Episode 138
Summercamp 2023 unpacked
It’s hard to put into words what happens at Summercamp. And that was never truer than in 2023.
There’s an enormous amount of love, growth and connection that happens; and the openness and vulnerability that takes place in a field near Hastings every year is astounding.
In this special episode, you’ll hear from Laurence and Carlos about what the event brings them, and a little of what it requires. Plus you’ll hear from some of the attendees who experienced life-changing moments last September.
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Transcript
So the intention with this first Friday fireside, uh, now that we're back is to kind of like decompress after Summercamp, kind of therapize out loud, share what yeah, what we got out of the weekend, and then we're gonna invite some friendly faces to also share what they got out of the weekend, to help tell the story of Summercamp.
Carlos:And for those of you who haven't been, I can imagine very hard to understand what it's about.
Carlos:So we hope some of these kind of conversations and these stories will help you get a clearer idea of how it might be something you'd be interested in.
Carlos:And like I was saying this morning at the event, it's like once you start, it's hard not to stop.
Laurence:And then you might come and then still struggle with explaining it.
Laurence:So
Carlos:Yes, and that is, that is a perennial struggle.
Carlos:So it has to be stories and it has to be about experiences.
Carlos:Uh, and that's what we wanna talk about in terms of what we felt and what we learned, uh, I'd say over the three days.
Carlos:So Laurence, I dunno, do you wanna kick off anyway?
Carlos:Is there somewhere that you'd like start with?
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:Well, so, me and Abby.
Laurence:I dunno how we describe her really, Abby is the,
Carlos:she keeps us on track and makes sure things happen and we don't forget stuff.
Carlos:She's the overseer of a lot of stuff that goes up.
Laurence:Yeah, basically Abby works tirelessly year round and Summercamp is year round, ev event in that it takes a year to build to, to run it in year three days when people are there.
Laurence:But yeah, there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes.
Laurence:But anyway, the three of us had a bit of a debrief burn down yesterday ourselves.
Laurence:And so not gonna bore you with the details 'cause obviously a lot comes up in a session like that.
Laurence:But I think the overriding feeling from the three of us and just the team and the feeling we got back was that this year was particularly, well, emotional number one, we can talk about that maybe felt that there was a richness and a depth to it.
Laurence:It's always fairly deep Summercamp.
Laurence:But yeah, sun and a host described it as the most summer campy Summercamp of all the Summercamps.
Laurence:And so, yeah, that, I think that gave permission for people to be vulnerable, be themselves open up.
Laurence:And so whilst that might be challenging for a few, I think there was definitely a sort of a rawness to it, which allowed people to just be present and be with whatever is.
Laurence:And I think the thing that Abby rose, uh, brought up yesterday, which is it felt like people got what they needed, even if it wasn't what they thought they would get from it.
Laurence:And I just get this sense that we're all post covid battling with a lot, you know, life can be really tough for a lot of people for various reasons.
Laurence:And so creating a space where we just get to, be with what is, even if we were to put on the talks and workshops, obviously they can inspire us to sort of go with that.
Laurence:I think there's something about just being around other people who are open, curious, vulnerable, and also just inspiring people ultimately.
Laurence:And so that space seems to create a sense of connection and a magic, which is so rare that it feels profound, but actually it's so simple, I think in some ways, because we just don't get it very often.
Laurence:And so that's what people tell us is the feeling of safety, feeling of being at home and feeling nourished in so many ways from experience like that.
Carlos:It's simple as a concept, but it takes effort or is it effort?
Carlos:Work, intention.
Carlos:There's something around this that's, you can't, isn't just a case of all hang out in a field and people will come and you'll be safe.
Carlos:Would you be able to speak to, for you anyway, what it is you think, allows that to happen?
Laurence:I mean, I've been thinking about this last few days in some ways.
Laurence:After Summercamp though, eba, I always feel like.
Laurence:It kind of bonkers how much power is in it.
Laurence:And it kind of scares me a little bit because it's beyond us.
Laurence:You know?
Laurence:Like it's way beyond me.
Laurence:It's way beyond you.
Laurence:It's way beyond the team.
Laurence:It's got a power about it.
Laurence:It's got a life force of its own, which every year we do, it just astounds me and particularly this year.
Laurence:And in the run up to it, I'm all, you know, it's that thing of like, if you are so far away from the feeling of why you're doing something, IE the feeling afterwards, typically it can be so, you can have so much self-doubt before, and particularly Summercamp being once a year, particularly not doing it for two, three years.
Laurence:I felt this last year more.
Laurence:There's so much work that goes into it.
Laurence:In the build up.
Laurence:You're like, okay, this is just really hard because you've got so much fear of what could go wrong.
Laurence:So many variables, 150 people who are coming not just to be inspired, but they need beds, they need food, they need to get there.
Laurence:People coming from all over the world and down the road.
Laurence:So that kind of feeling of, I want everyone to have an amazing time, but I also want 'em just to be able to get through the weekend and not feel hungry or tired or cold or, you know, unsafe.
Laurence:And so that's, uh, that's a responsibility ultimately, isn't it?
Laurence:And so when you come away from it afterwards going, okay that's why we do it.
Laurence:Of course.
Laurence:That's why we do it.
Laurence:So all those little things that we do, all that attention to detail really does pay off even if people don't notice every little detail.
Laurence:I think all of the things we try to do, the measures we put in place, and also the people we bring together, we hope would bring in that feeling of safety and, and, comfort, I guess.
Laurence:And, And also challenge, you know, not being too safe that we don't challenge each other.
Laurence:So whether it's to do with bringing in some members of the team, whether it's curating some of the speakers and the workshop leaders, people at Floris and Charlie, essentially the way I think about it is we've just collected amazing people over these last 10 years.
Laurence:And many of them are stuck with us.
Laurence:And so they all just add something different to everything that we do.
Laurence:And so I'm inspired by Sanderson, especially this year, but even before that, inspired by Floris and Charlie and how they host, inspired by all the stories of people on stage, but also well, people who just come to sit next to you and chat and turns out the person you didn't know who wasn't on stage has an amazing story themselves.
Laurence:So there's something about, someone described it as a shoulder to shoulder event where no one's on a pedestal, but everyone's got a story to tell.
Laurence:And that is really, I think what makes Summercamp unique is you could be on stage next year yourself giving that story
Carlos:One of the things that I remember, and Claire Perry Louise is on this call and she's gonna be joining us to have a conversation.
Carlos:One of the thing that Claire sort of mentioned to me that struck me was, most of us Summercamps and even this one, we, you and I never really take full center stage and there was something around the allowing others to do their thing, which I have a hunch, contributes to this feeling of it's a safe space to just turn up and be you.
Laurence:Yeah, I bet all this with this a lot.
Laurence:As you probably know, I find it really comfortable when I think it's about us because yes, the Happy, Startup School wouldn't exist without us.
Laurence:We are the source of this idea.
Laurence:Summercamp was born from I need that I think I had and you had for connection.
Laurence:But also I get my kicks from, I, I've learned, I've get my kicks from creating spaces, you know, rather than being the guru or being on stage or being the one with all the answers.
Laurence:So yeah, that's just my thing.
Laurence:I was thinking about this on the way here actually.
Laurence:You know, I've been in bands before, but I'm the drummer.
Laurence:I sort of sit at the back.
Laurence:I'd hate to be on, I hate to be the singer.
Laurence:I remember my dad was always like that.
Laurence:He was, seemed quite extrovert, but actually he was quite deeply introvert.
Laurence:I think it kind of covered it up through the way he came across.
Laurence:And he too got his buzz from being around the family.
Laurence:He was always sat at the edge of everything.
Laurence:So I think it's partly in my makeup really to not want that.
Laurence:And I think both of us, I would hope try to sort of lower the ego, but be so easy to be the guru, be so easy to sort of manipulate people and sell a sort of six figure program based on, you know, look up what we built, you can do this too.
Laurence:So I think there's something about A just enjoying that whole shoulder to shoulder thing.
Laurence:No one's any better than anyone else.
Laurence:But also just like we've said already, there's so many inspiring people we meet or have met on this journey that we just learn from and we're constantly learning.
Laurence:I think that constant quest of curiosity and connection, doesn matter, we just wanna give them a platform to, to do what they do.
Laurence:And that every year we bring in people we've known before, but we also bring in some people that maybe dunno us that well or don't, the community don't know.
Laurence:So I feel like we've got a playground for, to showcase amazing people.
Laurence:'Cause some maybe they're not great at marketing or maybe they just don't have an audience yet.
Laurence:And so to be able to give people like Tom a place to do his breath work, or Toby to run, do one of his first gigs in front of an audience like that and playing piano, you know, that's really.
Laurence:That really makes me feel good.
Laurence:So that's part of my joy in it really is knowing these are great things and if other people get to experience them, then that just makes me, uh, feel like it's worthwhile.
Carlos:I love how you said, I hope it isn't just about the ego for both of us.
Carlos:Not that I have any ego in this at all.
Laurence:I saw you with a towel on the parachute swim shorts.
Carlos:Yeah.
Carlos:Yeah.
Carlos:I was being my authentic self.
Laurence:Okay.
Laurence:Your ego driven self.
Carlos:Yeah.
Carlos:There, there's a balance that I feel is I see what happens at Summercamp and also our retreats of between kind of curation and collaboration at the level of, uh, seeding a little bit of control, not being so, tightly prescriptive about what people can do.
Carlos:And I see that with Floris and Charlie.
Carlos:I see how we work with Lana, uh, how we work with other people who bring their gifts to the various things that we do.
Carlos:Us not feeling that we know what they need to be doing, but because we get a feel for them and we get to stage of actually building a relationship that isn't just about the business, so then we just trust them to do what they need to do.
Carlos:So we don't tell Charlie and Floris, this is how you run an opening ceremony.
Carlos:They tell us.
Carlos:And then it's up to us to say not sure if that's gonna work this time around, or that feels a bit uncomfortable.
Carlos:Oh, kind of people that are gonna join.
Carlos:Some will love it, some may not.
Carlos:Can we think about it a different way?
Carlos:But we are not telling them do this.
Carlos:And this.
Carlos:And I feel that's part of the magic.
Carlos:And I was trying to think myself like, you know what is it about the way we run these things that doesn't feel so, I.
Carlos:The gives people freedom.
Carlos:And I think because we give people, the collaborators, we have freedom.
Carlos:Abby has a lot of freedom in us sense because she's controlling us a lot of the time.
Carlos:We're not trying to tell her what to do.
Carlos:I, I get the feeling of that just kind of seeps into how other people turn up and volunteers and workshop leaders and everyone, they they're allowed to, or we trust them to do the right thing.
Carlos:And that's because we've tried to build a relationship around that.
Carlos:And also we've built what I would call a culture around what we do.
Laurence:Which makes me think, we've got Abby with Summercamp who really challenges us.
Laurence:You know, we try and do things, try and move things forward, try and make it better each year, try and make it more diverse, try and improve the experience for everyone.
Laurence:And Abby's great for that.
Laurence:Like Lana is with Vision 2020 feels like we've got two amazing women who can really, not pander to our sort of ideas all the time, but actually keep us in check, which I think is so important.
Carlos:Yeah.
Carlos:Being open to challenge, and I think that's what you were talking about before.
Carlos:It's like a safe space to just share where you are at and how you're doing and any ideas and thoughts and assumptions.
Carlos:But then I think where they, Lana calls it a brave space where we can compassionately communicate any kind of critical feedback or questions or curiosities that helps us kind of think a bit more deeply about stuff and which is what happened this morning.
Carlos:Our masterclass is the ability to just have other people, other people's perspectives and hear them without our egos getting in the way.
Carlos:I think maybe that's part of it is this, you call it laying the armor down.
Carlos:And how that, I think that comes from just trying to protect something that we feel might get hurt or damaged because of someone else.
Laurence:And the interesting thing about that session we did this morning was there was a couple of people there who, it kind of admitted their why was they wanted to make money, which was really interesting 'cause we just don't hear that in our community.
Laurence:Or maybe just people aren't honest enough.
Laurence:And it was just amazing seeing their, them shift in like a few minutes just being challenged about that.
Laurence:And saying, well, is it really, yes, we wanna make money, but is it really?
Laurence:And so that was a reminder to me of like, we all live in a bit of a bubble too.
Laurence:And sometimes just the simplest question can really push someone forward.
Laurence:And obviously some camp is that on steroids, isn't it?
Carlos:Yeah.
Carlos:And space to sit with whatever question has been posed to you, which I think is the most magical part of it, I believe, is that, you know, we can go to an event, networking event for an hour and a half, and we can, you know, learn something new, and then as soon as we leave, we are back on email, we're back in the office, we're back trying to do something else.
Carlos:As opposed to, I wanna sit on this hay bale and think about that for a couple of hours.
Laurence:Exactly.
Laurence:I like what Lana said about Floris and Charlie making it up on the spot.
Laurence:It's funny in the opening ceremony.
Laurence:So in short, they spend a lot of time on this, like behind the scenes.
Laurence:Like we have calls with 'em the weeks before they meet up in person to go through ideas.
Laurence:What worked well last year what didn't.
Laurence:But the person next to me in the opening was like, they're making this up.
Laurence:And then funnily enough, they're kind of true.
Laurence:They're kind of right because they had a whole load of things they were gonna do and then they did end up doing things differently on the spot.
Laurence:But that's the beauty of Floris and Charlie and people who have that intuition.
Laurence:Intuition I think is they can have all the things lined up and then still sense what's needed at the time and bring that in and also give that sense of playfulness and feeling of it's made up, which then gives others permission to feel they can do, they can be that person too.
Carlos:Exactly.
Carlos:And a line, I think it's called emergent strategy.
Carlos:That's the formal approach.
Carlos:But there is something here, which I think again, has ripple effects.
Carlos:You know, whether you are hosting an opening ceremony with 150 people, probably half of them you've never met before, a third of them just trying to work out what's going on, and you're trying to tune in to what's needed in the moment.
Carlos:I think that's the antithesis of the five year business plan.
Carlos:Put your head down, follow the different action points you had, and never look up to sense where are you going in the right direction.
Carlos:Uh, and so in a sense, that's a learning about life.
Carlos:How Charlie and Floris run an opening center because we, again, we have conversations with them, multiple.
Carlos:We set the intention, we are, you know, we say this is what we want the outcome to be.
Carlos:They come up with a whole load of ideas and you should sit into one of these calls.
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:Floris.
Laurence:Never ask Floris, like, send me an idea for a workshop or an exercise.
Carlos:They're ba Bam.
Carlos:All of these things.
Carlos:And stresses me out a little bit.
Carlos:For me it infuses.
Carlos:I think Floris infuses all of his stuff with this is his level of improv and in the moment.
Carlos:Being able to respond in the moment to whether it's a card response or what's happening in the room, how you can do that with the work.
Carlos:And that's something I've been having to learn over this journey with a Happy Startup.
Carlos:School is at this beginning point when it's like not about a plan, it's about an intention and about needs, and then how you respond to that, given what happens and shit happens all the time.
Carlos:Oh my God.
Carlos:Cool.
Carlos:Okay.
Carlos:I think it's time to maybe get a few people in a bit.
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:Let's do it.
Carlos:In the meantime, while I grab people why don't you answer the question that I've, uh, prompted others with in terms of how would you describe, well share a couple of key memories.
Carlos:They don't have to be the best memories.
Carlos:The two memories that stood out for you on the weekend and what have you taken away from this year?
Laurence:What have I taken away?
Laurence:Uh, a sense of groundedness.
Laurence:I think a sense of well, just a reminder.
Laurence:I think that this is so needed and important and I need it.
Laurence:And in some ways I wanna do more of it, but with less effort.
Laurence:So the whole effortless impact thing comes to mind.
Laurence:But it just reminds me of how important it is to connect as people on a deep level about the things that matter to us.
Laurence:So that's one thing.
Laurence:Yeah, just a feeling of love and connection.
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:I felt that particularly this year, just so much, how much love in the room.
Laurence:I think I've had so many highlights, but I think Hazel's talk was a real moment for me.
Laurence:So Hazel, for those of you dunno, she's been part of the team for a long time.
Laurence:She's the partner of Ollie who used to work with us at the studio years ago.
Laurence:So Hazel's story with us goes back a long way.
Laurence:She was really worried about her talk all weekend.
Laurence:She was volunteering as well, so she had a lot going on and there was something about how emotion it was for the team to see her and see how proud they were of her and to hear her journey with us over the last few years, yeah, felt very emotional.
Laurence:So yeah, definitely sense, pride her and how amazing she was in talk and just the relief of getting through as well.
Laurence:I think one of the other moments that struck out, I think I was sat in the hot tub with a few people and then seeing the line dancing sort of go past, and this is how we do it, bla blaring out our like a hundred decibels whilst the sound guy had a bit of a midlife crisis in front of everyone.
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:That was definitely quite a moment.
Carlos:I would definitely say r and b line dancing.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:In a field is a, something I've never experienced before and something b something I want to keep doing every single year.
Carlos:That was just the most fun.
Carlos:It was my happy place in, in the happy place Summercamp.
Carlos:So that, that was wonderful.
Carlos:And I think in terms of taking, what I'm taking away is the, the power of long term vulnerable connection when you've meet someone again and again every single year, and you build that relationship over time and they become someone.
Carlos:And, uh, Andrea, Lena did a workshop this called colleagueship, but they become people that you can lean on, you can share all sorts of challenges with, as well as do business with.
Carlos:That for me, just it's what I've always craved and never saw when we were running our agency.
Carlos:And something that now feels like, why don't we all do that?
Carlos:Why isn't that something everyone does?
Carlos:So someone shared with me the definition of community.
Carlos:Uh, when you build community, it's essentially creating an experiment of the world you wish you could live in.
Carlos:Uh, and so, Summercamp in a sense is like if every, if every day was like Summercamp, what would the world be like full of huggers, full of mother huggers all over the place.
Carlos:Right.
Carlos:I am gonna try and bring a few people on to have a bit of a conversation.
Carlos:So this is gonna be an experiment in how I use Zoom.
Carlos:So what I would like to do is invite each of you to share some reflections on.
Carlos:Summercamp and the two prompts being.
Carlos:couple of key memories from the weekend, two things that you still have in your mind and still are buzzing around in your brain, and anything that you've brought home with you from Summercamp.
Laurence:Uh, actually I'm gonna say one thing before we move on, but I might be stealing Gillian's Thunder here, but seeing Gillian just own the stage and stick it on when she played her set, I've never seen anyone like look so in their element
Carlos:for those, uh, listening, who, dunno what you mean by stick it on.
Carlos:Do you wanna give them a quick summary?
Laurence:Uh, so everyone at Summercamp gets the opportunity, or they can, if they want, submit a set.
Laurence:A three song set for a DJ playlist to go on stage and get the 15 minutes of fame.
Laurence:So it's called Stick It On.
Laan:I managed to clear the whole dance floor with my set.
Laan:It was quite impressive.
Laurence:We should put you on last, next
Laan:time.
Laan:Yeah, definitely.
Laan:Next time.
Laan:Yeah.
Laan:I had a good time.
Carlos:Well, now you're on, Laan, what reflections do you have on Summercamp?
Laan:It's a very hard, uh, feeling actually.
Laan:Because I went to Happy Style Camp last year just on a whim 'cause my partner couldn't go.
Laan:And I went open minded, not knowing what to expect, and I found a wonderful safe space.
Laan:And I was coming up to the week leading up to Happy Startup Camp this year.
Laan:And I didn't know if it was like a genie and a bottle type thing.
Laan:I didn't know if it could be recreated that safe space feeling.
Laan:And from the moment I pulled down the drive, I just felt at home.
Laan:It's the only way I can describe it.
Laan:And the fact that you're able to recreate that magic year on your air with beautiful people is just, is incredible to me.
Laan:And I'm holding a walnut right here, right?
Laan:And I did a workshop and Flo asked us to look at this walnut for five minutes or so, and I can't tell you what I got out of it 'cause he is not allowed.
Laan:He sworn us to secrecy, whoever was in that workshop.
Laan:But it's quite so profound.
Laan:And I'm still looking at it now thinking, did that really happen?
Laan:And it's still magical to me.
Laan:Alan Wick did a speech that still has stuck with me for an hour where he kept going to me for me to others, oh, sorry for others.
Laan:So I went to Happy Startup Camp.
Laan:That's what happened to me.
Laan:For me, it remind me of the joy of having a safe space and acting vulnerable with people.
Laan:And for others it's reinforced my desire to share that kindness and joy with people.
Laan:And that's how I wanted to sum up my Happy Startup experience this time.
Laan:This, and there was one other thing was when we got asked to think about someone who shares, uh, their self, their personal brand well, everyone in the tent said Laurence at the time, and everyone was gonna talk about Laurence and the happy Startup and how you all share your brand really well, and I had to think very quickly 'cause the host said about Laurence.
Laan:And so I had to be very quickly and someone from LinkedIn called AKI came into my mind.
Laan:And Aki had been working with the other happy Startup people in another group, in another Community.
Laan:And that moment of.
Laan:Vulnerability was just amazing.
Laurence:And it's not just any community, it's Claire's wonderful like community.
Laan:Yeah, absolutely.
Laan:Yeah, because I saw Claire there, so yeah.
Laan:So, that just moment took it away.
Laan:So yeah, so my amazing takeaway is a feeling of freedom that only comes once a year and that happy start moment.
Laan:So thank you very much for letting me share.
Carlos:I'd like to invite Gillian to share your thoughts.
Gillian:I made some notes this morning and my key memories, uh, was laughter.
Gillian:Just that whole pure, I'm gonna pee my pants laughter that you don't get very often.
Gillian:So I bring it straight down.
Gillian:Which kicked off for me with Saskia and Mark on the bus before we'd even really like 10 minutes outta Brighton, and I'll never look at garlic bread the same again.
Gillian:But just that repeatedly for the whole weekend, just being able to laugh and then being told by somebody at the end that they thanked me for their laugh because they could hear me all over the campsite.
Gillian:Am I the female Sanderson?
Gillian:Who knows?
Gillian:But that, you know, any other place I'd come home and beat myself up about that for being too much and too loud and too whatever.
Gillian:And I'm taking that away from me a bit, that actually, that's what lots of people thank me for at the end.
Gillian:That exercise at the end when you went up and thanked people, that's what got me crying.
Gillian:I kind of, well, no, I started crying before that, but that started again.
Gillian:The breathing experience, Tom's workshop was just amazing.
Gillian:The fact that there was so many of us lying in that tent, quite a few of us I spoke to, we all at one point thought anyone left here?
Gillian:It was just, so life-changing, I think in a way.
Gillian:It was really weird it was.
Gillian:And then on top of that was the tapping into self-compassion with Nicola Harvey, who I'd been into tapping and whatever before, and she was just such a beautiful soul to be running that at the end and kind.
Gillian:That was what started crying.
Gillian:That was what kicked me off and I really did feel shifts.
Gillian:So I was embracing the woo-woo this year, Carlos, he has been working on me.
Gillian:I came out buying the whiskey and the woo-woo was the summary of mine.
Gillian:Because the storytelling from the wine was just a brilliant workshop.
Gillian:So I think for me it was all about the workshops.
Gillian:However, I, one of the things I've taken away with me that then that went into the workshops and have taken away as well, is the internal safety officer.
Gillian:I think that will, with mem challenging myself around it.
Gillian:So I think Claire that was you wasn't it?
Gillian:Thank you.
Gillian:Vulnerability, joy, and just reenergize.
Carlos:I'm gonna pass on to Sean.
Carlos:Sean, can you share your thoughts?
Sean:I really don't know where to start with this one, but I think I'm still kind of landing.
Sean:The first point I've mentioned, and it's more a takeaway than memory, is to get up speed on my local geography because in advance I somehow got it into my head that Polegate was the name of the train station in Brighton, where it's whatever it's 25, 26 months apart.
Sean:So I, uh, had a bit of trouble finding myself, but we got there okay.
Sean:So, number of things that particularly struck me, it's just a sense of fun and openness.
Sean:And normally kind of fairly shy and relatively introverted.
Sean:So even, you know, it can be a bit nervous, but it just iterated work for me in that way.
Sean:And the fact that you guys aren't essentially involved, I think is a key thing to it because you're there but you're not there.
Sean:Uh, and that really works, uh, for me.
Sean:Absolutely all of the talks, brilliant.
Sean:I kind of had an idea of particular workshops I wanted to go to in advance, so that might have been a bit of a mistake on reflection.
Sean:If I'd been a little bit more sort of flexible and left it there to be as open as possible when I got in, might have worked out better, but still, overall couldn't complain.
Sean:The one thing that particularly struck me, one particular is just being able to meet people in real life, and to prove to some others that I do actually exist as opposed to being just a kind of a ghost that appears in LHL on a very rare occasion.
Sean:So one of the other takeaways, I swore afterwards that I would actually try and be more involved in those sort of communities because I think there's so much to be gained from them.
Sean:So, you know, you guys have such a great culture that way.
Sean:It just makes it so easy to do it no matter how shy you're, you can really get in there.
Sean:And finally just from my own sort of personal point of view, uh, just to, you know, thinking of maybe looking into improv for next, you know, over the next year to take myself outta myself a little bit.
Sean:And get outta my own head, which would be a good thing.
Sean:And then just finally, just thanks so much for doing it.
Sean:It was a simply wonderful experience.
Sean:Really enjoyed it.
Sean:And I too have a walnut, but I can't reveal what that will tell you.
Sean:But, uh, next year for that one, so thanks.
Laurence:Well, thanks to Gracie for if she's still listening.
Laurence:Ran the improv workshop.
Carlos:So Sean was just mentioning LHL.
Carlos:LHL is like, call it sister community, Likehearted Leaders.
Carlos:It's the community for community builders.
Carlos:Either way I would look at it because it's like where Laurence and I hang out and manage to get held as opposed to trying to hold everyone else all the time.
Carlos:And the founder is Claire Perry Louise.
Carlos:And I'd like to invite her to share her thoughts on Summercamp.
Claire:Thank you, Carlos.
Claire:Thank you Laurence.
Claire:Beautiful introduction as ever.
Claire:Thank you.
Claire:Honestly, you guys cry.
Claire:So what did I love?
Claire:I really, oh, to bring back to the point you said earlier, and that was about the way that it's very much you're just part of it and it's not this real separation.
Claire:And I was speaking to someone and she said to me how she loved it, how there was no separation between the speakers and the attendees and the workshop holding.
Claire:And it was all, everyone's very into mashed.
Claire:And I know from personal experience, having done loads of programs in the past, what happens is you go to these programs and then you see these people on stage or you see them running workshops and it actually makes you feel, what It made me feel just like, I'm just not good enough because everyone seems to be on this pedestal.
Claire:And they're very much kept separate and they eat together separately, or there'd be special tables just for speakers or whatever it might be.
Claire:And so I think that's, I want to say genius, it's not the word,, but I just think it's, I think it's really beautiful that you bring that to, the Happy Startup and make it so much more about the community.
Claire:Because I was speaking to someone yesterday and she was talking about another community, and they kind of changed the way they do things and they've made it less about the members and more about the founder's kind of journey, which is all good and well.
Claire:But you've got, think about your members first, and I really honestly feel that you two do that really well.
Claire:So, I wanted to say that.
Claire:And I also wanted to say actually it is beautiful, this connection between running community and the collaborative element that we shouldn't do anything.
Claire:We should do what we, but we, how beautiful it is when we can learn more into the collaborative state as opposed to it's you against us, and that's what we've very much done as community builders, Happy Startup, and Likehearted Leaders, we really support each other.
Claire:And the other thing I'd like to say is what I took away was I just love, and I'd also like to say it was just down completely to you, Carlos and Laurence for planning it so beautifully.
Claire:But I think it's also serendipity and the way things turn out.
Claire:The way that the connection between the talks and how they built on each other and then the workshop filled it in and then the conversations.
Claire:And it was all so perfectly engineered to perfection, to just feed easily and effortlessly into each other.
Claire:And I just think, I think that's where we're in flow.
Claire:And when we bring play and we bring our full selves and our presence and our joyfulness to a space, that allows serendipity to take place.
Claire:And everyone was so generous.
Claire:All the attendees were so beautiful.
Claire:They were, you know, I received loads of lovely comments.
Claire:I can't believe the safety officer has been, I mean, I've had loads and loads of messages about the safety officer.
Claire:It's like she's gonna have her own TV series, I think soon.
Claire:She's like a whole thing.
Claire:So I just think it's, so, yeah, that is took away.
Laurence:Aade said in the chat that she's not stopped crying since your talk.
Claire:Oh, really?
Claire:Oh, bless.
Laurence:I, I, I think you, I think that's a thank you.
Claire:Oh, no, because somebody else was crying and I felt quite bad after it because it really resounded with them.
Claire:So, so, yeah.
Claire:So it was epic guys, and I love meeting everybody, and that's what I take away.
Claire:That, just love and gratitude is what I take away from it.
Claire:So I, everybody I, and Grateful So roll on next year
Carlos:I'm gonna now pass it on to Nirish.
Nirish:Hello.
Nirish:Another amazing weekend.
Nirish:This time I intentionally went in without any purpose because, you know, purpose, to have purpose has really been weighing me down in life.
Nirish:So I was like, oh fuck, purpose.
Nirish:I'm just gonna go play without any purpose.
Nirish:And um, I was like, yeah, I didn't know what was gonna happen.
Nirish:I didn't have any expectations.
Nirish:I just let the universe, you know, take me wherever.
Nirish:And it was amazing.
Nirish:And one of the things that I took away from that was how, if you wanna self-promote, you gotta promote other people..
Nirish:I would like to kind of promote a few people that um, I had some shared some special memories with.
Nirish:Uh, first one um, Dr.
Nirish:Dulce McBride, who doesn't like to be called Doctor.
Nirish:Doctor.
Nirish:Uh, we had a really good session in, uh, Anne Miltenberg um, brand workshop where we kind of grouped together and we helped each other out in terms of what is the title we wanna give each other?
Nirish:And I thought of the title of the Systems Healer for her, which she's now changed her LinkedIn title with that.
Nirish:And apparently people love it.
Nirish:She gave me the title of Self Awareness Shepa, which I haven't actually put on my LinkedIn yet, which I probably will soon.
Nirish:Uh, that was a really nice session.
Nirish:And also I just wanted to kind of experience jomo.
Nirish:So there's a lot of sessions that I missed because I was stuck in the sauna for quite a long time.
Nirish:But, uh, even the sauna had this kind of serendipitous conversation with, uh, Rachel Morris, another doctor, Dr.
Nirish:Rachel Morris.
Nirish:She gave me some really nice advice on how do you just put your voice out there in the podcast?
Nirish:'Cause I tend to kind of do a lot of my podcast episode as interviews with other experts and I've, you know, I tend to feel like I'm not good enough.
Nirish:Who would wanna listen to me?
Nirish:And she had a similar kind of story as well, and now she puts out a lot of monologue episodes of hers.
Nirish:So I found that really inspiring.
Nirish:So yeah, just a serendipitous conversation in a sauna.
Nirish:You know, just not nothing planned at all.
Nirish:And finally Kim Slade.
Nirish:He made me cry last time and this time.
Nirish:Yeah, I was trying not to cry, but I was definitely crying inside.
Nirish:His morning walks on last day just has always had such a massive impact in how I think and my perspective in life.
Nirish:And this time I was just like looking at the lily pads on the lake.
Nirish:And I was like, oh, these lily pads, they're not pretending to be, you know, ferns or blackberry bushes, they're just happy being lily pads on a lake.
Nirish:And I was just wondering, well, I wonder what the underneath of the lily pad look like?
Nirish:And the lily pads don't give a fuck whether we can see the under underneath or not.
Nirish:You know, they're just happy showing you whatever we can see.
Nirish:And the way for me to see the underneath of the lily pad is if I have to, if I go on the water, right?
Nirish:So I was like, if I'm a lily pad, like why do I have to care so much about presenting my authentic self, my whole self all the time?
Nirish:I don't have to like, you know, wherever people are at, they'll see that angle of me.
Nirish:I don't have to be worried about, you know, showing my whole self all the time.
Nirish:So just chill.
Nirish:Just chill about, you know, being authentic, just chill about, you know, having purpose, just chill, about being mindful, and just enjoy life as it comes.
Nirish:I think that's been the key takeaway for me.
Carlos:Thanks, nourish.
Carlos:Live a bit, little bit more purposely.
Laurence:I like you said, fuck purpose,
Carlos:Fuck purpose.
Laurence:You walk, should get a T-shirt next year to walk around camp with that on it.
Carlos:Yes.
Carlos:Well, let's, I wanna just pass on to Vanessa.
Carlos:First Vanessa, anonymous Vanessa, first.
Vanessa S:I wasn't expecting to come on to share my insights.
Vanessa S:There are so many.
Vanessa S:Where do I start?
Vanessa S:It was amazing.
Vanessa S:I've never experienced anything like it.
Vanessa S:I've done quite a bit of personal development, but honestly, this just hands down the best.
Vanessa S:I think I just described it as being a busman's holiday for change makers and people looking for connection.
Vanessa S:The last workshop actually with Laurence, that was so powerful is like, change in real time.
Vanessa S:Vanessa, beautiful Vanessa B not me.
Vanessa S:Her workshop and energy around diversity inclusion, and she's just fucking funny.
Vanessa S:Oh God.
Vanessa S:So much.
Vanessa S:I wish I'd known her.
Vanessa S:The brand change workshop was really powerful.
Vanessa S:But just kind of being in a space where people are aligned and have similar values and genuinely wanna help each other is probably the biggest thing that I've taken away from it because I've never, ever experienced that.
Vanessa S:And so I think that kind of comes, obviously that's from your values values and who you are as people but, um, that was probably the most powerful thing actually but,in a space that actually is whatat it says and does what it says on the tin.
Laurence:Thank you.
Carlos:Uh, and over to the next Vanessa.
Vanessa B:So for me, that tells me something already is the idea of the community.
Vanessa B:I'm not going to lie.
Vanessa B:I was like, okay, Liana told me, Vanessa da dah, come and you'll be great, but Liana tells you things, but she doesn't tell you everything.
Vanessa B:So then I was very anxious and I was like, oh, it'll be a lot of woo hippy shit, you know?
Vanessa B:And I, that's not my fault.
Laurence:Shit wasn't wrong.
Vanessa B:I'm not, that's not me.
Vanessa B:And so I was scared.
Vanessa B:I'm not going to lie.
Vanessa B:And I think.
Vanessa B:I was really scared, actually.
Vanessa B:Very scared.
Vanessa B:And to Issa's point, and I think it's important for us to, for me to repeat that it's a luxury to feel that you're going into a place and you feel that you belong.
Vanessa B:It's actually a very big privilege and a luxury.
Vanessa B:And, uh, a lot of people maybe don't relate to that, but it is.
Vanessa B:And forget values and things like this is just actually this idea of can I actually include myself?
Vanessa B:Will I be seen, valued and respected for who I am?
Vanessa B:Uh, and something that I didn't expect particularly personally was, to feel that I belonged.
Vanessa B:I, I, you know what?
Vanessa B:You, I'm 40 years old, so you live life, thinking that you don't, and that you've gotta fight, and that you've gotta be ready.
Vanessa B:Do, you know, just always be ready for something.
Vanessa B:And then you get to the last day.
Vanessa B:And I hate the people who did I hate, I love you all, but I hate the programming because on that day I was thinking, fuck, I actually like this shit, you know, like the woo bit.
Vanessa B:And I was like, and then I have to do a talk and I'm emotional and I'm all of it.
Vanessa B:And I'm thinking, ah, I just want to relax.
Vanessa B:And the programming is that I come after Alan week and I'm like, fuck my, oh, it's, for me, that was a really big moment actually.
Vanessa B:The conviction, his conviction was everything, to be honest.
Vanessa B:And we connected after our, both of our talks.
Vanessa B:And I was just like, wow.
Vanessa B:You know, and it was a moment for us to be part of a place where, or anyway, for me.
Vanessa B:I cried a lot after that.
Vanessa B:I'm not going to lie.
Vanessa B:I cried.
Vanessa B:I'm crying still.
Vanessa B:I cried a lot because I think it's almost, you don't understand, I think the power that you've created in the sense of people like me.
Vanessa B:I feel that, I felt seen, I felt respected, I felt valued, and it was a little bit of a rebirth.
Vanessa B:And for that time, I'm very grateful.
Vanessa B:I'm coming back next year hopefully, and I'm not gonna because I feel that my took was really shit actually because I was,
Laurence:oh my God.
Laurence:It was the highlight.
Vanessa B:And I feel that, but I ever grateful for you all because it's, you gave me hope.
Vanessa B:And I think that is the way I'm showing up this week.
Vanessa B:I did four workshops, five workshops even.
Vanessa B:Uh, I'm resting next week.
Vanessa B:Uh, and the way I'm showing up in those workshops.
Vanessa B:Like even a client who knows me very well, 'cause we've been working together for, she's like, Vanessa, you, are you okay?
Vanessa B:I'm so, and she's like, I can't see that I'm asking, but it's a rhetorical question.
Vanessa B:You're good.
Vanessa B:And I'm like, ah, no.
Vanessa B:And you feel it so much deep in your heart that I just wanted to really thank you seriously from the bottom of my heart, bottom story of my heart, because yeah, I can truly say I belong.
Vanessa B:Wait, yeah.
Vanessa B:I belong.
Vanessa B:It's beautiful.
Vanessa B:And I've already, I'm coming.
Vanessa B:I'm thinking, am I going to aptitude?
Vanessa B:Like this is my next thing.
Vanessa B:Do you see what I
Laurence:Yes.
Laurence:Yes.
Vanessa B:I'm, you need that.
Vanessa B:Do you see what I mean?
Vanessa B:It's a need.
Vanessa B:It's not a want anymore.
Vanessa B:And I think that's the piece that's beautiful.
Vanessa B:You know, it's what you need.
Vanessa B:And so, yeah.
Vanessa B:No, seriously.
Vanessa B:You guys, you,
Laurence:I've got two, two quick things to share.
Laurence:One, I can't look at a man in the suit again, without thinking of your talk.
Laurence:Wait for the video if you haven't seen it.
Laurence:And number two, did you get the dessert?
Laurence:Because you, you had your eyes on my dessert that night, and I think
Vanessa B:I did.
Vanessa B:Yes.
Vanessa B:Yes.
Vanessa B:And it was nice, huh?
Vanessa B:Much nicer than the other one.
Vanessa B:The food was fantastic.
Vanessa B:The oil production, and we have to call it a production 'cause it feels like a, you know, how do you say it feels?
Vanessa B:Yeah.
Vanessa B:It's so seamless.
Vanessa B:You don't, we don't see as people what goes behind.
Vanessa B:And even as speakers who as and as you know, workshop givers, we don't see, we don't, we just feel so integrated in the space that we don't think you know?
Vanessa B:So, so much until it gets to yourself.
Vanessa B:And then you just, uh, like me on the night, you completely disappear on the last day.
Vanessa B:But anyway, I just would like to thank you seriously and continue the good work and hopefully next year I'll connect with more people.
Vanessa B:But there's, the last piece is, it was a very much more diverse diverse, uh, event this year.
Vanessa B:And we have a community and I think we all felt it, uh, as well for those who are more, who have more of marginalized experiences of life.
Vanessa B:So just for that, again, we thank you and I hug everybody and yeah.
Vanessa B:Voila.
Laurence:We love you, Vanessa.
Carlos:I can honestly say you've made my year Vanessa, with what you just said, and just to say that you felt like you belonged.
Carlos:It hit me in the gut and I was gonna cry when you were talking.
Carlos:It was like, it is that sense of like, this is my place.
Carlos:I can be here too.
Carlos:So thank you.
Carlos:Let's end on, uh, well hopefully no more tears.
Carlos:Lana.
Carlos:Please don't,
Laurence:We normally ask Lan to go first, so this is quite a treat for you to go last,
Carlos:but, uh, well, yeah.
Carlos:Someone we've been effortlessly collaborating with for a long time now, and for the first time we were together in person this year, which is, yeah, it is crazy.
Carlos:But Lana, why didn't you take us home?
Lana:Yeah.
Lana:Uh.
Lana:Connection.
Lana:I think that, that's the word that deeply resonates the most.
Lana:Uh, like what you said, Carlos and Laurens, that was the first time that we've met each other personally, face to face, the three of us.
Lana:And yeah, I cherish that moment a lot, you know.
Lana:Especially since we've been working for almost two year, four years together and not, you know, not being able to see or, you know, just to be in the physical space together.
Lana:Also proves that's not the limitation in what is possible and what is, allowed and can be, you know, can be made when it's really done with the heart.
Lana:And this is what the space was like.
Lana:You know, I instantly felt at home the journey going there with the force with my car ride, you know, with Jobbe and Caro in that already was part of it.
Lana:But even before that.
Lana:When we had the session just to pick the, about the topic and what are we going to talk about, just meeting other speakers already.
Lana:That's the beauty of what you've created, you know, the connection that goes outside of the space.
Lana:And then just being in the space becomes more like the cherry on top.
Lana:And then you're just like, oh, what do I do now?
Lana:You know, which one do I start?
Lana:So for me, I relished the conversations, the hugs and such a hugger.
Lana:So get to physically hug everyone that we've been working with Vision 2020 and the rest from the community.
Lana:It just felt such a treat.
Lana:And you know, there's already conversations of when do we meet up again, you know, when can we see each other?
Lana:And yeah, there's also some more people, you know, Melissa, I didn't get to really hug you at all.
Lana:So there's more opportunities for that.
Lana:So there's, at one end, there's a sadness of o you know, that was just a few days.
Lana:And there's also the longing for, oh, the next year is another year to look forward to.
Lana:So alongside, alongside the, the, the, there's a sense of grief and sadness is really that hope for, ooh, what will be next year?
Lana:And then how would it be?
Lana:And yeah, just looking forward for more hugs and for more conversations and to really get deeper into understanding and knowing who's there in the space.
Lana:And to honor the land in which we're, you know, we're all gathering.
Lana:So, so for me, I just feel so blessed to be able to just be in the space with all of you and, uh, looking forward to it already.
Lana:And like what I mentioned, uh, in our group chat, the landing has been difficult.
Lana:I'm like, huh, after 150 people and, you know, all this amazing conversations and then coming home and with the kids being in school and with the partner being at work, and then I'm just, you know, I'm home with the dog and this the quietness, you know?
Lana:At the same time it's nice.
Lana:And at the same time I'm like, ugh.
Lana:You know, longing for that, you know, those conversations and that shoulder to shoulder uh, moments.
Carlos:Thank you.
Laurence:Yeah, thank you for that, in your talk, just highlighting the land we were on because it's something we just take for granted, right?
Laurence:And all the stewards of that land and just the gratitude around that really hit home to me.
Carlos:And this is one of the reasons I value collaborations like we have with Lana and others at Summercamp.
Carlos:They bring a perspective to our work that.
Carlos:We wouldn't have seen otherwise because Laurence and I come from a certain place doing certain things, and it's just think this community work is about opening up our perspectives and, uh, learning from others.
Carlos:So thank you as ever, Lana, for your, not only your ideas and your thoughts, but also your care and consideration of us.
Carlos:Uh, we, we always feel held by you.
Carlos:Thank you.
Laurence:And patience.
Carlos:Thank you everyone who shared their voices and their thoughts and I really appreciate that.
Carlos:This helps us communicate what Summercamp is about.
Carlos:And you can see with the varied stories it's very hard to just capture in one sentence.
Carlos:And it's important just to have different faces, different voices, different perspectives, to give people an idea of what this is all about.
Carlos:It's.
Carlos:Anything.
Laurence:Exactly.
Laurence:Yeah, and I'll just say final thanks to Sanderson.
Laurence:He is not on the call.
Laurence:But yeah, as you all know, he's such a big part of Summercamp.
Laurence:And this year particularly was not easy.
Laurence:He wanted to do it.
Laurence:He most people wouldn't have done.
Laurence:So the courage he took to stand up there challenging times really, I think created, paved the way for us all to connect in the way we did.
Carlos:I think this is probably one of the, one of the magical things around Summercamp, uh, when you talk about Sanderson, and for those of you who don't know, his wife passed away this year.
Carlos:It was a Summercamp, has a lot of strong memories for him and his partner, or for him particularly about his partner.
Carlos:And so.
Carlos:To have someone turn up doing this work, given the emotional rollercoaster he's going through as well, has gone through, it feels like a privilege.
Carlos:And a real honor and a responsibility.
Carlos:And that's really, I, I just wanted to acknowledge that because it's something I, I, I don't wanna forget or just think as, oh, well that was, you know, that was a nice Sanderson turn up.
Carlos:No, it's like, it was amazing that he turned up particularly in the way he did.
Carlos:I'm really, really grateful for him, uh, for doing that.
Laurence:You know, someone was asking this morning, how was Summercamp for you?
Laurence:And I really find it hard to answer that because if one person's there having a bad time or not feeling that they belong, then I'm having rubbish time, that's what I think the weight of the last week was for me, was just asking myself, was there someone there who didn't enjoy themselves or it didn't feel they belonged?
Laurence:So for Vanessa to come say that is just really lovely.
Carlos:I'm gonna pass over to Liana, founder of Inspiration Space.
Carlos:Massive fan of our work.
Carlos:Just an amazing sort of powerhouse of energy and knowledge.
Carlos:Uh, who ran a workshop, who did a talk last year and ran a workshop this year on carbon literacy.
Carlos:Uh, she was supposed to join us, but she couldn't, so she's given us a little video, so handing over to her for some final thoughts.
Liana:Hello to all of my fabulous friends at a Happy Startup School.
Liana:Uh, for those who don't know me, my name is Liana Fricker and I am founder of Inspiration Space, and now officially a two time Summercamper.
Liana:Uh, I mean, I've told this part of the story a million zillion times.
Liana:Uh, but you know, I first came across a Happy, Startup School in Summercamp almost more than five years ago when I was thinking about starting, uh, a business.
Liana:And I wasn't sure that the world wanted or needed what I saw in my head.
Liana:And I jumped down an internet rabbit hole and found Summercamp.
Liana:Fast forward five years and last year I attended in person for the first time, and it was amazing.
Liana:This year I came back and I can almost only say it was indescribable.
Liana:Not only did it feel like I was coming home, I left feeling full.
Liana:You know, you learn a lot obviously at Summercamp.
Liana:There's so many interesting talks and workshops, but I think last year I underestimated the power of the community.
Liana:You know, I danced my ass off.
Liana:I laughed more than I probably have in a very long time.
Liana:I saw old friends, met new friends, and just all around had the most wonderful time.
Liana:You know, it's seven days since I, uh, was there.
Liana:About five days back into the, uh, real world.
Liana:And I'm still trying to make sure that those wonderful Summercamp vibes, uh, stay full.
Liana:In my heart.
Liana:So a big thank you to Carlos and Laurence for creating the space and for Abby, and for all the volunteers and everyone, uh, because you have just made this business hippy, feel amazing.
