Mother & Entrepreneur Speaks On The Balance Between Running A Campground And Taking Care Of Her Family.
In 1991 Lori Levesque, along with her husband Gary, left behind their jobs in corporate America for a more family focused, outdoor lifestyle centered on running a stunning KOA campground along Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Creek. Although Lori had a two year old and a three week old baby at the time of her family’s life changing move, she says owning a campground allowed her to wear both the mom and business woman hat unlike she could have ever imagined. Lori recently sat down with The Buzz to reflect on how transitioning back to their woodsy roots and family values allowed her to build a successful family-owned business and face the challenges and high points they experienced throughout the journey.
The Buzz: Before diving into the campground business, you and your husband both had very successful corporate careers. What made you change direction into the campground business?
Lori Levesque: It was the environment at the time and the economic things that were happening. My husband’s company was going through really big layoffs. They had let go of 12,000 people. He wasn’t in those cuts…but it got us looking. My mother-in-law had mentioned [owning] a family business and camping came up. For a whole year, Gary and I researched camping and looked into Koa. We went to buyer and seller seminars. The campground we own today was listed [for sale] at one of them. It was a leap of faith.
The Buzz: A big driver that led you to take that leap of faith was the ability to create family- centric lifestyle. How did owning the campground allow you to create that work/life balance?
Lori Levesque: It was tough. We all just took shifts: cleaning bathrooms, being at the counter, doing the maintenance, cooking meals…Even though it was hard work, it was nice to be able to work on that side of me…the challenging side outside of my family that I really enjoyed. For the most part [though] you have to “change your mind”. When you’re with the kids, you’re with the kids. When you’re with the business, you’re with the business. I think that was probably the hardest for me…not crossing over.
The Buzz: Looking back at how your business evolved over the years, what were some of the main building blocks to creating a strong financial foundation for your campground?
Lori Levesque: We’ve done a lot. We really got into the [KOA] cabin program. We started out with three basic cabins on our campground. We now have 19…and six of those have baths and kitchens…We [also] built a 4,000 square foot building [called] the Liberty Lodge. It’s a great entertainment building. We’ve never had to cancel a musician or a juggler or any kind of activity that we do…due to weather.
Another one of the changes that we’ve done in the last few years is tied to the technology today. I just feel a lot of people are so stressed out at their workplaces. Camping provides the most awesome opportunity to get away from that. Even though [all campgrounds] provide Wi-Fi in their parks and such, I like to provide the right mix of things that really take people away from their phones and their laptops and Gameboys and such.
The Buzz: It’s clear that connecting families and getting them to share the camping experience is a strong initiative at your campground. What are some ways your campgrounds gets families to step away from technology and spend time together?
Lori Levesque: Don’t get me wrong. Technology is important. We run our business on that, and there are so many good things about it. But when it comes down to people and how they relate to each other, you have to put the technology away. I really looked hard at the activities that we provide. We used to bring in a band to set up on our outdoor stage. Some [people] would be at the stage and some people would be out at their sites listening. I kept thinking, “Wow! That’s great entertainment, but it’s just not connecting people like I want to.” I started looking into it. I took the money that I would have spent on that band, and I brought in a juggler, a face painter and a caricature artist. We also bought a rocket launcher, which has really been so cool. Families sit around tables and make paper rockets and then the kids get to launch it off an air compressor launcher. I’m really finding that families are connecting in these ways. I never had dads that were involved in crafts until we did the rocket launch. Now, they’re so competitive.
[All that said] the teenage child is really the one that you really have to work at catering to because those are the ones that easily drift away from camping. If you can find things to motivate them then you’re going to be a really happening campground down the road.
The Buzz: It seems like you’ve found the happy medium between raising a family and running a successful business. Where do you draw most of your business acumen from and how did you go about building your professional support system?
Lori Levesque: We knew we wanted to be a KOA when we started. We just knew that we didn’t know about camping. It’s also a way of having a huge staff system that we’re not responsible for. We’re also in a KOA 20 group where businesses get together and discuss our operations, financials, business practices [etc.] in hopes of growing our business better. For part of that time frame, we discuss with owners what we would do if it were our campground and how to change and make it better. It’s neat because we’re on our second time around with these campgrounds…and it’s really awesome to see how the information is valued and how people incorporate it into their businesses. Everyone brings different expertise into the business. It’s an awesome thing to be a part of. We would never be outside of it because it’s that valuable.
Jannie Schaffer
A graduate of the Fashion Institute Of Technology in New York City with a degree in Interactive Marketing, Jannie has worked both for FOX and ASA Electronics. She enjoys traveling and whitewater rafting.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Philadelphia/West Chester KOA, spread along the banks of the Brandywine River. This KOA enjoys a rural setting near many attractions and has a special Philadelphia tour for campers.