RK Prime
RK (Russ & Kim) Prime was started because we loved making sausage, and so did our friends.
Russ
A US Army veteran originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma Russ settled in Texas after his service. Russ has always worked in the computer field but his hobbies outside of computers is what got him to where he is in being Co-Owner of RK Prime, which if you didn’t figure out, is short for Russ & Kim.
Texas rubbed off on Russ and he fell in love with the BBQ scene. He started off by going to BBQ competitions and judging, then started cooking in them which evolved into cooking for friends and family which then evolved into catering. He traveled all over Texas doing BBQ crawls to sample BBQ from the best joints the state had to offer. He realized he really loved the craft sausages more than anything else, so he taught himself how to make sausages using his Kitchen Aid mixer at home.
After a trip from Dallas to Ft. Collins, Colorado to drop off their daughter at college, Russ and Kim took a mini vacation in Vail, Colorado for 4 days where they absolutely fell in love with the state. On their 2nd night in Vail, they decided Colorado was where they needed to be. Two months later they moved to Colorado Springs and started a new life.
It was there that Russ joined a local Facebook group COS Foodies to share his passion for food, especially BBQ. After making a batch of homemade jalapeno cheddar sausage, he shared pictures on the foodies page and the post blew up. So many people were asking for the sausages and asking if he could sell them, then people were suggesting he start a business making and selling them. A month later RK Prime Craft Sausage was born, and the rest is history as they say.
Kim
Originally from Amarillo, Texas, Kim graduated from Texas Tech with a degree in Physical Therapy which she decided on as a career path as a child when her grandfather had a stroke and she saw what physical therapy did for him. She wanted to be able to change peoples lives for the good and give them back what they lost.
Back before online dating was a thing, Kim and Russ met in a Yahoo chatroom. A few short years later, they were married and just celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary.
With both a PhD and Doctorate in Physical Therapy, Kim is one of the top therapists in the country. She consults with doctors across the country on patients with TBI’s (Traumatic Brain Injuries) which led to her working with the Veterans Administration, which was never in her plans, but has become something she is so passionate about. She recently went before congress with leadership from the VA in fighting for more and better benefits for our veterans.
Kim doesn’t cook bbq or make sausages, but nobody loves them more. While Russ is a face of the company and makes the sausages, Kim is the person behind the scenes taking care of everything else involved in owning a business which is so much more than you realize.