MINONG — Troy Link, CEO of Jack Link’s, criticized young workers who avoid office attendance and refuse to work Fridays, calling such attitudes unwise during a 2025 interview. He emphasized workplace commitment as essential to professional success and business performance.
Link became CEO of the meat snack company in 2013 after taking over from his father, Jack Link. By 2025, Jack Link’s reported $5.5 billion in U.S. sales—roughly double its revenue from a decade earlier. The company’s products are sold in more than 200,000 stores across nearly every major U.S. retailer and distributed in over 55 countries. It is headquartered in Minong, Wisconsin, a town with fewer than 1,000 residents.
During the 2025 interview, Link challenged the notion that employees should opt out of critical work obligations for the sake of personal balance. “You can’t say, ‘Hey, listen, I’m not going to go attend that really important business thing because I need more balance,’” he said. He added, “I just think you’re foolish to say that.”
Link tied his expectations to his own disciplined routine and the company’s roots in small-town America. He wakes between 4 and 5 a.m., often without an alarm, and writes a to-do list each night. “I never start my day without a to-do list. At least when I have a to-do list, I’m going to get that list done every single day,” he said. He also noted that his early-rising habits reflect a family history in agricultural and meat processing work: “It all goes back to history. Whether it was the dairy farm or the meat processing facility, it was always early morning starts.”
Link urged aspiring professionals to evaluate their readiness for demanding work. “Can you do it? Do you want to do it? And do you have the grit to do it?” he asked in an interview with Fortune. His closing advice centered on dedication: “So commit, and then stick to it, and be really good at it.”
No independent assessment of Troy Link’s claims was available.