Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Pharr Davis.
Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Hendersonville, North Carolina, about 20 miles south of Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a kid I was into traditional sports like tennis and basketball, but didn’t get out much for hikes. I decided after finishing college I wanted to thru hike the Appalachian Trail. At the time I had not spent a single night camping in the woods. I fell in love with it though and finished my first 2189 mile journey in 2005 as a 21-year-old. I Immediately wanted to hike more so I secured a job where I could take off in the summer of 2006 to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. After that, I wanted to push my physical limits so in the summer of 2007 I decided to attempt the overall record on the Long Trail in Vermont and successfully completed that. From there I went deeper and deeper into “fastest known times,” setting the women’s overall record on the Appalachian Trail with the help of my newlywed husband Brew in 2008 and then three years later in 2011 I set the overall record. I became the first woman to hold that mark by hiking 47 miles a day for 46 straight days. While I was doing all of these hiking adventures I was also running my new guiding service Blue Ridge Hiking Company in Asheville, North Carolina. I grew that from a 2 person operation to a 20 person one with a couple of vehicles, a bunk house on the Appalachian Trail and a shop in downtown Asheville. We were able to get a lot of women, minorities and other people who may not have always felt comfortable in the woods on the trails and have some great experiences in the Southern Appalachians. I also wrote a book about my first through hike that was called Becoming Odyssa and it came out around the time of my Appalachian Trail FKT so there were kind of some convergences with my name getting out there. I started speaking first to promote my books at libraries, outdoor stores, bookstores and nature centers around the country, My husband and I and our newborn daughter Charley spent 18 months on the road in 2013 and 14. We visited all 50 states and our daughter actually got on a trail in all 50 states either on her own 2 feet or being carried by one of us. I transitioned from giving book talks to giving corporate keynotes and speaking at colleges, universities, secondary schools and other nonprofit and trade association conferences. I have given over 1000 presentations in the past 15 years, in person and virtually across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. I don’t hike as fast or as far as I used to, but I love spending time with my husband and kids in the Smokies or the Blue Ridge Mountains around Asheville. I love identifying wildflowers and mushrooms and spotting little beauties the Appalachians have to offer. We pick our adventures and they almost always center around hiking. Around New Year’s we went to the Florida Keys. For spring break we’re going to New Mexico. And over the summer, we are hoping to take a road trip to the Maritime provinces in Canada and to Newfoundland, I love getting to do what I do and I’m grateful every day for the opportunity to be self-employed and work with my husband. We sold Blue Ridge Hiking Company to our general manager three years ago so that I could go to graduate school for a masters in public policy from Cal Berkeley. Right now I focus all my attention on speaking in writing and I’m open to working in the nonprofit sector in the future if the right position comes along. I love having the opportunity to inspire people- especially young women and others who may not have always felt welcome in the woods- to get outdoors and see how strong and independent they can be. I also love speaking to corporate groups and helping executives and sales teams balance the demands of life by talking about resilience, adaptability, time management, and having vision and direction. At the heart of it all, I’m a storyteller. I’m glad the story is not over and I’m always looking forward to the next chapter. Before we got married in 2008, my husband and I got some great advice from premarital counselors who said “you have to let each other dream.” My husband Brew is playing a lot more music now and having some exciting stuff things with his Bluegrass band Nick & Brew. I’m glad I can help him dream because he has helped me dream for 17 years of marriage and even more before thatz I’m looking forward to seeing where the next dreams take us.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, first of all, I would call it more of a trail than a road. Haha. And if you know trails, you know that they are almost never smooth. There are ups and downs, twists and turns, sometimes you move in the wrong direction. Sometimes you get turned around and lost or get off trail for a while because of an injury or because you just need a break. My book Becoming Odyssa chronicles a lot of of those struggles and I would say that our life- meaning mine and my husbands and our kids- has mimicked that first Appalachian Trail journey. There is sorrow, there are challenges. There are crazy things that happen, but overall there is an awful lot of joy and goodness and gratitude for everything. We could keep putting one foot in front of the other, that’s all that any of us can do, right?
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Jennifer Pharr Davis LLC is my speaking and writing business. I give professional presentations to law firms, companies in the healthcare, finance, tech and construction industries. Everything from conference keynotes to workshops on time management and self-care in extreme environments. Topics often include resilience, adaptability, casting vision, maintaining direction, and breaking through the artificial limits we set for ourselves. I am a storyteller at heart, I would say what sets me apart is my authenticity, being an entrepreneur and successful business woman and author in addition to an outdoor adventurer and having loads of experience as a speaker. I take a lot of pride in my craft and ability to relate my adventures and the lessons I’ve learned from them to the specific situations and industries companies are in, whether it’s merger and acquisitions, sales kickoff, annual meetings, women to equity at law firms or anything else.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Don’t be afraid to take risks. I gave it Ted talk at Wake Forest years ago and the theme of it was adventure is not irresponsible. That’s a double negative that means just because you’re getting outside of your comfort zone and perhaps chasing a dream doesn’t mean you’re doing it recklessly. I started my hiking company when I was 25 Being an entrepreneur at that age allows you to make a lot of mistakes, learn from them and have room to grow.
Pricing:
- $5,000-$15,000
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.jenniferpharrdavis.com
- Instagram: @jenpharrdavis
- Facebook: Jenpharrdavis
- LinkedIn: Jennifer-Pharr-davis
