Extreme food business takes off for Fresno State student

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno State student is making a name for herself after unintentionally becoming an entrepreneur.

On the surface, 20-year-old Aubrey Lim might seem like your typical student.

"I've only pulled two all-nighters since I got into college which I am pretty happy about," she said. "And I intend to keep it that way."

But the college junior is far from average, she's taking on a college degree while building her own company.

And it all started, because of an entrepreneur competition she never thought she'd win.

"I wanted to start with the idea of something that was overlooked," Lim said of her business Aubrey's Extreme Jerky. "So, I didn't know what that was but I did some Google searching and came up with beef heart."

Lim is also a competitive rock climber and was inspired by her active friends to create a healthy product.

So, Aubrey turned that beef heart into 100 percent fat-free jerky.

"The jerky is naturally fat-free and also has really high iron and calcium which is something that athletes look for," she said. "And, of course, it's really high in protein."

Her business plan took first place and Aubrey's Extreme Jerky was born and she's only used roughly $6,000 in scholarships she's earned to fund the business.

With that money, she's been able to take the recipe from her family's kitchen to a processing plant in Hilmar.

After one month since launching her product, Aubrey is now in four local stores, including Enzo's Table in Clovis.

"It actually sells extremely well," Enzo's employee Katie Grossman said. "She's come out a few times on the weekends and done a few demos so that always gets more people to buy it but it's really good so it doesn't need much hype."

This fall, Aubrey plans to take fewer classes so she can devote more time to her growing business.

"I think I have the opportunity to serve people and make something that people really enjoy so that's encouraging," Lim said.