Passion for local food and hard work has paid off for South Burnett man Lochlan Wiley - the 22-year-old has already achieved more than some do in a lifetime.
Mr Wiley first dipped his toes into the real estate market buying a former-dairy farm near the town of Murgon, when he was just 18-years-old.
"When I was about 15-years-old I dropped out of school and did an apprenticeship at Ryan's Butchery in Wondai, that's where I did my trade," he said.
"I never had a lifestyle when I was doing my apprenticeship and I just focused on work and did 75-hour-weeks and never had any time off.
"I did overtime and it all adds up eventually and my boss suggested I invest in property, so I did."
Living with dyslexia, Mr Wiley found the school system not the right fit for him, so jumped at the opportunity to take on a trade with a local butcher.
His hard work has helped him save not only to buy the old dairy house and property, he has recently taken over the Murgon butcher shop formerly known as the Top of The Town Meat Hall, after it was on the market for a considerable period of time.
He has named his business Wiley's Butchery and is pleased with how the community has responded in his first few weeks of trading.
"I've been in the industry for 8 years and I had this passion to take the next step and own a shop," he said.
"Butcher shops don't sell that well unless you have someone young, keen and crazy enough to buy one, I've always had a strong interest in the farming industry, the beef side of things.
"But it's been going really well, people are coming in and having a look and buying a bit of meat."
Mr Wiley believes consumers have changed their attitude towards what and how they eat in the last few years.
He feels interest is growing in eating locally as people want to support small businesses and farmers.
"Local products have a story behind them and people seem to like that," he said.
"Butcher shops don't run out of meat.
"People go to the supermarkets and they have run out of meat so they look for other options and they go to the local butcher shop and go 'that was a beautiful steak, where did that come from?' and they want to know more about it."
Running a small herd of Red Angus Gelbvieh on his property, Mr Wiley doesn't think he will be able to supply his shop with his own beef anytime soon, but he does want to make sure his customers are eating straight from the farm when possible.
"I only have 10 or so head at the moment, but I want to build it in my spare time.
"I don't expect to build my farm up to where I can 100 per cent get the beef off my place but I'm all for supporting local farmers.
"At the moment I'm buying off a local farmer, Coolabunia Beef, he sends me two bodies a week, he looks after me there and it's good to look after a local farmer.
Mr Wiley employs five staff at the shop and sells local beef, pork and lamb sourced from Biggenden meat works.
He has a love for ham, bacon, small goods and smokes his products as he settles in to be a part of Murgon while providing a enjoyable atmosphere for staff and customers.
"I do all the smoking on the site here and make family pies, I really enjoy it," he said.
"I plan on being here for a long time but I just have to wait and see where the next step takes us.
"I want to build the shop so it's easy to run and the staff can enjoy working here and the customers can get what they want."
