As president of Basecamp Fitness, Ben Camper ’08 helps the HIIT franchise stand out in a crowded market.
Ben Camper ’08 was on track to become a lawyer when he turned a side hustle as a personal trainer into a full-time career in fitness.
As president of Basecamp Fitness, a coach-led HIIT fitness franchise, Camper now helps the company’s franchisees stand out in a crowded market and support customers’ fitness goals while he works to add new franchises. Operated by Self Esteem Brands, Basecamp attracts millennials and Gen Zers in urban and suburban areas who have an active lifestyle.
“I’m a fitness connoisseur,” says Camper, who started working for Basecamp in February 2020. “Basecamp helps people get healthier, and that’s enjoyable for me. When your personal values align with your professional goals, there’s a really sweet synergy there.”
Camper wakes up thinking about how to make franchises successful. During pandemic lockdowns, he helped franchisees renegotiate rents. Now, it’s about navigating high prices of materials and working with franchise owners to better source materials to curb costs. He’s on the road about two weeks per month visiting with franchisees. Additionally, he conducts market research to scout new locations for franchises and identify potential franchisees.
“Small-business entrepreneurs invest their own money, their savings, in our brand,” he says. “What I enjoy most is helping franchisees realize their dreams. If we both do our work well, we can help them create generational wealth.”
Camper, who was recruited to Colgate for hockey, has always been active. But he came to a career in fitness by chance. He majored in political science, then after a pelvis injury he sustained while playing in a minor professional hockey league game, he moved to Los Angeles for warmer weather. Then, Camper applied to law school.
As a side hustle, he took a job as a personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness in Hollywood. (Years earlier, he’d casually trained a handful of fellow students during the college summer months.) Six months after taking the personal trainer job, Camper had several clients. He deferred law school.
One client, an executive at a reality TV production company, hired Camper to be a personal trainer on the 2010 show Bridalplasty — where brides competed to win a wedding and plastic surgery. Camper helped the winner train.
Meanwhile, he worked his way up at 24 Hour Fitness, moving into management roles. After a stint at a wellness start-up, he returned to 24 Hour Fitness to work on strategy. When the position of Basecamp president came on his radar, Camper jumped at the chance. He’d been a member of the original Basecamp studio in Burlingame, Calif.
When he started working with Basecamp, the brand had five California locations. He’s helped it grow to 20 across 13 states, with 60 in development. Later this year, a studio will open in Sydney, Australia.
Lessons learned on the ice, in prior jobs, and from his UCLA Anderson School of Management MBA (Camper never did go to law school) are helping him tackle current challenges. For example, consumers want to dictate the terms of membership, and if you put up too many roadblocks, they go elsewhere. To set Basecamp apart, he’s creating a digital experience: Clients book classes, check in, set goals, and track workouts on the Basecamp app and through a partnership with Apple Watch.
“We’re reducing as much friction as possible,” Camper says, “because at the end of the day, it’s about providing a great experience for the consumer.”