Years as a Staff Member/Positions held: 1996, Golf Staff and SIC, Camp 2 and 1997, Gold Staff and SIC, Camp 4.
Current Profession and Title/Years in role: Co-founder & President, Big Spoon Roasters. 11.5 years.
Can you provide a brief overview of your job responsibilities?
One of the things I love about being a business owner is that no two days (or hours) are the same. My primary areas of responsibility are recipe and product development, ingredient sourcing, sales, marketing, food safety and quality control.
Do you have any career advice for members of our Camp community?
If you let your values and passions guide you, your career direction will likely come into focus. A strong work ethic, respect for others and punctuality will always serve you well.
What do you believe have been some of your greatest personal and professional accomplishments? Is there a goal toward which you are currently working?
Personally, my biggest accomplishment was finding my partner in life and business, Megan Overbay, on a planet of 7.9 billion people.
Professionally, I’m proud of what we’re building at Big Spoon Roasters, which has helped change the way many people think about the nut butter and energy bar categories. Recently, we’ve put more effort into growing in the natural grocery and international (export) channels, and we hope to achieve a lot of growth in those areas in the coming years.
How do the values or skills you learned at Camp show up in your everyday work and/or personal life?
I strive to embody the Camp values of integrity, dignity, respect, compassion and positivity as both a person and business owner.
Is there a person or a situation that had a huge influence on you while you were at Camp? How and why did they/it impact you?
I was a first-year counselor in July 1996 when Hurricane Bertha came through NC, and the whole Camp mobilized quickly to pull up the pier and shore up the buildings. We all evacuated by bus to various sites inland, and I was with a group that took shelter at Apex High School. We played games, sang songs, mostly forgot about the hurricane, and had a great time. I remember thinking, Camp Sea Gull is not just a place, it’s a feeling and a set of values that could literally be taken anywhere.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Those tournament golf summers of ’94 and ’95 seem like they will be fun, but do me a favor and call Camp Sea Gull and ask him if there are counselor jobs available instead. You’ll thank me for it later.
Favorite Camp meal: Breakfast, because I’ve rarely met a cereal I didn’t like!
Favorite special event at Camp: Overnight trips to Morehead City.
Devotion you best remember from Camp: Let your actions, not your circumstances, define who you are. We don’t control what happens to us, but we do control how we react.
What profession other than your own would you like to try? Architecture.
What would you eat if you could only have one food for the rest of your life? That’s easy… Peanut butter!