state of transition. We have the older, established members, a core of 35-55 year olds and a growing core of junior members. Our membership represents the leaders of the community. It was established initially as the Jacksonville Business Club. It is an icon of leadership in Jacksonville.”
TEAMWORK
MAKES IT COUNT
“Building a team in the club that provides the service and standards expected by our members will be most rewarding. It’s fun to make people happy here.”
MIXED EMOTIONS
“The biggest challenge and what we enjoy most is treating our members special. Every member has different desires, needs and expectations. It’s an ongoing challenge to understand those. We try to find out what the members like—what they like to eat, to drink, where they like to sit, what kind of salad dressing they prefer. We make sure it’s available and prepared to their liking ahead of time.”
HOMETOWN
Reared as an Air Force brat, Carter doesn’t claim any one place his home. Growing up he attended 17 different grade schools, three junior high schools and two high schools.
EDUCATION
Chico, Calif. is where Carter received his undergraduate degree in business. He went on to earn his MBA from the University of Southern California.
A LONG AND
WINDING ROAD
With diploma in hand, Carter set out to make his mark in the world of advertising. He spent a decade in brand management, first at Ralston Purina in St. Louis and then for Clorox in Oakland. From there he put in a couple of years in the advertising arena only to bow out due to work/family time constraints. An advertisement for Club Corporation of America caught his eye in the paper one day and from there his path was set.
Carter got his first taste of private club management in their West Coast office in direct sales and marketing before embarking on his own as a club consultant in San Francisco. Five years later, he rejoined “Club Corp.” After bouncing around Asia for the company, Carter took a post at the Ritz-Carlton headquarters in Atlanta.
FAMILY
Until he secures a residence in San Marco, the newly-transplanted Carter will remain staying at his past employer’s stomping grounds, the Ritz-Carlton at Amelia. While working in Asia, Carter met his wife Zhang Rui. She is attending law school in Atlanta. They have one son together, Alan Zhang, and Carter has a 12-year-old son named Nicky who is a certified black belt.
KARATE CHOP
Carter thinks of movie actor Bruce Lee as a hero.
“I am impressed by what he was able to do. He was a real athlete.”
DOWN TIME
Watching sports or the cult classic film “Blade Runner” top his list of fun things to do. He also likes to read business or management books but he never misses the television show “NYPD Blue.”
—by Monica Chamness