Community Highlights: Meet Veronica Gallegos of Hunter Jaymes Meat

Today we’d like to introduce you to Veronica Gallegos.

Hi Veronica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
It all started with a love for the outdoors & hunting! Processing elk & venison into tasty jerky was the easy transition over to beef. Chad ran his very successful jerky company for seven years. When we met in 2015, I fell in love with the product, and maybe even him. I remember eating two bags in one sitting and having to hide the 3rd, I was hooked! How could Jerky taste this good?!!

Owning a small business is tiring, stressful and sometimes exhausting. He decided to step away in pursuit of other interests. Several years later, I was still thinking about that Jerky world and how I was going to bring it back. I got his blessing and started from ground zero. New name, logo, label, business plan and approach. I did my first event in 2019 madewithlove.market. Customers loved the product just like they did before. 2020 was the year we expanded to additional markets! Then COVID happened, but I continued to push through and somehow grew to four farmers markets gilbertmarket, uptownmarketaz @mesafarmersmarket, flagstaffcommunitymarket and mainstharvest and added an online presence that allows me to ship to a broader base than my market customers.

So here we are, it’s me “Veronica”, my third year making small-batch smokehouse jerky, using the finest ingredients and packaging I’m able to find. And you’ll also find me at the markets, my daughter, son or my dear friend’s daughter. Chad is still involved when needed for the “big picture” stuff. He’s my biggest fan and continues to be the best support system that allows me to create and build this little business.

My promise: to bring you the best there is, old-world smoked jerky, to enjoy wherever you choose to adventure!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
2020 my first year being at a market. Covid hit us and every single small business at the market. It was very challenging but I learned a lot!

It made me be more creative in finding business. I had to learn Instagram and adapt to the ups and downs of starting a business in a pandemic.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a family run Jerky company. We small-batch and smoke from start to finish all our Jerky with whiskey barrel wood chips. Each piece is hand-cut to perfection and all our ingredients are clean.

We do beef jerky, turkey jerky and on occasion wild game jerky.

Our Jerky is smoked weekly so that you get the best experience. We really cater to women and men who are looking for a healthy clean (soy-free, gluten-free and nitrate-free) snack that is packed with protein.

We are at four farmer’s markets and love having that person to person connection. We love seeing customers enjoy our products!

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Playing with all my cousins all day and all night… My parents would have to call us in when it got dark. We loved being outside!

Pricing:

• We offer a 3 for $25 on our jerky
• One bag is $10

Contact Info:

• Email: Hjmeats@gmail.com
• Website: Hjmeats.com
• Instagram: Hunterjaymesmeat