Where there is vision, there is development

From teenage runaway to President and CEO of Avalon Development Company, Christine Camp’s story is one of vision and development. “I was very lucky,” says Ms. Camp with a bright genuine smile. “I was able to do something with the opportunities I was given.” Christine Camp was 15-years old when she ran away from home. Living in the poorest of conditions, she rented a small room that didn’t even have hot water for about $175 a month. It was the bottom of the economic social cycle. She worked three jobs while still cheerleading at her high school. Though Camp had to endure many hardships, she accredits this experience for teaching her the biggest lesson of her life. “I started to really appreciate hard work. Being faced with a lack of opportunity makes you work harder than ever, promising yourself you will never forget these people.” At the young age of 17, Christine started her career in real estate with a developer who was willing to teach her everything about the business. Ms. Camp always carried the vision of starting her own company; but she explains that she used to feel inferior to others who had gone to college full time when she was only going part time – not to mention being a woman in an industry where the majority is male. “I realized I was just as good if not better.” Christine says that when you are young, your greatest enemy seems to be yourself. ” It’s about building your confidence and giving it all you got.” Finally, she had proven to herself that she could do it on her own. She was standing with the best of the best in the industry knowing more about the unique Hawaiian real-estate market than most. Now in the ninth year of business at Avalon, Ms. Camp is still pushing herself to do her best. Avalon’s focus areas are brokerage, market and financial consulting for land development, and existing property redevelopment, or conversions. Currently, the company has about 100-million dollars worth of projects. Camp starts her day around 7 a.m. and ends around 8 p.m. From 7 a.m. -5 p.m. is the “face to face” time; acquiring partners, phone calls and meetings, and building good relationships. Between 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. is what she describes as her thinking time. That’s when she gets her correspondence and paperwork done. “It’s my quiet time, when I get to put it all together, and it’s quite enjoyable.”

“They all saw something in me, they believed in me. I didn’t want to let them down.” How she gives back to the community is also a way of reaching out to people who are in similar situations she used to be in.

The biggest challenge in business Ms. Camp says, is communicating her vision. “I never knew it would be so tough. When I was younger I just thought can’t you see it! Now I realize the importance of communicating my vision so that the other person can see it and feel it.” Having already established her business, Christine spends a lot of time building up her managers and getting them to understand that vision. Explaining that you have to be a salesperson selling that personal vision to partners, investors and even your employees. Currently, Christine Camp sits on 11 different boards, spends a third of her time in community service, and runs her company. Throughout her career Ms. Camp has also insisted on mentoring interns. Mentoring up-and-comers in the field is her way of paying it forward. “I know what an impact it can have.” Ms. Camp gives a lot of credit to the mentors that took her under their wings. “They all saw something in me; they believed in me. I didn’t want to let them down.” How she gives back to the community is also a way of reaching out to people who are in similar situations that she used to be in. She donates to a lot of places like Goodwill where she was a former customer. Exuding confidence and happiness, Christine Camp shares a quote that truly embodies the driving force in her life, “All I need is an opportunity I’ll never let you down.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 7:07 pm and is filed under Archives - Apr-Jun 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.