Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019 - 21

THOUGHT LEADERS

Flow State
The key to running a legendary whitewater store?
It's more about bringing everyone into the game
than only speaking to the core. by Tracy Ross
Name: Jo Cassin
Company: Idaho River Sports
Opened: 1987
Title: Owner
Location: Boise, Idaho
Downlow: A river rat by upbringing, Jo Cassin has been boating the

West's main arteries from the time she was a child growing up under the
nature-loving eyes of her conservationist-geologist parents. During college at Boise State University, she started working at an outdoor shop
whose owner wanted his staff to be great outdoorspeople. He sold the
store in 1983, and the new owners nixed its boating gear. A few years
later, on a Grand Canyon river trip with two friends, Cassin, now 62,
decided to open a new store. It's since grown from "six kayaks, 10 life
jackets, and 10 paddles" into one of the leading paddling shops in the
country and a community hub for Boise's thriving whitewater scene. But
Cassin isn't only attuned to "expert boaters who only paddle Class V," she
says. Her larger mission includes helping to get her city's large refugee
population on the water, for its adventure as well as healing properties.
I owe a lot to Ken Horowitz, my first boss in the outdoor industry
(and the owner of now-defunct The Bootworks). He was really determined to make his staff great and got us ski lessons, avalanche safety and
winter camping courses, and guide licenses. Without him, and a whole
lot of folks along the way, I may not have gotten into boating.
I'm still in business with my good friend and partner, Stan Kolby,
but our other friend decided shop ownership was too much work for
him. We still run into him and it's great. He just didn't want to spend so
much time doing boat repairs and boat outfitting.

Courtesy Jo Cassin

Holding margins is smart. I want to give everyone a good deal, but I
don't want to hurt my coworkers in business.
People call constantly, saying 'I can get this at Backcountry.com,
or Amazon, or Costco, can you match the price?' But if I did that, it
would devalue all of my vendors' hard work, ingenuity, and dedication.
Basically, if you start doing that, it's a race to the end.
Our philosophy is we're going to give them the very best help we can,
and then hopefully even if they don't buy from us, they'll come back.

I've boated the Main Salmon four times and the Middle Fork 10 to 12
times, but I really love doing day trips on these weird little reservoirs and
rivers that are tucked away in Idaho's unknown corners.
It's so much better to have a healthy mix of men and women in an
outdoor business. Everything just feels better, the store runs better,
and we have a diversity of ideas. We have a few more women than guys,
and people ask, "How did you get so many women to work here?"
Rivers are Zen. On the Grand Canyon, on day six or something, I
soaked everything in. It was life changing to realize there's a place that
wild and beautiful and free. I felt so tiny, but feeling that tiny somehow
gave me a certain kind of comfort.
Boise has a lot of refugees-we're a designated "welcoming city,"
because we're so inclusive. We also have a beautiful park with multiple
ponds and access is free. Yesterday, we had 115 kids come to the pond, and
we got them all on kayaks and SUPs. They weren't all immigrants, but we
do a program called Police Athletic League and they bring kids to us.
I know the barriers to river boating are big, but I think more girls and
refugees and low income kids need to have access to the sport. We have
to work together-start a kids' paddling club, have boat lockers, volunteer time to teach. It's hard because we're all on our own little path, but
we need to make that happen.
If we love rivers we need to fight for public lands-it's all tied together.
I'd say if you love paddling, love being on the water, and love helping people, you're a good candidate to own a river shop. Don't plan on
making a ton of money, but it's a really good life. O.R.

Summer 2019 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 21

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Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019

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