How Girl Scout Camp Built a Career in Outdoor Leadership with Mary-Jane Strom | See Her Outside Podcast

Follow on Spotify, Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Listen on Amazon, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, other platforms

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.

Mary-Jane and Angie talked 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

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

Follow on Spotify, Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Listen on Amazon, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, other platforms

Check out these resources:

Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!

You can help us close the gender gap outdoors and beyond:

Make sure you subscribe to the See Her Outside Podcast so you don’t miss a story!

Next
Next

From Running as Punishment to the Grand Traverse: An Honest Story about Body Image and Outdoor Adventure with Emily Holland | See Her Outside Podcast