Laid Off From The Oil Fields To Owning An Old School Butcher Shop I Brooks Lubojasky I AO 34

For Brooks, the path to becoming a business owner wasn’t straight — but it was true. Brooks grew up hunting, fishing, and processing deer with his family, he always had a connection to food and community. After a short stint in college, years running a local deli, and time in the oil field, life took a sharp turn when COVID hit. Laid off and back at square one, he found himself working at the town’s longtime meat market — and eventually, taking the leap to buy it.

Now, Brooks is building something lasting in Brenham: a butcher shop with roots in tradition but a vision for the future. From custom-processing deer for families who depend on the meat all year, to bringing HEB-level quality and service to a small-town market, Brooks has poured love and consistency into a business that had changed hands too many times before.

This conversation is about more than cutting meat. It’s about pursuing your dream even when it doesn’t make sense on paper, the role of faith and family in taking big risks, and the pride that comes from keeping a community-fed tradition alive.
Real stories. Real ownership. Real lessons from the field.

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Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:09:15
Speaker 1
Hard work. Real talk. No shortcuts. I'm Joseph Cabrera. This is American operator.

00:00:09:15 - 00:00:20:00
Speaker 1
All right, team, we are here with Brooks. Brenham quality meat market here just outside of Austin. That's a well, I say just outside. About an hour 40 or so outside of Austin.

00:00:20:05 - 00:00:21:06
Speaker 2
45. Sure enough.

00:00:21:06 - 00:00:31:12
Speaker 1
Yeah, man. Good old Texas boy. Here. We're going to talk about the business of not only cutting meat and processing and all that, but really building something that's community staple. Sam Brooks, man, good to have you on today.

00:00:31:15 - 00:00:42:23
Speaker 2
It's a pleasure to be here. Like, like I told you earlier, the first podcast, for about the past ten years, I don't really listen to radio or my phone on. I'm a podcasters. Oh. You are? Yeah.

00:00:42:23 - 00:00:44:05
Speaker 1
I've got any favorite shows you like.

00:00:44:05 - 00:00:51:09
Speaker 2
Tune in. And, of course, Joe Rogan here. Here lately. And then you got Cam Haynes and, Sea Vanilla.

00:00:51:12 - 00:00:52:04
Speaker 1
Oh, yeah.

00:00:52:04 - 00:01:10:07
Speaker 2
So that's that's that's all you need right now? Yeah. They keep me going wherever I gotta get going. So, yeah, not much on the music, but. Yeah. So once I heard about doing this, I thought about it prior to the opportunity. If I ever got the opportunity, I'd take it. And so yeah, here I am.

00:01:10:09 - 00:01:29:05
Speaker 1
Well, I appreciate you saying yes. Yeah. Oh, so good to have you, man. And really, it's we were just catching up before the show, and I tell folks, I was telling Brooks here just for folks tuning in, that it is not a surprise to me that the guys and gals that are building America and building up their communities almost never been on one of these before.

00:01:29:05 - 00:01:35:14
Speaker 1
And as part of that, just because heads down, stay humble, keep moving forward. Yes, sir. But appreciate you coming on. I mean, because I know it's going to help some folks out there.

00:01:35:17 - 00:01:47:12
Speaker 2
Right on. Yeah. Looking forward to do whatever I can to to help, you know what I got going. If I can shed any light on anybody going forward. And that's part of why I feel like I'm here.

00:01:47:15 - 00:02:02:22
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah, we appreciate it, man. Well, before you get into the meat biz, because we'll talk a little bit about that. So unique, maybe not unique for Texas, but I think just unique for folks in general understanding what that's all about. And some of the things that you know, they might think they know about, are they not? Man, I'd like to understand more just kind of where you grew up.

00:02:02:22 - 00:02:07:07
Speaker 1
Are you from Brandon originally in Texas? What was that like growing up? What were the things you into?

00:02:07:09 - 00:02:38:16
Speaker 2
I feel like nobody knows where Kenny Texas is. Kenny. So you got Brenham, and then you got Bellville. And right in the middle is Kenny, Texas. Okay. Population, I think when I was growing up was 30, 35. No kidding. You got a post office, a bar, and, and a welding shop there. But, I mean, my mom taught school in Brenham, so, I mean, growing up, we paid the rent, or my parents pay the transfer fees, for me and my brother, my older brother, to go to school in Brenham.

00:02:38:18 - 00:02:53:12
Speaker 2
She taught at Saint Paul's Christian Day School and taught me, taught my brother. And then from there, we just went to the, you know, Brenham school. Yeah, system. And, yeah, she actually just retired after 36 years.

00:02:53:12 - 00:02:54:06
Speaker 1
Good on her, man.

00:02:54:06 - 00:02:57:02
Speaker 2
Congrats, mom. That's pretty crazy. Thank you. Yeah. Sure enough.

00:02:57:02 - 00:02:59:10
Speaker 1
What's she doing now in her retired life? Is she busy or.

00:02:59:10 - 00:03:29:18
Speaker 2
She's being so, I mean, the origin of the meat market? It was. I guess it's kind of jumps forward a lot, but it was. I mean, back in 2012, I graduated high school, and I tried a semester of college. Found out it wasn't for me, and went straight into running Chapel Hill Bakery and Deli, which is it's a nice restaurant, just I'd say 30 minutes from Kenny.

00:03:29:19 - 00:03:45:10
Speaker 2
And that was right after high school. I got into that, did that for about six years and had the opportunity to join the oil field, which I mean, that was my dad has been in the oil field, my brothers in the oil fields over there.

00:03:45:10 - 00:03:45:16
Speaker 1
Right.

00:03:45:16 - 00:04:16:19
Speaker 2
So I thought, you know, sure enough, that's my time. Here we go. I'm going to the oil field. And then sure enough, Covid hit. So that was that gets us up to what was that, 2020 or 2021? Yeah. That happened. And then just I was the first one to get laid off. They laid off all the new employees and yeah, sure enough, came back and had the opportunity to start working at the meat market that we now have, which is I think I was there for two years.

00:04:16:20 - 00:04:29:12
Speaker 2
And that puts us at 2022. And the gentleman I worked for for those two years, he, just had, too many hours in the fire, as he like to say, and was looking to sell the place. And,

00:04:29:12 - 00:04:38:15
Speaker 2
just really throughout that whole experience of, you know, working at the bakery, I started out just cutting me round, wound up running it,

00:04:38:15 - 00:04:46:21
Speaker 2
life works out to where you just kind of in the back where you should be. And that's always been my belief on that.

00:04:46:23 - 00:05:04:12
Speaker 1
I think it's good, man. I, I can see that you sound not only grateful, but, kind of really immersed in what you do. Talk to me a little bit. We're going to get into that. And I'm. I want to pick your brain a ton about just how I. How I mean, a young guy goes from running a place into owning a place.

00:05:04:14 - 00:05:17:07
Speaker 1
What were you into growing up? There were hunting, fishing, football. I mean, what was the what were the daily activities? Because it makes me trying to make the jump into then running a bake shop and that just different. I don't know if you were like, no, man, I've been a baker since.

00:05:17:07 - 00:05:19:06
Speaker 2
I was like myself there.

00:05:19:07 - 00:05:22:00
Speaker 1
No, it's all I was was,

00:05:22:02 - 00:05:40:19
Speaker 2
I mean, yeah, growing up hunting and fishing, if we're not hunting or fishing, if it's not football season, it's soccer season. Yeah. So, I mean, growing up, just processing deer with me in the family amongst ourselves and always having cattle process and then

00:05:40:19 - 00:05:48:14
Speaker 1
So you get down with it and you get moved into how did you get it. So you go to college for a little bit. What was the thing that made you go the same for me?

00:05:48:16 - 00:06:08:14
Speaker 2
My first semester in college, I felt like I was just right back in high school. Just didn't, you know, every job I've had, I felt like there was ladders, ladder rungs that I could climb. Yeah. And going back to college or going to college just felt like I was right back at the bottom of the ladder. And I had a good job at the bakery.

00:06:08:16 - 00:06:32:20
Speaker 2
Had plenty of, I guess, rungs left in my ladder to, to climb and just decided that over, you know, going back to going to school, I guess you could say so it, just always seemed like the, the option for me and, it wasn't anything, you know, I played soccer growing up. They wanted me to go play for ETB.

00:06:32:20 - 00:06:47:13
Speaker 2
You. But, I would have the, you know, no scholarship for soccer there, and so I, I had to pay my way. I just always was drawn to something bigger than, like, the work that was in front of me.

00:06:47:13 - 00:06:55:13
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. So you left there, and you decided. How did you get how did you get hooked up with that first gig coming out of it? What was the name of the bake shop again?

00:06:55:13 - 00:07:21:09
Speaker 2
Chapel Hill, chapel Hill Bakery and deli. They just, I mean, yeah, getting out of high school, you know, you're looking for something steady and had a buddy already working there and sat down with the owner and the manager there, and they just kind of, you know, hired me there on the spot from that point. Just started as a meat cutter and just learn the ropes, man.

00:07:21:09 - 00:07:43:09
Speaker 2
I mean, you're there for six years. You you kind of know the ins and outs of what it takes to do what they're doing. They're very successful in what they do. You kind of take some notes from there. You couple it with, experience. The I mean, I've gained working with guys that have been in the industry for 56 years

00:07:43:12 - 00:08:00:13
Speaker 1
So you realize, like, as you're working through that, that gig there, when did it turn on to you that so the meat market somehow came into your crosshairs to go move and do that? What was the decision point to jump right into into that before owning it? Which I'm not sure, actually, if you ever thought early on that you'd own it.

00:08:00:13 - 00:08:02:23
Speaker 1
But what was the reason to jump into that next chapter?

00:08:03:01 - 00:08:11:23
Speaker 2
Just the, I mean, I thought me going to the oil field like my whole family has, was my last night. All right. This is my direction now.

00:08:11:23 - 00:08:13:13
Speaker 1
Oh, that's right, you Champ Hill, then, old.

00:08:13:14 - 00:08:14:21
Speaker 2
Field, Chapel Hill, then the oil.

00:08:14:21 - 00:08:15:05
Speaker 1
Field.

00:08:15:05 - 00:08:18:20
Speaker 2
Okay, I did that for about a year, year and a half. And then,

00:08:18:22 - 00:08:24:22
Speaker 1
Describe to people what that life is like just for folks who don't know, my brother was an oil guy, so I kind of have an understanding of folks you describe.

00:08:24:23 - 00:08:45:03
Speaker 2
To it, man, you got to live it. It's, like having somebody, having a family member in the oil field. Number one is, is a big deal because then I mean, oh, you're so much of your big brother, right? Yeah. So I had a guy, I mean, we were in the. It's called neo school, new employment school.

00:08:45:05 - 00:09:03:23
Speaker 2
And I had a guy already every night, four or every morning, 4 a.m., already calling me. Hey, get up. It's time to go to, blah, blah, blah, three hours away. So, I mean, just you have to be ready at any moment and you never know what it's going to be, what your day is going to consist of, at least from my standpoint.

00:09:03:23 - 00:09:11:03
Speaker 2
I mean, I never really had like a full traction in there. So, yeah, it's, it's grueling to say the least.

00:09:11:04 - 00:09:15:22
Speaker 1
Yeah. Give me I mean, like, again, just keep paying that because that it's intense, man. I mean, not only just the hours.

00:09:16:03 - 00:09:17:10
Speaker 2
And the people.

00:09:17:12 - 00:09:20:18
Speaker 1
And the people. Right. And like, no pieces of leather.

00:09:20:21 - 00:09:36:19
Speaker 2
Yeah. No B.S. you either do what you're told or I mean, you're going to hear about it. And, I mean, that'll shape you real quick as well, you know, because, I mean, they have their points and you either just fall in line or you just get booted, but.

00:09:36:21 - 00:09:39:16
Speaker 1
Do you ever do you think they have a reason for being that way?

00:09:39:18 - 00:09:54:05
Speaker 2
100%. Why is it's just a no B.S. industry? Yeah. Because if you do B.S., you know, you could potentially lose your life, lose a limb. And it's it's all just. Yeah, everybody has to work is one whenever you're out there.

00:09:54:07 - 00:10:11:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. It's, I think folks probably don't have an appreciation for the proximity to something they can. I mean, at the very least, pull a leg. Pull the, you know, an arm or something away or a finger off or something like that. Is is not, like, kind of close. You know, it. It's there, right in front of you.

00:10:11:21 - 00:10:13:13
Speaker 1
Rap after rap after rap.

00:10:13:13 - 00:10:17:02
Speaker 2
Right in your face. Yeah. No doubt. Yeah, sure enough, do.

00:10:17:02 - 00:10:21:19
Speaker 1
You remember the first couple nights after doing it, going over the thoughts, going through your brain?

00:10:21:21 - 00:10:42:16
Speaker 2
Just. I mean, this is it. You know, this is what you gotta do. I mean, I've never shied away from anything that's hard. So I was you just got to adapt. Yeah. Just kind of got to be malleable. Know that this guy is not going to be the same as this guy. And, just really do what you're told.

00:10:42:17 - 00:10:47:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. Over the parts you liked about it. What were the things that you see now that you take from that time?

00:10:47:22 - 00:11:03:20
Speaker 2
Course. Awful money, as I say, is always good, man. I mean, me being young like that, it was it was nice while it lasted. But then you start to realize, man, is this money worth all this time and just the grueling hours of it all? So.

00:11:03:22 - 00:11:06:04
Speaker 1
Yeah, man, I want to say thank you for nothing. Right?

00:11:06:08 - 00:11:15:14
Speaker 2
You found out real quick, and it's kind of. It was the nail in the coffin, like, man, this thing really, you know, even if they didn't fire me, I did. It didn't feel right.

00:11:15:20 - 00:11:21:07
Speaker 1
Okay. What do you mean by that? Like, what was the thing that stuck with you that didn't feel right?

00:11:21:09 - 00:11:49:00
Speaker 2
That I should be the one telling them more so of how things are going because they didn't realize it from their standpoint or the actual guy that they're telling it to standpoint of, you know, I've I've had the opportunity to every job I've worked to be the, I guess, the voice of the employee. And now I'm the employees, you know, kind of, I guess, voice

00:11:49:00 - 00:11:54:04
Speaker 2
as the employer, you, you just, you know, the behind the scenes.

00:11:54:04 - 00:12:04:13
Speaker 2
So you get to, be closer to that person, kind of hear their voice, have their voice play in your head as, as a boss

00:12:04:13 - 00:12:15:04
Speaker 1
Yeah. Now there's a lot of value in being able to see from the ground up what it's like. So you do a year in the oil field and you decide at that point, hey, this doesn't feel quite right. I need to go pursue something else.

00:12:15:04 - 00:12:17:10
Speaker 2
Covid hit man, I got I got cut okay.

00:12:17:10 - 00:12:19:08
Speaker 1
So they're going to tell you when they're fit.

00:12:19:10 - 00:12:21:16
Speaker 2
But I knew I mean you know, you think that's Covid.

00:12:21:17 - 00:12:23:16
Speaker 1
You think you would have stood there longer?

00:12:23:18 - 00:13:01:13
Speaker 2
I mean I'm sure I would have, but I don't know if my heart would have let me you know, it's it's kind of like it was a blessing in disguise. You could say. I mean, yeah, evidently it is, because, I mean, it wouldn't have got me to where I am today. So that happened in me coming back to Burnham, kind of no direction, just not knowing if I should go back to the bakery, if I should, you know, just pursue another industry in the oil field or, give it another whirl because, I mean, I think they were like, yeah, you just give us a month, you know, we'll we'll be right back and you'll

00:13:01:13 - 00:13:30:14
Speaker 2
be at the top of the list. You didn't get the job. But during that month, it's just you just really start to realize things. And, that, led me to taking that little scope of. All right, I'm back in Burnham. Now, what am I going to do with this? And, one of my best friend's father's actually called me one day, and he was like, man, I'm standing in this, this meat market.

00:13:30:16 - 00:13:57:04
Speaker 2
And I think he was with his friends that were buying it, which was going to be my bosses. And he just was like, man, I think this is a great fit for you. And so, you know, before I went back to the bakery, I gave it a give it a look, and it just it would be me running this place before actually essentially owning this place.

00:13:57:06 - 00:13:59:05
Speaker 1
Now, did you know you had a part to ownership there?

00:13:59:05 - 00:14:00:14
Speaker 2
No, sir. Okay, I did not.

00:14:00:15 - 00:14:04:19
Speaker 1
When he said this is a good place for you, he just meant as a place for you to be a part of.

00:14:04:19 - 00:14:16:20
Speaker 2
And a place for me to, I mean, I didn't have anywhere to plant my plant, right? So. Yeah. Is it that or the bakery? And, I mean, you know, the there's nothing wrong with the bakery, but it was just do I want to get back into that right?

00:14:16:20 - 00:14:27:11
Speaker 2
it's funny because I months before that, I was already thinking and kind of feeling like, man, if there was ever an opportunity I would be able to take over this place, I could do it.

00:14:27:11 - 00:14:28:00
Speaker 2
Right.

00:14:28:00 - 00:14:43:06
Speaker 2
I go home to the pops and I just sit him down. I tell him I want to have a real conversation with him, you know, because this is a big ask, that I'm about to ask him and he,

00:14:43:08 - 00:15:10:16
Speaker 2
So I sat him down and I sat him down. We were on the we were on the pool in the back having a having a whiskey about it. And he was just trying to poke holes at everything that, you know, I mean, this idea held and, you know, essentially I just said, you know, just whatever money that I was going to get, I just want to put it towards, towards, towards this, this is my like this is my roll of the dice.

00:15:10:16 - 00:15:22:15
Speaker 2
yeah, from that night, you know, he sat on it for about two days and then gave me a call back and, we just saw each other and he was like, all right, you know, this is something you want to do.

00:15:22:17 - 00:15:38:03
Speaker 2
I've always believed in you. We'll we'll give it a shot. And, I mean, I've been running ever since on that front. It's, it's been a heck of a three and a half years, but it's it's what I was meant to be.

00:15:38:04 - 00:15:43:04
Speaker 1
Yeah, 100%. What? Do you remember the kind of questions he was asking you?

00:15:43:06 - 00:16:01:13
Speaker 2
Yeah. I mean, because you got to think I was bouncing back from idea. The idea prior to that, he was like, all right, but this is something, you know, once you do it, it's like, this is you to do this kind of a for it. I mean, it's not kind of it is a forever thing for me. So we,

00:16:01:15 - 00:16:20:20
Speaker 2
Yeah, just I mean, it started with going to see the place and poking holes in that. The business idea, it was obvious to me, but, I mean, just making it better than it is. Like, you see something? I mean, I guess I do. You see something, and you just know when something's missing. Something.

00:16:20:20 - 00:16:21:09
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:16:21:11 - 00:16:38:08
Speaker 2
In this places is like starting from scratch. Essentially. Yeah. It's been on the market since the 50s. It's made it this long changed hands for four times. Just nobody ever really gave it, the love it needed.

00:16:38:08 - 00:16:55:15
Speaker 1
you tell me why you said something that sticks with me right now? Which I think is rare when you say a forever thing for a lot of folks, they almost can't, like, fathom or commit to that. You know, we need a lot of folks right now even looking at getting their own slice of America to build and nurture.

00:16:55:17 - 00:17:13:20
Speaker 1
It always seems to be some 5 to 8 year timeline that they put on it. And it's rare to find somebody who looks at something and goes, no man like this is going to be me for as long as I can see the future. You seem to say it was such peace. I'm curious why? Like, what is different about the way you think about that?

00:17:13:20 - 00:17:15:04
Speaker 1
Why is that seem so easy?

00:17:15:04 - 00:17:43:15
Speaker 2
I'd say it's just everything I've been through in life, my friend. It's, I mean, I started working at 15 and I know, I feel like for some people, this might seem so fast tracked. To me, like, knowing where I am and why. But for me, honestly, it's it's been clear because of everything I've went through. I mean, I don't know how many jobs I've had that I just couldn't seem to find that peace.

00:17:43:17 - 00:18:08:15
Speaker 2
So, I mean, starting at 15, I want to say I've had probably like if I had to go through the list, I know we got time. I was, veterinary assistant. Then I went to, landscaping for a couple of years. Then I went to a warehouse, work in Chapel Hill Bakery, of course. I will feel the oil field, and I just.

00:18:08:20 - 00:18:12:22
Speaker 2
I mean, that's just that's just the beginning of the list, honestly.

00:18:12:22 - 00:18:23:03
Speaker 2
I just always have felt that if I ever got my opportunity that I could, I could, you know, create my own and and make it runs.

00:18:23:04 - 00:18:29:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. So you've seen enough seems to be enough pattern recognition in there. When you saw a good thing, you're like, that's it.

00:18:29:18 - 00:18:56:19
Speaker 2
And when I didn't see it, I knew how to make it like, you know, every job I've been out of, of climb the ladder rungs and just haven't been satisfied. So now for me, I kind of get to create my own and hold myself accountable every day. And day out, for that. And I mean, you know, I don't know if that's the right way to do it, but it seems to be the way that, that I've learned, you know?

00:18:56:21 - 00:19:14:18
Speaker 1
Yeah. Now it seems like the right way to me, man. I think there's a lot of, I'm hoping there's a lot of folks out there that hear that, and. Yeah, I think there's there's, There's something about owning something, but not only owning something, but doing it for the long haul. It gets you to just think about it differently.

00:19:14:20 - 00:19:33:08
Speaker 1
I mean, heck, it's probably why your parents kind of believed in you. Out, My hunch is right. Like you're going to forever be their son, right? And so there's something about contributing to that level of belief that makes you even want to try harder, I imagine. I mean, what let me ask you this. I'm curious. Like, what do you think?

00:19:33:10 - 00:19:45:13
Speaker 1
What do you think about your parents gave them so much belief about, you know, giving you what, you know, giving you that start in this business that allowed you to I will game that confidence.

00:19:45:15 - 00:19:56:00
Speaker 2
I think just, my rap sheet man of, I think, you know, they wouldn't have done it if if I hadn't proven it in other ways.

00:19:56:00 - 00:20:12:22
Speaker 2
I mean, I owe everything to him and. I think for them to do this for me is just another kind of vote of confidence of like, yeah, we're proud of who you become and and what you got going. Yeah. You know.

00:20:13:00 - 00:20:22:22
Speaker 1
I mean kind of makes it all it's kind of flywheel effect because then you don't want you behold that and you don't want to let that down. And so I just this thing that kind of takes care of itself.

00:20:22:22 - 00:20:23:11
Speaker 2
Yes, sir.

00:20:23:13 - 00:20:27:06
Speaker 1
Yeah, man. That's cool. You sound like you have some great parents. What's their names?

00:20:27:07 - 00:20:28:15
Speaker 2
Ben and Debbie. Adjust.

00:20:28:17 - 00:20:29:02
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:20:29:04 - 00:20:32:11
Speaker 2
Yeah. Sure enough, man, Ben and Debbie watching this, I'm sure.

00:20:32:13 - 00:20:50:12
Speaker 1
No, no, it's Allison. There's so much that I think about. Just how much, how much having some good folks, me and can really make a difference. And just kind of how you look at the world and how you look at yourself. So, I mean, it sounds like it's a formidable part of your, your upbringing.

00:20:50:12 - 00:20:52:17
Speaker 1
Talk to me about the meat market now.

00:20:52:18 - 00:21:10:21
Speaker 1
I mean, there's man, just as a fan of that kind of business. I am, and also just somebody who also likes the outdoors, hunt and fish. I can really appreciate a place where you can, you know, bring what you have, you know, harvest for the year, what you got out in the field and know it's going to be taken care of.

00:21:10:21 - 00:21:26:20
Speaker 1
But for folks who don't know what the business is, you know, they probably only have most folks only have experience with Canada, the meat owl at H-e-b or something. You know, talk to me about why this, how this operates, why it's different than going to the grocery store and picking up some.

00:21:26:23 - 00:21:55:23
Speaker 2
Yeah, I'll I'd say that we're the meat all of H-e-b but on steroids. Right. Because, everything that we do, it's it's of the highest quality of the most custom cutting, like, say, somebody. I got a guy who wants 3/16 of an inch. We'll get him 3/16 of an inch on something. We custom process livestock and wildlife.

00:21:56:01 - 00:21:58:17
Speaker 2
Which is something you don't have at H-e-b.

00:21:58:19 - 00:22:05:05
Speaker 1
But when you say that, that just means you can bring and tell folks that. That means that you bring a whole deer in if you want, and you guys will take care of them.

00:22:05:05 - 00:22:28:22
Speaker 2
You can bring a whole deer in as long as you got a tag on it. And we'll skin and got it on on side or we'll, you know, take it quartered and and gutted and we'll sit you down in the office, have about a 20 minute conversation on what exactly you want to do with this. I mean, a deer is something a lot of people in in our town hold very dear to them.

00:22:29:00 - 00:22:48:15
Speaker 2
It's, you know, only four months out of the year, but a lot of people, they'll feed their families for the that whole year, just off a deer. So we take a lot of pride in what we do. As far as on that front, we, you know, you got these big places, though. It's called batching, though, though.

00:22:48:15 - 00:23:16:19
Speaker 2
You're dealing with another man's deer. But, I mean, I know a guy. He spends $10,000 a year on his feed for a deer to bring in that he's going to consume. So it's just, you know, taking pride in that aspect. Providing the, the, the needs of the community because the shot that on that or the, the market is, it didn't do this for ten plus years.

00:23:16:19 - 00:23:17:09
Speaker 1
Oh, really?

00:23:17:09 - 00:23:42:11
Speaker 2
And so just reviving that it's it's been a really cool thing to see. The livestock hadn't been and done that for probably 20 years. And bringing that back in, I mean, we get calls every week about livestock process and all the way from lamb, sheeps, pigs, steers, you name it. We'll, find a way to just make it weren't for for our community.

00:23:42:11 - 00:23:50:00
Speaker 2
And that's something that's really cool to see. I mean, it's not like anywhere else that

00:23:50:00 - 00:23:53:00
Speaker 2
I've been. And it's cool to create that.

00:23:53:02 - 00:23:53:19
Speaker 1
It's rare.

00:23:53:19 - 00:23:54:09
Speaker 2
It's rare.

00:23:54:13 - 00:24:16:07
Speaker 1
It's rare. Yeah. Usually you I mean, you might get you definitely can pick up your standard cuts almost anywhere. And some places, you know, you can pay a little bit extra to go kind of get. And if you're kind of friends with the person behind the counter there to get them to cut you something, but not to the point where you can go bring in something on your own and have it exactly the way you want it.

00:24:16:07 - 00:24:22:02
Speaker 1
You know, at it's, those places seem to be less and less.

00:24:22:04 - 00:24:54:23
Speaker 2
And that's something it scares me, but it also drives me because they do, man. Man, I mean, there's within the vicinity of our butcher shop, there's probably within 50 miles. There's ten of them nowadays. There's like five of them. So something that's I don't know if it's the last of a dying breed, but, I mean, it just seems to be getting smaller and smaller, but, I mean, if you just think another thing about where we are is our community.

00:24:55:01 - 00:25:08:20
Speaker 2
They, they like to they back us and it's a big part of why we are who we are. And without the community, I don't know if we'd be able to, to be able to make it like that. You know.

00:25:08:22 - 00:25:13:23
Speaker 1
You probably have folks that have been in there come there since then for decades, right?

00:25:14:03 - 00:25:32:08
Speaker 2
And I might not know the name, but I know what they know what they want. Yeah. You know, like, I'll see. And I was like, how is that porterhouse, you know. Yeah, yeah. It's cool. It's, it's another aspect of why I love doing what we do. We get to they get to meet the people behind the counter, and I get to meet the people in front of the counter.

00:25:32:08 - 00:25:49:21
Speaker 2
And, I mean, we create friendships. I mean, shoot, I go golfing with one of the guys now, you know, hang out, go to dinner sometimes with, with some of the customers and it's a really cool aspect of why I do what I do as well.

00:25:49:23 - 00:25:55:08
Speaker 1
Talk to you about the folks behind the counter. Yeah. How many teammates you have there helping you out?

00:25:55:09 - 00:26:20:04
Speaker 2
Well, I mean, including my family. I'm going to say ten. I mean, I'm, I'm running it, but without them, I couldn't be doing it, right? I mean, my dad behind the scenes doing the books, sister in law doing the, and mother doing the social media. And, you know, my mom loves the she was a kindergarten teacher, so she loves that decorating of the place.

00:26:20:04 - 00:26:24:22
Speaker 2
Keeping it seasonal, keeping it fun, festive.

00:26:25:00 - 00:26:27:12
Speaker 1
Make sure people want to come in and hang out. Yeah.

00:26:27:12 - 00:26:48:11
Speaker 2
And then, sure enough, I mean, start in this place. It was just me. But I've been able to bring in a guy from A&M who I played soccer with for 15 years. Garrett. He was at A&M on there, slaughter and floor learning exactly what we do now, but not even knowing that would apply to to what we're doing now.

00:26:48:11 - 00:27:15:09
Speaker 2
He, jumped on the on the wagon with me and, man, I couldn't be able to do it without without him 100%. His knowledge and and everything he brings to the table is is priceless. Is, to say the least. And then, I mean, from there, I got two girls behind the counter that'll. I mean, the, customer service, the heck out of anybody.

00:27:15:09 - 00:27:23:02
Speaker 2
Yeah. It's unbelievable. And it's not because they're paid to do it. They they love doing it. That's just who they are.

00:27:23:02 - 00:27:37:00
Speaker 2
And then, I mean, the guys in the back, they'll they'll jump up front too, but without their knowledge and, and give a damn about why they're doing what they're doing. I couldn't, I couldn't ask for much more from, from those guys either

00:27:37:00 - 00:27:52:06
Speaker 2
And I know that's the number one reason, actually, why we are so successful in what we do, for sure. Because without them, all the way from my family to the boys in the back there, it's, it's unmatched. I like, let's say.

00:27:52:13 - 00:28:00:07
Speaker 1
What is the, And it sounds like you have a lot of respect and reverence for them. If you were to kind of think about. Yeah.

00:28:00:09 - 00:28:07:00
Speaker 2
This is my make them eat order alarm. Yeah. So I'm not long call you supplier. Yeah.

00:28:07:01 - 00:28:08:09
Speaker 1
Because the flasher.

00:28:08:09 - 00:28:09:00
Speaker 2
And, I had to.

00:28:09:00 - 00:28:10:03
Speaker 1
Get a reminder to have me.

00:28:10:08 - 00:28:11:09
Speaker 2
My apologies.

00:28:11:09 - 00:28:16:02
Speaker 1
No, sir. Makes it real, man. They like that, I see. I'm looking at it right now. Yeah. Call your supplier.

00:28:16:04 - 00:28:20:03
Speaker 2
Yeah. It's, even when you're off the clock, you're on the clock, right?

00:28:20:03 - 00:28:21:13
Speaker 1
Yeah. No, that's right, man.

00:28:21:13 - 00:28:31:15
Speaker 1
Well, what will you say again? Looks like you have a ton of reverence for your team. What would you say? Like the most important thing you do for them. Like what? When you're doing your job, right. What does that mean?

00:28:31:15 - 00:28:37:15
Speaker 2
mean, if I were to put it into words, I would just, I wish to supply meat for everybody in Burnham, Texas.

00:28:37:15 - 00:28:41:06
Speaker 2
You know, that'd be a start, right? Yeah, that'd be something cool. But,

00:28:41:06 - 00:28:47:15
Speaker 2
how would you put it? Their lives at stake? I mean, I don't know if that's to to address it, but kind of.

00:28:47:20 - 00:28:49:09
Speaker 2
Right. Like, they're.

00:28:49:11 - 00:28:50:15
Speaker 1
You're putting food on their table.

00:28:50:19 - 00:28:51:12
Speaker 2
To and to.

00:28:51:13 - 00:28:53:02
Speaker 1
Their families going.

00:28:53:04 - 00:29:16:13
Speaker 2
That's I mean, part of the main reason I wake up with that fire is I can't let them down. And I think in turn, that is good for, for everybody. They see that they I mean, it's it's tangible. I got to bring the bring the energy. Yeah. You know, the tone setter, I guess you could say.

00:29:16:18 - 00:29:42:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. No, it's a it's a thing that you're it's a little hard to put a finger on, but it, you know, it's a thing that I think a lot of folks, I think they, we, they know inside you think about that guy or that gal working some corporate gig somewhere. I think they it's almost like a tribalism, like, you know, and if you're, if you're kind of in charge of that tribe, it's, it's way less about what people might think, which is about the power.

00:29:42:21 - 00:29:43:14
Speaker 1
I mean, the boss.

00:29:43:15 - 00:29:44:10
Speaker 2
Exactly. Yeah.

00:29:44:10 - 00:29:54:17
Speaker 1
It's about taking care of these folks. And what a beautiful thing to be able to fast forward. Don't want to rush time, but fast for 20 years and be able to look back and know you did a good job taking care of these people were still around.

00:29:54:18 - 00:30:12:09
Speaker 2
I want to be able to for them to go home and hang their hat on, something that we've created together. For them to have the family and sustain and I mean life with the family, if that's what they want. I put that before myself.

00:30:12:10 - 00:30:16:21
Speaker 1
Yeah, sure. That's. And you learn that from where you think where that come from.

00:30:16:23 - 00:30:18:03
Speaker 2
It's got to be my father.

00:30:18:05 - 00:30:24:17
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. What's that do for a living, by the way? You say he read the books kVA or something, or. No.

00:30:24:18 - 00:30:42:14
Speaker 2
I mean, he runs the books, right? But, he's been, with this whole field company for 35 years. Okay. He's waiting to retire. He's just. I mean, growing up just as hard as all of that.

00:30:42:17 - 00:30:43:18
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:30:43:20 - 00:31:10:13
Speaker 2
Not always there, you know, months out, two weeks here, three weeks there. But, yeah, it was, I mean, that's something I, aspire to be to just 430 in the morning every day. Just. And that's something that, like, I'm not going to have to do that. He provided I mean, he like, laid the path for me to he wants what he wants better for me than what he had for him.

00:31:10:13 - 00:31:28:20
Speaker 2
He always tells me that. So, yeah, you take a lot of take a lot of pride with that. And I mean, you got to learn from that because, I mean, in the beginning, I didn't quite understand it, but looking back, it's like, damn, that was he's a bad ass, you know?

00:31:29:01 - 00:31:34:06
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He sounds like a word is bond kind of guy to you, right? Which is probably shake your.

00:31:34:06 - 00:32:02:12
Speaker 2
Hand, break your hand. And. Yeah, every time you see another guy, I'll be like, I don't want to shake your hand, but you know who he is? It's, Yeah. I mean, my mom just while my dad. Maybe he's out north. He'll just. Being that rock, too. Is just the perfect culmination of everything. And I feel like it puts a lot on, like, I don't want to be, you know, on off.

00:32:02:12 - 00:32:05:14
Speaker 2
I'm like the cusp, but you just. You don't want to let them down, man.

00:32:05:18 - 00:32:15:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. So that's a good driver. Yeah. What's the, what's the things that you've.

00:32:15:16 - 00:32:35:22
Speaker 1
What's the things that you're kind of weathered from childhood? Sounds like got some really great parents. Kind of helped you along the way. Got some good jobs and some good values. What's something that y'all do? Maybe on a daily basis at the company that you feel are at, you know, at the meat market there, do you feel like really embodies like how you grew up?

00:32:35:22 - 00:32:40:19
Speaker 1
Is there like something you do rituals or anything like that that kind of keeps that team tight?

00:32:40:21 - 00:33:03:15
Speaker 2
I mean, yeah, you know, just taking the time every day to walk up to each person and like, what's up? How are you? Like, yeah, well how was your night was you have dinner. How's your weekend? How's your kid? How's your husband? I mean, I do that inadvertently, like not knowing it, but, I mean, and we have this big group text.

00:33:03:15 - 00:33:26:18
Speaker 2
I mean, you know, not, it's just if you got too drunk last night, you can be straight up with me and just be like, yeah, you know, I've had a night and we're. It's almost like family like that. Like they're my brothers and my sisters. Yeah, not so much my employees. And through that, I fine with working all these other jobs.

00:33:26:18 - 00:33:36:11
Speaker 2
I find that to be the way to do it. Hey, I slept through my alarm, not. Hey, I have a flat tire or something. You know? Yeah.

00:33:36:11 - 00:33:37:03
Speaker 1
Shoot me straight.

00:33:37:03 - 00:33:38:09
Speaker 2
Yeah, just shoot me straight.

00:33:38:09 - 00:33:41:19
Speaker 2
it's a cool little cool little family in my world.

00:33:41:19 - 00:33:45:20
Speaker 2
Like, in my in my head, it's just you kind of. I don't know

00:33:45:20 - 00:33:56:09
Speaker 2
the pieces. They've came four years apart, and I didn't hire everybody at once. But it's just the way that things work now. It's. It's magic. It's beautiful.

00:33:56:09 - 00:34:03:23
Speaker 1
Some refreshing about being able to show up to a place and not have to hide who you are, right? Is, you know, you just kind of get to show up. And have you had a rough night?

00:34:03:23 - 00:34:06:14
Speaker 2
You know, like me too, buddy. You know.

00:34:06:14 - 00:34:09:12
Speaker 1
Like, I'm gonna give you a hard time. Yeah. You know, but go.

00:34:09:12 - 00:34:32:22
Speaker 2
Stand in the freezer for five minutes and just come out. Go sleep in your car for an hour. It's all good, you know? Yeah. We're here for somebody slips another, but somebody else catches you. And, I mean, I think that there's a lot to learn in that for business. I know not all business industries are that same way, but, man, if I could be, it'd be ideal.

00:34:33:02 - 00:34:41:13
Speaker 1
You genuinely care about the human genuinely. And there's something about that you think that makes them go, I can't abuse this. Like there's some special here.

00:34:41:16 - 00:35:04:18
Speaker 2
Unspoken, right? Like, I mean, they know what I want because I asked that of them in the beginning, and then you kind of, you're a grown man. You're grown woman. Like, let's let's do this. Yeah. And then throughout that, yeah. You just create this bond. It's it's unspeakable. So, you know, we do things unspoken. We that we knows is good for one another.

00:35:04:18 - 00:35:13:22
Speaker 2
And yes, it's kind of crazy just talking about it out loud. No, actually it's. Yeah. It's good.

00:35:14:00 - 00:35:16:13
Speaker 1
Yeah. Something special. Yeah.

00:35:16:13 - 00:35:27:04
Speaker 1
Talk to me a little bit about just for folks who don't know a little bit about the business of meat, so to speak. Is there like, what's the most, what's the what's the workhorse. What's the thing are it's and so.

00:35:27:05 - 00:35:59:02
Speaker 2
Our, our shop, it's a retail shop. You got your meat cases. We offer your pork your beef, your sausage, your chicken. We get that fresh. I mean, you know, like chicken twice a week. Beef any day of the week that is needed. Pork. Same way. And then you have our specialty items, like, I mean, shotgun shells, which is, manicotti, pasta shell stuff with, like, chorizo, hamburger.

00:35:59:04 - 00:36:05:06
Speaker 2
Cheese, pico. I mean, onions, bell peppers. How it goes.

00:36:05:08 - 00:36:06:08
Speaker 1
You go that way.

00:36:06:10 - 00:36:09:10
Speaker 2
And it's a shotgun shell. You wrap that manicotti shell and bacon.

00:36:09:11 - 00:36:10:03
Speaker 1
Of course you do.

00:36:10:08 - 00:36:11:14
Speaker 2
And,

00:36:11:16 - 00:36:13:13
Speaker 1
And that just is not good. And so you do that.

00:36:13:13 - 00:36:19:04
Speaker 2
We have a case that's specifically designated for all these cool ideas that you get to come up with,

00:36:19:04 - 00:36:40:10
Speaker 2
try out, and then you go into, we offer the deli meats and everything that we make in-house, like drawer sauces, summer sausage, all the cheeses and whatnot. So, I mean, as far as the, the backbone our retail shop is, I mean, that's that's what drives it.

00:36:40:11 - 00:36:44:21
Speaker 1
What's the most popular thing you think? What are the top three things people usually buy from you all retail wise?

00:36:45:03 - 00:36:52:00
Speaker 2
I think bar none, because you get what you pay for. We have the best steaks in town, okay? I mean.

00:36:52:02 - 00:36:53:01
Speaker 1
You can get it almost anywhere.

00:36:53:01 - 00:37:15:22
Speaker 2
You want. I could yeah, I could go off on a whole nother spiel about our steaks. But our our steaks, specialty items, that's a whole nother list. And, I mean, we have this sausage recipe from 1960, that if I change, like, a pinch of salt. Here, pepper there, the whole town is like, what's what's going on?

00:37:15:22 - 00:37:32:15
Speaker 2
Right? The dry sausage, which is a ready to eat product. It's I don't know if people are. It's kind of like a little jerky, sticky, but it's sausage dried out for about five, six days. That's our number one. What? We're now for us today. Yeah.

00:37:32:15 - 00:37:33:11
Speaker 1
What do you call it?

00:37:33:13 - 00:37:34:22
Speaker 2
It's dry sausage. Just dry.

00:37:34:22 - 00:37:35:11
Speaker 1
Sausage.

00:37:35:11 - 00:37:45:12
Speaker 2
Yes, sir. So you smoked the sausage, and then you hang it for about 5 to 6 days? Yeah. And it it becomes like a little jerky stick. I'd say, but it's not, you know.

00:37:45:14 - 00:37:47:07
Speaker 1
It's it's medium.

00:37:47:07 - 00:37:54:01
Speaker 2
Sized. You got your pencil sticks. Okay. Call them book sticks or you got your regular size. Yeah, I mean diameter about like that.

00:37:54:01 - 00:38:02:06
Speaker 1
Nice. And I feel like I survive all my hunts. I just throw a bunch of those in the bag. Maybe a handful of, like, peanuts.

00:38:02:09 - 00:38:21:22
Speaker 2
You go to the market right now, I guarantee you the guy's got a little piece in their back pocket. It's kind of like one of those things you can graze all day on. Yeah. And, yeah, I mean, a lot of military guys, all the baseball players, football players, they, I mean, they survive off their stuff. Oh, yeah, on bus trips and stuff.

00:38:22:00 - 00:38:28:05
Speaker 2
It's pretty cool to be able to supply that. But again, it's like one of those recipes. If I changed, it'd be.

00:38:28:05 - 00:38:30:03
Speaker 1
People know it'd be over. Man, I don't know.

00:38:30:03 - 00:38:30:10
Speaker 2
If I'm.

00:38:30:10 - 00:38:37:10
Speaker 1
Making. Yeah, that's a good thing. They I mean, it's a hard, it's a tall bar to keep, but man, it's a good thing to have a reputation like that.

00:38:37:10 - 00:39:00:22
Speaker 2
And the reputation. I mean, there was a guy, Fred, around 1955 all the way to 2000 that owned it. Then, you know, he just had his time and he saw somebody else first from 2000 to 2020, or I guess we got it in 1920. Somewhere in there, it, it changed hands four times. Yeah. And so it hadn't had that same recipe.

00:39:00:22 - 00:39:10:17
Speaker 2
He blessed us with that recipe because, I mean, he believes I believe he believes in. And what we're doing, bringing it back to just the way it was supposed to be.

00:39:10:17 - 00:39:18:12
Speaker 1
What are the things you've done since taking it over that you feel like has kind of that's been a meaningful kind of shift or add?

00:39:18:14 - 00:39:29:04
Speaker 2
I'd say number one is The Faceless Man. It was it's kind of bleak, you know, you would pass by, you wouldn't know what it was. To be honest, I wish I.

00:39:29:04 - 00:39:30:19
Speaker 1
Just got outside and stuff.

00:39:30:21 - 00:40:00:01
Speaker 2
Right. Just the outside, I mean, faceless, that was the number one. But, I mean, on the inside, it's always been a meat market and meat market, the meat market. So from that aspect, you just just revamped the front. And that means listen to what the customers tell you. Like I said, I worked there two years prior and I would have to say no to people, I don't have a I can't cut you a poor steak at three quarters inch.

00:40:00:01 - 00:40:22:15
Speaker 2
They're all cut at one inch or whatever. Have you, you know, something as simple as that. And me just. I got my phone right now. A list of, like, questions and ideas that, you know, you hear, you hear customers say it. And a lot of people, they'll just be like, all right, you know, kind of take it for a grain of salt and maybe not think about that.

00:40:22:17 - 00:40:37:00
Speaker 2
Right. I'll take it. I'll put it in my phone. And then you kind of. And you look at it and it's not just this customer that's asking. It's even there's like maybe 100 people behind that customer that have been looking for this

00:40:37:00 - 00:40:56:05
Speaker 2
you just got to listen. Listen to the customers is is number one for sure. Yeah. Some of them in and out and you'll know it. But I mean with that in and out, some of them have some crazy things that are like, I don't know if I'm making a million bucks one day, you know?

00:40:56:08 - 00:40:56:20
Speaker 1
Yeah, it's.

00:40:56:20 - 00:40:57:12
Speaker 2
Crazy.

00:40:57:14 - 00:41:17:02
Speaker 1
Now it's, tell me. Okay, I, I'm curious, man. This is something I've thought about. Kind of one of my. For folks who tend to know me a little better, they know that I'll kind of get these, I get these sometimes multiple days in a row of, like, deep thought on a topic that may seem insignificant, but I find it particularly interesting, at least myself so limited to.

00:41:17:04 - 00:41:38:21
Speaker 1
I've thought about me quite a bit in the past, especially meat business. Tell me if this resonates or if I'm off cue on this at all. But I've often I think about my own personal life, and I spend. I have probably a good handful of friends that I go over to their house, or they come over to mine, and the thing that we do is like, no question about what we're doing.

00:41:38:21 - 00:41:58:18
Speaker 1
We're cooking the best piece of meat that we can afford to give each other. That's what we're doing. We're celebrating that. Now. Granted, there's everybody's got a little different cooking process and whatever, but by the end of that evening, we're all huddled around that piece of meat with our families, and we're enjoying that. And all we're doing is talking about the meat.

00:41:58:18 - 00:42:16:22
Speaker 1
That's all we're doing. We're talking about how good it is, where it came from. We'll spend an hour talking about this thing. Yeah. And so I find it weird that you would just go to a store and just pick it off the shelf, or in a way you really want to be able. The things that I've always been most proud of is also when I can talk about where it came from, what I did.

00:42:16:22 - 00:42:41:19
Speaker 1
Now, if I'm cooking a piece of meat or something that I cooked and got and hunted in Colorado, great. But if it's a piece of steak and a buddy of mine does a dang good job with cooking some of the best steak I've ever had. You just take a lot of pride in where it comes from. And so I recognized that the gap would be not being able to have that relationship even before the meat got cooked with somebody at a meat market.

00:42:41:19 - 00:42:52:09
Speaker 1
Do you feel like that's part of the magic there? Because I imagine a lot of people tuning in right now going, why wouldn't you just, you know, that just seems like an aging out thing. But I don't know, it doesn't feel like it to me.

00:42:52:11 - 00:43:16:02
Speaker 2
Like just like you kind of spoke on say you kill a deer and you have a story that comes where that deer came from. That is the question that we get the most is where's where's your meat come from? Right. So a lot of people like to know the I mean it pasture. It was raised up where it got slaughtered all the way to coming in the back door.

00:43:16:04 - 00:43:50:14
Speaker 2
And then who's cutting it? And I mean, that's the whole I think for me, it's the whole fun part of, of doing what we do because I mean, being able to stand behind where we're getting it from and and who's cutting it, is, is very cool. Yeah. You got this whole muscle, that a guy who comes in, he's like, oh, I want a butcher's cut a butcher's inch, and we have a a butcher, like a 19, again, 1950 butchers table that right behind the state counter.

00:43:50:16 - 00:44:09:13
Speaker 2
I mean, me and the guys will sit right there and cut it in front of you. I'll look at them like, hey, you want this? You some people like the fat cap on it so people don't, just being healthy. Yeah, I no, I in my industry, I don't judge, right. I just, I do what I'm told, but yeah, I've been yelled at both ways.

00:44:09:13 - 00:44:33:14
Speaker 2
Honestly. Like, what are you doing with that? How's and why is this on here. But they from that aspect, they get to form that steak from the shop or the market to their dinner, plate and be able to tell like, yeah, yeah, people get around, to speak about it. So to be able to provide that like

00:44:33:14 - 00:44:41:08
Speaker 2
a five mile Misaki Japan rib, that you cut one steak in five people might eat off of.

00:44:41:10 - 00:45:17:15
Speaker 2
And everybody has one bite. And, I mean, it might cost you, like, 2 or $300, but be able to create something like that is. Yeah, it gives me chills because I always like to know, like that we're not just cutting a steak. I like to imagine where it goes. And sometimes I get to know where it goes. And yeah, that's a big part of of why we do what we do to, to say somebody has an anniversary coming up, you know, like, you're not going to want to go to this state place.

00:45:17:15 - 00:45:31:09
Speaker 2
Like, I'm not going to keep bashing H-e-b because, you know, but you're going to want to go to the upper quality place and get your anniversary steaks. And just being able to provide that is is very cool as well.

00:45:31:10 - 00:45:48:23
Speaker 1
Yeah. Now y'all are, reminds me of kind of what we had just in this very room and with the old CEO, Blue Bell, and he said something like. We don't so ask, we sell memories. And I think when you think about it, name and think he used the word sell. He says, like, we help create memories. And I think it's kind of the same thing.

00:45:48:23 - 00:46:13:22
Speaker 1
Y'all are doing something that, generally speaking, I mean, there might be that rare breed of folks eating good ribeye every single night, but generally speaking, you're usually catering to something that's going to be special for a group of people. And so I can see why I just wouldn't make sense, just in my opinion, to go pick it off the shelf when you can go get a relationship with a guy like Brooks and his team and go figure out, like, something, make it even deeper than that, especially in a world right now.

00:46:13:22 - 00:46:25:19
Speaker 1
And we're probably more and more disconnected from getting our food. You know, there's a way to kind of y'all are kind of almost that bridge into the world that folks are away from for enough. Yeah.

00:46:25:21 - 00:46:47:03
Speaker 2
And I mean, that's the world that a lot of people are becoming more and more aware about, too, with the prices and all that stuff going up and are going down, it's people want to know what they're getting, not just, you know, some steak off the shelf there. Yeah. Last week they cook an inch. This week they're going to try and find a quarter.

00:46:47:03 - 00:47:14:21
Speaker 2
And we can be like, how was that inch for you. You know. Yeah. It's it's a cool relationship. And I mean, I take a lot of a lot of pride and in doing that, it's, it's something that. I mean, in the beginning, I never thought that would be where I'm at, but I think I can honestly sit here in front of you and say, I don't think I was meant to do anything else than what I'm doing right now.

00:47:14:23 - 00:47:15:03
Speaker 2
It

00:47:15:03 - 00:47:18:10
Speaker 2
feels like home, It does? Yeah. Very cool.

00:47:18:12 - 00:47:30:04
Speaker 1
Well, as we're kind of closing out this thing, two things I got left on my brain. One of them being, if you had to daydream where you'd be ten years from now, what does it look like? What do you hope it looks like?

00:47:30:06 - 00:47:54:01
Speaker 2
I hope that everybody that is with me now is still with me, and that they're able to do whatever they initially, you know, this probably isn't where they thought they would be either. Right? But, you know, maybe creating something that they could like all of a sudden beginning, hang their hat on and start a family with, I wish to be able to provide that for them.

00:47:54:03 - 00:48:08:08
Speaker 2
And same with my parents, just making them proud ten years from now. As far as, I don't know, you know, the shop, Just keeping it special.

00:48:08:08 - 00:48:29:03
Speaker 1
Yeah. It's special, man. Yeah. One more thing. What, for anybody on the fence right now sitting there, maybe they're working the oil field. Maybe they're working some cubicle up in a high rise somewhere, just trying to break their. You know, maybe they've been considering this for years. Doing my own thing. I don't know what how. You know, whatever.

00:48:29:05 - 00:48:41:23
Speaker 1
What advice do you have for someone to go find that courage for themselves? To just get out there and go pursue this thing that you've built? It doesn't sound like it's easy at all, but anything you tell them that maybe might help.

00:48:42:01 - 00:49:01:21
Speaker 2
I would say. I mean, like if you're doing something that you do day in, day out and you know that you're not happy, if at the end of the day, you're laying there at night and you're thinking about something else, I'd say try to wake up, thinking about that and pursue it, it's not going to be obvious.

00:49:01:21 - 00:49:24:05
Speaker 2
I feel like it, I mean, it was never really obvious to me, man, until, like, one week that I actually took the swing and and try to make it what it is, and, just, I feel like everybody has this moment in their soul that they know, it's, like, genuine. It's real, and this is what I should be doing.

00:49:24:05 - 00:49:30:22
Speaker 1
What you just described, at least the way I take it in Brooks, is you almost can't logic your way into it. It's a good.

00:49:30:22 - 00:49:32:13
Speaker 2
Thing. It's a good thing. Maybe you can.

00:49:32:13 - 00:49:38:16
Speaker 1
Feel it and trust yourself enough to pursue it. It's scary as heck. But man, it's the most pure thing you could follow.

00:49:38:16 - 00:50:00:03
Speaker 2
The most pure thing that you can ever feel. And I think that that's why I mean I think that's what we're all searching for is that feeling. And I just hope that everybody can live their life at least feeling it. I mean, once and make it that one time last forever.

00:50:00:05 - 00:50:09:22
Speaker 1
Yeah. Brooks man, thanks for being on today. For those of you that are in Texas, but really anywhere take I mean drive home by Brenham. Were you all in Brenham?

00:50:10:00 - 00:50:12:17
Speaker 2
509 South Market street, Brenham, Texas.

00:50:12:17 - 00:50:13:02
Speaker 1
South.

00:50:13:02 - 00:50:35:17
Speaker 2
Market Street got us on Facebook. Brenham, Quality Meat Market, Instagram, websites under just under construction. Still new, but yeah man, just ask for Brooks, Garrett, Blake, Will, Roman, Lisa, Gabby Bean and Debbie. That's that's anybody that'll take care. You as good as I can, that's for sure.

00:50:35:19 - 00:50:48:03
Speaker 1
Mel Brooks, thanks for all you doing, man. Again, just appreciate folks like you leading the charge on showing, showing Americans just like, what it means to build your own American dream. So thanks for all you do, man. Appreciate it.

00:50:48:06 - 00:50:51:04
Speaker 2
Appreciate you having me. Heck, yeah.

00:50:51:04 - 00:51:17:10
Speaker 1
Thanks for tuning in to the American Operator Podcast, where we celebrate the backbone of America small business owners and operators like you. If you've enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe so you'll never miss out on more of these stories and insights from people who keep our community strong. Until next time, keep building, keep operating and keep America moving forward.