Finding Success OVERNIGHT

Christy Roberts owes the existence of her business to TikTok, even though she doesn’t let her older children use it anymore.

During the summer of 2020, her youngest daughter discovered glamping parties while scrolling on the popular social media site and asked her mother if she could have one with a few close friends. The term is a portmanteau of glamorous camping, though it also can be used to describe elaborate sleepover parties featuring tents, decorations, party favors and other goodies.

The three dozen themes from which customers can choose include Harry Potter, Frozen , Breakfast at Tiffany's , Barbie, Hallmark Movie, Winter Wonderland, Stranger Things , LEGO® and Elf on The Shelf. During certain times of the year, Roberts works with the Fightin Phils to offer a glamping sleepover at FirstEnergy Stadium.

“My goal is [for it] to be a jawdropping thing for the kids… and even the parents,” says Roberts, 47. “What stands out is the details. I put a lot of time, creativity, effort and research into this. Most tents will have fairy lights and something hanging from them to set them off. There are themed pillows, themed blankets. And each setup comes with snack trays featuring themed nameplates.”

Instead of paying astronomical fees to get the equipment shipped to her Spring Township house, Roberts built the frames for the tents herself, topping them off with bedsheets.

“I put it up on my personal Facebook page and my friends said, ‘Oh my God, that’s so cool,’” Roberts recalls. “And as I was researching her party I was like, ‘Holy cow, there are companies out here that actually do this.’”

After formulating a business plan over the following fall and winter, she launched Let’s Glamp LLC in the spring with a party for a friend’s daughter. Since then, she has organized hundreds of themed sleepovers in the area, with her busiest months featuring 15 to 20 parties.

The typical age range of her clientele is 7 to 12, though she has organized a few Sweet 16 celebrations and even a few adult parties.

Roberts owns all her materials, mostly purchased on Amazon and other online sites. Sometimes a friend or her children will help her set up and tear down, but for the most part, it’s a one-woman show.

“If you start researching this business platform, there are a ton of moms like me doing it across the country,” she says. “There’s a sleepover glamping queen in Arizona who makes over six figures a year doing this.”

Roberts is not there yet, squeezing in time for her side gig between a part-time job at Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories and a full-time job as a mother.

“My hope,” she says, “is that it will eventually become big enough so I can just do this.” letsglampbychristy.com