NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

CANTELLI FAMILY Jason, Kristina and Sam

What made you join the Tamarisk Family? When we purchased our home in Rancho Mirage 7 years ago we were enthralled with the history of the Tamarisk area and felt a connection. We will tell anyone who will listen about the history of the club, the architecture and stories of the past… and we’re always asking for others’ stories, so please share them!

At the time our primary residence was Hermosa Beach, and then life quickly took a turn and we moved to Brooklyn NY… but we always talked about “someday”. While we loved our time in Brooklyn and the adventures we were afforded through moving coast to coast, (several times) it made us fully realize we’re happiest when we’re able to live an active life, be outdoors, and feel rooted in a community that shares our values. We really felt like Tamarisk could be that linchpin. We hoped to someday join Tamarisk when life would bring us back to Southern California and we could spend more time in the desert. We moved back to Southern California about a year ago and saw the silver lining of life suddenly turning remote and realized we were able to make our dream a reality much sooner than expected. What are some fun facts about your family? As a family we’ve been on an amazing adventure. In the last ten years, we have lived 7 different places across Massachusetts, New York and California. We’ve taken adventures to Austria, Germany, France, England, Ireland, China, Iceland, and Mexico - where we survived a 3 day stretch with no electricity in the heat of the summer and a scorpion bite. It’s amazing to think about what the next ten years will bring. Describe a typical day in your life. Like all of us, the current challenging times have upended our routines. Instead of managing school drop off and two commutes, we’ve set up three home offices for school and work. We spend most days racing between conference calls and managing internet bandwidth, but while challenging times, it’s been nice to find time for family walks and meals together that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. How did you become connected to the Desert? We first came to the desert in 2013 on a whim having no idea what to expect. We rented a small house in Joshua Tree and unexpectedly discovered the peace and tranquility, the colors, and drama of the landscape. It was a new totally foreign environment for both of us being from Michigan and Massachusetts. We make pretty quick decisions in life and within three months we had purchased a home in Rancho Mirage. Tell us about your occupations? Kristina has an expertise in brand strategy and market research. She has worked for 5 agencies across her career and is currently the group director of strategy at Hawke Media in Santa Monica. She worked in vast areas of industry from consumer goods to tech to healthcare. Jason currently leads new business development for Red Bull. In 12 years with Red Bull he has led teams in sales, marketing, and distribution. He doesn’t drive the mini cooper with the can on top, but has had some amazing adventures across the many playgrounds that Red Bull is involved with in sport, art, and music. Sam is a professional 6th grader. What are some of your favorite things? Sam is a Star Wars expert and, when not taking tennis lessons with Alvi, does enjoy the occasional video game session. Kristina enjoys horseback riding, hiking, and puzzles. Jason has recently transitioned a motorcycle hobby

into an interest in pinball machines; it seemed safer. He really appreciates Kristina currently allowing him to have 7 pinball machines filling up the house! Do have favorite sports or sports teams? While both us grew up as sports fans of our local Detroit and Boston teams, it’s more a nostalgic touch point for us now. We’ve found more interests in being active with golf, tennis, paddling and surfing. Who inspires you? s a family we’re continually inspired by people whose priorities and focus is on doing better for people in our communities. In recent years we’ve been drawn towards the artist communities in New York City and the Desert; finding areas we can support and also just enjoy! We are very much looking forward to the return of Desert X this year! It comes at a time when we think everyone can use some inspiration! How often do you play golf? Have you always played? Sam is completely new to golf and tennis, and loving lessons with Alvi! Kristina played tennis growing up but is new to golf and enjoying it when not totally humiliated by the steep learning curve. Jason played golf competitively in high school, but is really just getting back to the game now with a proper commitment. December was an amazing month; I think we were at Taramisk 20+ days over the month.

What is your favorite family tradition? It’s been hard to establish family traditions with all the moving the last 10 years, but the most consistent tradition has been visiting the Holiday Lights at the Living Desert Zoo for the last 7 years!

How do you best occupy your free time? What free time? I don’t think we honestly have free time at this stage in our life. We don’t watch much TV and wish we had more time to read, but for now it’s all about work, school, and play.

What do you enjoy most about Tamarisk? The entire staff team has been amazing! We completely underestimated the care and sense of community at Tamarisk. We’ve really enjoyed making new friends which is something we hadn’t found in the Desert as we’ve moved around so much. The course and courts have been outstanding daily attractions, and the extra attention to programming in events and the F&B offerings have enthralled us. We don’t want to miss anything!