Senior Mitch Doran has been known to have a lot of beef with his fellow students lately, beef jerky that is. High school is a time to explore new interests and for this senior, he has decided to utilize his interest in jerky and commence his very own beef jerky business. Turning what was once a part-time hobby into a business opportunity, some may say the steaks were high as this senior seeks to share his passion for jerky with the community.

“I’ve been making beef jerky for my family and myself for a few years now,” Doran said. “I [initially] created the business so that I could share quality beef jerky with my community and peers at a reasonable price.”

With its immediate popularity to the community, Doran admits that, initially, he may have bitten off more than he could chew.

“[I had problems] with my first set of orders,” Doran said. “I had promised over 40 people their order within a week. Rookie mistake. I then spent the next four days constantly brewing jerky. At one point I had to wake up at 3 in the morning in order to fulfill my promised delivery date.”

Doran learned from this early setback, and MDJerky has received glowing reviews since then.

“I tried MDJerky the day Mitch was giving out samples at lunch,” senior Riley Laurence said. “I have a really fragile fake tooth due to an accident that will remain disclosed, and I accidentally chipped it on the jerky. I had to get it filled and everything at the dentist, but Mitch’s jerky is so good that I honestly didn’t even care.”

MDJerky’s growing popularity has not occurred just around the community but in the Doran household as well.

“I’m personally not a jerky enthusiast,” senior Caroline Doran said. “But my family has really admired my brother for his ambition, and now we have a lot of extra jerky around the house so I can’t really complain.”

Launching a business has not only served as a business opportunity but learning opportunity as well.

“Running MDJerky has taught me a lot of financial management skills that I could never learn in a classroom,” Doran said. “I believe every individual should seek out some sort of real life situations in which they can learn from.”

Doran has decided to continue the production of his beef jerky throughout the year.

“I’m thankful for all my customers and supporters; without them MDJerky would not exist,” Doran said. “Also I will continue to sell jerky throughout the year so contact me if you’d like to place an order and follow @MDJerky on Twitter for more information.”