Doug Hankes has never been afraid to take risks in life. Growing up on a diversified livestock operation, he was active in 4-H and FFA showing livestock. The nephew of pork producers Ray and Ellen Hankes, he grew up with great exposure to the industry. However, it was his parents’ meat processing business that ultimately helped him find his place in agriculture.
“My parents, Jim and Kae Hankes, were adamant they wanted us boys to have a four-year education,” Hankes says. “I was one of those kids who thought I was not going back home. I was going to go work for a large meat company. I wanted to climb the ladder and learn as much as I could.”
His experience at the University of Illinois was life-changing and opened his eyes to many large companies and opportunities. He uncovered a passion for the charcuterie world – salami, snack sticks and jerkies.
“I became interested in the science piece of the meat industry, relative to how we produce things better and faster,” Hankes says. “I had set up interviews with some large companies my senior year. But, I reached out to my parents first, and said, ‘I really think we make great products. We just have to get them to more consumers.’”
That’s when he asked his parents if he could come back to the family business. Much to his surprise, they said “Well, we don’t know. Why don’t you come home, and we’ll talk?”
Hankes decided to be more official and brought a resume, thinking his parents would get a good chuckle out of it. Little did he know that he was in for much more of a process.
“My parents and I walked through the plant and talked about what I enjoyed, what they thought was important, and then they said, ‘Hey, let’s go to dinner and seriously talk about it.’ I said OK, but I thought that was sure weird,” Hankes says.
They drove to the neighborhood bar and grill in separate vehicles, his parents conducted a formal interview and then said they would take the weekend to think about it.
“I didn’t expect it to go that way,” Hankes says. “All of a sudden, I thought ‘Is there a chance my parents aren’t going to hire me?’ I packed up my stuff and went back to college and waited.”
The next Monday morning, his dad called to offer him a job. He told Hankes the pay isn’t great, but this is what they could afford. Then, he shared the rules, Hankes adds.
“They said, ‘The first rule is we are Jim and Kae Hankes, your bosses. We are not mom and dad at work. The second rule is you can’t make any changes to the business for a year. You can’t bring anything up. You have to be an employee for a year.’ I was frustrated in that moment,” Hankes says.
But Thrushwood Farms was their business and was important to everyone in their family and their employees. It had to be that way, he adds.
Over the years, Thrushwood grew and expanded as Hankes moved into leadership roles within the company. In 2019, after a lot of difficult conversations, Thrushwood Farms was sold to Western Smokehouse Partners.
“At the time, we were making a variety of snack stick brands that both companies were working with. It just made sense for us to come together to form a bigger company with more access to capital. That was always a challenge in our family business — we could only grow so fast because we could only grow what we could afford to do,” he says.
Hankes was hired on as vice president of operations in 2020 and later became the chief product officer in 2022 before taking on his newest role as chief operating officer.
A Risk Taker
Hankes’ University of Illinois meats judging team coach Tom Carr, says” “Doug is a highly intelligent young man that has a tremendous work ethic. He is very competitive and strives for excellence. Doug was and is very forward thinking, innovative, wanting to be on the cutting edge. In my opinion, he has always been willing to take risks, not in a careless way, but weighing the odds, and then going for it.”
He credits his experience in judging meats and livestock with helping him be a risk taker.
“I always felt like I had to take calculated risks in judging. I was willing to give up a point here or there to try to score big. I think that it’s probably the entrepreneurial R&D piece of me,” he says. “I think in life, when you’re chasing greatness, you’ve got to take some calculated risks.”
He says chasing greatness can be as simple as having a great day or as big as making a life-changing product.
“Don’t be afraid of failure,” Hankes adds. “People say it all the time, but you really have to believe in yourself and understand that failure is OK.”
Western Smokehouse Partners has experienced incredible growth, from 20 employees to over 1,000 employees. The company produces over 2.5 million snack sticks daily and plans on further expansion. In 2026, production should allow them to make more than 5 million snack sticks per day.
“People often say they can’t believe the risks we take in business,” Hankes says. “I guess they never felt like risks because we are chasing greatness. We are chasing that belief that we were making great products for people to enjoy every day. It’s been a wild growth story, and it’s exciting for me to see all of the careers that are being developed inside of our business right now.”
Speaking of career opportunities, Hankes believes the food industry is a great place for young people to imagine themselves someday.
“If you want to impact what the future looks like, get involved with the food industry,” Hankes says. “There are careers everywhere. It is mind blowing. I think the pork industry is ripe for opportunities for anyone that’s interested, whether it be in production, processing, sales or everything in between.”
Listen to the entire conversation with Doug Hankes on The PORK Podcast here or anywhere podcasts are found.
Your Next Read: The People Behind the Pork
