Carmen Roberts-Kowalchuk began her career in human services working with children, high-risk and vulnerable youth and persons with disabilities. As a mother to six children, she found that to thrive in the fast-paced world of social work, she would need to find a way to prioritize family time.
A simple way to recharge was to go camping with her family. After spending a season at Willey West Campground just outside of Drayton Valley, the opportunity came up for Carmen and her husband to operate the campground. As of January 1, 2020, they took over the campground and created Elevated Experience Camping Inc.
Through this new venture, Carmen is able to utilize her leadership strengths and channel them into a new career path. To supplement her business knowledge, Carmen has taken several workshops through Alberta Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) and has also received financing from AWE.
“I wanted to start aligning with the right type of organizations, like AWE, to help us be successful.“ Carmen’s goal was to create a business that would help people fall in love with the outdoors without sacrificing amenities.
Elevated Experience Camping lives up to its name by taking the camping experience to the next level. You’ll find surprises such as a retro arcade, goat yoga, glamping sites, mini-golf, large yard games including ping pong, late-night fresh pizza, and an online delivery service at Willey West Campground.
“Whether you're a beginner camper or long-time camper, or whether you want to be left alone or catered to — I can offer that whole spectrum,” says Carmen.
The first year of business for any organization can be challenging to navigate, but this is especially true considering the challenges brought on this year. Despite that, Carmen says their first year was a success, with over 60 percent of customers new to the campsite.
With this year’s new rules around sanitation and cleanliness, Carmen decided to bring on more staff to meet the demands. Though she could have chosen to shut down some amenities (which many campgrounds did), she believes increasing her staff was the right choice, especially based on feedback they've received and positive Google reviews from their campers.
Carmen and her husband have set up a society alongside the business that allows them the opportunity to give back to the community and to receive grants to support innovative projects at Willey West Campground. They now have access to employment grants to aid in hiring individuals with disabilities. They’ve recently purchased a food trailer and will be running a program for at-risk youth in which they will learn to manage the food trailer to gain important skills.
Though Carmen admits that working with her husband can be challenging, she says their differences make them a good team. “We're a good combo because we have the ying and the yang. We come to the table with different views… it’s about learning and listening to each other and figuring out how we can mesh those together really well.”
The pair have made it a priority to support other small businesses around Drayton Valley.
“It's really important to find out what businesses align with your vision and mission and work together. It's not always about taking a percentage; it’s about working together and collaborating to make each other stronger.”
Carmen says the future plan for her company is to expand the brand and to take on more campgrounds to become a front runner for Alberta glamping. “It’s really about building the brand and the elevated experience. We feel that that is something people really are interested in.”
