We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shannon Kearney a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shannon, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I grew up with a single mom and my brother on a dairy farm. We milked 80+ head of cattle and there really wasn’t a time we could sleep in or take off on vacation. Everything we did was to raise the dairy cows and to sell the milk to make sure we could survive. On my Fathers side of the family, they grew up as truck gardeners and all of the kids worked to help make their business a success. In my adult life, I don’t quit until the job is done and the animals are taken care of. As a small business owner, you understand that every move you make is part of the liveliness of your business and customer service is at the core. I strive to be available to my customers and to my animals at all times and to make sure my business is thriving.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I raise black and red angus cattle. I sell calves at the sale barn and I offer sides of beef and cuts of beef in my retail store. I strive to make sure my customers are completely satisfied with my products and my responsiveness. I also believe in healthy and sustainable beef. I provide antibiotic free and growth hormone free beef that is locally raised. My cattle have the best lives possible and in the end they provide excellent, healthy beef to the residents of Johnson County. There is nothing better or more satisying than being able to see healthy baby calves that I know I took great efforts to help calve out and raise in a healthy and sustainable way. I truly love going out to check on the cows and look after the calves each and every day. Kearney Cattle strives to provide excellent tasting beef at reasonable prices, even when inflation is high. I feel everyone should be able to provide beef to their families and understand where it came from. My purpose and mission are based on economical prices and strategies to ensure I am providing great tasting beef and excellent customer service.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I feel my ability to understand the financial part of my business has been key, not only for myself but also to be able to understand the impacts of inflation on my customers. Another key has been my organizational skills, I strive to keep records on all my cattle and transactions to understand where my business is and provide products and services at the best cost to my customers. I also feel my understanding of cattle and cattle health has dramatically helped. When I check cows, usually daily, I look for any sickness, stress from calving, stress from the environment and other factors. I have an abilty to calmly work my cattle to prevent stress and make sure they have the best possible life possible.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My ideal customer is someone that cares about where their food comes from and also someone that wants to support local farmers. Another key is an individual that wants to provide for their family and have food safety with a freezer full of healthy and delicious beef. I also offer fresh, farm raised eggs along with my beef. Knowing that they cattle are free to graze 200+ acres in Johnson County and that I know each and every cow really speaks volumes for the care I put into my beef.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kearneycattle.com
- Instagram: kearneycattle
- Facebook: kearneycattle
