⛺ How Girl Scout Camp Built a Career in Outdoor Leadership with Mary-Jane Strom

March 5
46 mins

Episode Description

Grab the workbook: How to Use Your Adventure for Your Career Goals


If you went to summer camp as a kid, you get it. The bats at dusk, the swim across the pond, the feeling of being someone slightly new for a week... Those memories don't fade.


And if you worked at summer camp, you also know that the skills you built there — troubleshooting on the fly, managing 300 kids and 65 staff, keeping everyone safe and fed and having fun — are some of the most transferable skills you'll ever develop.


Mary-Jane Strom is the CEO of Girl Scouts of Northern California, a lifetime Girl Scout member, and a Gold Award recipient whose project focused on increasing access to outdoor spaces for all girls and women.


Mary-Jane is also a competitive swimmer working toward completing open water swim events in all 50 states.


This conversation is for anyone who's ever felt like their outdoor experience doesn't "count" on a resume.


Hear about:

  • Why summer camp is a powerful growth environment for youth (and adults)
  • The business of summer camp: 8 weeks or 3 days?
  • Mary-Jane's career path from camper to lifeguard to camp director to CEO
  • How to translate outdoor leadership experience into resume-ready skills
  • Mary-Jane's 50-state open water swim goal and how camp swimming started it all
  • What the media gets wrong about Girl Scouts


Mary-Jane on LinkedIn | Girl Scouts of Northern California camp info | @gsnorcal on Instagram

Send this episode to your friend who LIVED for summer camp.


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Brought to you by the Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure (GEA Alliance). Hosted by Angie Lake and edited by Alyson Castonguay.


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