Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Neal.
Hi Dan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am the third generation owner to a summer day camp. That being said, when I was growing up, summer meant camp. Part of my summer was always at Camp Doublecreek both as a camper and working behind the scenes with my grandparents (Carter and Trudy Lester). The rest of my summer was filled with other camp experiences. I was a business major in college but again, summer was filled with working at several camps. First job out of college was Director of Intramurals at my alma mature. Then, I went to work in the corporate world for six years until my cousin, who was running Camp Doublecreek, asked me to fill in during his fight with a heart condition. Unfortunately, we ended up losing my cousin later that summer and I took over as Director. That was in 2007 and I have served in this position ever since.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Camp is a dynamic business with a major intrinsic impact and sometimes a low financial impact. Navigating each summer and offseason always presented its challenges. A couple of early bumps in my road during Directorship were the changing economics after the recession of 2008 and the battle with the county to keep our Ag exemption. Now after refining some good management practices the reputation and programming of Doublecreek has produced waitlists for our summer programs. This is always hard to turn away campers and families that we would love to serve through our summer camp.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Official title is Director but I have to be a jack of all trades. From running a balanced budget to putting on my jeans to repair some plumbing every day is a new adventure.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I find that every year has several pivotal moments of assessing and taking risks. From the pricing structure that has to be firmed up over a year out to running specialized activities that have to be carefully monitored to ensure the upmost safety for our greatest assets in children risk is built into our camping business. I would consider myself a calculated risk taker and when it comes to enhancing the camp experience, I always push the envelope to bring new innovative ideals to our camp programs.
Pricing:
- $435 to $480 per camper per week of camp
Contact Info:
- Email: dan.neal@yahoo.com
- Website: www.campdoublecreek.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/campdoublecreek/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CampDoublecreek
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtPbgTk63mRVLGxE_Co0lgw
Image Credits
Camp Doublecreek
