INTERVIEW
TRAIL GUIDE
THE PATH FORWARD Record-Breaking Adventurer Jennifer Pharr Davis and Her Husband, Brew, Talk New Books, a Presidential Appointment, and the Business of Hiking B Y A N N A K AT H E R I N E C L E M M O N S
IN APRIL OF 2020, LIKE MUCH OF THE
world, Jennifer Pharr Davis and Brew Davis were, as they said, “in the muck.” The outdoor adventurers, who own Blue Ridge Hiking Company in Asheville, N.C., as well as Jennifer Pharr Davis LLC—an organization focused on getting others outdoors through speaking and writing—both struggled with depression throughout the early months of the pandemic. But like many of the clients they guide through the wilderness, and many of the audiences that Jen, who was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2011 after setting the FKT on the Appalachian Trail, talks with nationwide as a speaker and writer, they found solace in nature. And each other. Fast forward a year later and they’d just returned from a month-long western road trip with their children, Charley, age 8 and Gus, age 4. Jen and Brew, who’s also a singer-songwriter, were fully vaccinated, and as of mid-April, their kids had returned to in-person school. “That has made the biggest quality of life difference,” Jen says. “It’s crazy that we got used to [life at home together all the time].” With a new book out as part of a kids’ outdoor series, new speaker talks scheduled, numerous guided hikes planned for spring and summer, and a new position for Jen on the President’s Council for Sport, Fitness & Nutrition, we caught up with the couple about how the last year had changed their family, their business, and their careers—and what they learned from those experiences. BRO: It sounds like you are back to a busy working schedule. How does that feel? JEN: Both of our businesses started under the same umbrella in 2008. With Blue Ridge Hiking Company,
we have a wonderful manager who oversees the day to day; Jennifer Pharr Davis is a separate LLC, where Brew was my manager/agent. Before the pandemic, we were so busy, and it was great, almost too great. Both businesses were doing really well. We were really fortunate that we have the hiking company, because it was viable and open last year, whereas our main livelihood of speaking and writing had totally dried up. Just to have work was really important to us. I struggled with mild to moderate depression throughout [the pandemic]; relationally, our family stayed intact really well, but it was a challenge. I’m glad to be coming out of it. BREW: Back in the spring, I was depressed, more than any other time during COVID. I would go on trail runs and the trails around here were all open. I’d pass people, and I would briefly forget to social distance, and there’s no other place where that happens. I’d think, 'the only place I feel normal is on a trail run.' Nature was self-
regulating. That was really powerful. BRO: When did your businesses really start to be impacted by COVID? JEN: In 2019, Blue Ridge Hiking Company had expanded into the retail shop and we had opened a bunkhouse on the Appalachian Trail, so we were where we wanted to be, financially. Our guiding season picks up mid/end of March, right when COVID started. The little reserves we had in our bank account all got drained: people were cancelling hikes right and left, we couldn’t operate for two-and-a-half months, the store was closed. Like a lot of small business owners, we hustled to apply for grants and government funding and PPP. We had a book club planned for the year, and authors had already agreed to give talks. A lot was supposed to be in person, but with COVID, we turned it to an online book club. We sold over 400 books online— for an outdoors store, that was unique. We really started focusing on people
F R O M L E F T: J E N N I F E R P H A R R D AV I S W I T H H E R C H I L D R E N , C H A R L E Y, 8 , A N D G U S , 4 , A N D H U S B A N D , B R E W. P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F T H E F A M I L Y
who wanted that outdoor fix who were very good to support our business in that way. That gave us a faint pulse and got us through spring. Even though the speaking and the writing sort of dried up, and we had limited capacity since our children were with us 24-7, the messaging was more important, publicly and personally. I really felt vindicated in the fact that for the past 13 years, we’ve been saying, ‘go outside, it helps your mental health, it helps physically, it’s free, accessible, connect out there.’ And then last year, that’s all we had. That connection to the outdoors and being able to be in an environment that was biologically living was huge. And then, it went bananas. We did as much work in two seasons last year that we typically do in three seasons. I think this spring will be our best season as a guiding company that we’ve had in 13 years.
JUNE 2021 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM
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