Conversations with Roz Cooper

Today we’d like to introduce you to Roz Cooper.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

For as long as I can remember my mom’s, my grandma’s and her grandma’s kitchen were the center stage of everything. It was where the family gathered.

It was where you’d laugh so hard, you’d cry. And sometimes it was where you just cried. It was where creativity and collaboration were encouraged! It was where everyone was welcome, and conversations were never in short supply. It was where everyone called home, even if you didn’t rest your head there. And it was where all the snacks were, making it the best place in the house!

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to help people. And for even longer than that I have always enjoyed being creative in the kitchen. I just didn’t know how I’d ever mingle the two. And here we are.

Cheesecake has always been my favorite dessert, but often found it inconsistent and was frequently disappointed. Over 20 years ago, I set a goal to create the perfect cheesecake so I would never be disappointed again. I suppose if you head down to Edgewater Inn Pizza, you can be the judge as they carry my tiramisu cheesecake on their menu. Maybe get two, just in case! I was once told by a New York native that it was the best they’d ever had!

My adventures into sourdough were brought about by circumstances that I will explain in a bit and the name Dangerous Pocket Snacks & Co. was named after my late son, Skyler Danger Cooper Holland.

Here’s my story in a nutshell – in October 2017, my world stopped when my son was hit and killed by a car at the age of 12. About eight weeks later my oldest son’s dog, Ginger, of almost 14 years had to be put down. Then a couple of weeks after that my dad unexpectedly died from a rare side effect of the cancer treatment he was receiving. I was beyond paralyzed…I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to breathe again. I have always been convinced that Ginger let us know it was time to go so Skyler wouldn’t be alone.

And my dad’s last promise to me was to be with Skyler. If you knew my dad, you knew he never broke a promise to us kids, ever. For years I was devastated. Completely non-functional. Lost. And self-medicated myself nearly to my grave. Fast forward some years from my waking coma and baking became my escape, my passing of time when there was too much time for thinking.

Food makes people happy, and that makes me happy, and food has always been a root to hold family together and keeps the memory of our ancestors alive.  One of my favorite childhood memories was when my dad would come home from a local bakery with all kinds of bread. Focaccia, Boule, sourdough, and others that I don’t remember the names. We gathered, ate bread and we were happy. I would even partake as my angry teenage self and still remember it joyously behind my goth-blackened eyes.

In July of 2022, my mom started what would be a series of three hip surgeries and too much time in the hospital. I don’t think I need to go into detail about hospital food, but I was cooking for her often. We got to talking about bread and I decided to get a sourdough loaf from a bakery and was disappointed. I knew I needed to make my own and make it amazing! So, I did.

Turns out my dad had sourdough starters all over his kitchen when my mom first met him. Something I didn’t know before my adventures in sourdough. I often feel like I channel him when I bake, and that is why I have this obsession with sourdough, beyond the fact that it is magical, complex, and simple all at the same time.

And my company name? Well, let’s just say my son was a snack guy and his middle name was Danger. He always had candy or snacks in his pockets, always. He would even tape them to the bottom of his desk in school! After he was killed there was a mom from his school who shared how special he was. Her son had autism and most of the kids were mean to him, but Skyler would sit with him at recess and share his snacks and made him feel loved.

The name Dangerous Pocket Snacks & Co. came from a dream I had one night. It was so vivid, and he was wearing a teddy bear outfit he had as a baby. He came running up, snacks in hand, gave me the biggest hug, and looked at me giggling and whispered, “Dangerous Pocket Snacks.” I added on the “& Co.” because company is always welcome, and company often becomes family, and everyone should have a place to call home…a place to feel safe…people they can call family.

I am a survivor of domestic violence, and it is a big part of my story which I hope one day my story will save someone’s life. I donate 20% of my profits to PorchLight, part of the family justice center of Jefferson & Gilpin Counties because they are profound in everything they do and all the resources they offer. The services they offer are monumentally epic…like if Star Wars was a resource center for victims of violence, PorchLight would be it.

I have no idea where any of this will take me or where my business will be in five years or 10 years…but I know where I’d like it to be. I would love to have my cheesecakes in every grocery store across the nation and I would love to have a small community kitchen in Wheat Ridge (aka the BEST city in Colorado). My community kitchen would serve café style assortments of food, great coffee, and handmade boutique & craft items for sale all made by survivors. I would employ survivors and help give them an opportunity to gain financial independence and a place where they feel safe.

Maybe there would be different rooms for gatherings and where everyone could feel at home. Perhaps at some point, I could turn my little plot of land into a farm where we could turn farm-to-table into a reality and offer transitional housing to those who have survived horrors nobody should. But in the meantime, I am going to just keep baking and creating magic and hopefully get to help people along the way.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

Smooth roads are boring. Nothing I have ever done has been traveled on a smooth path, except my cheesecake, but that was also a 20-year journey filled with cracks, water leaks, trials, errors and so many attempts just trashed. The biggest struggle has always been just getting up and never giving up.

There will always be struggles I don’t foresee and people to tell me, “No.” But that’s life no matter what path you’re on. If I had to pick the biggest obstacle standing in my way, it would be money. Not sure how I will finance all my dreams. But I also know if that’s the only thing standing in my way, I will figure that out or I will die trying.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

My daytime job is boring if I try to explain it…but my kids and my family are where it’s at. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here. I would have never found my passion. I love to bake and cook. Sourdough is pure magic! It’s so much more than just bread. I have made biscuits, cookies, brownies, pancakes, waffles, scones and so much more!  In fact, you can try some of my cheesy sourdough scones at Stylus & Crate.

I like to get creative with my cheesecakes. I have made cheesecakes inspired by candy…Take5, Snickers, Sweet Tarts, Nerds. I’ve made traditional flavors and they usually have a flair…like a chocolate orange pumpkin torte, pear pomegranate with candied walnuts and honey, blueberry lemon curd, pineapple upside down, peppermint bark, almond cherry meringue. If you can think of a flavor, I can make it into a cheesecake.  

Additionally, it is very important to me to use ingredients from companies that are responsible in how they source their products and have taken a stand to limit their global impact.  I will also use organic ingredients where I can.  

I am also very creative in anything I pour my heart into. I am a divergent thinker with a lot of heart and passion. And have taken my pain and turned it into my power and perhaps with a little sweat and hard work I can channel that and help some people along the way. Or at the very least not leave anyone hungry.

What are your plans for the future?

That’s a good question. Skyler taught me that tomorrow is never promised to any of us. So, in that respect, I plan to be as present as I can today, to be kind and love as much and as deeply as I can, but also take no shit. Business wise…I would love to have my cheesecakes in every grocery store across the nation and I would love to have a small community kitchen in Wheat Ridge, CO.  If I could turn my land into a mini farm and bring farm to table ingredients to my community kitchen all while having transitional housing for survivors, that would be the dream.  But I am open, willing, determined, flexible and bat shit passionate about what I do and that is what will fuel me to keep pushing forward.  

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dangerous-pocket-snacks.com
• Instagram: @DANGER_SNACKS
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090995465723