We were lucky to catch up with Teresa Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Teresa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
When my parents purchased the land that their farm resides on, it was 40 acres west of town (Greene, IA). So we always called it the West Forty. That name stuck when my dad started raising cattle and selling meat. When I opened my own store, I legally named it something else but the branding is all West Forty. My dad’s beef is what started it all and I wanted to carry that name thru to my own business to continue to build on his legacy.
Teresa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My dad sold individual cuts of meat in our small hometown of Greene, IA while I was in college. When I moved to the big city, I saw a potential for a strong market for the Iowa-raised meat. I was a vendor at our big Des Moines Farmers Market for many seasons, selling my parents beef. I also worked hard, over many years, to build a clientele that I would deliver to year-round. During this entire time, I was climbing the corporate ladder for a major mortgage company. I always had this little dream of having a brick and mortar where people could shop Iowa-raised cuts of meat year-round.
In 2020, I was laid off from my corporate job of almost 17 years. I took that as my motivation to make my dream a reality. I opened a store front in the summer of 2021 and have continued growing over the last 4 years.
I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve built – I have the right people to remind me on a regular basis to just pause for a moment and celebrate all of the growth. More importantly, I refuse to accept mediocrity and am always pushing to do better every day. We not only offer a very high quality product at West Forty but we provide excellent customer service and we want you to have an ‘experience’ when you shop here, whether that’s in person or online.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Every week brings a new set of challenges and right now is a great example as we weather the storm of the insanely high beef prices. Small farms are disappearing for a reason and it’s hard for us small guys to compete with major commercial operations and buyers with unlimited funds. I work with a fantastic financial consultant that helps me pivot and find ways to weather these types of storms so they have the least negative impact to customers and to the business itself.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Being laid off after 17 years in the mortgage industry was a huge slap in the face – not to mention I was still on maternity leave and had a 6 week old baby to care for. It presented two paths – I could take the easy path and be re-hired on within the same company and continue working for someone else or I could show my daughter that it’s possible to go down a new path and do something scary. I definitely chose the harder path and it continues to present challenges, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’ve found that owning my own business has allowed me to spread my wings and do things I never thought I was capable of doing….and my 5 year old has a front seat to all of that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.westforty.com
- Instagram: westfortymarket
- Facebook: westfortymarket
- Yelp: West Forty Market
Image Credits
Images were either taken by me or legally purchased off Shutterstock to represent a cut that we carry in store.