Name: Melissa Aitken
Place of Employment: Country Club of Pittsfield
Title: Chief Executive Officer
What is your three sentence biography? / What is your personal elevator pitch?
I’ve been fortunate to be on the Executive Staff at the Country Club of Pittsfield for eleven years. During my tenure, I’ve held various positions within the organization and was recently promoted to my current role as CEO. The Country Club of Pittsfield has and continues to be a prominent
fixture in Berkshire County. My primary goal as CEO is to see that the club continually evolves and adapts to current trends and the times. We want to ensure that our members and guests feel at home here and we are able to do this by providing exceptional services and amenities that
are second to none.
Tell us about a challenge you faced on your path, and what you learned from it.
While I feel lucky to have been given an opportunity for a position I hadn’t much experience in, I had to overcome a lot of my own personal fears of failure and the insecurity that others doubted my ability to do the job successfully. Just as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The only thing you have to fear is fear itself.” Once I overcame my fears and fought my way towards success – I was able to prove not only to myself but to others that I was fully capable and would inevitably excel
as a leader in this industry.
What “secret to success” would you share with young women entering the (Berkshire) workforce?
Work hard and believe in yourself. You are the only thing standing in the way of your own success. If you repeat these mantras to yourself daily – nothing can stop you from achieving your personal and professional goals. Channel your energy into positive thoughts about yourself and the work you are doing. You can overcome anything if you put your mind to it!
