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Hannah Klitz--Lessons Learned, Building What's Yet to Come
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In this episode, we sit down with Hannah Klitz, founder and owner of Oak Barn Beef, to explore how she built a nationwide direct-to-consumer beef business from the ground up while still in college. Hannah shares the story behind Oak Barn Beef, the challenges of navigating logistics, branding, and growth, and why transparency and quality are at the heart of everything she does. From shipping beef to all 50 states to educating consumers about where their food comes from, this conversation offers an inside look at modern ag entrepreneurship and the mindset it takes to turn a small idea into a meaningful, scalable business.
She's the founder and owner of Oak Barn Beef. A direct to consumer beef business based in West Point, Nebraska, that ships premium beef to customers in all 50 states. What makes her story even more impressive? She started the business while she was in college. Hannah Klitz, welcome to Nighty Three the Podcast. Give folks a little background on yourself.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thanks for having me on. So my name is Hannah Klitz. I live in West Point, Nebraska, and I own and operate Oak Barn Beef here. So I started the business as a sophomore in college, actually, when I was at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and really involved in the Angler Entrepreneurship Program. And we we sell our family farms beef directly to consumers and sell our beef mainly online. That's kind of our bread and butter. We um have an e-commerce website and then ship nationwide to every single United States. Um and then we also have a storefront that in West Point, Nebraska that we added in about three years ago.
SPEAKER_00So you didn't start in West Point. Where'd you go to high school at?
SPEAKER_02Um I grew up in Unadilla. So I went to high school in Syracuse, so just east of Lincoln.
SPEAKER_00Have you participated in the Unadilla Groundhog Day parade?
SPEAKER_02I haven't been in the parade. I have been to the parade, though, and possibly on the list for this year, too.
SPEAKER_00So after you after Syracuse High School, you went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, what'd you major in?
SPEAKER_02I studied animal science with minors in the Engler Entrepreneurship Program and then Nebraska Beef Industry Scholars. And because classes overlapped so much, I ended up graduating with an ag business minor as well.
SPEAKER_00So was it in the Engler program that you came up with Oak Barn Beef?
SPEAKER_02Yes. I knew I wanted to start a business. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs. Um they actually owned a concrete company in Colorado. So I grew up in Colorado until I was 13, and then my family moved to Unidoa. Um, and so I I grew up with both parents as entrepreneurs and knew it was something I wanted to do. Uh, didn't exactly have an idea when I went into college, but just started developing some ideas, and I was really passionate about connecting producers and consumers, and thought, what better way than having those conversations directly with consumers than selling our beef while doing that.
SPEAKER_00So, does Oak Barn beef today look like what you were thinking of back in the Ingler program at UNL?
SPEAKER_02It has developed a lot. So if you would have asked me when we started it, it was really uh focused around that advocating piece. And um, a lot of those conversations that go on are kind of the market of um probably like younger women with young families who are concerned about where their food comes from and wants to feel that transparency. And our target market now has really developed more into um like mainly older retired gentlemen who really like good beef and probably have a connection back to the farm. And our good beef helps them reminisce on that connection and and the good tasting beef that they grew up on, too. That's kind of the customers that we've had find us and really love our beef. And so it's evolved in that capacity, and then the actual logistics of the business too have evolved. But I overall, I don't think I ever would have expected to be still doing oak barn beef almost eight years later. So it's such an honor and and privilege to continue serving our customers and just growing our business and hopefully putting out a positive name for Nebraska beef as well.
SPEAKER_00Where does the name oak barn beef come from?
SPEAKER_02So my parents, um, their concrete company was Oak Valley concrete, and so I wanted to keep some of our family aspect in. So I brought the oak word in from that, and then um I really did grow up in the barn. We we were involved in 4-8 show cattle a lot growing up, and so I spent the majority of my time in the barn, and then beef just kind of makes sense. So compiled those three words, and while I wish I had a really cool actual barn to share that story about, that's really the the true origin of the name.
SPEAKER_00In addition to starting a business, in addition to uh matriculating from the Ingler program, you also got a spouse out of the program, isn't that right?
SPEAKER_02Yes, that is correct. So my husband um and I actually met um when we were seniors in high school interviewing for the Angler Entrepreneurship Scholarship Program. Um, and we didn't start dating until our sophomore year of college, but we both were very involved and uh have a lot of thanks to the Angler program for that side of the family, too.
SPEAKER_00And have you started a family?
SPEAKER_02Yes, we've been married for about five years now, and then we have two little girls um that are two and three. So they're involved with the business and all of our other things in our lives that are just love to be along for the ride and involved and help with everything.
SPEAKER_00If I'm not mistaken, one of your inspirations for doing oak barn beef is was uh Five Mary's Farms in California. Uh tell us about that. And uh, I think you get the intern for them too, correct?
SPEAKER_02Yes, that is correct. So um one of my good friends had actually found their account on Instagram and told me to check it out and and follow them. And so I Five Mary's Farms is located in Northern California, um, about an hour away from the Oregon border, and they sell their beef pork and lamb nationwide. Um, held at that time held retreats out on their ranch and then really just advocated for agriculture by sharing their everyday life on social media too. So I was really excited when I started researching their company, and I told one of my mentors in the Angler program, Dave Lamb, about the the business. And he said, Well, why don't you intern for them? And I said, Well, they don't have an internship program, so that's not that's not an option. And he said, Well, why don't you just ask? Just mail them a letter and and see if you can come out there and intern for them for the summer. And so that is what I did, and they graciously accepted me, and I got to move out and kind of become one member of their family for the summer. Um, and that really that experience was what launched Oak Barn Beef into what it is today. So it was a great experience and um really just finding a mentor who had worked through all of like farm-to-table logistics and nationwide shipping and marketing and and just watching a really powerful woman entrepreneur just make it happen was such an empowering experience for me.
SPEAKER_00How much time do they spend on social media? I mean, they're on Instagram, obviously daily, many times a day. Did you observe some of that when you were interning there?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I did. Um, I think it was just a part of their life at that point. So uh it's definitely was um just kind of highlighting what they do all day on the ranch or in the business and taking people along for the ride. I think social media has pivoted a little bit in the last few years. Um, that Mary at Five Mary's Farm still does a lot of that, but I and there's a lot of privacy that that is there too, that she respects with as her children get older. And I know there's some other factors in play, but it really was just a part of their lives at that time.
SPEAKER_00And do you hope to replicate some of that at uh Oak Born Beef?
SPEAKER_02As far as the social media side goes, I definitely do um like to be present on there, but I don't love to build that into our lives. So I think that ideally it's it's something that can be a great touch point for our customers, but just the requirements for taking some taking social media along and building it into your lives is probably a little more than than I would like to do. And and for privacy reasons, and especially as people are becoming a lot more aware of what AI can do and with kids and just a lot of security there too. Um, it's definitely something that's that's on my mind a lot. How I can be protecting our family, but still promoting our business.
SPEAKER_00So you start your business at the Angler program, and then not too long after that, COVID hit. How did COVID impact your business?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we had a freezer full of beef when COVID happened, which turned out to be very fortunate because as the grocery store shelves became bare, we gained a lot of customers who were looking for um for beef, period, but also just there was so much fear out there during that time on if people weren't going to be able to find food for their families. So I'm glad that we were stocked up well enough to be able to handle that volume. Um, I don't we sold out of the beef we had on hand pretty quickly during the pandemic because of that, but then we had butcher appointments scheduled where we could restock um periodically. But the only way I was pre-selling beef was with by selling our beef subscription boxes. So that gives me a little more leeway to be able to put some cuts in and not know exactly what inventory we're gonna get back from the butcher, but be able to kind of pre-sell. And we entered 2020 with seven subscribers, and I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head, but it was somewhere around like 94 subscribers, is what we got up to um throughout the year. So it was a great way for us to be able to grow our subscription base and grow gain a lot of customers through that too. Um with it scaling that much, there was a lot of learning lessons on my end and changing some of our subscription processes because at that point I was just um kind of customizing a box for every single person, uh, which was very doable when it was seven people. But once it got up to a larger number, I really needed to scale and put some more processes into place. So also a lot of learning. Um, and then during that time period, we also, my husband and I both graduated from college during that time too. So there was just a lot, a lot of changes. And I know it was a lot of unknowns for everyone, but uh we were very fortunate for a business that thrived during COVID and not the other way. And that's not something I look I I feel very fortunate for that too.
SPEAKER_00I know um again, many farm to table businesses, uh, the product is high quality. That's that's to be expected, but there's often a story behind it. What's your story?
SPEAKER_02So I would say a lot of people I I do try to tell our farm story. Um, and so just sharing it's kind of some behind the scenes. I'm not as active on the everyday operations on the farm as I used to be without kids. Um, and as the business grows and things, it's my time is required other places. So that content is a little harder to do every day. But um I do think we do a good job of storytelling like our our business story. So a lot of people are wanting to support young entrepreneurs, which again, we're so thankful for that because they want to know where their food is coming from and the people who raise it and and supporting that along the way. So that's kind of the the story side of it. The other side, I would say I always say the the story is what people get people to purchase our beef the first time, and then the taste of our beef is what turns them into customers for life. So we when I started the business, I was only working with my parents' um cow calf operation to buy the cattle. And since then they've really scaled down their herd. When I moved to West Point away from the family farm, they actually sold off about 70% of their herd and then eventually have sold off all of it. So that was a a challenge. Um, but we found another producer out in central Nebraska that we work really closely with as a partner ranch. So we buy the majority of all of their cattle, and then um we have a few head of cows ourselves, but we buy them at weaning time. Um, and we really pay attention to the genetics of the beef. So we use a DNA test too, and we have criteria for like tenderness and marbling, um, rub by area size, and there's a lot of other traits that we look for to make sure that the cattle are the highest quality from the beginning. So that's the animal science major coming out in me a little bit there as we dive into the genetic side. But then we bring them to um our our family farm in West Point, which um my in-laws is actually where we have the cattle. So I'm really grateful for that relationship. Um, but then we raise them there until we use a USDA inspected butcher and they dry age the beef as well. So that gives the beef a lot more time to to just age like a fine cheese or wine and makes it a lot more tender and flavorful because of that process. So that's and then we bring the beef back to our um freezers and then ship it out or sell it directly in the store here. So that's kind of a look into the process, and I really do think each step makes the quality difference, and we try to share about that with our our customers along the way as well.
SPEAKER_00So you now live in the West Point area. What's the license plate prefix on your trucks?
SPEAKER_02And it's 24 county.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So that help me uh to understand. I know one of the issues that folks in the again, farm to table uh businesses. I mean, you have uh high demand for certain cuts, no or low demand for others. How do you manage that as far as which cuts you're gonna keep on hand and what do you do with the rest?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that that is a big challenge for a lot of people in our space. Um, we used to really struggle with the amount of ground beef. Uh over 50% of the carcass will be ground beef, is what we figure in our numbers. Um, so that's just a lot more of a quantity to move than let's say a revised steak or flat iron. So we originally started adding in some wholesale customers for that. So we sell to a few different wholesale customers for ground beef. Um, and then we started thinking through what other value-added cuts can we add and sell that will give us more value than just ground beef. So we've added in like Denver steaks, flat iron steaks, Chuckeye steaks, um, hanging tender steaks, just some cuts that people may not be as familiar with, but are still really quality cuts. Um, and then the last step there is we also started processing more um beef sticks and beef jerky as a way to use some of that ground product or trim from the butcher and create a shelf stable line that kind of gets us into some different markets too. So we sell those um in-store and then also we sell them at a few convenience stores and other locations like that. And that's just something that we can get um get in places that are shelf stable and then also have a little bit better margins on than than we typically do just with ground beef.
SPEAKER_00What led to the decision to open a storefront in West Point?
SPEAKER_02The decision really came down to we needed a larger warehouse and freezer area for um distribution purposes. So a building came up for sale here. Um, and it came with a it was all it was a used car sales office and then an auto mechanic shop is what it started as. So we it had three lifts, car lifts in it um that we took out and we converted all of that space into kind of just like warehouse. So I store all of our shipping supplies there, and then on shipping day we bring everything out and it it looks a lot more full on shipping days, and then we tuck it all back away um for actual storefront operations. So that's the majority of the business or the building, and then we also have a larger walk-in freezer that's really important for us to be able to stock up for our busiest season, which is Christmas. Um, and then the office space was a lot larger than we needed, so we saw an opportunity to add in more of a storefront with that. Uh, I really wasn't sure being in Cumming County where there's a lot of cattle raised, whether we would have very much foot traffic. And it has exceeded my expectations. Um, we have a lot of people drive from Lincoln and Omaha and all over to come and pick up these. So it's a great place to welcome them as well as serve our local customers who are around West Point.
SPEAKER_00What do you think some of the biggest challenges you faced, uh, not only as a young entrepreneur, but a young female entrepreneur when you first got started?
SPEAKER_02I think the biggest challenge was just the learning curve that came with being a young entrepreneur. So I was very familiar with the cattle side because I had grown up with that, but the actual beef processing side and just business operational side too was a very big learning curve. Um I had kind of interviewed with a few butchers on who I was going to partner with. And there was a few instances where my my dad was with me and um when I went to go talk to them, and they would only talk to my dad instead of talking to me, and and a few things where I just knew it wasn't going to be a good fit because they didn't treat me like I was the lead of the business. Um, so I did not partner with them uh because of that, and and just a few experiences where where I realized I needed to partner with people who would support a young entrepreneur rather than go against it. So that's one example. But overall, I would say there were so many people who were willing to really stick their neck out and make connections for me and and share their resources so that I would be able to learn. So one of the first banking meetings that I ever had was with the staff at Union Bank and Trust there in Lincoln. And they had set it up so that there were like three women who who met with me and really just walked me through how banking works, how loans work, how all of that side of things that I was so unfamiliar with worked. And that's something I am really grateful for. That there's so many instances like that where people really stuck out and made the time to help, which shows Nebraska overall, I think.
SPEAKER_00Are you willing to share one mistake that perhaps you made that you turned into a valuable lesson?
SPEAKER_02Yes. Um I think this is probably one of my biggest failures, but I had uh partnered with a cigar company to offer um like premium boxes where they where they get a ribeye or two ribeye steaks, and it was like a premium box of cigars. And so I had quoted all of it and it was ready to go. Um, and the order started rolling in, and I realized that I forgot to quote the shipping cost in on the price that I had given the company. Yes, and the shipping cost is pretty hefty with frozen beef too. So that was just a really hard mistake to come by. And I remember um going into one of my mentors' offices at Engler, and I was like, What do I do? Like, this is so much money that I'm losing by doing this, blah, blah, blah. And he said, just take care of your customers, give them the best experience they can have with you, and then hopefully that turns them into customers for life and they keep coming back. And that was a really good learning opportunity that has stuck me for seven years now, too. That if if I mess up, the best thing I can do is just take care of those. customers and and hope that I can give them a good experience and hope that that they turn into customers to life because of that. Um so even though that was that real really hurt me some it was a very good experience and I think something that I just needed to give myself some grace on to as a young entrepreneur, which is easier said than done.
SPEAKER_00If someone listening wants to start their own farm to table business, what's the first step you'd recommend them to look into?
SPEAKER_02I think it's so easy to get stuck with all of the logistics in a business like this. There's a lot of logistics there and you can research forever. So the best piece of advice I have is just to get started. You learn so much as you go and you're never going to learn everything until you're actually doing it. So whether that's just booking um uh your first butcher appointment or creating a social media account to start advertising or just taking whatever first step that needs to be to get things in motion that's going to be the most valuable so you are a business owner you're a wife you are a mother how do you balance or juggle it all maybe there isn't balance but how do you how do you manage to do it all? I say I I learn every day on this side of things. So it's not perfect by any means as I don't think any wife mother business owner ever is. But I think it comes down to giving yourself some grace. So I have been sharing this story recently that my daughters um this was the first Christmas that they were truly like so excited about being two and three that they knew what was coming and kind of knew what was going on. And it's also our busiest season of oak barn beef in November and December. So there's a lot of hard times of like choosing choosing what's most important at that point. And I had one present wrapped under the tree um going into the week of Christmas and my girls were just so excited about that one present. Like they didn't understand that a lot of other places or other people had Christmas trees that just were stacked full of presents under them. They were just so excited about that one. And that just reminded me kind of the true spirit of motherhood that that they're just excited and and like to be along for the ride. So they they were down at Oak Barn Beef a lot with me during that time whether it's prepping and packing boxes and we build a little box house for them so that they can play in that and play babies or whatever else during that time when I need to work but they really are just just want to be along for the ride and be a part of it all. And so that it can be easy to be hard on yourself in certain situations like that but just seeing the magic of it all and hopefully they're taking away a lot of good things out of it too. And no day is perfect by any means and it's a constant juggle like you said not necessarily balanced but I think just giving yourself grace that we're all just doing the best we can is something that I try to keep in mind.
SPEAKER_00Where do you see Oak Barn beef in five years?
SPEAKER_02We have grown a lot over the last eight years. And so just just thinking through that growth curve I don't think we're gonna grow as much as we have in the beginning here. But I think it's just really important that we continue serving our customers the best we can. Something we're really struggling with right now is that cattle prices are so high. So that just leaves our margins really slim. So the more we can focus on that and in being able to scale our business um I think we'll will help us continue to do that and continue to serve our customers well as well as as as make it make sense for our family too.
SPEAKER_00What's your favorite cut of beef to cook at home?
SPEAKER_02My husband's favorite cut is a flank steak so it's pretty uh lean um and doesn't have a lot of loss to it not a lot of fat to cut off or anything like that. I really think you can't go wrong with a ribeye or filet that's kind of my favorite preference but if anybody's feeling adventurous I think the hanging tender steak is it's sometimes known as the hanger steak but that is a very tender cut of beef that not a lot of people know about but every customer who's tried it has absolutely loved it. So there's some ideas for you.
SPEAKER_00What's one thing that uh people maybe don't know about you that may susp surprise them if they learned it this kind of a fun fact is I am really good at Tetris Oh really?
SPEAKER_02Oh wait where did that come from I don't know I played it a lot growing up but I do think it's like a very resourceful I don't know what I'm trying to say there but I I do think it's a very helpful uh trick and skill that I've learned from playing so much Tetris when I was younger and in high school but I used to bring that out kind of as a party trick in college and and impress all of my friends with it. So nerdy.
SPEAKER_00So Hannah folks want to learn more about oak barn beef and perhaps buy some of your tasty products where should they go?
SPEAKER_02People can go to oakbarnbeef.com to shop our cuts online there. And then um if anybody wants to visit our storefront in West Point Nebraska you can find that information on our website or um we are also open on Thursday and Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. So we would love to see some people in person as well.
SPEAKER_00Hannah something we ask all of our guests you get one word what is the one word that to you best describes and explains this great place and where you attended Syracuse High School where you attended the University of Nebraska Lincoln and where you today you operate Oak Barn Beef near West Point Nebraska what's your one word for Nebraska?
SPEAKER_02I think it would be resourceful. This this state just really takes what it's given and and makes the best of it and whether that's actual like resources or it's just mindsets and taking making everything the best we possibly can I think that's true for all of Nebraska.
SPEAKER_00Hannah thanks for joining us thanks for having me. If you enjoyed this episode consider subscribing on Apple Spotify or your favorite podcast app. Share it with someone who might find it of interest. And please keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska it's great communities Nebraska's number one industry agriculture and the people make it happen.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for the 93 sponsored by Nebraska
