Camp Girl Boss builds leadership/entrepreneurship in young girls

ASHEVILLE - When it comes to guiding young girls in leadership and entrepreneurship, the founder of Camp Girl Boss has developed a program focused on thinking out of the traditional box.

Emily Breedlove, an Asheville-based entrepreneur and developer of Camp Girl Boss, said the program is designed to empower girls ages 10-13 to think beyond the limits of what society often says they can accomplish.

“We want these girls to become thought leaders, influencers and learn how to position themselves as someone doing cool things in the world,” Breedlove said. “More importantly, we see them placing impact over profit.”

A weeklong summer camp, Camp Girl Boss has tossed away the antiquated business plan to focus more on today’s digital market and help attendees take a business idea and create a single-page ecommerce WordPress website. By the end of the weeklong program, each girl will have developed a custom logo and a 60-second pitch.

“We are pushing the limits of youth entrepreneurship,” she said. “We encourage the girls to think outside the box and discover their own voice and the power of their ideas.”

How the camp came to be

Camp Girl Boss is a program under the Sequoyah Fund, a community development program based out of Cherokee that provides financial services, education and training to rural impoverished areas. Russ Seagle is executive director of the program; Breedlove has served on the board of directors for seven years and is a certified teacher.

A self-described entrepreneur at heart, Breedlove founded Breedlove and Co. in Asheville, a women-led boutique consulting agency. Through her extensive experience with the Sequoyah Fund’s REAL Entrepreneurship curriculum that has been used in summer camps since the 1990s, she developed Camp Girl Boss.

“I have a daughter and being a board member, I started recognizing areas where we could innovate the model and push it toward technology,” Breedlove said.

Breedlove created a curriculum based on what she observed as the younger generation’s desire to not just talk about a business that makes money but to develop businesses that have an impact or “make a ripple in the world.”

“A new program began to take shape as we looked at not only entrepreneurship but more important how to be an entrepreneur leader and how they can create a business for good, one that has an impact,” she said.

A pilot summer camp launched in 2018, with the Sequoyah Fund providing back office support and oversight. Fifty girls participated in the camp hosted at UNC Asheville.

Girls are 'fearless' at camp

One of the individuals who helped during that first summer camp was Aryelle Jacobsen who served as a mentor, teen leader and teacher in resilience and accountability. Today, she is Camp Girl Boss coordinator.

“As a young entrepreneur, I was totally inspired by the growth of these girls,” Jacobsen said of her first camp experience.

She said the girls who have attended the camps have been “absolutely fearless in their pursuits.”

“They were unfiltered and curious, which creates a brave space for them to learn as students and me to learn as the teacher,” she said.

Jacobsen said she has witnessed girls gain confidence, new perspectives and the belief they can do anything they set their minds to. “It’s truly so incredibly powerful to invest in these incredible young women as they learn they are capable of building their own empires,” she said.

In 2019, 10 camps were held with 300 girls attending, as the model was refined.

Bold expansion in 2020

For 2020, Camp Girl Boss is recruiting 100 sites. Hosts will be provided the curriculum, activities and marketing materials to reach girls in more communities. Breedlove calls the program, “Camp in a Box” because everything a host site would need to have a successful summer camp is provided.

“We wanted to create a program that is easy to replicate,” she said. “Our goal for next year is to have 1,000 summer camps.”

Why just for girls? Breedlove and Seagle said while there are some REAL Entrepreneurship camps that are coed, they noticed girls seem to focus better and feel more comfortable and safe in a setting where they can feel free to have open conversations on topics specific to females.

“We’ve been able to curate the content to make this focus on the girl experience,” Breedlove said, adding that a partnership is being established with Girl Scouts of America where entrepreneurship badges can be earned.

Breedlove said topics can be narrowed for vulnerable conversations in a welcoming, open and safe environment. Topics will include social entrepreneurship, thought leadership, digital marketing and professional life skills, among others. There will be discussions on self-actualization and leveraging the power of one’s voice.

Applications to host camps at venues across America are being taken between now and April 15, Breedlove said. The weeklong day camps can be hosted between June 6-Aug. 14.

For information on how to sign up or to host a camp, visit campgirlboss.com.

Reach freelance writer Angela Nicholas at aknicholas28@gmail.com.