We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cooper Cordero. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cooper below.

Hi Cooper, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I created BBQ to help other fitness enthusiasts and folks who like to cook but want to be healthy. I want people to be able to do more than just copy a simple recipe that fits their macros; I want them to understand how to maintain flavor while keeping a recipe healthy. Helping folks cook delicious, healthy recipes that will fuel performance and deliver on taste is my ultimate goal.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, and my professional background has always been in engineering—some of it directly tied to the fitness industry. I spent part of my career working as an engineer at a local company that manufactures and sells fitness equipment, which gave me a unique perspective on both the performance side of training and the tools that support it.

While working full-time, I was also a competitive powerlifter and a self-taught cooking enthusiast. I’ve been passionate about food since my teenage years, constantly experimenting in the kitchen and learning through a mix of educational content and hands-on trial and error.

Over time, I started noticing a pattern: fitness-focused recipes were often bland and uninspired. There was this idea that healthy food for lifters had to be boring to be effective. I didn’t buy that. At Barbell Quisine, my mission is to prove that you can fuel performance without sacrificing flavor.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner and co-founder also happens to be my life partner. She’s the founder of two successful businesses and has been in the fitness industry for over 18 years. Fun fact—she used to be my powerlifting coach, and we actually met while I was in college.

She’s the one who encouraged me to take Barbell Quisine seriously—to go beyond the occasional pop-up or paid event and start sharing my recipes with a wider audience. She handles all the behind-the-scenes magic: the website, marketing, tech—you name it. I get to focus on the creative side, planning the menu, developing content, and doing the fun stuff.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Recipes aren’t meant to be perfect—they’re just a starting point. When I first got into cooking, I assumed everything had already been discovered and that you had to be a classically trained chef to come up with something original. But I quickly realized we’re living in an incredible time where information is everywhere. That access opens the door to combining flavors, techniques, and traditions from all over the world to create something entirely new. The possibilities are endless.

And honestly, I think that lesson applies to business too. It might seem like every idea has already been done or that the space is too crowded, but that’s just not true. There’s always room to bring a fresh perspective, to put your own spin on things, and to build something meaningful—even in a saturated market.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://barbellquisine.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbellquisine/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BarbellQuisine