Why We Left Silicon Valley to Raise Cattle

In 2013, Brian and I left a comfortable life in Silicon Valley to raise cattle in the mountains of Northern California. We couldn't find the beef we wanted for our restaurants, so we bought a ranch to raise it ourselves. A few months later we sold everything and moved our four girls up for good.

Here is how it happened.

What was life like before the ranch?

I grew up in Menlo Park, right in the middle of Silicon Valley. I went to college in Virginia planning to become a doctor, then came home and started tutoring local kids. That turned into my first business, a tutoring center called Academic Trainers, and I realized how much I loved owning a small business.

A few years later I met Brian at a fundraiser. He drove a pickup truck but spent his days in a suit and tie at a big law firm. We were married in 2006. After our first daughter was born, Brian started his own law practice in an office upstairs from my business, and we loved working that close together.

We opened two family-friendly restaurants and a few other family businesses. We had great friends, a big craftsman house in the suburbs and four healthy girls. By every measure, we had the life we were supposed to want.

Why did we decide to raise our own beef?

Our restaurants needed great meat, and finding it consistently, all year long, was really hard. After years of searching we knew exactly what we wanted: well-marbled Black Angus beef, raised on pasture, finished on barley and dry aged 21 to 28 days.

When we couldn't find it, we decided to do it ourselves. We found the historic Sharps Gulch Ranch in the mountains outside Fort Jones. We like to say it found us. With a lot of help from our brother-in-law, a fifth-generation cattle rancher in Eastern Oregon, we jumped in.

How did we end up moving to the ranch full time?

The plan was to hire a ranch manager and drive up on weekends while we kept running our businesses during the week. That lasted a few months.

About two hours into the six-hour drive one weekend, I turned to Brian and said, "What are we doing? Driving to the ranch every weekend is not sustainable. Let's commit to this full time."

The decision was easy. Unwinding our old life was not. We sold our house, both restaurants, my other businesses and Brian's law firm, and moved our family of six to a tiny mountain town.

Was ranching really new for us?

New for us, but not for our families. Brian's great-great-grandfather came from Germany and started farming sugar beets in Ventura County in 1867. His dad, Tom, farmed alfalfa and grains in Imperial County, then prunes, almonds and walnuts in Tehama County. Tom visited our ranch many times before he passed away in 2015, and he was so proud to see Brian following in his footsteps.

My family came from Ireland to the Pajaro Valley in 1859 and farmed around Watsonville for five generations. My grandfather left farming but had a huge entrepreneurial spirit, and I like to think I got a little of that riding around in his front seat talking about his next big idea.

What were the first years like?

Hard. We had 1,800 acres of pasture and mountain hillside and started growing our herd of cattle, a flock of sheep and a passel of pigs. It took us well over a year to figure out how to sell and ship the meat we were raising.

We started small, selling boxes to friends and family and driving deliveries ourselves. Then we opened our shop in town, and now we ship our meat directly to doorsteps all over the country.

Home changed too. We traded a big house in the suburbs for a 760-square-foot cabin with a wood stove. Our girls learned to drive the hay truck, care for their horses and help with the bottle babies. They grew up so much more capable than I ever imagined, and we couldn't do any of this without them.

What does Five Marys look like today?

Our cattle are born, raised, harvested, dry aged and hand cut right here, and we are the only ranch in the USA with an on-site USDA harvest facility designed by Temple Grandin. We sell 100% direct to our customers, with no middlemen. In 2017 we opened Five Marys Burgerhouse in town, after swearing we'd never open another restaurant.

Moving to the ranch was the best decision Brian and I ever made. Like we always say, nothing is easy. If it were, everyone would do it. But it's worth it.

Where can I read more?

I tell the whole story, along with our favorite family recipes, in the Five Marys Ranch Raised Cookbook. You can grab it on Amazon or get a signed copy from us here.

You can also read more on our Our Story page, see why we were named one of America's top 100 small businesses, or learn why we dry age every carcass. And if you want to taste what all of this is for, our M5 Meat Club ships right to your door.

Quick answers

Who owns Five Marys Ranch?

Brian and I, Mary Heffernan, run Five Marys Ranch with our four daughters, who are all named Mary.

Where is Five Marys Ranch?

In the mountains of far Northern California, outside Fort Jones in Scott Valley, near the Oregon border.

When did the Heffernans start ranching?

We bought the ranch in 2013 and moved up full time a few months later.

Why did Five Marys start raising beef?

We couldn't find the consistent, well-marbled, dry-aged beef we wanted for our restaurants, so we decided to raise it ourselves.

Thank you for trusting us with your family's table!