Our People
The HEART and SOUL
The "fam" isn't just ranchers, it includes local processors, schools, community groups, small businesses and you too! We need everyone to make the Blackjack Legacy dream work!
There isn't enough room to recognize everyone individually, but we proudly recognize and value the sacrifices and contributions of past generations that built our heritage and the choices and work that are made daily to create our legacy – a legacy of better beef, better health and better community.
Family
Our people, the Blackjack Legacy family, are a group of smart, genuine, hard-working, and selfless people that would help a stranger as easily as a neighbor. We don’t know how we got so blessed to call them our neighbors, family, friends, and customers, but we sure are glad it happened. If this sounds like you, we would love for you to be a part of the Blackjack Legacy family as a rancher, consumer, or community partner, there is always room for one more at our table.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Speaking of tables, there are two families that are responsible for coordinating with the legacy ranches, managing our program, developing our special blends and connecting with our community. Interestingly, each family is a picture of what can happen when the country connects with the city and vice versa. Their goal is to help connect our communities with our local ranchers!
The Avers Family
Katrina is the founder and innovator behind Blackjack Legacy. She is a scientist, rancher, mom of 5 and beef purist with an eye for quality. In life and in beef, she seeks to achieve a BALANCE that is healthy and well-rounded. Blackjack Legacy brings together so many aspects of life that she loves, people, agriculture, community, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence. It may be a little quirky but Blackjack Legacy isn’t “just” beef to her. It is an opportunity to build on a heritage of Oklahoma excellence, to reinvest in our own health, to reinvest in the heart and soul of our communities, and connect with the small, family-owned ranchers that are defying the pressure of commercialized operations. She is married to her “City Boy” Jeff and they approach life and business together! They will tell you life isn’t perfect but they try daily to put God first, love well, and make a difference together.
Jeff is the Chief Operations Officer and the man behind the scenes making sure every order makes it from the ranch to the door. He didn’t start anywhere close to a ranch but he married into it and has jumped in with both tennis shoes. He is our “tennis shoe” cowboy and is a lifelong learner on the ranch. You can find him doing about everything from building fence to invoicing. No job is too big or too small for the big guy with a big heart. He is willing to do whatever needs to be done, is friendly to everyone, and leads with an humble spirit.
As a family, they work together and play together. They work hard to play hard and enjoy boating, traveling, glamping, playing games, hosting dinner parties, and experimenting with foods.
When it comes to beef, Katrina loves the versatility and nutrition of the “Steakhouse Blend” ground for everyday cooking. It is her ALL-TIME favorite. Her favorite steak is the “Filet Mignon”. Jeff loves two extremes on the steak spectrum “The Tomahawk” for the experience and a “Classic Sirloin” for the lean and clean steak. He loves his steaks with a quick sear and served medium-rare! His favorite Legacy burger is the Signature Steakburger! All of the kids have a different favorite so Blackjack Legacy Beef is served regularly. The kids really love cooking our steakburgers and are becoming quite the grill masters!
The Myers Family
Richard is the Chief Cattle Operations Officer, the cowboys’ cowboy and quality gatekeeper for Blackjack Legacy. He is a man of few words and prefers to spend his time “taking care of the cattle”. His cowboy name is “Slim”. He has his degree in business management and knows every ranch, every brand, and every grain of grass used in our program. He loves the idea of revolutionizing the industry by uniting small ranchers under a quality standard that protects the heritage of our small, family ranches and gives our customers locally sourced, quality beef, every time!
When he isn’t working with cattle on the ranch, Richard stays busy! He trains competitive ranch horses, coaches little league, and is always ready to lend a helping hand to neighbors and friends. He is the dad of two handsome boys and married his love, his “city girl”, Lisa Myers. While Lisa doesn’t serve in an official role, she is one of our greatest encouragers. Despite what she says, she is a great hand on the ranch and can feed cattle in heels! Lisa and Richard are the perfect example of when the city connects with the country and magic happens.
Richard’s favorite Blackjack beef is the “Cowboy Ribeye” and is followed closely by the “King” steakburger. Lisa is a foodie and her favorite is our steakhouse blend! She uses it for almost every beef meal and will tell you it is “next” level!