Monkey Business Camp: Restructuring for Covid and Finding a New Business Model
- Hailey Magsig
- May 12, 2022
- 10 min read
Updated: Sep 23, 2023
It's been two years since the Covid pandemic hit, and we now find the summer camp industry in a very new place. For some camp directors, these changes have been a positive experience. Monkey Business Camp, based in Berkeley, CA, is one such camp that has found more than one silver lining as they adjusted their summer camps for Covid.
In the Spring of 2020, Monkey Business faced two options: pause summer camps for 2020 or pivot and adjust the camp model for Covid. Business owner and Camp Director Heather Mitchell chose to pivot even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. However, in restructuring, she discovered that the new camp curriculum improved the original summer program and opened up new opportunities. Now, going into her third year of summer camps with Covid still very much front and center, Heather is optimistic about the future.
Knowing when to cancel summer camps and when to move forward
Monkey Business Camp started in 1998 as a place to celebrate the creativity and individuality of all children. Although it started with one camp, Monkey Business grew to include the field trip-based camps Girls on the Go and Boys and the Go, School Break Camps, and a late summer Transitional Kindergarten Camp for young kids about to embark on their kindergarten adventure. As most camp directors can relate, Heather's days were long during the camp season. Between the various camps running simultaneously and managing extended care to parent communication and outreach, she often worked 12-14 hour days. As a result, Heather often considered taking a sabbatical and giving herself a summer off.
In April 2020, this break from camp became a reality for Heather after she had to cancel her summer 2020 camp season due to Covid. Many camp directors can relate to the uncertainty of what summer 2020 would bring regarding Covid. Heather felt it was best to err on the side of caution. Without clear guidelines on how to run a camp during Covid, she wasn’t comfortable putting the campers, camp counselors, youth leaders, and staff at risk.
She also wanted to give parents as much notice as possible so they would have time to find an alternative option if available. Heather even helped families who needed child care to connect with Monkey Business staff so they could coordinate. As Heather navigated this tricky time of issuing refunds and credits, she was also thinking about how to spend her summer off. The irony was there was no place to travel to due to the pandemic!
As the summer approached, Heather realized how much she would miss camp. After all, it had been a staple in her life for 22 years. She would miss the laughter of the campers, seeing the camp counselors each week, spending time outdoors surrounded by nature, and the sound of children playing, but most of all, she would miss the camp experience and community.
"Heather, I wanted to reach out and say how grateful I am to have grown up at MBC and the ways it gave me such a deep appreciation for nature and our earth as a whole. Missing camp a little extra today!"
~ A text to Heather during Shelter-In-Place 2020 from a former
camper (since age 5!) and soon-to-be camp counselor.
During this time, Heather began to feel a real sense of loss and intense worry about the impact Covid would have on Monkey Business Camp’s longevity and survival. With this experience and the threat of losing it all, Heather realized how badly she wanted to host the 2020 summer camps. She also knew families were struggling, and kids needed an outlet after their jarring experience in Zoom school. So when the opportunity arose to keep the camps going in June 2020, she took it!
Tapping into Resources
Even while many things were uncertain, Heather focused that Spring on getting PPP loans, which was not easy for small businesses, as many camp directors know. Finding a bank that could assist her was challenging, and her credit union opted not to participate in the PPP loan process. The effort took time, but Heather did secure a loan, and things became more stable, even when so much remained out of her control.
Heather also tapped into other resources like the Small Business Association (SBA), East Bay Small Business Development Center, and the City of Berkeley Office of Economic Development and Office of Public Health for information and guidance on how to run a business during Covid and, more specifically, how to run a Covid-safe camp.
These resources became a valuable tool, and working with an SBA mentor helped Heather realign her business for success. For example, Monkey Business Camp has opted not to offer extended care after camp, and working with a mentor helped Heather make this decision confidently. Heather also stopped running the Boys on the Go and Girls on the Go camps because these programs take daily field trips using public transportation to museums, recreational activities, and other outing destinations. These programs will remain on hold (as well as the Transitional Kindergarten Camp), but making this informed decision has helped Heather focus her efforts on other business areas, and it’s been a considerable advantage and contribution to her success.
Moving forward with day camps in 2020
Monkey Business Camp is an outdoor nature-based camp. So, in early June 2020, when the local counties announced summer camps could proceed outdoors under the structure of strict cohorts and 3-week long camp programs, Heather pivoted quickly to this revised camp approach and developed a new curriculum.
She had to run a camp with lower enrollment and fewer weeks of summer camp than usual, but she could pay her staff with the PPP loan and not feel overly stressed about the lost revenue. There was a bonus in knowing she could keep her team on and help them avoid looking for work at such a difficult time.
It was unclear how families would respond to the short notice of camps moving forward, but Heather knew first responders needed care for their children. She had six weeks to restructure her camp and develop a covid-safe approach. When registration opened for the restructured summer, she filled the camps quickly, and parents were excited to have a camp option for their children that year. It was such a relief to have this interest from families!
So, what did this new approach to camp look like?
Finding a new camp location
Monkey Business Camp had to find a new location. The camp’s previous site was Tilden Park in the Berkeley Hills, which provided an unforgettable outdoor experience. However, due to Covid, the park management, East Bay Regional Park District, closed all facilities at the park, making it unusable. Heather had to find a place open to hosting a camp and had the space for outdoor activities.
She found a perfect spot at a local school near downtown Berkeley. Although there were initial challenges on how she could use the space for camp and during Covid, Heather worked with the board and school staff involved to ensure the camp would be safe and functional. The school pulled from a lot of what Heather and her team set up that summer so they, too, could create a safe in-person learning environment with new outdoor components during the school year.
Embracing cohorts at camp
Second, Monkey Business Camp could only take a limited number of campers and had to create cohorts to run the camp safely. It was a smaller camp than in past years, but for safety during Covid, it was essential to follow the guidelines. Having cohorts meant being creative in organizing the activities so that the small groups didn't mix and the cohort concept stayed intact. At camp, this often looked like one group playing on one part of the schoolyard while others did a craft project at outdoor tables in another school area, and a third group participated in a camp game.
3-week camps became the secret to success
Third, due to local requirements, summer camps that ran in 2020 had to offer 3-week sessions only. The single-week camp experience was not an option. Having the more extended camp programs ended up being an incredibly positive experience for Heather, her staff, the campers, and the overall business.
Before Covid, Heather had thought about shifting the camp into a multi-week program because she started to find the business model of one-week summer camps becoming unsustainable. It is a lot of work to market, hire, and organize single-week camps. Heather knew there were benefits to more extended camp programs, but making a significant change like this as a small business is risky. Families have expectations about what camp should be like, and taking multiple week-long camps throughout the summer is the norm. Diverting from your customer’s expectations is nerve-wracking. But, through circumstance or forced innovation, a small business can usually start to feel comfortable making these significant changes, even with all the unknowns.
In 2020, Heather offered two 3-week sessions. Simply through the situation of Covid, she could test out an extended camp program, and what she found was incredibly positive. So positive that she restructured her business around the new model.
A new business model, thanks to Covid
Monkey Business Camp has always believed in the power of summer camp to help children connect with others and nature. But, thanks to Covid, they've offered something even more special: an extended summer camp experience that helps campers create friendships, build community, and connect with mentors.
The benefits of the 3-week summer camp model
Heather has always suspected that more extended programs would create a positive experience in her day camps. The model of overnight camps provides some evidence to back this up. At overnight camps, kids can practice self-reliance, decision-making, time management, self-advocacy, and relationship-building. Overnight camps can provide this experience to kids because they are away from their families for an extended period. The camp day is structured to be full of activities for kids to choose from based on their interests, and they have to decide how to spend their time.
The positive camp experiences of overnight camps naturally translate to the concept of multi-week-long day camps. Yes, the campers go home to their families in the evening. But during the day, they have a complete and engaging camp experience playing, connecting, making decisions about their time, communicating, trying out leadership skills, problem-solving, engaging with staff, and spending hours of quality time together over several weeks.
Monkey Business Camp saw many benefits for campers with the multi-week summer camp model:
Allowing for more in-depth exploration of the natural world, hands-on learning opportunities, and access to recreational activities
More time for friendships to blossom naturally and engage with children of different age groups and backgrounds
Increased sense of community within the camp group
More significant opportunity to build relationships with staff members, counselors, and the camp director
Heather's instincts were spot on, and Covid provided her the room to explore longer camp sessions without over-explaining to families why the camp structure changed. Despite the uncertainty of the times, and if the new approach would work for Monkey Business Camp, the opportunity to try something new became an invaluable experience for Heather. It provided her with meaningful insights on moving forward with her business in the years to come.
Monkey Business Camp is full of endless outdoor fun, exploration, creative projects & most importantly, time with friends. Times that by three weeks, and you have something really special!
2021 and Beyond
Heather didn't have a choice regarding the three-week camp sessions in 2020, but she did in 2021 and 2022 and chose to stay within this program framework. The good news is that because Covid's restrictions are loosening, Monkey Business Camp can grow its enrollment and now has more leeway on how the groups of kids can interact together during the day. In addition, with the kids being back to in-person learning, there is also potential for some larger group camp experiences. Still, the small group activities will remain essential to the camp.
The value of staff and the connections they create with campers
One benefit of offering three-week-long day camps is that Heather needs fewer staff members to run the camp. Having a reduced team helps the bottom line and doesn't take away from the value her staff brings to camp. Heather uses a unique strategy to create meaningful connections between staff and campers. She intentionally hires for different life experiences, which creates an exciting environment where kids can feel an authentic relationship with their adult mentors. In addition, Admin and operations staff have even more opportunities (and time) to visit the camp and share their favorite hobbies and interests with fun activities for the campers.
Heather sees this happening to herself, too. The new camp structure allows Heather more time to engage with the children because she has more time to support her staff during the camp day. It's a meaningful change. As the camp director, she wants not only to be running things behind the scenes, but to also have the opportunity to spend time with the campers and staff. Now, she has the option to spend the morning with a group of campers and the flexibility to fill in for staff as they take breaks as needed.
Making friendships and community part of the camp experience
A final bonus for Monkey Business Camp is the friendships and community created during the three weeks at camp. By the end of the extended session, kids have formed solid bonds and have had the opportunity to make friends over time. These friendships have an impact on their lives.
Summer camp is a meaningful part of every child's summer break. Monkey Business Camp has expanded on that experience by providing consistency, ample free time to play outdoors, the freedom to meet new people and navigate new friendships, and the feeling that something exceptional happened in their lives at Monkey Business Camp.
The Silver Linings of a Camp Director
Restructuring her summer camp has created opportunities for Heather. She and her staff feel more grounded and organized going into the camp season. She has shorter days that feel more meaningful because she can engage with kids and staff at the camp and be a resource for her team. She has also found that restructuring has provided a more sustainable approach for her business and offered her more financial freedom. Heather will continue running Monkey Business Camp, but she's also looking into the future. Now that she has made a significant pivot with her business, she knows she can do so again if necessary. Until then, Heather will enjoy a great camp season in 2022 and embrace her new business model and camp structure and, best yet, shorter workdays.
Camp directors, share your experience during Covid?
Although Covid created challenges for the camp industry, it has led to significant innovations. Monkey Business Camp is one example of a business that found success after pivoting in response to Covid. Are you a camp director who has had to make changes because of Covid? We want to hear from you! Please share your story and be part of our community blog. We hope that by sharing experiences, we can learn how to thrive in this new era.
About Heather Mitchell
Heather grew up in 1970/80’s New York City playing on the streets of Brooklyn (yes, stoopball!). She attended Stuyvesant High School, commuting via subway each day, and studied Women’s Studies at Oberlin College.
From age 5, Heather spent her childhood summers in a co-op bungalow community in the Catskills with 40 other families from New York City, where she would swim, boat, play games, stargaze, and learn about the natural world. She also observed her father create a sense of community through fun activities and delicious dinners with summer residents.
In later years, Heather traveled extensively, going on several cross-country road trips (in a 1973 VW Bus named Cloud) and year-long backpacking trips in Southeast Asia. She visited 11 countries in total and met incredible people along the way.
Heather’s eclectic life of city living, outdoor summers, and traveling the world has inspired and nurtured the Monkey Business Camp programs in meaningful and impactful ways.
Heather resides in the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay!). She enjoys hiking in the beautiful hills, spending time with her life partner, writing, and engaging in women’s community circles for healing and inspiration.
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