Danielle
Hayden
Equal-parts beef connoisseur, serial entrepreneur, and better half to the supplier.
Danielle in her natural habitat: the garden.
Danielle Demands Excellence
With standards set high for all aspects of her lifestyle, Danielle launched D2 Meats with the primary goal of bringing high-quality, Kentucky beef to your dinner plate.
It’s the same beef she serves her family, which is raised on the same land she grows a garden nearly the size of a football field, hosts brides for portrait sessions as a professional wedding photographer, and raises cattle and chickens alongside her husband, Daniel.
If the rolling Kentucky farm is the set, the sounds of wagging tails from happy farm dogs snapping against the front porch rocking chair is a sample of the soundtrack of Danielle’s life as an Oklahoman in Kentucky.
Girl falls in love with Kentucky farmer. Promises to love in sickness and health. Leaves corporate job to launch photography businesses. They buy the family farm and build dream farm house. Girl launches on-farm event series. Girl’s photography business goes national offering travel opportunities to the most beautiful corners of the United States. Girl launches brand coaching business. Brad Paisley tells the world about their fertility journey. Girl launches retailer business using farm as supplier.
The thing is, in this real-life Hallmark movie, the girl is a woman and she not only stands on her own two feet as a business owner, she thrives as a dancing-in-barefoot-in-the-kitchen entrepreneur.
When you purchase from this boutique retailer, the owner - Danielle Hayden - an actual Kentucky farmer, wedding photographer, and retail meat business owner celebrates your purchase by drinking a sweet tea on the front porch while watching the fireflies dance across the pasture.
Danielle
+
Dan
High-quality is the standard
Danielle prepares breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the same beef she markets to her customers: beef from the cattle she can see from her favorite spot on the farm - the front porch rocking chair.
Farmer + Business Owner
We’re not stuttering when we tell you we know were our beef comes from. Danielle, owner of DSquared Meats, is blissfully married to Dan, of Hayden Farms fame.
Dan focuses on stewardship, sustainability, and animal welfare, which ensures Danielle is able to market top-shelf, high-quality Kentucky-raised beef.
Dan Hayden: work hard, play harder Expert
He shares the ins-and-outs of farming online, during on-farm tours, and with elected officials. Botton line: transparency is the common denominator in Dan’s life.
What you see - passion, hard work, determination - is what you’re going to get with Dan. And, for a bit of spice, you know his favorite pastime is spinning his business parter, adventure buddy, and wife around the kitchen dance floor, which you’ll witness if you’re lucky enough to score a dinner invite.
After a long week on that farm life hustle, you’ll catch Dan in the middle of a bridesmaid dance party as Danielle’s second shooter in her wedding and portrait photography business.
The secret to their success? Knowing when to be the quarterback and when to be the offensive coach. And, honestly, when to be the cheerleader from the sidelines.
Sustainability
While sustainability is a buzz word for marketing teams throughout various industries, in this instance sustainability means making informed decisions on the farm and in this retail business to ensure through all steps in getting a well-marbled steak to your front door, the land, animals, water, people, and products involved are always a priority.
STEWARDSHIP
Taking care of the land is the only way to ensure the longevity of Hayden farms. Ultimately, Hayden farms is in the business of caring for grassland and water resources. If those resources are depleted, caring for livestock becomes a non-issue, because continuing to farm this corner Kentucky wouldn’t be possible.
ANimal welfare
All protein is sourced from Hayden Farms, which leads the industry in animal-welfare practices. Hayden farms prioritizes continued education and has received the Beef Quality Assurance certification, which is a nationally coordinated, state implemented program providing information to U.S. beef producers to raise cattle under optimum management and environmental conditions.
