Philippa Girling spent over 30 years in high-powered corporate roles, navigating a world of rules, risk, and regulation. Today, she’s the founder of Camp Château, a summer camp for women in the French countryside that’s creating space for rest, joy, and authenticity. We caught up with Philippa to hear how walking away from the corporate world unlocked a whole new way of living and leading with heart.
Knowing When It’s Time To Leave
Philippa’s résumé reads like a roadmap to corporate success. She knew how to operate within ‘the system’ and had built an impressive career doing just that. But over time, the disconnect between what she was doing and what she believed in became harder to ignore.
“I have a doctorate, and I am a qualified lawyer, and I was a Chief Risk Officer in banking for nearly 30 years. So, I had been on the corporate track for a very long time.
I realized as I was getting older… I’ve done all of these things, and I know what I do. I know what my job description is. But… who am I? And what do I want to do?” she began to ask.
“Who am I? And what do I want to do?”
Working in a male-dominated space took its toll. Philippa found herself constantly questioning her instincts, even after decades of experience.
“Banking is quite patriarchal. And after about 20 years, I started to feel like maybe I am not wrong all the time. Maybe my opinion should be heard and does matter. Maybe I have value in myself.”
“I am not wrong all the time. Maybe my opinion should be heard and does matter.”
Then came the moment that really sounded alarm bells. Her own children were entering the workforce – and nothing had changed.
“I have four daughters and one non-binary child who were on a path to go into the world that I had been working in. And that was when I realized and was filled with horror that it wasn’t changing fast enough.”
“So, I started engaging in all the DEI work. I started sponsoring the LGBTQIA+ employee groups. I was doing all the right things. But it was all just feeling like little tiny moves of the needle. And it became clear – this is not what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.”
Daydream Believer
Philippa grew up going to southern France with her family. It was a special place to her mother and became a place she thought of fondly and returned as often as she could. When she couldn’t, she had a habit a lot of us can probably relate to… Every week, she would get emails full of dreamy French properties – the kind you click through while imagining a totally different life. Until one day, something in her gut told her to go see one of them in person.
“It was just a daydream of mine to look through them all – and then this beautiful, beautiful property came up. People told me I was ridiculous but I knew the area really well and thought ‘What if I could do something that would put money into the economy and joy into the valley? I think I’ll go look at this château because I feel like there’s something amazing we could do.”
She and her children made the trip, which was complicated due to COVID still being prevalent. From the moment they arrived, their vision started coming to life, and Philippa got an overwhelming gut feeling that this was exactly where she was meant to be.
“All of us fell in love with this property when we arrived. There’s just something about this particular location. It just throws its arms around you.”
At this point, Philippa didn’t have a plan of how she could use the château – but what she did have was a feeling that this place was meant for something more.
“Obviously, nobody needs a château… I just feel like there’s something there and I want to explore what it is.”
Creating Camp Château
The concept of transforming the château into a space for women to rest, reconnect, and just be was formed during this visit; fueled by a long-standing game her family had played for decades…
“We had this little family folklore which was every time we went on holiday, we would talk about ‘wouldn’t it be fun to have a children’s camp here? We could put the zipline over there and the cabins over here!’. It was a game we used to play, we did it everywhere we went.”
It seemed Philippa had been carrying this kernel of an idea for years! And now, combined with the exhaustion of the expectations placed on her in her corporate career – and on women the world over – it started to become real.
“I am tired of women having to show up differently than their authentic self all the time. It’s exhausting. They’re being asked to put on masks all the time. ‘Be less empathetic. It makes you look weak. Don’t be so strident. It makes you look too aggressive. Don’t talk so quietly, no one can hear. Don’t talk so loudly, you’re being too forthright’. It was just constant.”
“And it occurred to me, what if we created a summer camp for women in this château…? And the whole purpose of the camp is that you just come as you are. You are already awesome. All you need is a break. And that’s how the whole thing was born.”
Camp Château, a summer camp for women hosted in an historic château in southwest France, started taking shape.
“You’re already awesome. All you need is a break.”
That message resonated. Guests started arriving, often with polished appearances and well-worn personas. But quickly, things began to shift.
“What I wasn’t expecting was the depth that that would go to for women. I thought it would be more superficial. ‘We’re having a lovely time. It’s so nice to relax’… So I was hoping for laughter. I was not expecting this many tears… There were quite a few [camps] where people just suddenly have this moment where they’re like, ‘My god, what am I doing? I need to do something else.’”
Since then, Camp Château has grown bigger than Philippa could ever have imagined, partly thanks to a viral post that saw 20 million people discover the camp’s magic almost overnight!
At the time of her interview, Camp Château has the next few years sold out, and a growing waitlist of both attendees and investors. Philippa is now facing a different problem. Her once inclusive project has now become exclusive and is challenging her mission.
It’s a wonderful problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. Philippa and her team are now focused on growing the business to accommodate the demand while protecting what made the experience special in the first place: space to rest, reconnect, and to surround yourself with women just like you.
When Life Makes The Decision For You
Like many of us, Philippa is all too aware of what it can feel like to stick to the ‘safest’ path in life. So when she was laid off from her corporate role, she saw it as an opportunity, as if the universe was clearing the way for her to follow her vision; she relished in being able to dedicate herself to the business full-time.
“I’m so happy I got laid off by the bank I was working at so that I had an opportunity to do it full-time. If not, I would have resisted going full-time because I’d have felt like I had a responsibility to keep my old boring job.”
Having the freedom to embrace a new path also marked the beginning of living – and leading – very differently.
Building a Team Around Joy
Philippa handles everything from finances to hiring at Camp Château. But she leads with a mindset few corporate jobs ever made space for: joy.
She makes sure to ask all of her team members: “What are the things that you do everyday that fill you with energy? And what are the things that just suck the energy right out of you? … Let’s find more of the things that feed you.”
This approach transformed how roles at the camp are defined and who gets to do them.
For Philippa, a huge highlight of being a founder is being able to create the kind of environment where people are seen, where they’re trusted, and where they thrive
No Permission Needed
“You can run something as a woman CEO with empathy and authenticity and transparency and kindness – and be successful.”
In leaving her old life behind, Philippa has given herself, and so many others, a way to return to who they really are.
Philippa’s Advice for Fellow Founders
Plan for success, not just survival
As a founder, we’re always told to plan for failure but “I would have thought more carefully about what success means and how do we make sure that it doesn’t punch us in the stomach!”
Let your mission lead the business
“The business side of it was so that we could deliver on the mission, not the other way round.” The motivation is in the mission!
Design roles around joy
“Let’s find more of the things that feed you and have you do less of the things that drain you.” Leaning into your team’s passions makes for happier (and often more productive) long-term employees.
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