After serving four years in the military, Patrick Montgomery never anticipated that one of the greatest challenges of his new civilian life would involve hot dogs — thousands of them.
In 2019, the Army veteran and founder of KC Cattle Company was running a small, young business out of Missouri, operating a cattle ranch and producing gourmet hot dogs and Wagyu beef products alongside his wife. When an article published by Food & Wine named KC Cattle’s hot dogs the best in the world, Montgomery experienced more success than he was ready for.
“We had a million people visit our website, and sold 7,500 packs of hot dogs, along with other products,” Montgomery says. “It took us about eight weeks to work through the backlog of orders. It almost killed the company, but we made it through.”
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At the time, Montgomery had just
“We saw how quickly these workers picked up on processes, and how easy communication was among a team that came from similar backgrounds,” he says. “I was just like, man, we need to keep this going as long as possible. I’d like to say I was smart enough to have this plan from day one, but I wasn’t.”
Today, KC Cattle has grown to seven employees, all veterans — and hiring an all-veteran staff is now a commitment and promise Montgomery intends to keep as the company continues to grow. It’s not just about supporting his own community, he says. It’s simply good business.
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“There’s a huge synergy between entrepreneurship and business and what you learn in the military,” he says. “On day one of basic training, the ability to adapt under fire is just beaten into your head — and that, along with work ethic, is crucial to being successful in business.”
Montgomery is all too familiar with how tough it can be to find a new career path after leaving the military. He started his military career in 2010, did two deployments in Afghanistan, and transitioned out of the Army in 2014 after losing his brother-in-law, Jeremy, a fellow Army Ranger. After finishing college with a degree in animal science and entrepreneurship, he considered training to be a large-animal veteran and even received job offers for more corporate gigs. But ultimately, he struggled to find his place in the civilian world and decided to forge his own path forward.
“I figured out that large-animal vets don’t make any money, and I didn’t want to sell out to corporate America,” he says. “The transition tools the Army offers you are awesome — they do a really good job of helping you build a resume and preparing you for college or for your new career, the interview process, what to expect. But they don’t prepare you for how tough that challenge is, of losing the camaraderie and the purpose you experienced in the military.”
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As Montgomery has found his footing as a business owner still launching KC Cattle in 2016, he’s working to uplift fellow veterans like himself, and to change the narrative so often shared about those who served.
“All you ever hear is the depressing side of being a veteran, right? It’s all
