1 Year Anniversary

On April 27^th it is our 1 year anniversary for our first box of meat shipped as Stick Leg Ranch. I can totally remember that day…it was a disaster! I underestimated the time it would take to get boxes ready and full of meat. Printing off shipping labels was whole different level of frustrations. I hadn’t sourced dry ice at our local grocery store yet, so I had to drive all the untapped boxes to Great Falls to put dry ice in them in the back of my car!

Then came the biggest hit of all. I had worked with a FedEx rep who was so great, kind, and helpful…however when I pulled up to the FedEx ship center in Great Falls, they weren’t as helpful.

I had pre-printed all my labels form my website. I get a pretty substantial discount shipping through my website. I pulled up, unloaded 9 boxes of beef on to the cart, walked into the FedEx ship center and they started scanning and then a man came out, looked over everything and said…nope we won’t ship these.

I about burst into tears. I had labeled them with everything my rep sent me…I had a dry ice warning, I had 5 or less pound of dry ice in them, I had a perishable sticker on them. WHY!!! To be honest I don’t even remember his reason, he just said no. I reloaded all the boxes into my car and frantically made phone calls to UPS ship centers. I drove all the way across town to the closest one at 5 pm.

5 pm traffic did me no favors. I ran in to ask if I could still ship out overnight boxes…the answer was no. I got teary eyed.

A UPS employee saw this and followed me outside and asked what I was doing. She said if I drive fast, I can take them to the warehouse right by the airport and they will take overnight boxes there till 5:30. So I broke a few speeding laws and booked it!

I made it there with 7 min to spare. I started unloading all my boxes frantically. I took them to the front desk and the gal asked me what it was, I told her, she said my labeling was incomplete. I teared up again. But she problem solved with me, and we got sharpies and wrote what needed to be labeled.  She scanned every box in and put them on the dolly to head to the truck for next day air.

Then she came back and rung me up for my total. It was almost triple what I had already paid in FedEx shipping labels. Remember I get a very substantial shipping discount through my website, where I already bought labels that didn’t work only to buy labels at cost for next day air on a bunch of 30 lb boxes. I am fairly certain I lost a couple hundred dollars that day. Yep, didn’t make a dime on my first shipping day. I came home feeling incredibly defeated and incredibly proud!

I did it. I finally sent our amazing grass fed and finished beef from our ranch to your doorsteps. I finally took the step of uncertainty and just did it. It felt so good.

When Seth got home he asked how it all went…and I cried.

I am so much more streamline now, I get dry ice 60 miles closer, I use a ship center 60 miles closer, I do all the packaging in my own meat shop, I have a shipping app that gets me incredible deals, and I am now much more familiar with the shipping rules for both UPS and FedEx.

I can’t believe it’s been one whole year! What a year it’s been. There is still so much room for growth, we want to add new products, we want to ship to every state in the USA, and we have so many more plans.

Thanks for being here with us during this whole journey!

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