Oregon Public Broadcasting

For many in the Northwest who have lost their jobs during this recession, the pink slips came as a surprise.

People who found themselves suddenly unemployed had no chance to prepare for what would come next. But some have had time to plan, not just for new jobs, but for completely different careers.

That was the case for a Spokane newspaper reporter who had an inkling she’d be laid off. For the next chapter in her life, she turned to a childhood love.  Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

In the drizzle of a blustery morning, Erica Curless walks across a corral toward a petite brown horse.

Erica Curless: “C’mon, Mandy! C’mon!”

Former Spokane newspaper reporter Erica Curless, here with Mandy, now works with horses, instead of sources.

She has a bridal in her hand. We’re at a horse ranch a few miles southwest of Spokane. Curless works here once a week. She seems very comfortable and no wonder: she was raised on a horse ranch near Sandpoint, Idaho.

Erica Curless: “When I was really little, my mom used to put me in one of those baby carriers.”

Doug: “On the horse?”

Erica Curless: “On the horse. She’d hang me on the fence, get on her horse and then put on the backpack.”

Growing up, Curless had two loves, horses and journalism. As a little girl, she wrote stories about her horses.

She went on to study journalism at the University of Montana and later became a statehouse reporter in Helena and Boise. Then she settled down for eight years at the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

Like newspapers across the country, the Spokesman has had its share of economic troubles. Falling circulation. Declining ad revenue. Several rounds of layoffs in the last few years.

Erica Curless: “I was the union president, so I was really in a position where our team was trying to negotiate a contract at a time where people were getting laid off. It was so stressful and so sad to watch an industry that you love fall apart.”

Veteran colleagues were let go. Others left on their own. Curless figured she might be next, so she started the transition to a new career.

Erica Curless

Erica Curless: “I took a sabbatical to leave town for two months. Leave my husband and my horses and my dogs, kinda uproot my whole life and learn how to do horse massage.”

That’s right. Horse massage.

Erica Curless: “Very similar to human massage. Not the Swedish massage that you get in a spa. That’s more for relaxation. The idea is really to get the muscles to change.”

As she talks, Curless gently pushes and prods Mandy’s muscles, around her spine, her shoulders, her neck. Mandy stands and patiently accepts the attention.

The barn seems a world away from the hustle and bustle of a newsroom. And speaking of the newsroom, Curless says her former colleagues were a little skeptical about her new career.

Erica Curless: “You know, animal massage sounds like a joke. So they really thought I was off my rocker again. And, you know, I love to talk to them now, to those folks who laughed so much because they do see it is a viable market and it is, you know, a career.”

It’s not a lucrative career yet. But she’s found that there are horse owners out there willing to spends thousands to take good care of their animals. So she’s confident that, with time, she’ll be able to make a decent living.

Curless says some days she goes home exhausted, especially after working on a  horse who is not particularly interested in standing still. Today she’s wrestling with Loki.  She’s wrestling with a lot of things these days. When she’s not working on an animal, she’s scrambling to find customers and establish a new business on her own.

Doug: “Do you enjoy this?”

Erica Curless: “Oh my God, I love it. After years of being in busy newsrooms with a really high level of stress, it’s so relaxing and peaceful for me to be doing really good, important work, but using my hands.”

That’s the reward Erica Curless has accepted in exchange for a smaller paycheck.