From the bar life to the salt life
Tia Clark is Charleston to her core – born downtown, raised in a Gullah Geechee family, surrounded by blue crabs, food, and tradition.
But for most of her adult life, she lived far from the water, working long nights in bars, smoking heavily, struggling with her health, and drifting from the culture that raised her.
Then one day, she went crabbing. And nothing about her life looked the same again.
Clark shared her story Jan. 28 at the Rotary Club of Daniel Island, not as a business pitch, not as a motivational speech, but as a raw account of how survival turned into healing, and healing turned into purpose.
A true Charleston native, Clark grew up in a massive Gullah Geechee family where food and togetherness were inseparable. “My great-grandmother had 18 kids, and there were three sets of twins in there,” she laughed. “My grandmother’s house was the glue, that’s where she held us all together. There were always piles of blue crab on the tables outside; we grew up eating crabs our whole life.”
TIA's DOWNWARD SPIRAL
Crabs were part of her upbringing, but the water wasn’t. For 20 years, Clark worked in food and beverage, starting at 17, washing dishes, bartending, managing bars, and living what she calls a self-destructive cycle.
“I would work all night, drink all night, smoke cigarettes, sleep all day – wash, rinse, repeat. I didn’t take care of myself, and I didn’t really care about what happened to me.”
By 2016, she was more than 140 pounds heavier than she is today and in poor health. Quitting smoking triggered a medical crisis. Within months, she developed severe inflammation, hives, swelling, and hormonal imbalances that sent her repeatedly to the hospital.
“I was covered in hives. My hands were swelling so big I couldn’t close them,” she said.
The solution wasn’t medication; it was a full lifestyle overhaul. Clark went on a strict elimination diet: no sugar, gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, processed foods, or artificial flavors. “That’s in everything that we eat, just so you know,” she said.
Within 48 hours, her inflammation began to fade. “The hives stopped. The inflammation stopped. Everything stopped.”
A CALL TO THE DOCK
At her three-month checkup, the nurse added one more instruction: add 30 minutes of physical activity daily.
Clark didn’t go to a gym. She went to the water.
At a family wedding, relatives noticed her rapid weight loss and invited her to go crabbing.
“I thought, ‘How’s that going to help me get active?’” she said. She wasn’t impressed, until she got on the dock. In just two hours, she learned to throw a cast net, catch shrimp, fish whiting, and pull blue crabs from the water.
“My head exploded,” she said. “I learned how to cook from my mom and my grandma, but now I was digging out all the old pots and pans with these fresh ingredients, and I knew exactly what to do.”
That first trip sparked something deeper than fitness or food. “I fell in love with the water, to the point that it was consuming me,” Clark said.
She began crabbing every day, often driving straight from closing the bar at 3 a.m. to the dock. “Something would just pull me in. I’d turn the wheel to go to the dock and I’d watch the sunrise and watch my home come to life from the darkness every day.”
Crabbing became therapy, ritual, identity.
“That experience of catching and cooking food rocked me to my core,” Clark said. “There’s just something about catching and cooking my food that I had no idea about until I was almost 40 that makes me feel whole and complete.”
Today, Clark eats nearly 80% of what she catches or trades, processes meat into jerky and sausage, and turns seafood into boils and chowders. She practices what she calls ethical harvesting: “If it’s going to die by my hand, then I’ve got to eat it or do something with it. I can’t just kill it for fun.”
LET'S GO CRABBING
Her hobby became a business when a friend created a Facebook page called Casual Crabbing with Tia. Emotional messages poured in from strangers reconnecting with childhood memories, grandparents, and the water, asking to go crabbing with her.
“I told every single person no,” Clark said. “I put this protective bubble over the space I had.”
Then Airbnb Experiences found her – an online platform that allows hosts to offer guided, hands-on experiences to travelers. Her wife signed her up, and within two weeks, she hosted her first experience: Let’s Go Crabbing. By November 2018, Airbnb flew her to San Francisco and named her one of the top four hosts in the world in their market.
“I had never stayed in an Airbnb until Airbnb flew me to San Francisco,” she laughed.
Now, Casual Crabbing with Tia hosts corporate groups, international visitors, and private sessions. She runs experiences at Safe Harbor Bristol Marina in downtown Charleston and at Dunlin Resort on the Kiawah River, offers mini-crabbing sessions, teaching guests how to throw nets, bait lines, and cook their catch.
“We put our energy into sharing my home, the Lowcountry, my culture,” she said, sharing stories of children finding confidence, families healing, and parents witnessing milestones on the dock. “I feel like we have spiritual experiences with my guests.”
Clark is also a conservationist. She serves on the boards of Charleston Waterkeeper and the South Carolina Aquarium’s Good Catch program, collaborates with the SC Oyster Recycling and Enhancement Program, and was appointed by the governor to the state's Department of Natural Resources Marine Advisory Committee, helping shape South Carolina’s first blue crab regulations.
She’s sponsored by fishing apparel company AFTCO and FITEC Castnets and was named to the Explorers Club 50 Class of 2025. Southern Documentary Fund is currently producing a documentary about her work.
“One day on the water kind of plummeted me into this organic stewardship,” Clark said. “I didn’t know any of this stuff until I had my first experience on the water.”
From a woman battling inflammation, addiction, and burnout to a nationally recognized entrepreneur, cultural ambassador, and conservation leader, Clark’s story is not just transformation; it’s a reconnection.
“There’s something so special happening out there on the dock that has nothing to do with the crabs, and I feel so blessed to be able to facilitate that,” she said.
For more information, visit casualcrabbingwithtia.com or follow Casual Crabbing with Tia on Facebook.