Creating a Campsite Community

When Peter Esparza and Evelyn Mendoza purchased a Storyteller Overland Classic MODE camper van in August 2022, they had no idea that the adventures awaiting them would go far beyond exploring the great outdoors. After buying the vehicle, they were quickly introduced to the Storyteller community.

“The friends that we’ve made in this community so far, they’ve become family to us,” Mendoza says. “And it’s not something we thought of originally when we purchased our van, but it’s been a beautiful thing.”

Building community, however, has always been a top priority for the team at Storyteller Overland.

“When you buy a Storyteller, you also buy into a community of over 2,000 friends that you get automatically,” says Summer Rogers, chief communications officer for Storyteller Overland. “We don’t just build a van and say, ‘Go have fun.’ Well, we do, but we also say, ‘Come back to us and be our friend.’”

To foster those friendships, Storyteller Overland manages Facebook groups where current and aspiring Storyteller owners can connect. The groups are much more than a place to ask questions about recreational vehicles. These online communities give members a platform to share their adventures, post pictures and even chat about their pets or what they like to cook when camping out. The largest Storyteller Overland Facebook group boasts more than 8,000 members.

But the Storyteller community is thriving IRL, too. Members use the Facebook groups to plan meetups, campouts and other events — many of which Storyteller Overland will support in some way. Some Storyteller owners have started subgroups based on geographic area. Esparza and Mendoza, who are based in the Bay Area of San Francisco, launched a group for Storyteller owners in northern California.

“It wasn’t a planned leadership,” Esparza says. But after seeing that he and Mendoza had a knack for making others feel welcomed at expos and campouts, members of the Storyteller community urged them to start hosting events of their own. “It’s like the community picked us,” Mendoza says.

The Story Begins

Storyteller Overland was founded about five and a half years ago in Birmingham, Alabama, by Jeffrey Hunter, who currently serves as CEO, with the help of co-founders Lee Conn (chief operations officer) and Andrew Cooley (chief revenue officer).

The story behind how the company got its name is quite ironic. It was inspired by the phrase “Shut your storyteller!” But being silent is the last thing the team at Storyteller Overland wants people to do.

“We want to give people the way to get to telling their stories and a way to those adventures where their stories will then be generated,” Rogers says.

They hope to do this by offering top-of-the-line camper vans and adventure trucks, but the Storyteller community also gives people a chance to make and share stories.

“They are so interconnected, and they take care of each other,” Rogers says of Storyteller owners. “It’s amazing.”

Rogers, who began her career in 2014 at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, joined the Storyteller Overland team in 2022. After excelling as chief of staff, she was promoted to chief communications officer the following year. It’s her job to build connections and enhance engagement among the company’s employees who live across the United States, Storyteller owners and the community at large.

“I was already in the automotive manufacturing world, but then I found out about Storyteller and just how much this company cares about its employees and how much they care about the people that we serve,” Rogers says. “The decisions that we make here are with people in mind, no matter if we’re making an internal decision or something that’s external or something that’s going to affect our dealers. That’s what I love so much about this place. It is so people-centric.”

Good Vibes Only

It all started with a sign. After buying their Storyteller vehicle in August 2022, Esparza and Mendoza attended an adventure van expo near Lake Tahoe the next month. Once they were all set up, they fired up a neon sign that simply read “Good Vibes.”

Since that’s also one of the mantras of Storyteller Overland, Esparza and Mendoza believe that’s what attracted other Storyteller owners to their van. An impromptu hangout emerged.

“We’re able to bring people together from all walks of life and all ages,” Mendoza says.

Mendoza, 33, and Esparza, 36, are usually the youngest owners at various events. But that doesn’t keep them from leading the way to cultivating camaraderie.

“There’s a lot of introverted people, but somehow we are able to make them feel comfortable,” Mendoza says.

When Esparza and Mendoza say all are welcome, they mean it. At expos, you’re likely to find them inviting anyone to come hang out, whether they own a Storyteller vehicle or not. They even invite vendors to come join the fun.

“We know what it feels like to not be included,” Mendoza says. She and Esparza say they both sometimes feel different from their other friends and family. “We joke around that we’re the misfits, and the people [who] hang out with us, they also joke around about being the misfits.”

Their hospitality started small with Esparza setting up whiskey tastings while Mendoza whipped up cute cocktails and prickly pear lemonade for those looking for nonalcoholic options. Their bar was dubbed the “Good Vibes Bar.”

Later they’d host tiki-themed nights, and everyone looked forward to Esparza smoking meats to nosh on.

Eventually Esparza and Mendoza launched a Storyteller community for those based in northern California and began to host events of their own. They now organize their own meetups and campouts and themed events like Vansgiving.

“I smoked some ham, a friend of mine deep-fried a turkey and we just had a giant potluck around Thanksgiving,” Esparza says.

Mendoza adds, “What better way to bond with people than over food, as well as being out in the outdoors.”

Despite their “good vibes” attitude, the members of the Storyteller community are ready to support one another through the bad times, too.

When a member was diagnosed with cancer, the group rallied around him. Esparza and Mendoza organized a lunch so local members could wish him well before surgery. Esparza even took him on a last-minute camping trip.

“We really are straight up family,” Esparza reiterates.

Heart & SOUL

The team at Storyteller Overland wants community members not only to find adventures across the country but also leave each place they visit better. That’s why they launched the SOUL Program, which stands for Storyteller Outreach Uplift and Love. Community members are encouraged to find ways to invest in the communities around them.

“It’s really just about pouring back the blessings that we’ve received,” Rogers says.

For this year’s Vansgiving, Esparza and Mendoza will encourage campers to bring canned foods, which they’ll donate to a local charity. They’re also planning a December campout called Deck the Vans. With Storyteller Overland sponsoring the campsite, admission will be toys that will be donated to a local Toys for Tots program. Storyteller Overland hopes to organize other projects such as trail cleanups.

As Storyteller Overland continues to grow, the company never wants to lose its focus on cultivating community. They will continue to support the owner-organized events as much as possible and seek to foster friendships.

When the owners of the first HILT models that Storyteller sold came to pick up their vehicles, they instantly connected.

“We’ve heard they’re planning a 10-day trip together in Colorado,” Rogers shares. “That makes all of our little hearts just want to explode!”

Because the team at Storyteller Overland believes that storytelling helps build community, they’re also launching a newsletter that will do more than offer company updates and tips and tricks for maintaining the vehicles, but will also give owners another platform to share their adventures.

Esparza and Mendoza will keep doing their part, too. They’re already working on a joint event with a Storyteller community based in the Pacific Northwest.

“Life is short, and there’s so many things that are going on in the world, so many things going on in people’s own lives, and what we love about van life and the Storyteller community is we’re able to put that on the back burner and enjoy ourselves,” Mendoza says. “It’s just a really great community that we never thought we would have.”

See RV PRO’s coverage of Storyteller Overland’s GXV HILT adventure truck here.