Jerky, Spice, and Everything: When You Cook with Rob’s Just Right
By La’Crystele Brown
FWIS Contributing Writer
Mr. Robert Fields was born and raised in Fort Wayne, IN. Growing up in a single-family home with his mother Anita Eley taking care of him and his younger brother , Fields remembered being around family and seeing his grandmothers, and even his uncles in the kitchen or on the grill cooking. As someone who loves to eat, Fields would often find himself in the kitchen messing around with things or observing, asking, and learning to prep and cook the meals that were being made.
Being an entrepreneur was always a part of Fields' plan. He knew that he was a lover of food and that he could cook very well, this made Fields think maybe he wanted to become a chef. Fields also loves the entertainment industry and wanted to possibly get into that field as well. In the end, Fields would end up in both the entertainment industry and the food industry. Fields currently has an entertainment company called HandzDown entertainment and thanks to his wife Keisha a spice and jerky company called Rob’s Just Right Seasoning.
Two years ago, as their wedding approached, the soon to be Mrs. Fields stressed the importance of having gifts for their wedding guests at the end of the night. Fields was hesitant; however, Mrs. Fields had the perfect idea for the gift they should give their guests. She suggested they give out the seasonings that Fields would make for preparing their meals. Fields thought this was a great idea and once their wedding guests got a chance to use the seasonings, they were interested in more and many suggested that Fields start selling them.
Fields currently has two seasonings available, which are his Moocow steak seasoning and Sweet & Spicy seasoning. Fields let me know that he encourages his customers to use the seasonings on whatever they would like. Both seasonings are great on all types of proteins and vegetables. Though the name has the word steak the seasoning does not have to be limited to being used on steaks only.
Rob’s Just Right Seasoning is happy to be one of the few companies that has all natural seasonings. There are no MSG’s, additives, or preservatives. Fields is happy to give his customers the comfort of knowing what they see on the label is what’s in the bottle.
Everything from Rob’s Just Right Seasoning is made in house. The company is currently rebranding with new labels, converting to shaker bottles, and adding new seasonings to accompany the two popular seasonings they currently sell.
Fields mentioned that his mother has been asking him to release a seafood seasoning and while it isn’t one of the seasonings coming soon, Fields didn’t say it wasn’t a possibility in the future. He joked with his mother saying that he wouldn’t release one until he came up with a consistency that he loved and that the soon to come seasonings would have to pay for it. Fields went on to let me know that his company doesn’t receive any funding at all. He and his wife built their company from the ground up with their own money, blood, sweat, and tears. Their kids are very helpful and want to help work, this made Fields acknowledge that their blood, sweat, and tears also played a part in the success and growth of the company. As a family everyone wants and is willing to put in a helping hand.
Fields became interested in adding jerky to the business after learning more about jerky on the web and going to several jerky events. His reasoning for this was because when he is advertising or at events selling his seasonings people want to be able to taste it and know it’s as good as he says it is. Fields has sampled his seasonings on popcorn, fruit, and almost anything else you can think of. Fields loved trying his seasonings on different things but out of everything he took a liking to and huge interest in jerky. He saw that everyone was dehydrating it, and this made him think to “smoke and dehydrate” the jerky. Smoking his jerky for hours is the factor that sets Fields apart from other jerky companies.
Fields says he specializes in beef jerky, but he has had people request different kinds such as deer and squirrel jerky. His motto for making jerky from different kinds of animals is if you catch it and get it prepped, he will do it for you.
I was interested to know how Fields is able to keep his seasonings fresh since they are all natural and he informed me that it is okay for the seasonings to clump up only if there is sugar in the ingredients because that means it’s still fresh and it hasn’t been tampered with. Seasonings and food are supposed to go through those natural phases in order to tell when it is starting to go bad. To ensure your seasonings stay fresh for as long as possible, Fields suggested keeping them in a cool and dark area. He suggests restocking after a year but another way to tell if your seasoning has gone bad is by the smell, taste, or in extreme conditions, mold. The same goes for jerky. The jerky will start to mold, feel different, and taste different once it has started to go bad.
Jerky is extremely popular for Rob’s Just Right Seasoning right now. In a month Fields is making and selling about 35 pounds of Jerky. Fields currently works with one butcher who he hopes to soon make signature seasonings for aside from selling them his own seasonings. It is important for the company to have a butcher who can fulfill the company’s meat orders even when they come at the last minute as he can’t serve his customers until he has the meat to make the jerky. Fields is hoping that he and his current butcher will have a long-lasting and thriving relationship that continues to grow.
Fields is currently looking to open a store location, as right now everything is done from their home. The new Union Street Market at Electric Works downtown has started to open the doors to its building for new and small business owners, Fields is hoping to rent one of the vacant storefronts for his business and expects the location to have a full strip of small and new businesses thriving by summer.
I was curious to learn how Fields knows his spice and meat distributors are also all natural since that could affect his product. Fields informed me that he does extensive research on his distributors before he purchases their products. He also reaches out to the owner, he goes down to their location to talk more, look around, ensure their products are in fact natural, and make sure they are a good fit for one another.
Aside from his new Lee-chick-Ann seasoning and General-Purpose seasonings coming out soon, Fields has been looking into creating jerky for dogs. The Fields family has a dog and would love to be able to make jerky for him and other dogs! Blogging recipes, summer pop up dinners, and providing meal prep plans are some of the other features to come in the future for the growing company.
Fields will start working on two new seasonings once the Lee-chick-Ann and General-Purpose seasonings make their debut, as he is always looking to add new and fresh seasonings to his business. Fields is big on family and for that reason he has started to name the seasonings after family members to cement the legacy of the family business. The first official seasoning to be named after someone in his family was Moocow steak seasoning named after his Wife. The second is the Lee-chick-Ann named after his daughter Nalessa.
Fields advice to anyone chasing a dream or stuck in the process is to just get out there. Make a plan, and though nothing prepares you for the mishaps you are going to encounter you can’t succeed until you try and fail, but if you keep pushing and trying, you’ll eventually get it right so don’t give up. Do your research and see what’s out there as far as funding and how to successfully run a business in the field you choose.
As we were wrapping up our interview Fields touched on his gratitude for the people in his life. He touched on how thankful he is to his mother who showed him and his brother that anything is possible. He went on to tell how she also showed them how to be resilient and do the best that they can in all that they do. Fields also wanted to give thanks to his wife for all her support and for the fact that there would be no Rob’s Just Right without her. She is the backbone of the company, and he is very grateful to have her in his life and corner. He is also very thankful for their three kids for stepping up and helping out.
You can contact or purchase from Rob’s Just Right by following them on social media under Rob’s Just Right or by visiting their site robsjustright.com. The company also sells on Etsy and will soon be available for purchase at Wal Mart online.