My Conservation Story: Paul Kisielewski
By Paul Kisielewski, owner of 2% Certified Southern Appalachian Anglers Co.
I grew up in Lake Lure, North Carolina when the land was cheap. My family bought a tract of land for $8,000.00 dollars and built a house next to the lake. As a kid, that was my happy place. A quick 5-minute walk down to the lake and I was fishing.
At 7 years old I learned to skip docks, tie knots, rig baits, spool reels, read water, and drive boats. A kid’s paradise. Every day after school, and on weekends you could find me on my v-hull jon boat somewhere up a cove.
Nothing was missing.
Fast forward to being 18 years old and heading off to college. It was during that time that I decided finance and banking was the key to success, and I felt that a business college in NYC would propel me to the next level. If I was going to make it in the big city, I had to work as hard as I could. So, my life involved going to school full-time, working as a janitor at Trump Parc East, and working an accounting job part-time.
Something was missing.
During the little time off that I had, I began to venture to upstate NY to fish the Ashokan Reservoir and the many tributaries around Woodstock. It was during this time that I reconnected with my passion for the outdoors. Eventually, I grew tired of the constant grind of the city and decided to transfer back to Appalachian State University to call our mountains home permanently.
After finishing college, I was able to secure a job with the largest chemical safety company worldwide. Marketing for the company and traveling for corporate was on the agenda every week. Again, something was missing. The hustle of corporate America began to feel all too familiar. The decision to start Southern Appalachian Anglers from the ground up was not a hard one, but I can assure you the task to keep the brand reputation that we still have today has been arduous. I created SAA’s tagline shortly after I filed registration documents: Trusted Guides – Exceptional Service. We still stand by this today. Our team of guides are all local and share a sentimental value toward the waterways and land that we guide on.
Throughout my guiding career and running our guide service, I have found it necessary to push the envelope and give back in a big way to conserve our region. My life philosophy is that we are all living downstream from someone. Living by this philosophy motivates me to protect the environment for future generations so that they don’t have to feel something is missing from the mountains we call home. Therefore, I started a nonprofit called SAA River Preservation Coalition. Our nonprofit takes a portion of the proceeds from every trip that is booked through our guide service and donates it to SAARPC, Inc. to help purify WNC lakes and rivers. I hope that we can make a positive impact for cleaner water while helping the natural environment flourish to sustain our human population of growth.
Since finding a way to channel my passion for conservation into my career, nothing has been missing.