When she left Carson City to go to
college on the East Coast, Jeannette
Kelley envisioned she'd work someday in
the corporate world overseeing high
finance or maybe even travel around the
world on international business.
But instead she finds herself working
in a modest upstairs office of the
Horseshoe Club casino back in her hometown
- and she couldn't be happier.
As vice president and part-owner,
Kelley is among a growing number of second-
and third-generation casino operators,
who combine college-trained business
acumen with instinct developed during
years of growing up in the gaming
industry.
Her father, Gene Chaney, opened the
Horseshoe Club in downtown Carson
City in 1973. Kelley remembers helping
stack nickels as a kid and learning how to
do basic bookkeeping. "I used to ride my
bike down here and have lunch with my
dad."
The casino roots go even deeper.
Kelley's grandfather owned a casino in the
late-'50s and '60s in Maryland, when
gambling was legal there.
Yet going into the gaming industry
didn't occur to Kelley when she planned
her career. She remembers a
college professor asking, "So,
are you going to be involved in
your dad's business?"
She told him she hadn't
really thought much about it.
After graduating with a business
degree from Virginia
Tech, Kelley worked for a bank
in Virginia as an internal auditor
and applied to work for the
CIA's employee credit union.
Meanwhile, she got married,
and during the lengthy process
of undergoing a background
check for the CIA, she and her
husband decided they wanted
to move to a place that would
be ideal for raising a family.
Their choice: Carson City.
That meant no career with
the CIA, of course, but Kelley
was glad to get back to
Nevada, where she had fond
childhood memories. She still
didn't plan to run the casino,
but her dad was trying to
retire. There were things to do
there, and she started helping
out.
"You
see
challenges
you can
help
with. Next thing you know,
you're running the place," she
says with laugh.
Chaney, who still owns part
of the business and continues
to keep his hand in as a consultant,
says he most enjoys
dealing with customers and
building slots. His daughter,
meanwhile, has a keen sense
for the financial and management
end of the business. She
worked as an apprentice under
a former manager. Then after
that employee retired, Chaney
gave her the reins. "She has
great leadership abilities," he
says.
"Another
good thing
about
Jeannette
is she has
compassion
for people."
Kelley is calm and soft-spoken,
pausing to carefully consider
questions and give
thoughtful answers. She is a
sharp contrast to the jingling
slot machines downstairs and
her own hectic schedule. She is
on call 24 hours a day with the
casino and with her three
small children, 4, 2, and 7
months. Although running the
business is more demanding
than most 9-to-5 jobs, she says
it provides much-needed flexibility,
which - along with a
supportive and hard-working
husband helps with juggling
a career and motherhood.
Kelley says she enjoys the
challenge of managing people,
accounting and customer service,
and she's glad she gets to
handle so many different
aspects of a business, an
opportunity she might have
missed in a corporate job.
"With a smaller business,
there's so much hands-on
work.We have to wear a lot of
hats. I do a little bit of everything"
The Horseshoe Club caters
to local residents. More than
90 percent of customers are
from the Carson City area.
Kelley says the key to success
is employing good people who
can help the business live up to
its motto of "friendliest casino
in town."
Kelley has always had a
strong drive. She excelled academically
in high school and
at sports, including track, ski
team and golf. She enjoys the
challenge of finding a better
way to do something, but she
gave up on perfectionism years
ago.
"I realized there was no
such thing as perfect.
Everybody has an idea of what
it is, and there's more than one
way to do things. If people
think they reach perfection, it
means they don't feel they can
improve. Perfect is too final.
Life is ongoing."
Success, she says, is a journey,
not a destination, and
she's enjoying the scenery
along the way.
