Brian Mount shares how Hume New England adapted its camp model and marketing to increase camp bookings and ministry impact

Many camp leaders know what it feels like to carry the weight of empty beds. Sometimes the challenge is financial. Sometimes it’s operational. Sometimes it’s the slow discouragement that settles into a staff team after years of trying hard without seeing momentum build.

That was part of the reality facing Hume New England.

In this episode of the Grow Your Camp Podcast, Brian Mount shares the story of how Hume New England moved from ongoing pressure and uncertainty to growing occupancy, stronger momentum, and eventually waitlists. But this conversation is not simply about marketing tactics or operational adjustments. It’s about learning how to listen carefully to the people you serve and being willing to adapt without compromising your mission.

Along the way, Mark P. Fisher shares a practical marketing principle that shaped much of the turnaround: “Ride the surfboard, don’t build the waves.” Instead of forcing customers into an existing model, the team began paying closer attention to what churches and families were actually asking for.

Brian also shares his personal journey into camping ministry, the leadership lessons he learned during difficult seasons, and the organizational changes that helped Hume New England build long-term momentum.

At the center of the conversation is a simple but important reminder:

“The mission didn’t change. The delivery did.”

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Quick Camp Marketing Tip: Ride the Surfboard, Don’t Build the Waves

Mark opened the episode with a simple but powerful idea:

“Be market-minded and mission-focused.”

His point was that camp leaders often spend too much energy trying to force the market to behave differently instead of paying attention to the needs that already exist.

Church leaders, parents, and group coordinators already have schedules, budgets, expectations, and limitations. Those realities are the “waves.” The job of camp leadership is not to fight them. It’s to understand them and build programs that fit them.

Hume New England became a perfect example of this principle in action.

As the team evaluated why churches were not returning consistently, they stopped guessing and started asking direct questions. The feedback was surprisingly straightforward:

• Camp was too long
• Camp was too expensive
• The structure didn’t fit the realities of smaller East Coast churches

That insight led to several major changes:

• Summer camp sessions shifted from six nights to four
• Pricing was reduced from roughly $899 to $499
• Scheduling adjustments opened weekends for guest groups

The operational impact was significant. Weekend guest groups alone added roughly $400,000 in additional revenue.

But the deeper lesson was even more important.

“Tradition is a tool, not a trophy.”

The mission of camp ministry stayed exactly the same. The team simply became more willing to adjust the delivery model around the actual needs of the churches they were serving.

Mark closed the segment with three practical reminders for camp leaders:

1. Know your customer better
2. Be curious enough to ask questions
3. Adjust traditions when they begin getting in the way of ministry impact

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Brian Mount’s Journey Into Camping Ministry

Before talking about Hume New England specifically, Brian shared how camp ministry first became part of his life.

Like many camp leaders, his story started as a camper. Brian became a believer during high school and began attending a Christian camp in Southern California that would later become a major part of his ministry journey. He eventually joined summer staff and initially assumed his long-term path would be youth ministry inside the local church.

But over time, camp ministry kept drawing him back. A full-time role unexpectedly opened up at the camp he attended, and Brian began discovering how powerful camp environments could be for spiritual transformation.

“I never really thought I wanted to be a camp guy.”

One of the defining influences in Brian’s leadership journey was mentor Steve Guy, who recognized leadership potential in him long before Brian fully saw it himself.

Brian described Steve as someone who “called out something in me that I didn’t even know was there.” That mentorship helped shape not only his leadership philosophy but also his understanding of what camp ministry could accomplish.

The conversation even included a meaningful story about “affirm rocks” that Steve gave to leaders he invested in. Mark shared that he still carries his own rock years later.

That early formation eventually led Brian into executive leadership roles in ministry, operations, strategy, and ultimately Hume Christian Camps.

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The Reality at Hume New England

When Brian arrived at Hume in 2020 as COO, the organization was navigating enormous pressure.

COVID had disrupted operations across the camping industry. Staffing was difficult. Financial margins were thin. Hume New England was heavily subsidized by the California operation, and leadership needed a path toward sustainability.

The board gave Brian a direct assignment:

Figure out how to make Hume New England profitable.

The challenges extended far beyond marketing.

The camp had operational difficulties, staffing strain, facility setbacks, and even legal conflicts with local government. There were also cultural challenges tied to how Hume’s West Coast ministry model translated into the Northeast.

Hume’s California model had been built largely around larger churches bringing separate high school and middle school groups to weeklong camps.

That approach worked well in California.

But many East Coast churches were much smaller.

Instead of hundreds of students, many youth groups only had a handful of middle schoolers and high schoolers combined. Bringing separate groups to separate camps simply wasn’t realistic.

At the same time, there was organizational resistance toward hosting guest groups.

Brian came from environments where filling beds with guest groups was viewed positively. But at Hume New England, there was a stronger preference toward fully programmed Hume-run camps.

That mismatch created tension.

“We were doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.”

Eventually, Brian realized incremental changes were not going to solve the deeper problem.

The camp needed a more substantial shift.

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Learning to Listen to the Market

One of the biggest lessons Brian learned during those early years was the importance of understanding customers instead of relying on assumptions.

The organization had many hardworking people who genuinely cared about the ministry. But much of the marketing strategy had been built around tradition, internal instincts, and long-standing habits rather than measurable systems.

Brian kept asking a simple question:

How do we know this is working?

The answers were often vague.

People could point to bookings eventually increasing or camps eventually filling, but there were very few leading indicators that helped the organization understand which marketing efforts were actually driving results.

That realization eventually led Brian to reconnect with Mark and the team at Inspiring Growth.

Ironically, the conversation did not initially begin around marketing.

Brian originally reached out to ask for help building a compensation structure for a possible inside sales role.

During that conversation, Mark began describing the systems, analytics, SEO strategy, and measurable marketing processes he was using with other camps.

For Brian, it felt completely different from the systems Hume had previously relied on.

“It felt like I was breathing oxygen.”

What stood out most was not flashy promises.

It was the consistency of measurable outcomes.

Every strategy connected back to observable results.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

That mindset became foundational to the turnaround.

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Operational Changes That Fueled Growth

Once the partnership with Inspiring Growth began, the changes extended far beyond digital marketing.

The organization had to rethink how camp itself was structured.

One major shift involved the length and format of camp sessions.

Instead of insisting on the traditional weeklong California model, the team adapted programming around the realities of East Coast churches.

Shorter sessions reduced cost.

Combined age-group programming better fit smaller churches.

A Monday-through-Friday model opened weekends for guest groups.

Those adjustments dramatically expanded the camp’s flexibility.

At the same time, guest groups became a much larger strategic priority.

Guest group revenue eventually grew from roughly $500,000 to approximately $1.4 million.

Summer camp attendance also climbed from around 620 campers to roughly 1,200.

The camp even began repositioning itself regionally around “Hume in the Berkshires,” helping connect the ministry more naturally to the local identity of the Northeast.

But the transition was not easy internally.

Introducing outside sales support and new marketing systems created resistance.

Some staff members understandably felt threatened or discouraged.

Others worried that bringing in outside expertise meant their previous work had failed.

Brian emphasized that the resistance was rarely personal.

It was emotional.

It was cultural.

And it required patient leadership.

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Building Buy-In During Change

One of the most helpful parts of the conversation was Brian’s honesty about the human side of organizational change.

He explained that many staff members at Hume New England had begun internalizing the camp’s struggles personally. When bookings remain low for years, teams can quietly start believing they are failing. That discouragement affects morale, creativity, and momentum.

As new strategies began producing results, the emotional atmosphere inside the organization started changing. Staff members regained energy, creativity increased, and people began feeling hopeful again.

Brian also credited Mark’s willingness to spend time onsite as an important part of the transition. Instead of operating as a distant consultant, Mark built relationships with staff, listened carefully, and became personally invested in the ministry.

That presence helped reduce defensiveness and build trust.

“Treat people as individuals and bring them along slowly.”

Brian also emphasized the importance of leadership alignment. Without executive and board buy-in, the changes would have been nearly impossible to sustain. Transformation required both strategic clarity and organizational unity.

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From Empty Beds to Waitlists

Eventually, the momentum became undeniable.

Guest group revenue nearly tripled.

Summer camp attendance nearly doubled.

Occupancy increased dramatically.

But for Brian, the most meaningful impact went far beyond numbers.

As beds filled, the ministry opportunities expanded.

Churches began relying heavily on camp experiences as a central part of their discipleship rhythms.

Students encountered the gospel.

Relationships deepened.

Staff members rediscovered purpose.

“Every empty bed is a missed opportunity for someone to hear the gospel.”

Brian also reflected on how deeply churches felt the loss of camp experiences during COVID shutdowns.

Several youth pastors told Hume that losing camp disrupted the entire rhythm of their ministry year.

That reminder reinforced the larger mission behind all the operational work.

The goal was never simply profitability.

The goal was creating more opportunities for life change.

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What This Means for Camp Leaders Today

Toward the end of the episode, Brian spoke directly to camp leaders who may currently feel discouraged.

His encouragement was simple:

“Don’t lose heart.”

He pointed to the growing cultural exhaustion many young people feel in a world dominated by screens, anxiety, artificial relationships, and constant digital noise.

Referencing the book The Anxious Generation, Brian suggested that camps may actually become even more important in the years ahead.

Camp offers something increasingly rare: real community, face-to-face relationships, outdoor experiences, spiritual conversations, shared memories, and space away from technology.

In many ways, the cultural moment may be creating renewed openness to what camps uniquely provide.

Brian also offered several practical leadership lessons.

1. Start Small

Leaders do not need to overhaul everything overnight. Small experiments can create valuable momentum.

2. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

Some ideas will not work, and that is part of innovation.

One of Mark’s phrases became especially memorable during the conversation:

“Let’s have an autopsy without judgment.”

Instead of blaming people when strategies failed, the team focused on learning.

3. Get Leadership Buy-In

Meaningful organizational change requires alignment. Boards, executives, and key leaders need shared understanding around both mission and strategy.

4. Ruthlessly Understand Your Market

Brian repeatedly returned to this idea. Camp leaders must be willing to distinguish between true non-negotiables and traditions that may no longer serve the people they are trying to reach.

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What This Means for Your Camp

At the close of the episode, Brian answered a question submitted by a previous guest:

“What are you tolerating right now, and what needs to change?”

His answer was deeply connected to the larger story of Hume New England.

Looking back, Brian admitted that he may have tolerated too much reliance on “the way we’ve always done it.” Some traditions are foundational to camp culture and identity, but others may unintentionally create barriers to ministry growth.

That reflection led to one final leadership challenge:

“What is working really, really well right now that you’re willing to give up in order to make room for innovation?”

That question captures much of what made the Hume New England turnaround sustainable. The organization did not abandon its mission. It simply became more willing to adapt methods in order to reach more people.

As Mark closed the episode, he reminded camp leaders why this work matters so deeply.

Camp provides unforgettable, life-changing experiences for an anxious generation that is increasingly glued to screens and disconnected from real community.

And ultimately, every filled bed represents another opportunity for ministry impact.