Ruthie Rivers is an Adventure and Entertainment Risk Consultant on the Granite Insurance team.  She joined the team in early 2020 and heads up the agency’s nationwide river outfitter niche, having a passion for the adventure-focused community.  She loves breaking complicated topics down into digestible language, and emphasizes education as a way to empower the adventure community to make better business decisions and to more thoroughly build out their risk management plan.  Her goal, along with the rest of Granite Insurance’s Adventure and Entertainment team, is to set up adventure businesses for success in a cohesive approach to risk.

Before her time working at Granite Insurance, Ruthie spent years managing an adventure tourism business as a client of the agency!  She has been in the operator shoes and it provides her with valuable perspective in bridging the gap between operators and insurance carriers.  She has work-at-height experience and has been in the guide seat, as well!  Besides her experience as a zip line guide and her personal time on the river, she attended a commercial outfitter’s whitewater guide training course to further her knowledge of the industry and to provide first-hand perspective on industry practices.

Ruthie currently volunteers with the America Outdoors Association (AO), and has volunteered with various groups in the past including with the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT), the North Carolina Aerial Adventure Association (NCAAA), and her local Chamber of Commerce (BACC).

Ruthie, her husband Carson, and their 125 lb Newfoundland pup “Taj” enjoy an adventurous life in the mountains of North Carolina.  Ruthie doesn’t like to waste days off and will usually be found camping, paddling, backpacking, or sailing when she is outside of the office.  Sometimes, she even works from a sailboat!  When vacationing, spearfishing is added to the list of hobbies.  Her and Carson’s current goal is to paddle the length of America’s oldest river – the New!  They started by knocking out every paddle-able mile of the South Fork and the North Fork before the confluence, and have worked their way across the VA line.

Fun Facts about Ruthie:

• Ruthie’s favorite scar is a toss-up between a squirrel bite or a stingray bite

• Ruthie was born in Kodiak, AK (her dad was stationed there as a Navy SEAL)

• Ruthie can free dive to 60ft +