David Dweck is the founder and owner of Camp Allsport, a premier summer camp in New Jersey. Each summer, he employs a staff of over 230, welcomes more than 850 campers, and manages a waitlist of 400.
In this episode, David opens up about his journey - from getting fired from his first camp counselor job to building a business that brings in millions of dollars while working just two months a year.
Enjoy!
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(00:00) Start
(01:46) Getting fired from his first camp job
(03:17) Elementary school days
(04:35) Giving sports lessons to younger kids
(06:16) Why he worked as a 15 year old
(08:18) Going to college / pursuing masters in social work
(09:36) College term paper
(10:14) Realizing he could do this himself
(11:39) Putting together the marketing report
(12:46) Presenting his idea to the school board
(14:45) Why didn’t you give up?
(16:40) Developing his passion for social work
(18:06) What was your end goal when working in community institutions?
(21:04) The inception of Camp Allsport
(22:44) Finally launching the camp with a breakthrough ad
(25:11) “The phone was ringing off the hook”
(28:37) What set you apart as a newbie?
(30:57) Day 1 of running a camp
(32:22) Hiring counselors/staff members
(34:06) Losing money for the first 3 years
(36:20) Working during the year after the first summer
(38:17) Getting fired from 3 jobs in 2008
(41:40) Expanding from 150 to 350 campers
(42:51) Running Sunday programs during the winter
(44:44) Camp Allsport hitting critical mass
(45:36) Growth plateauing
(48:10) Expanding into new camp grounds
(53:42) COVID changing the game
(1:00:46) Losing $1M in revenue
(1:02:32) Planning on moving to Israel - but he had no business
(1:06:42) Camp Allsport by the numbers
(1:07:08) Complacency
(1:07:42) The secret to making a living working 2 months per year
(1:09:28) Why didn’t you start another business in the winter?
(1:12:04) Pursue your passion or chase a lucrative career?
(1:17:07) Passions outside of work: Israel, Zionism, reading books
(1:21:38) Momentum Moment
(1:24:57) Outro and key takeaways