With much-needed snow coming our way, the grounds of Gold Arrow Camp will be covered in white - a different view from a few short months ago. The camp, nestled along Huntington Lake, experienced two major setbacks this past year - the health challenges and business closures due to COVID-19 and the wild Creek Fire that sadly spread through our local mountains near Shaver and Huntington Lakes. We recently sat down with Audrey Monke, Summer Camp Director for Gold Arrow Camp (for 36 years!), to catch up with her on what life has been like on the campsite and at home.

Audrey Monke is a woman of many talents and titles - mom of five, speaker, coach, podcast host, Summer Camp Director and author, to name a few. If there’s anyone up for facing these challenges with a positive outlook and endless energy, it’s her. With this cycle of Fierce Femmes focusing on how these women’s lives - personally and professionally - have been rocked by COVID-19, Audrey brings a unique perspective and tremendous amount of wisdom in how she’s pivoted her business and parented with positivity.

As the Founder of Sunshine Parenting, author of Happy Campers, and a podcast host, she focuses on supporting parents to raise their children to become thriving adults. As a parent, this is EVERYTHING, right?! “Writing my book was an opportunity to synthesize what I’ve researched about well-being (positive psychology) with what I’ve learned from my experience working with thousands of children and young adult counselors at camp and raising my own five kids. My ultimate ‘why’ is helping us all raise a generation of kids who become thriving adults,” shares Audrey.

Audrey was kind enough to share her words of wisdom with us, as she navigated an unprecedented year filled with setbacks at home and at work.

Q: How has the recent Creek Fire tragedy affected Gold Arrow Camp? What’s the state of the property like today?

A: Well, wasn’t that just the icing on an icky cake of a year? There were a few days when we thought the fire was going to come straight through camp. Several camps on Huntington Lake were tragically lost. Fortunately, the firefighters were able to put a fire break in, the winds shifted, and we lost just a few structures on the western side of camp (the part that used to be Camp Mirimichi but is now part of Gold Arrow). Our camp families and alumni are generously helping us replace the buildings and equipment we lost. The trees and buildings in our main camp were not impacted by the Creek Fire, and we are incredibly grateful. https://goldarrowcamp.com/creek-fire-update/

Q: What was this last summer (2020) like for you at Gold Arrow Camp?

A: The only camp sessions we had were online last summer, but, amazingly, kids reported learning a lot of leadership and communication skills and feeling really connected with their counselor and their cabin groups. They had fun, made friends, and grew just like they do at in-person camp. A highlight of the summer for me was doing several road trips to surprise long-time campers and hand-deliver their five-year blankets. You can see a video about it here. Getting to surprise some of our loyal, longtime campers was such a fun experience and a reminder that what we do at camp is so important.

Q: What does the future look like for Gold Arrow Camp?

A: While we wait for next summer, we’re keeping busy hiring our staff, keeping in touch with our camp families. We’re also offering on-line resources and engaging trainings for educators through our Gold Arrow Teacher Academy (GATA). I’m really excited about how, through GATA, teachers are learning strategies for promoting connection, celebrating strengths, and cultivating character through the resources we’re offering. I’d love to get more educators to join GATA.

Through the online programs we offered last summer, we’ve seen that some of what we do at camp can be offered online, and, in addition to monthly online camp assemblies open to our whole community, we’ll continue offering resources, workshops, and individual coaching for campers and parents.

As far as next summer goes, we’re hiring our staff, registering campers, and planning for an amazing summer. We’ve always met the highest standards of health and hygiene at Gold Arrow. We’ve been teaching kids to wash their hands a lot and sneeze into their elbows long before 2020! Along with other California camps, we are working to get residential camp health guidelines approved for 2021...We have been doing temperature and health checks of incoming campers and staff for more than a decade. As long as the state of California adopts the guidelines and allows us to operate in 2021, we will be providing some much-needed fun, friends, and growth for hundreds of campers.

Q: How has the COVID-19 Pandemic affected your businesses, your brand? What was most surprising about these effects?

A: The pandemic has been very challenging for our camp business. Residential camps, including Gold Arrow Camp, were not permitted to operate in California in 2020. For several years, we have been saving for a new building program, and we are now using the bulk of those savings to cover our year-round expenses, primarily supporting our loyal, year-round staff, most of whom have worked with us for more than 20 years. It will take us several years to recover financially from the impact of not operating our in-person program this year, but we have a wonderful community of campers, parents, and staff who make the fight worthwhile.

For Sunshine Parenting, I’ve been able to continue doing my writing, speaking, coaching, and podcasting. Speaking events for schools have been moved online, but they still work! And I had more time over the summer for individual coaching clients. I think people are craving the simple strategies that I’ve been sharing. My podcast (Sunshine Parenting) has over 100,000 downloads, so the interviews and messages are resonating with people.

Q: Married for almost three decades and you have 5 kids? Wow, bravo to you! What’s a typical day like in your household?

A: When my kids were younger (they’re now 17-26 years old), I set up routines to keep everyone on track and help out around the house. I gave my kids responsibilities starting at an early age to help them develop their independence. I was terrible about being consistent with chore charts, but I got my kids to do their own laundry and help with dishes/kitchen every day.

It’s ironic that Audrey Monke’s definition of what it means to be a “Fierce Femme” is exactly what she represents, and how she’s faced this past year’s unforeseen challenges - facing the tragic Creek Fire and being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Audrey defined a “Fierce Femme” as “Staying strong and true to my values regardless of setbacks and pressures. Continually evaluating what I need to do or change to be my best self, so that I have the bandwidth to be supportive of others.”

In just the short amount of time we were able to connect, I learned so much from her and hope to bring that positivity to my children, my home, and my business. Thank you for being such an inspiration, Audrey.

Stay tuned for more valuable Sunshine Parenting resources from Audrey Monke, as RPM PR plans to feature an upcoming blog post by Audrey where she shares 5 Tips For Parenting Children Through a Pandemic.

Fierce Femmes: Audrey Monke, Gold Arrow Camp + Sunshine Parenting