Robert Hawkins:
I was lucky enough to have been born in Bozeman Montana, a place known today as the fly fishing capitol of the world. I was also fortunate to have parents that spent their spare time on the rivers and lakes of southwest Montana. My passion for fly fishing was born from these two facts. By a young age, I had logged a considerable number of days in a drift boat and was more than proficient on the oars age 15. My dad didn’t seem to mind that I learned to row at a young age, just more fishing for him. But I eventually decided it was time to leave my little home town and head for Seattle, where I studied commercial photography. I stayed in Seattle for a few more years, focusing on photography but I eventually the rivers called me back and I headed back to Montana.
After a few summers of being a dirtbag fisherman and working at the local snowboard shop, World Boards, an ad in the back of the paper caught my eye. It said, “Land the dream job of a lifetime” and had a photo of a guy holding a monster rainbow trout. That's all it took. Make money doing what I loved? I was sold. Sweetwater Travel, in Livingston MT, had a guide school to mold punks like me to into respectable guides and they had a reputation for 100 percent placement. I enrolled that winter and went to the one week class that spring. I began my first job as a official fly fishing guide in Alaska that summer. For the next seven years I guided in Alaska for the summers and worked at World Boards in the winter. It was the perfect single guy lifestyle.
Upon returning home from my 7th (and what I though would be my last) year of guiding, I did what all Montana boys dream of. I met a midwestern girl. Having grown weary of the Alaska wear and tear already, this sealed the deal- I wanted to be closer to home. And so I began my Montana guiding era. My first call was back to Sweetwater Travel. They were in the business of finding homes for salty guides like me, and as luck would have it they needed a manager for their Montana outfit, based on the Yellowstone in Big Timber, MT. And to bring it full circle, they also were looking for an instructor for their guide schools, the very same one I had attended years before. For the next 5 years I guided through out the area: the Yellowstone, Boulder, Stillwater, and Bighorn rivers. And was fortunate enough to help instruct the next generation of guides along side the amazing (legendary) Ron Meeks and Tracy Peterson. I fell so in love with the area that Rhea and I were married at the lodge in Big Timber on October 25th, 2007.
When our phone rang years later telling us about the greatest little fly shop who's owner would be retiring, it didn't take much to convince us it was time to move east and start the next chapter of our lives. We have now owned Bob Mitchell's for 10 years and loving every minute of it.
Rhea Hawkins: The majority of my life has been defined by flukes. I transferred colleges because someone told me the other one was "in a house and the bathrooms had bathtubs." I accepted a job I don't remember applying for and that job took me to Montana for "ONE" winter (I ended up staying for almost 10 years). An impromptu drink with a friend led me to meeting my husband. A random chat with a friend of a friend lead to us moving across the country and buying a business that we'd never stepped foot into.
I am a designer by trade, but spent 50% of my days helping people get out on the water. As the owner of a fly shop, I definitely have traded a lot of my fishing time for talking about fishing time. But seeing customers come back in after catching their first fish makes it a fair trade. I recently caught a goldfish. I may retire and go out on top of my game.
I like my asymmetry balanced, socks new and the word fruition. It's like fruit, but not.
Justin Carfagnini: but most people just call him CARF. I moved from Chicago to the Twin Cities for a career transition from commercial insurance to a new gig in crop insurance (a growing business…that’s a pun). Shortly after this transition, I realized what I truly want to do. Take photos. Spend hours editing video. Simply create. I always seem to have a camera in hand, mostly interchangeable with a fly fishing rod. It’s never a toss-up whether I take more pictures or catch more fish on my outings- the photos win out every time. My roots started in outdoor photography and that is where you will find me most- on the water and mostly catching small fish. I guess the best way to introduce myself is through the eyes of those who know me best. I’m an easy going, karaoke-loving, pasta and rice-eating Italian-Filipino, with a decent sense of humor (I’m hilarious) and a knack for making people feel comfortable. I have an eclectic taste for a variety of food (aka I haven’t met a food I won’t try) and I similarly have a diverse portfolio and interests. Also, I was in the movie Contagion. During a break Matt Damon sneak attacked me with a hug, and asked if he could steal a bottle of water from the case of water (prop) I was carrying, and I replied, “Yes, you can have a bottle of water, Matt Damon.”
Hazelnut: Hazel was born on a blustery Valentine's Day in 2012. After a stint in the Joplin clink (she doesn't like to talk about it), she migrated north to spend her days enjoying her new found freedom here at BMFS. What Hazel lacks in manners, she makes up for in spirit. She is working at the shop part time while she takes night classes to get her degree in business management. Hazel spends her days off fishing for sunnies and chasing bunnies. She is a life long believer of the health benefits of a strict paleo diet and has been doing it since before the crossfitters made it popular.
Solomon, the intern: Sol is still the new guy around here and we're still analyzing his particular skill set. So far he seems really good at: licking people, wagging his tail, sleeping, licking people, jumping, licking people and licking people. We'll update that when ANYTHING on the list is useful in a fly shop.
