• HOME
  • FEATURES
    • Best Of Cover Shoot
    • Pet Owner’s Stories
    • People
    • Places
    • Issues
    • Remembering
    • Things
    • To Do
  • DEPARTMENTS
    • Finance / Real Estate
      • Financial Articles
      • Top 10 Most Expensive Homes Sold
      • Real Estate
        • Real Estate Experts
        • Articles
    • Attorney Directory
    • Ask the Experts
    • Business
      • Belle Hall Shopping Center
      • Lowcountry Women in Business
      • MP Business
    • Entertainment
      • Golf
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Food & Drink
    • Giving Back
    • Health & Wellness
      • COVID-19 Articles & Resources
    • House & Home
    • Learning
      • Wando High School
    • Love & Marriage
    • Pets
    • Relax & Retire
  • Read Magazine
  • MORE MAGS
    • Charleston Women 👩‍🏫🏢
    • Lowcountry Cuisine 🧀🍷
    • Best of Mt Pleasant Mag 🏆🏆
    • Charleston Women in Real Estate 👩🏘️
    • MP Business Mag 🏢
    • MP Pets 🐶🐱
    • Charleston Independent School Directory 🏫
    • MP Senior Living 👴👵
    • More Mags
      • IOP Mag
      • SI Mag
      • MP Town Hall Magazine
  • OUR TOWN
    • MP Town Hall
    • MP Town Council
  • DIRECTORIES
    • East Cooper Church Directory
    • East Cooper Fitness Directory
    • Local 2019 CPA Tax Directory
    • Mount Pleasant Apartment Directory
  • SUBSCRIBE

Mount Pleasant Magazine

Mount Pleasant Magazine (Mount Pleasant, SC) informs residents and visitors about people, places and happenings around our area.

Shop Belle Hall
  • Best of Mount Pleasant
    • Best Of Winner Articles
    • Best Of Results Current & Past
    • Best Of Winner Articles
    • Best Of Magazines
    • Best Of Videos
    • Best Of Party Photos
    • Best Of Plaques
  • Podcast
  • Local Events
  • Our Winners
  • Advertise
    • Advertise With Us
    • Media Kit
    • Video Testimonials
  • MORE
    • MP Neighborhoods
    • East Cooper Online Network
    • Real Estate Experts
    • Attorney Directory
    • News
    • Contact

Casual Crabbing with Tia: How Quitting Cigarettes Changed One Woman’s Life

Posted by MPM 1 Comment

Casual Crabbing with Tia Clark
It started when Tia Clark quit her 20-year smoking habit cold turkey – she simply wanted to make a positive change in her life. What she didn’t realize was that this monumental alteration was only the beginning. Nearly two years later, the Charleston native has started a new business, lost over 100 pounds and has a completely different outlook on herself and her life.

When she quit smoking in January 2017, Clark’s body retaliated against the sudden change. She broke out into hives and even drove herself to the hospital three times in one month due to swelling in her right hand. Steroids relaxed her problems, but, when they wore off, the hives relentlessly returned. When the hospital could no longer give her steroids, she was sent to a national allergy specialist, where she spent six weeks and subsequently thousands of dollars as she checked off the list of hypoallergenic changes to make in her home – but it didn’t help.

“I told my wife, ‘I’m really losing my will to live,’” she recalled. “I was taking Benadryl to exist. I would go to work, come home, pass out and hope the pain or itching would go away.”

The allergy center sent Clark to Dr. Gene Blake at Rhett Women’s Center in Mount Pleasant. Dr. Blake recommended that she begin an elimination diet, and, within 24 hours of implementing the diet, she finally began to feel relief.

“For 20 years, I was putting something in my body, and I snatched it out. If you put anything in your body for 20 years and suddenly take it out, your body will scream. My body was screaming,” she explained. “The elimination diet takes everything out of your system – no booze, no sugar, eggs, dairy, gluten, corn, artificial flavors – basically protein and vegetables and fruits are what you eat.”

After 17 years in the food and beverage industry, Clark – a bartender and former bar manager accustomed to drinking and late nights – was living a completely different lifestyle and loving it. She became dedicated to her new diet not only because she began shedding pounds but because she didn’t want to risk the return of her allergy problems.

By chance, a cousin invited her to go crabbing, and she was hooked.

“I went crabbing every day for three or four months after I went with him,” she smiled. “I don’t know if it was to fill a void from smoking, but I didn’t want it to end.

I used crabbing as my gym. I was spending time outside every day and being active, throwing the cast net and carrying the bucket. I loved it, and I loved the people that I met doing it.”

She loved it so much that she even got a five-inch crab – the legal minimum size – tattooed on her leg to measure her catch.

When her friends saw her pictures, they began asking if she could take their friends and families crabbing, but Clark was hesitant to let people in on what was to her a therapeutic activity. She eventually agreed to take some eager participants along.

“I couldn’t have been more wrong to want to keep this to myself. Every person who comes with me enhances the experience,” Clark beamed.

A co-worker started a Facebook page he named Casual Crabbing with Tia, and the site quickly garnered hundreds of likes, messages from strangers thanking her for being an inspiration and others asking if she could take their families crabbing. Almost overnight, her passion turned from a pastime to a second career.

Clark made Casual Crabbing with Tia an official business and now takes clients along to enjoy the activity she loves so much. She provides all of the crabbing gear: baskets, cast nets and fishing rods and bait. The only thing a client needs to bring is a good attitude and a saltwater fishing license. They crab from docks rather than from a boat.

“I get there early and set up a ‘playground’ so my guests can crab two ways. We’re casting the cast net for live bait, we’re putting the fishing rod out and checking the crab baskets. It’s very active, not like fishing,” she said.

Her clients can choose to catch and release the crabs or make a meal out of them.

For Clark and her customers, the experience is much more than crabbing – it’s about the opportunity to get outside and to be immersed into the community.

“The locals and people on the docks really make the whole experience. There’s a guy that’s been crabbing downtown on Brittlebank for 12 years every single weekend – people like him interact with my guests. It becomes much more than just a trip to catch crabs.”

The unique adventure has even become a featured Airbnb experience.

“When I go on vacation, I want to go where the locals are, not where the tourists are. It’s eye-opening for someone that’s visiting to be instantly immersed in the culture here. This is not a bus tour; my group maximum is six people. I want it to be small and intimate. Airbnb calls it ‘Go Crabbing with a Charleston Native’ – it’s not promoting my business, it’s promoting me and this amazing experience,” she said.

As Clark nears her two-year anniversary of quitting cigarettes – and the avalanche of positivity that followed – she is a different person. She has lost over 100 pounds and continues to follow a microbiome diet about 70 percent of the time. She wears the same belt, with each notch signed and dated by one of her regulars at the bar. Clark is a member of the Carolina Lady Anglers, using her food and beverage ties to get donations for their Fishing for the Cure tournament. She also has taken schoolchildren on crabbing field trips.

“I feel like I have goals now. F&B is close to my heart; it’s how I make a living. I love the people; I love being behind the bar; but this is different. It opens up something I didn’t even realize. My spirit, soul and attitude before this was the exact opposite,” she said. “I never really used to smile a lot or look in mirrors – I used to just exist and not care about myself. Now it’s all different. I wear lighter colors, I open the windows, my spirit and everything feel free and I want to nurture and share it. It doesn’t get any better.”

By Anne Shuler Toole

Sharing is Caring

Possibly Related:

Charleston Allergy & AsthmaCharleston Allergy & Asthma: Improving Quality of Life

Filed Under: To Do

Comments

  1. Susan Fancher says

    November 21, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    What a fun article. Great job, Anne!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search the Site


We're on Facebook We're on Twitter Mount Pleasant Magazine Youtube Channel We're on Pinterest Mount Pleasant Magazine Facebook Community We're on Instagram
READ ONLINE
Read the digital magazine now.
GRAB A COPY
Where can I pick up a copy of Mount Pleasant Magazine?
GRAB A COPY
At Welcome Centers & Airports
SUBSCRIBE
Get Mount Pleasant Magazine Delivered.
Pamper your pets at Hairy Winston Pet Boutique and Grocery!
McCay Kiddy CPAs & Advisors. More Than Numbers. Welcome to the New Age CPA Firm.
Need a doctor? Charleston Physicians can connect you with Mt Pleasant doctors.
Read Charleston Women Magazine online now.
Suzie Smith, pet-friendly real estate agent/Realtor


Online Magazines

Mount Pleasant

Lifestyle Magazine

Read Isle of Palms

Magazine Online

Read Sullivan's Island

Magazine Online

Take a Bite

Lowcountry Cuisine Magazine

Georgetown, SC. Yummy Day Trips
Isle of Palms Magazine - family of sites logo
Mount Pleasant Magazine - family of sites logo
North Mount Pleasant Magazine - family of sites logo
Sullivan's Island Magazine - family of sites logo

Recent Posts

Podcast Episode 15: Jenn Cady & the Best Of Cover Photo Shoot

Podcast Episode 15: On this episode of VOICE for Mount Pleasant Jenn Cady talks with MPM Publisher Bill Macchio about the cover shoot for the magazine cover for the Mount Pleasant Magazine Best of … Continue Reading

Local Cheer to End the Year: Operation COVID Christmas

By Pamela Jouan Sometimes all it takes is a phone call to get the ball rolling on a great idea. When Mayor Will Haynie decided it was time to spread joy throughout Mount Pleasant, he started dialing … Continue Reading

Daniel Island Section

Keeping the Dream of Playing Tennis Alive: The South Carolina Junior Tennis Foundation

Since 1973, South Carolina’s Lowcountry has welcomed players from the Women’s Tennis Association once a year for the annual Volvo Car Open, North America’s largest women-only tennis tournament. … Continue Reading

Truly One-of-a-kind: 369 Ralston Creek Drive

Big cities certainly have advantages – culture, dining, employment opportunities and excitement. But face it: Sometimes people yearn for a peaceful, serene atmosphere where they can relax, raise a … Continue Reading

More Daniel Island Section Posts

SEARCH

Featured Pages

Mount Pleasant Apartments
East Cooper Online Network

Copyright © 2021 · Mount Pleasant Magazine, All Rights Reserved. Advertise With Us.