We were lucky to catch up with Jocelyn McCants recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jocelyn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Melanated Campout was started by three friends: Shunte McClellan, Cayela Wimberly White, and me (Jocelyn McCants) – but only after Cayela made us believers. Cayela is an avid camper who traded in the club scene for the outdoors. She started curating weekend camping adventures to show her friends and family how the healing powers of nature can be therapeutic and fun. Shunte and I were skeptical at first. We truly thought sleeping outdoors was not for us, but after some convincing, we quickly learned that we were not immune to the positive effects of nature. Imagine having time to connect deeper with your friends, learning new things about yourself (yes pitching a tent was not that hard), and the ability to relax without distractions. We left camp feeling centered and rejuvenated and wanted to share our experience with others. We know many people of color have not always felt welcomed or comfortable with camping adventures. We want to play a role in shifting the narrative…the outdoors are for everyone! We create safe and inclusive weekend camping experiences filled with lots of fun and adventure.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Melanated Campout is a Black and women-owned company that’s inspiring more people of color to camp and enjoy outdoor adventures. As leaders in the Burgeoning Black Camping Movement, we believe the outdoors are for everyone and our mission is to encourage more people to fall in love with camping. To that end, we offer a fun weekend filled with tent & RV camping, hiking, fishing, yoga, line dancing, adult field day and more! We are different from others in the outdoor industry in that we are intentional on how we engage with our campers. Our private facebook group (8K+ members) allows current and future campers to share tips and funny stories. We also use an event social group app to allow registered campers to get acquainted with each other and share resources leading up to the event. Using this app has proven to be a great ice breaker. We are a nurturing company and truly design a curated weekend of activities centered around our tagline Adult CPR – Camp, Party, Relax!

Essentially, we bring our culture to the woods and show people how to relax and have fun experiences outdoors. When campers leave our event, they have a sense of accomplishment (conquered camping), they are rejuvenated and have connections to their new “camping cousins.”

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When we first started Melanated Campout we knew we had to spend time building the brand. One of the first things we did was set up social media accounts: Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram. We were not avid users of social media so there was a learning curve which required us to watch How To Do Youtube videos for the various social media platforms. After we did that, we immediately focused on “Our Why.” We had to overcome being shy in front of the camera so that we could tell our story. We wanted potential customers to connect with us. We wanted them to feel like they know us and would feel comfortable camping with us. For 9 months leading up to our first event, we were recording and posting videos about camping which include our personal thoughts about camping. We made sure our name was being recognized by several other outdoor organizations by joining their Facebook Groups and commenting and liking their posts. We were intentional about who we chose to follow on Instagram and we made sure to engage with their accounts using our business account.

Another important thing to remember is having a professional looking website with pictures, videos, articles/blogs you have written really does matter. We are a legitimate business and we wanted our first impressions to come across as professional and fun.

Our campers are always complementary of our attention to detail and customer service. We make it a point to answer emails and/or return phone calls, and direct messages within 48 hours. When planning our events we have checklists, standard operating procedures, activity modeling sessions, and risk management meetings which helps us be detail oriented and customer-focused. Overall, our brand is synonymous with quality.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

We are successful with growing our clientele due to the fact that we stay engaged with our customers before, during, and after our events. We create a nurturing environment where they are able to get tips and education throughout the year. We are also intentional with PR and Marketing strategy. We do press releases and both organic and paid social media advertising (which include retargeting ads). We make sure we always have professional pictures and videos to use for our marketing strategy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.MelanatedCampout.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MelanatedCampout
• Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/MelanatedCampout
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/Melanated-Campout
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/MelanatedCampout
• Other: TikTok tiktok.com/@melanatedcampout

Image Credits
Michael Rhea’s Photography