Perry spends his days managing the 1,500-head Angus operation; running Hickory House Restaurant with his wife, Jackie; watching his children grow as adults; and most recently as president and chairman of the American Angus Association Board of Directors.

“Find something you love, make it your passion, work hard every day to make that passion successful, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” is advice Perry lives by, since he was a young boy in Georgia.

Perry’s family has deep roots in agriculture. He built a network through 4-H and showing cattle at regional and national junior shows. As he and his two sisters and brother grew up and pursued their passions, all are still grounded in ag from a veterinarian to academia in animal science to ag lobbying. 

“We covered every segment of the industry,” Perry describes. “But we all still came back to our ag roots, and all still have a pull and a devotion to ag.”

Perry found his path in the cattle industry.

“I love breeding cattle and making those mating decisions … and waiting nine months to see what hits the ground,” he says. The challenge of making improvements with each generation drives his interest.

Georgia born, Tennessee bound

But how did that Georgia Bulldog find himself in the middle of Tennessee? 

In short, “I followed a cow to Tennessee, I met and married the woman of my dreams and never left.”

The opportunity to move north across state lines started back in the ’80s when Perry met the late Fred Clark while working for a Limousin operation near Gay, Ga.

 Find something you love, make it your passion, work hard every day to make that passion successful, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” — Johnathan Perry

Clark served the U.S. space program as an electrical engineer, and later with a partner he established CAS, Inc., specializing in radar and missile systems design. In 1988 Clark returned to his agriculture background and purchased a tract of land in Tennessee and started Deer Valley Farm first with a commercial herd, then Limousin. 

“Some of the very first cattle Fred Clark ever bought, he bought from me at that place in Georgia, and that started a relationship.”

What began as a business connection turned to friendship over the next decade, until Clark hired Perry to work for him at Deer Valley. 

Serving beef, serving others

Being relationship-centric, Perry took another passion he has and turned it into a business. Opening Hickory House Restaurant in nearby Pulaski allowed him to combine his love of cooking for others and getting Certified Angus Beef^® in front of consumers. 

“The biggest focal point in our backyard is a barbecue pit,” Perry says. “All my life I’ve loved to cook … and for years, whatever function came along, I ended up being that guy that cooked the ribs, cooked the butts, cooked the prime ribs; and apparently I was decent at it.”

He began dreaming of opening a restaurant with Jackie where they could highlight CAB and serve a product they spend their life producing with the Angus herd. 

“We wanted to put it in front of people and enjoy watching them enjoy a Certified Angus Beef eating experience,” Perry says. “Man, it was a hit from Day 1.”

With no experience, the couple learned to operate a restaurant business on the fly. 

“I’ll never forget the first night we opened the place … We had just lived through Armageddon, and it was absolute baptism by fire — no idea what I was getting into,” Perry remembers.

But as days, weeks and years passed by, the Perrys found a rhythm, and success, in the restaurant.

Jackie manages the day-to-day operations and is a regular face of Hickory House to customers. At the restaurant Perry is more behind the scenes: “in the back,” developing the menu, cutting beef and handling inventory. A true partnership, he says — a partnership that extends to the Angus business as well.

“Deer Valley is a family operation. We run both places as a family,” Perry says. “Both of our children grew up in the Angus breed. The National Junior Angus Association program has created so many great young individuals in my lifetime and way before that. My children are a byproduct of it.” 

An appreciation for the organization that supports his family is what led Perry to serve on the American Angus Association Board of Directors for nine years. He retires in 2025 as president and chairman of the Board.

Juggling the Angus and restaurant businesses along with voluntary industry leadership doesn’t feel like a job to Perry. Instead, it drives him.

“I am passionate about going to work. It doesn’t matter if it’s the farm or restaurant. I truly love what I do, and I’m blessed to do it,” he says. “When I wake up, I am charged and ready to go. I’m just driven to do those things I love and have been blessed to be able to do them.”

As Perry looks to retiring from the Board and getting some time back, he doesn’t anticipate slowing down. He and Jackie are working to open a meat market as well, though you’ll still find him at an occasional Georgia Bulldog game or hunting. 

He continues to find fulfillment in his work, though it’s not an easy path. 

“Like I tell my children, agriculture is tough. It’s a hard way of life, but it’s one of the most gratifying things you could ever do. To be able to come home and make a living with an Angus cow and dirt, that’s a gratifying way to live your life.”