Validated Accountability

Before any product is allowed to enter commerce from our jerky plant by Meat Safety Assurance inspectors, we have to sign a pre shipment review form declaring that all product is “ready to eat ‘ and safe for consumption. There is much more to it than that, but it basically means that we are accountable for the product, good and bad. We take pride in placing our reputation on the line with every bite you take. More importantly we take pride in knowing that you are eating one heck of a safe product. We own not only the business but we own the philosophy, the mindset, and the INTENTION to be the best. We will own it in good times and in bad times to the best of our ability. In bad times the tendency for business to blame others is a common response. In the late 80’s early 90′ before the regulatory systems of today there was a major outbreak of jerky related Salmonella and E. Coli poisonings. Several people became very ill because no true standards were set in place to safeguard from “microscopic bugs”. The manufacturer blamed the inspectors and the distributor for the beef , the inspectors blamed the standards, the distributor blamed the slaughter yards and the slaughter yards blamed the inspectors and so on. If the manufacturer would have taken the time to produce a safe product which means to understand everything that there is to know about making jerky, then none of this would have happened. And more importantly no one would have gotten sick. It’s called being accountable, but in these times victim-hood is ever so popular. The need to blame and rationalize and basically lie to oneself is a much easier way to deal with adversity than to play the accountability hand. But in the end, with falsehoods you only hurt yourself and your overall intent. “Validated accountability” is our model that is we have justification for everything that we do. We measure everything from humidity to temperature. We send product to the lab to get tested for various things. We do this because if there is ever a question about our product we can produce documentation that supports the process from beginning to end. The entire process is validated. We are by no means perfect but we do constantly strive for excellence. TRUST BUT VERIFY…

WE owe all the LOVE in the WORLD to MOMS

The maternal is that pertaining to the instincts of the mother. Instincts rooted in love for their children which spills over into every aspect of life. Without the maternal, the world would certainly not be the same. It would likely be filled with FEAR, not LOVE. My ten year old son asked a very good question one day. “Dad”, he asked, “what is more important when you are growing up, God, Love or Education…” I pondered the question and deferred to hear his thoughts and asked, “what do you think?” He said that he thought they were all about the same, but he thought education might be most important. I then asked him why he thought so. His response was this; “Because without education, I would not know what God was and how to love…” “MOM and you, have taught me how to love and what God is.” He stressed mom in his definition because she has shown love, taught love and lived love everyday of his life. I have loved as well, but, I had to learn how to love and a mothers love is instinctual and a much more deeply rooted part of their being. MOMS are the greatest, MOMS are LOVE, Life is certainly worth living with MOMS in the picture. Happy Mother’s Day to all.

INTEGRITY

Recently, we at the Lights Jerky Company read a bad review from a customer that lives well on the other side of the country. What the customer identified as their experience with our product was terrible. The customer identified a product that falls well below the standards that we have set. I am not going to lie, but, my initial thought was that the customer might have been getting our product confused with someone else’s product. In the end, my thoughts swung in the direction of the customer, as I began to ask myself, “why would someone be writing about our product if their intent was negative”? I then started to believe that the customer voiced concerns as a means of trying to help. I went to the drawing board to think of what could have gone wrong and was unable to identify the problem. Suffice to say that things do go wrong from time to time and it could have been the result of a millions things or just one. It is not important to dwell on it, however, it is important to seek a second chance. Integrity as a concept has to do with consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. I consider The Lights Jerky brand to be an extension of who we are as individuals. WE consistently try to preserve the integrity of our product by improving process and ourselves a little everyday.

Well, we did get a chance to make it right with this customer. Knowing that you can’t please everyone, we will see if our product meets expectations with that customer before too long. But if not, what is important is that we value our customers and our response to this particular customer’s review was met with INTEGRITY. Most reviews are evaluated on not only the content of the review, but more importantly the context of the review. We have to be able to understand the truth before we can act, so we can honestly say -We will not try to please everyone as THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE, but will strive to be consistent with our end product. Integrity is the a word that sums up the mindset of our team. We thank you for all comments because that only makes us want to do better…