Nearly three years ago we talked about Kingmade Jerky here on Side Dish. We mentioned how professional golf caddie Jeff King had been looking for a jerky that could sustain and satisfy players on the course. After finding nothing that could meet their needs, King began to make his own. He started with three distinct flavors: Sweet Chili Flank Steak, Buffalo Style Flank Steak, and Classic Recipe Flank Steak Jerky.
The same three flavors are the only products King makes today. The production and demand has more than doubled since then. The company is now available in stores all over the United States and Canada. Kingmade Jerky has been written up in Forbes, USA Today, Golf Digest and many other outlets. Jeff King still produces his jerky out of McKinney, Texas with the same recipe and the same packaging. He found exactly what he was looking for and has stuck with it.
The point of this post, aside from encouraging you to try Kingmade Jerky the next time you see it at Central Market, is to remind you that there is success in crazy dreams. In hobbies. In things you may not think anyone else would enjoy. Jeff King was already a great tour caddie. He could have let that story be his legacy, but instead he pursued another. (Making beef jerky. One that some people may not have understood.) So, I would like to use his story to encourage you to pursue those passions, or stick with the ones already in pursuit. You never know how successful that salsa recipe could be or your grandma’s old soup mix. And you never will know, unless you put it out there.
