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Camp people are entrepreneurs
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Nobody calls camp people entrepreneurs. But that’s exactly what they are. Think for a couple of seconds about it. Small organization. Often, one leader at the top. Limited resources. Trying to sell someone on a vision and a dream. Figuring it out as you go. Wearing twelve hats because there’s nobody else to wear them. That’s a startup. And that’s what working at a camp looks like. The outside world would never describe it that way. But the job fits the definition perfectly. How You Got to CampI don’t mean getting dropped off by your parents. Most camp leaders got into this work because they’re talented at working with kids. They 100% understand emotional complexity. They see kids for who they are and where they could go. It really is a gift. And then somewhere along the way, the job changed. Budgets. Payroll. Marketing. Facilities. Insurance. HR compliance. Board management. Fundraising. Strategic planning. The industry took people with deep emotional intelligence and asked them to take on MBA-level knowledge without MBA-level training. The two-month summer became the easy part. The other ten months became the challenge. Running a camp takes a certain kind of person. You have to have this unwavering belief in what you’re doing each and every summer. Don’t truly believe in it? Then the tough stuff will break you. And yes, you have to be a little bit crazy to take this on. But the best kind of crazy. Because the hours and emotional weight and constant problem-solving are all too real. That’s entrepreneurial founder energy. It’s working at camp. Where It Gets ToughThe tension shows up when the job outgrows what got you here. You’re great with kids. You’re great with staff. You can read a room and build culture. But now you’re staring at a spreadsheet trying to figure out cost-per-camper, and nobody trained you for this. It shows up a lot. People who are exceptional at the human side of camp and then struggling with the operational side. It shows up in problems without crystal clear solutions. Burnout territory comes along when you have a problem you can’t solve. And even worse, can’t see your way out of. Seeing When You Need HelpThe camps that make it are the ones that use every resource. Nonprofit camps with effective boards, strong governance, and a commitment to fundraising. For-profit camps that measure ROI on spending and align it with their brand. The common thread: they recognize when they need help. They don’t try to do it all alone. They need someone to sit with the complexity. To say the thing they might not want to hear, and then help figure out what to do about it. Camp people are entrepreneurs. The work is hard. The job asks for more than what got you here. The job asks for more than what got you here. And that’s okay. Sincerely, Senior Consultant at Immersive1st Learn more about Immersive1st's Approach |
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I was touring a camp last summer with a non-profit CEO. We’d just walked her property together for an hour or so, looking at programs. I told her she was a good CEO who cared about camp. She said, “How do you know that?” I looked down. “Your shoes.” She was wearing sneakers. The Sneakers Test Do sneakers tell the whole story? Yes, I think sneakers tell the whole story. She was dressed to be on the property all day. The tour was the smaller thing she happened to be doing. It doesn’t matter if...
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A camp client wanted to know how parents are using AI to research their camp. So we sat down and “pretended” to be a parent (even though I am a parent!) looking for a camp like his. Simple prompt: “Tell me if [Camp X] is the right fit for my 12-year-old daughter.” What came back was eye-opening and definitely something all camps need to understand, and understand quickly. The AI framed its response as “my honest take, parent to parent.” As a reminder, AI is not a parent. The Audit I ran it...