What began with extra beef from show steers became a farm-raised beef business
SEARCY, ARK. – Lisa Yarbrough-Vaughan has made a career of thinking outside the box. Anytime she is confronted with tragedy or obstacle, she looks at what other people are doing and then seeks out other paths to get the job done.
“Believe it or not, I do have a brain, and I’ve always been thinking outside the box,” Lisa said with a laugh. “I’ve always felt like I was the type of person who always looked at other ways to make money or to think outside the box. I don’t have a college degree. I always learned to work hard and I’m not afraid of working hard. When you’re raised up not knowing the secrets to successful people or you feel like you don’t know the secret. The secret is thinking outside the box in my opinion, and don’t be afraid to try something. So that’s what I do.”
While this mindset has always been a part of Lisa’s personality, it began to show business fruits when her first husband and youngest son started showing livestock at the fair. After the second year, in which they took two steers, they had to find something to do with the beef that didn’t fit into their freezer in Searcy, Ark.
Lisa thought she could have the beef cut up and sell it in quarters. Her husband wasn’t as sure.
“Well, that kind of motivated me because I was like, you watch, and so I did it,” Lisa said. “My brother’s a farmer as well, and so he’s like, how’d you do it? I said, ‘Well, I just sold it by a quarter half and hole on the railway and took it in and we paid for the processing, and they got to pick their cuts. I said if I had 10 more, I think I could have sold them.’ He said, ‘Well, I do right now, so start selling.’”
Lisa’s Farm Fresh Beef was essentially started because of a lack of freezer space. But from that simple beginning, Lisa began to build a consistent customer base and sell 10 butchered steers a year.
But then, in 2016, Lisa’s first husband passed away. Even after becoming a widow and losing a source of income at 52 years-old, Lisa continued to work and build her business. But not wanting to put all of her husband’s work on the shoulders of her oldest son, she had to come up with a different strategy.
“I thought outside the box and I had someone to go out that I knew and trust to go connect with other farmers and buy beef for me,” Lisa said. “I took that off the farmer’s back. Most of the time, farmers don’t want to be dealing with people. They don’t have time. They’re out there in the farm and I’m on the phone selling beef.”
It was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that she saw the company’s biggest growth as she went from selling three to 16 steers a week. All while taking care of her two grandsons.
“When COVID hit, they took down a bunch of packing houses that supplied beef for grocery stores, and all of a sudden, people couldn’t find beef in the grocery stores,” Lisa said. “What they found was extremely expensive. I started getting on social media and people found out they don’t have to go to Walmart and Kroger’s anymore to get beef. They can get it through a farmer; It’s sometimes a little cheaper and the quality’s so much better. Even though COVID was an ugly, ugly thing, there’s a rainbow at the end of the shower right after the end of the thunderstorm. It was a blessing for my business.”
Lisa said it was also an eye-opener for people to see where their beef comes from and that they don’t have to rely on grocery store chains to feed their families.
Lisa knew once the pandemic ended, many families would return to their normal shopping habits and search for the best prices. Yet, Lisa’s Farm Fresh Beef has retained a loyal customer base.
Through trial and error, Lisa has simplified her operation. She says it starts with networking with other farmers in the area before she purchases, and she only selects black Angus steers.
From there, the cattle are taken to the Cypress Valley Meat Company in Clinton, Ark., to be processed. Many times Lisa will have sold much of her product before the beef is even cut up. If not, she jumps onto Facebook and other social media sites to get the word out and take orders. Her niece, Shaleah Furrow, started a delivery service for the customers as well.
“Sometimes people just change their mind, and I end up having beef up there, and then I tell my customers I got beef. Who’s ready?”
Lisa, who has remarried, plans to keep reinventing her business plan and thinking outside the box to keep Lisa’s Farm Fresh Beef. She already has some ideas in the works that she says will give her a leg up on the competition moving forward. At the same time, Lisa has her eyes on families and individuals with smaller budgets.
“I would like to help the smaller crowd. I don’t know how to say that, but the people who can’t afford that much beef at a time,” Lisa said. “Maybe they can afford $200 here and there. I would like to increase that to serving about 60 people a month.”
Regardless of which direction she goes, Lisa isn’t done yet and doesn’t see herself running out of ideas any time soon. Lisa’s Farm Fresh Beef is here to stay.
“It’s grown to a really nice business,” Lisa said. “I never, ever, ever dreamed that a country girl with no college education and with just social media could have built a humongous business.”
