Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Thrift.
Hi Christy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I believe true success comes from doing what makes you happy – what brings you joy, peace, and strength. Money certainly helps, but it is not the source of genuine happiness or fulfillment.
My journey toward that understanding began in 2008, when I took a two-month sabbatical from the hospital sleep lab where I worked and traveled alone to Uganda. After landing, I was driven eight hours into the jungle, where I lived among the Bugisu people.
During my time there, I worked in both a medical clinic and a women’s clinic. I also developed material for a community acting troupe and helped teach its performers. We traveled on foot to neighboring villages, staging plays about family planning, nutrition, and healthcare.
By the end of my stay, I almost did not want to come home.
The region faced profound hardship. It was one of the poorest places in the world and was deeply affected by HIV. I watched people die from starvation and preventable illnesses such as malaria. Yet despite everything they endured, the people I met were among the happiest I had ever known.
Their lives were grounded in family, community, and faith. Christians and Muslims lived alongside one another, peacefully integrated and largely unaffected by many of the pressures of the outside world. They showed me that joy does not always come from what we possess. Often, it comes from how deeply we belong.
Meanwhile, back home, my climbing partner, Simon, was getting a little too comfortable with his new best friend and climbing partner. How dare he, right?
I returned to Concord, North Carolina, a changed person. Within 72 hours, Simon called. He wanted to hear all about my medical mission trip, so we met at a climbing gym. What I did not know was that he had arranged a blind date – against my will – with his new climbing partner, Scott Thrift.
The rest of that story is still being written. Scott and I have now been married for more than 16 years. In 2010, he proposed 80 feet up the side of Stone Mountain in North Carolina – an appropriate beginning for the life we would build together.
By 2012, years of construction work had left Scott in so much physical pain that he needed an exit strategy. I, too, was searching for an alternative to working in healthcare.
Scott had previously guided on Mount Rainier and was working locally as a climbing guide for a close friend and fellow outfitter. When that friend decided to relocate his company back north, an opportunity began to take shape. Scott was also working as a whitewater guide at the U.S. National Whitewater Center outside Charlotte, gaining experience that would help prepare us for what came next.
One evening in 2012, we sat around the dinner table with family and talked about our goals and dreams. Scott and I shared the same vision: to own a guide service and build a life that would eventually allow us to leave our respective professions and do work we truly loved.
That evening, my mother handed us a check for $5,000 and told us to follow our dreams. Scott’s former employer also gave us gear, introduced us to clients, and shared the knowledge we needed to build a successful guide service.
We understood that following a passion is only the beginning. Turning it into something sustainable requires courage, sacrifice, and relentless effort. So we dove in.
We worked hard, learned as we went, and built a business that now generates well over $100,000 a year. The path was not immediate or easy. We kept our day jobs while building the company, working long hours to make our dream possible.
For us, success was never simply about earning money. It was about creating a life rooted in purpose – one that gave us joy, peace, and strength. The business became successful because it grew from something we genuinely loved, but its greatest value cannot be measured by revenue alone. It gave us the freedom to build a life that felt authentically ours.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We have experienced plenty of highs, lows, and everything in between. As I often say, if you want to own a business where nearly everything that matters is beyond your control, start an outdoor adventure guide service.
The river may be too high or too low, too warm or too cold. It may rain too much, storm too often, or stay dry for too long. In this business, nature sets the schedule, and we have learned to adapt.
Nothing, however, could have prepared us for Hurricane Helene.
In September 2024, Helene devastated our region. Nearly two years later, some of my neighbors remain missing. The river beside which we live and operate was transformed, carving an entirely new path through the landscape. Hundreds of miles of railroad tracks were destroyed, bridges were swept away, and entire communities were cut off from the outside world.
We were stranded for nine days without power, cell service, or access to 911. The National Guard did not reach us until the ninth day. Until then, the only help available came from within our community. Neighbors rescued neighbors. People shared whatever food, water, equipment, and skills they had.
Scott and I immediately began rescue operations. We coordinated with local fire departments to clear roads and reach isolated areas. On our road, an elderly couple living with dementia had been left without caregivers, food, or water for nearly three days before we reached them. Because the bridge had been destroyed, we helped arrange for them to be airlifted to their waiting family.
That bridge had been struck by a house carried downstream by a 35-foot wall of water. A state trooper later estimated that the house was moving at approximately 70 miles per hour.
We had no electricity for six weeks, while some of our neighbors remained without power for more than six months. We delivered food, drinking water, medicine, oxygen, and other essential supplies. When the National Guard arrived, I assisted in marking possible locations of human remains. Along an eight-mile stretch of river beside our community, we identified more than 120 potential sites.
Our families did not learn that we had survived until four days after the storm. They were terrified, but Scott’s family reassured my mother that we were likely helping others and had the skills to stay alive. Both of us had rescue experience and certifications in rope and swift-water rescue. We were also experienced outdoorspeople with a practical understanding of survival. That training became more important than we could ever have imagined.
In the middle of the devastation, I reached a remote, generator-powered Starlink connection that a neighbor had made available. I contacted a colleague and friend at NCOA and asked her to launch a GoFundMe campaign for northern Mitchell County using a photograph I had taken.
The image captured the view just before we stopped filming. We had watched a neighbor’s home wash away, and at that point, documenting the destruction no longer mattered. It was time to begin rescue operations.
Within a week, the fundraiser had collected more than $100,000. It eventually reached $276,000, thanks to more than 3,500 donors. Through our business, we distributed $204,000 directly to 34 local families who had lost virtually everything.
The remaining funds supported long-term recovery and resilience projects throughout the Green Mountain and Red Hill communities. We organized six river cleanups and six riverbank planting events. Because nearly all the trees along the river had been destroyed, volunteers planted 600 trees along an eight-mile stretch of the North Toe River.
We also distributed 1,200 vegetable plants to help address food insecurity. Through a youth survival camp, we taught 60 local children essential emergency skills. Each participant received a “go bucket” filled with enough supplies to help sustain the child and their family for at least 72 hours.
The money went quickly, but it accomplished an extraordinary amount of good. Every dollar raised was used to support families and recovery efforts in the community. We did not use any of the donations to repair our own property or support our business, even though we sustained approximately $180,000 in damage.
Our home continues to face structural problems caused by erosion, and we are still repairing the damage. Helene affected every river and mountain where we operate across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. All of the more than 20 tours we offered were disrupted.
Some of the areas we once used for rock-climbing and rappelling tours remain closed nearly two years later, with no clear timeline – or guarantee – for reopening. Landslides destroyed access to numerous climbing areas, and storm-related damage and closures severely reduced our business revenue throughout 2025.
We remain deeply involved in Hurricane Helene recovery efforts because disaster recovery does not end when the floodwaters recede or the news crews leave. It is constant, demanding, and deeply personal. For communities across Western North Carolina, the work will continue for at least another decade.
Helene showed us how quickly everything can change. It also reminded us why community matters. When roads disappeared, communication failed, and formal assistance could not reach us, people cared for one another. In the worst moment of our lives, we witnessed both unimaginable loss and extraordinary courage.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Based out of the Blue Ridge mountains in Western North Carolina, NCOA offers over 21 different trips including; tubing, rafting, whitewater kayak instruction, climbing, rappelling, waterfall rappelling, hiking, camping, youth programs, boy and girl scout programs, eco-hiking plus alpine climbing instruction during the winter months. Our diversity in trip offerings makes our family owned company the perfect choice for many families, couples, adventurers, and groups.
We’d love to have you adventure with us at NCOA.
Why Choose NC Outdoor Adventures?
Created in 2012 NCOA (aka: Thrifty Adventures) has over 2 decades of experience guiding unique wilderness tours. Scott Thrift, co-owner, started guiding on Mount Rainier in 2002.
NCOA Has the most charismatic staff who are both fun, safe, well trained, and experienced.
You are the foundation of our company and the reason we come to work every day.
While NC Outdoor Adventures has trips across NC, SC and TN their home-base is in one of the most picturesque and adventure-filled parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the NC/TN border. NCOA’s River Outpost Store and Unique Farm Stay Luxury Lodging are located alongside the Toe River.
NO CROWDS!!!! Why do you ask? This is due to the remote, off the beaten path location of NC Outdoor Adventures. This makes our spot the perfect place for those looking to disconnect and truly experience nature. Prime Spot for families, large groups and camps looking for a more privately catered to them experiences! We even host the occasional intimate farm wedding and family reunion!
How do you define success?
I answered this pretty well in the first question 🙂 For us, success was never simply about earning money. It was about creating a life rooted in purpose – one that gave us joy, peace, and strength. The business became successful because it grew from something we genuinely loved, but its greatest value cannot be measured by revenue alone. It gave us the freedom to build a life that felt authentically ours.
Pricing:
- varies per experience or lodging choice
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ncoutdooradventures.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ncoutdooradventures/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCOutdoorAdventures
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ncoutdooradventures3653
