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The same road that took her to Africa, Nepal, and Thailand also brought her to Smoking Goose. Help us welcome Jourdan!

With a degree in photojournalism, Jourdan let her lens lead the way to overseas coffee farms, wildlife preserves, and more. "Believing in the mission of an organization is important to me," she says. Using her artistic talents to help share the stories of these far away organizations made her travels picture perfect.

After returning to Indiana, she followed the path of another passion which took her behind counters and into kitchens. Jourdan remembers it was her grandmother who helped inspire her interest in good food. "She's a great cook, and she's the one who made family meals important." Jourdan remembers marinated pork tenderloin hot off the grill and always leaving room for a slice of her grandmother's famous lemon tart with homemade whipped cream. These meals brought people together, and Jourdan built on those memories as she started working with several local food producers to help connect with their customers.

Here at Smoking Goose, Jourdan works directly with wholesale partners and navigates orders through our inventory management system. "I love working for a local, independent business with a mission I believe in, "she says. "And I can even bike to work."

We asked Jourdan which Smoking Goose meat treat she might bring for the family to nibble while those pork tenderloins are on the grill. Coppa and 'Nduja are in the running, but Dodge City Salame might snag the top spot. "It might look deceptively simple, but the fennel pollen is a surprise -- it's so good," she says while she's deciding. 

Sounds like future family dinners are prime time for more "product research," and we couldn't agree more. Welcome, Jourdan!