Today we’d like to introduce you to Bruce Cooper.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My journey comes full circle. I was always interested in health and fitness. I worked out and ate fairly healthy for the times. My goal was to either be a physical therapist or an orthopedic surgeon.
I was and still am very passionate about how the human body works and getting down to what makes us tick. I graduated from Texas Woman’s University with a degree in Human Biology. I was ready to start the next phase of my journey but needed to start paying the bills and was losing interest in continuing school. So, I took a career detour into technology and worked as a product and project manager in software for about 15 years.
Though I enjoyed what I was doing and learned much it really wasn’t my calling. After a down turn in the economy, I went to work as a certified personal trainer for Life Time Fitness, one of the nations largest fitness organizations. It reignited my passion for helping others and figuring out how the human body works. I spent the next eight years refining my skills and educating myself. Along the way, I picked up a few certifications and started to apply my formal education in my craft. I excelled, moved up the corporate ladder and finally into a regional nutrition role for my organization.
My wife was already using natural approaches but I had more of a conventional medicine mindset. About a year into my new career I had a recurring sinus infection that I could not kick. Three rounds of antibiotics later and still not relief I had a co-worker recommend a traditional naturopath. When I told my wife she was totally onboard. So, off I went to see a traditional naturopath. I listened to what he said and with much skepticism followed the protocol he devised for me.
Well, after a week of using the recommendations provided by the naturopath my symptoms subsided and the sinus infection never returned. It was amazing and the genesis of a new path for me. I spent time with other alternative medicine individuals from chiropractors to acupuncturists, functional medicine doctors, and other naturopaths. I was seeing incredible results and started my studies.
I also had a history of elevated cholesterol and triglyceride issues since I was 19 years of age. Like I said, I worked out regularly and ate what was supposed to be a healthy diet. I went down the traditional medicine path and followed their recommendations of eating very low fat. Eventually, they put me on a statin medication. I was starting to accumulate other meds like a prescription antacid and allergy medications. This went on for about eight years and I was not feeling any better. But that’s when I started to look into alternative therapies for the issues I was diagnosed with at the time.
I started eating what I believe is much better. I increased my healthy fats. I lowered my carbohydrate intake to something that works for me. I increased my non-starchy vegetable intake. I eliminated as much highly processed foods as possible. I took some supplements to fill in holes of my nutrition. I employed tactics to control stress levels. And over time I started feeling great again. My cholesterol and triglycerides were better than they ever were on medications. Not to mention many other blood markers like testosterone.
So, here I am today, a traditional naturopath, nutritionist, and certified personal trainer. I am helping and supporting people to their goals whether it is to achieve optimal wellness, weight loss, recover from injuries or just feeling better. It’s great to know that when I lay my head down on my pillow every night I made a positive impact on someone’s life. I don’t think there is anything I can do better than that. And I couldn’t be happier.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I would definitely not call it a smooth road. There were many obstacles along the way. For one, breaking back into the health and fitness world after spending the last 15 years in another industry wasn’t easy. I had to learn or relearn most everything. Most of my previous experience was working with people coming back from injury and it was years since I worked with anyone. Now, I was working with a broader spectrum of clients, most who want weight loss.
I was fortunate that I had a great set of mentors around me. Some great individuals in health and nutrition with a wealth of knowledge. I learned a lot in a very short period of time and my confidence grew. But that first year was a struggle. Looking back on it I would not have changed a thing.
I was also close to 40 years of age and I was moving into an industry with a lot of people almost half my age. My personal fitness was not what it once was and I felt overwhelmed. But I found out that what I thought was going to be a disadvantage turned out to be a benefit to growing my business. I had a solid business mind and was able to draw upon past experience. I was also more mature and attracted a clientele that was looking for someone they felt was more relatable.
As I stated earlier, I moved up the corporate ladder into a regional nutrition role. I was the only non-Registered Dietitian in that role. That in itself was an obstacle as the company only had Registered Dietitians running the nutrition business at the fitness facilities. But my hard work and dedication paid off and I became the first non-RD to hold a position running the entire nutrition business at the club and eventually regional level.
Eventually, I decided to start my own business. I had never done anything like that before. I always worked for someone else. But again I found I was surrounded by some great individuals that I can draw knowledge from as well as the confidence that I already built my personal business within a large corporation. Is it/was it easy? No. But it is so rewarding and I love working with my clients.
Please tell us about Cooper Health Solutions.
Cooper Health Solutions is a mobile nutrition-based traditional naturopathic practice. I work with a variety of clients, men, and women, looking for weight loss or changing their body composition, optimizing their health, balancing their hormones, improving energy and mood, resolving digestive issues, supporting their immune system with allergies or cold/flu, improving cognition and stress management.
I am mobile and meet clients at a location convenient for them. I remembered when I was young doctors did house calls. I know a lot of nurses and physical therapists that do home health care. Well, why not for wellness and weight loss? People have a lot going on today and making another appointment can add to their stress. So, I decided I would go to them. I meet them at their home, office or other location. It helps because when they have questions about the food we just go into their kitchen. I do pantry makeovers with them. We clean out the refrigerator and make room for foods that are better for their goals. I also meet them at grocery stores and go shopping with them.
Helping clients achieve their goals and the ability for them to maintain their goals is what I am most proud of as a company. I provide tools that my clients can employ for their lifetime. It is not a one size fits all approach as everyone is different but there are some common denominators for everyone.
The holistic approach sets us apart from most other companies. It is about supporting the body as a whole. We are not just a heart or brain or kidney or stomach or a liver. All of our organs work synergistically and when there is a deficit in one it can affect others. For instance, approximately 80% of neurotransmitters are made in the gut. That means when the gut has issues it can impact the brain and nervous system which can impact other systems and so on and so forth. When we support the body as a whole that’s where one starts feeling better, has more energy and less fatigue, loses weight (and keeps it off), adds muscle, has better cognition and mental function, etc. The list goes on and on.
We are made of millions of cells and produce millions more every day. The focus is on cellular health and optimizing cellular function. It all comes down to eliminating toxins from cells and the cells’ ability to produce energy to power all the things going on in our body. Toxins are found everywhere and can be environmental (construction, industrial, etc.), biological (our own cells dying off or waste from our own metabolic processes) or nutritional (from food or water) to name a few. These may impede in our body’s ability to produce energy. The less energy a cell produces decreases the ability to remove toxins.
Stress is also another factor that plays a big role in people maintaining their health and wellness. Stress can be a good thing but when it becomes chronic in nature, long bouts of stress that don’t allow us to recover it can be very damaging. Stress occurs in three forms. I call them the 3 P’s of stress. Psychological, physiological and physical stress. This is another area I work with clients to help them keep balance in their life. We can be doing all the right things nutritionally but if your body is not appropriately utilizing the nutrients provided then it’s doing you no good. Chronic stress can lead to inflammation that may prevent us from digesting, absorbing and shuttling the nutrients into the cells where they are needed.
I work on behavior modification with my clients. It is not the quick fix a lot of people seek but it is very effective and long-lasting. I have a lot of people that come to me noting they have been successful in weight loss programs before. I ask, “Then why are you here today?” It’s because the program did not work or only worked for them temporarily. When people are given pre-made meal or try to adhere to a diet then really don’t learn what they need to do for the long term. What I teach and work with my clients are lifestyle changes. Strategy and tactics they can employ over and over again to lose weight, keep it off, regain their health and wellness and live their life to the fullest.
For those of my clients looking to lose weight, I incorporate nutrition and activity tactics to create healthy habits and weight loss. For those of my clients looking to regain their health, I incorporate nutrition and activity tactics to help them feel better. I try to find the root cause of their health issue and work to support their whole body so they can overcome feeling poorly.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I am really not sure as my path has been unique and I have a diverse toolset because of it. I would like to say I would have stayed on course in health and wellness and not strayed into the information technology world. But I learned a lot over those 15 years and I grew as a person. It provided a lot of the tools in my “toolbox” I employ today to help my clients. It gave me a greater understanding of people not in my current industry and I am empathetic to what people go through on a day to day basis. I have a different perspective than some others in my industry that don’t understand why those not in the health, fitness and wellness field “can’t just do it”.
One thing I can say is I would have had an open mind at a younger age. It took me a long time to realize that taking a bunch of pills to be healthy is not really the best option. There is so much more to it. I am not anti-medicine or allopathic practice. But from what I have witnessed with my own two eyes is those that take their whole body into account do better than those that seek help for their symptoms alone. Meaning there is more to keeping your body running well than just taking a pill and typically by the time someone needs a pill they probably have not been treating their body as they should. It’s not the case for everyone and there are exceptions but there are somethings all of us can do to be a better healthier self.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cooperhealthsolutions.com
- Phone: 469.215.2904 / 972.670.9409
- Email: bruce@cooperhealthsolutions.com
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