Caren Camp

I began my professional journey in New York City in the fashion industry, where I spent 15 years with companies such as Lilly Pulitzer, Jaeger of London, and Estee Lauder, rising through the corporate ranks during a time when the corporate world was dominated by men. When children came along, I stayed home for 11 years while my husband went up the corporate ladder. When I decided to go back to work 24 years ago, the whole retail manufacturing industry had changed drastically, so I transitioned into meeting planning as an alternative, which I had gotten into while I was home with children helping on nonprofit boards. I met the people from Helms Briscoe, the company I am currently with, and have loved my career in meeting planning for the past 24 years. I'm very lucky I can work out of my home on my computer, serving clients all over the country who are corporations, associations, and nonprofits. I search for hotels based on my clients' needs, set up site inspections, negotiate contracts on their behalf, and deal with about 20 clients at a time. I've made President's Club for 11 years at Helms Briscoe, which has 2,000 independent contractors worldwide doing $2 billion in room revenue. My clients are like my friends, and I love being able to travel all over to see hotels and do research for them. It's different every day and a lot of fun.