HEATHSVILLE, Va. (WFXR) — In an industry dominated by men, a Virginia woman is making her mark in the world of outdoors social media.
Patricia Clement goes by the online name of the “Rivah Sistah”. She is a social media influencer who shares her love of all things outdoors on multiple online apps.
How did she get her online name?
Clement explains: “I’m a female and I’m a sister, not just because I’m African-American, but I’m everybody’s sister. So, I’m going to brand myself as the “Rivah Sistah”, and I’ll be that link to get people to explore the outdoors.”
She is a one woman outdoors social media sensation with a presence on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and other internet platforms with a following in the tens of thousands. She splits her time between her home in the Richmond area and her riverfront home on a brackish Chesapeake Bay tributary near Heathsville. Clement posts videos of all of her adventures which usually focus on fishing, crabbing, camping, or boating. Recently, she also became an oyster farmer, and wants to expand into hunting.
But, it was not always that way. Clement is a native of Brooklyn, New York who eventually moved to Virginia. She worked for years in law enforcement with the Petersburg Police Department. Her love of the outdoors came later in life after her husband suggested they go on a camping trip.
Camping? I don’t want to go camping; bugs and bears,” Clement said laughing as she recalled that day. “We got a cabin. I can’t remember where we went, but I liked it. After that, I’m an all in sort of person, I was like let’s do this; I want to do this every weekend.”
The Rivah Sistah is a big proponent of catch and cook. So, in addition to seminars on fishing and crabbing, she also does cooking demonstrations and video. On the day we visited, she fried catfish that she had caught earlier, and steamed crabs that we had caught that morning.
“I‘m all about showing people you can relax fishing and crabbing; and I’m all about cooking your catch,” said Clement between dipping bites of blue crab in melted butter. “I love it. They’re good, but especially because I caught them.”
The Rivah Sistah organizes fishing trips and other outdoors outings. While she is all-inclusive in her approach, she still wants to get those who have not traditionally been involved in the outdoors, like women of color, to get involved to expand interest in things like fishing and crabbing, but mostly because it is so much fun.
Clement’s sums it up saying: “Life’s too short to just work, pay bills, and die. You have to get some of this river life.”
