Knee Deep in the Tar River

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Knee Deepin THE

By Mackenzie Tewksbury | Photos by Molly Mathis

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KELSEY CURTIS

walked out of the health care business three years ago.

Her coworkers thought she was crazy.

Her boss thought she was crazy.

Perhaps, she was. After all, she was throwing away a steady income, great benefits, a job in her degree – she was throwing away her career.

Her boss even called her every other week to check to see if she wanted her job back. Her coworkers figured she'd beg for it back after a few weeks.

But she never did. To her, she was working for the weekend for ten years. She was working just so she could hop in her kayak and spend the day knee deep in the Tar River.

“I would work really hard five days a week to wait for those two days off,” Curtis said. “I thought, 'This is not a good way to live. There's got to be something better out there.'”

So, she hung up her scrubs, picked up a life jacket and opened her own business, Knee Deep Adventures, a water sports storefront and the only

company in Greenville that rents kayaks and paddle boards to the community.

She used to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to work long shifts; now she works when she wants to. She used to spend eight hours inside the walls of a hospital in Wilson; now her office is the Tar River. She had no idea if it was going to work out, but a desire for a life she loved made the leap of faith worth while.

“I'm also not waking up everyday saying, 'Gosh, I don't want to go to work,'” Curtis said. “Now, I set my own hours. If I work late, I work late. I work for myself. I'm working for the community.”

As a native of eastern North Carolina,

it was a no-brainer to open her business right here in her hometown.

“This is where my roots are. This is where my family is,” Curtis said. “I've been on this river since I was a little kid. I know it like the back of my hand.”

As she pulls kayaks out of her truck and into the river, she hops in, waves to nearby boaters and paddles almost effortlessly. It seems like second nature. That's likely because it is.

“I could paddle it with my eyes closed,” she said with a laugh.

Curtis works day in and day out – sometimes even 14 hour days – to provide nothing but the best service for her customers. She's always trying to keep her business fresh and unique,

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This is where my roots are. This is where my family is...I've been on this river since I was a little kid. I know it like the back of my hand.

hosting moonlight paddles, Halloween events or even stand-up paddle board yoga, sometimes keeping Curtis at work until 2 a.m.

“I give Kelsey a lot of props. She does a lot more after business hours than a lot of people realize,” employee Clay Barber said.

However, her hard work does not go unnoticed by the community. She was nominated for “Water Conservationist of the Year 2016,” an award given by the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources. She received the “River Friendly Business of the Year” award in 2016. Curtis sees lots of customers from the Raleigh, Cary and New Bern areas, and recently learned

that more than 50 percent of her business comes from renters outside of Greenville, something that to this day surprises her, but nobody else – she recently won the “In Good Company' tourism award from the Greenville Pitt County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“I never thought this business would turn into anything having to do with tourism,” she said.

The area has seemingly latched onto the business, but since she’s the only one doing it, it caused confusion, back and forth phone calls, teeter-tottering with officials and lots of research and questions for Curtis. She admittedly knew nothing about business, so she

spent a lot of time at the Pitt Community College's small business center, absorbing the do's and don'ts of business before she jumped right in.

“I had no idea what a business plan even was three years ago,” Curtis said.

The business plan didn't go off without a hitch, however. The city didn't know how to zone her, her accountants didn't know what to do with her and she didn't even know what to tax her customers. She struggled with educating customers on what she was even doing – people thought kayaks were canoes and paddle boards were surfboards. Customers were even confused when they asked her male employees questions and they pointed to Curtis

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I think we've helped give people the courage that they need to say,

'Hey, the river is safe,the river is clean,go out and enjoy it.'

and said, “She's the owner.” “I mean, I drive around with a 28 foot long trailer that's 10 feet tall and everyone is shocked when I get out of the car and I'm like, 'Yeah, I got this,'” Curtis said.

Curtis also fights for the Tar River; actively debunking stereotypes and educating the community about not only the river itself but also safety measures. She stays informed on the river on a daily basis, working closely with Sound Rivers, an environment nonprofit that guards the health of the river, and the United States Geological Survey river gauges – and she won't let anyone out if she sees even the smallest bit of danger. Curtis said she doesn’t want to get in dirty water, so she wouldn’t send her customers into dirty water, either.

“Me and my employees will just take off the dock and jump in. People think we're nuts, but it's kind of to prove a point,” Curtis said. “If

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it was unsafe, we would never attempt this business here.”

Barber, employee at Knee Deep Adventures, does everything from social media and photography to guided group tours. He believes Curtis and her business are a tremendous asset to the river, allowing customers to enjoy the benefits hassle-free.

“They don't need to haul gear or clean or anything. They just get in, have fun, get out, thank you, go home,” he said.

Barber said his favorite thing about the Tar River is that it offers him a place of solitude.

“It's hard for me to take a whole weekend off and go to the mountains or beach or all these faraway places,” Barber said. “I've figured out there are some places that I can get to in under an hour that feel like you're a million miles from everywhere.”

Barber’s sentiment is really the crux of Curtis’ goal: to show people the great things the river has to offer and grow the Tar River paddling community.

“I'll tell ya, I see a lot more kayaks on the river. I think we've helped give people the courage that they need to say, 'Hey, the river is safe, the river is clean, go out and enjoy it.'”

On the cusp of her three year anniversary, Curtis shows no signs of slowing that goal.

“A lot of people say once you hit the three year mark then you're probably going to be OK when it comes to starting your own small business,” Curtis said. “Hopefully that's true.”

Her anniversary also marks three years since leaving healthcare, and she hasn’t looked back since.

“I'd rather make no money and do something I love than have a steady income and be miserable,” Curtis said.

www.kneedeepadventures.comkneedeepoutdooradventures@gmail.com252-714-5836

@kneedeepadventures@KneeDeepGville@kneedeepadventures

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