A Bootcamp Without Burpees? The Workout I Didn’t Know I Needed
Posted on Jun. 4, 2026 / Events / Subscribe 0
Author: Lisa Hennessey, Marketing Coordinator at Copley-Wolff
After bootcamps, don’t you just feel like collapsing?
They are hard work. Physically exhausting because they are purposely designed to push your body beyond what you thought was possible, yes, but mentally exhausting too. It’s a constant state of your brain being on high alert. For me, the brain fog either settles in immediately because I forgot to fuel properly, or it hits the next day because my central nervous system has officially filed a complaint.
So when I first saw the 2026 Marketing Bootcamp, Foundations in Bloom, advertised, my first thought was: absolutely not. At my age, there aren’t enough creatine and Omega-3 supplements in the world to convince me to park myself in a conference room for seven straight hours.
I also wondered if there would actually be anything new I hadn’t already learned at my first SMPS bootcamp four years ago. That experience gave me the confidence to step into my role as a marketing coordinator without feeling like everyone else had already memorized the industry acronym playbook while I was still trying to find the locker room.
I loved that first bootcamp. But did I really need another one now? There’s Google. There’s AI. There are webinars, podcasts, LinkedIn influencers with ring lights and “5 Tips for Thought Leadership” videos. Plus, I work in a department of one. Who was going to explain to the designers that LinkedIn is not, in fact, a dating app while I was away?
But I am also endlessly curious. I wanted to know what was supposedly “blooming” in the AEC industry. I have FOMO when it comes to discovering a smarter process, a better idea, or a more strategic way of thinking.
I also genuinely love hard things. Half marathons. Long-distance bike rides. Pickleball tournaments. Corporate walking challenges. Maintaining a sourdough starter while working full-time. If something sounds slightly unreasonable, I usually think, “Sure, let’s see what happens.”
So I signed up. And it turns out, this bootcamp gave me exactly what good workouts give you: challenge, discomfort, energy, and the weird satisfaction of realizing your brain can do more than you thought. All five sessions delivered the tactical learning that was advertised: brand positioning, storytelling, social media strategy, collaborations, and networking. I took pages of HANDWRITTEN notes, which felt like endurance training. Shockingly, the speakers weren’t yelling, “Give me twenty burpees!” Instead, it was:
“What happens if we remove the adjectives?”
“Ask why.”
“Use plain language.”
“Listen.”
My notes are filled with phrases like:
“What do we say?”
“What does the client say?”
“What does the work say?”
For someone who studied English composition in college, these conversations felt familiar and weirdly exciting. Like hearing “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway. “So good! So good! So good!”
And at the same time, very humbling. Because everything we discussed, right down to where you place your nametag at a networking event, came back to one thing: intentional communication. So hard. So hard. So hard.
We had group exercises. We broke into teams with people we had just met. We dissected sentences, reworked messaging, changed seats, and had to speak in front of the entire room. My heart rate genuinely spiked.
Which is how I realized: this really was a workout. Not physically, but mentally. Strategically. Socially. And instead of draining me, it energized me. Because for the first time in a long time, I was surrounded by people who enjoy this kind of challenge too. People who care about language, strategy, storytelling, psychology, branding, relationships, and problem-solving with the same intensity I do. I needed this to stay at the top of my game.
Working solo means spending a lot of time inside your own head, wondering:
Is this actually a good idea?
Am I approaching this strategically enough?
Does everyone else secretly know something I don’t?
The bootcamp reminded me that most of us are all trying to communicate better, think more strategically, and keep up with an industry that keeps blooming. This SMPS program gave my endorphins a serious boost I didn’t know I needed. I left energized not just by the ideas but by being surrounded by people who genuinely love learning, improving, and challenging themselves. It was the cross-training my brain had been missing. Also, unlike athletic bootcamps, this one came with coffee and pastries, making the recovery much easier.
Keep an eye out for more of SMPS Boston's scholarship opportunities through our chapter's website.
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