Cody Shields has been a butcher for half of his life. It’s a trade he picked up after a chance encounter with a farmer when he was just 15 years old.

As he tells it, Shields was at a convenience store in his hometown in New Jersey when a much larger and much older man asked him and his friend if he was interested in getting a job.

“He handed me a card and said ‘be at my house at 4 a.m.’ I was like, ‘well, I’m either going to go get some work or I’m not coming back from this,’” says Shields.

Thankfully, he’s doing just fine. Over time, he’s perfected his craft, which he says is like an art.

After working for other butcher shops, he went out on his own a few years ago, mostly selling online. He opened his physical store, under the name The Big Body Butcher, on the same day Colonie started enforcing stay-at-home closures because of the pandemic.

The name comes from his other profession, powerlifting.

“It was just kind of a transition from powerlifting to getting back into a career, and I kind of wanted to incorporate everything together,” says Shields.

Despite opening during the pandemic, he made a goal of selling $1 million of product in his first year open, which he’s done. He says his online presence is what helped him during the first few months.

But like powerlifting, it’s also taken a lot of time, practice, and hard work.

“We’re making money. I’m able to survive. I’m able to help other people in the community. So at the end of the day, I can’t say it enough, I’m just extremely grateful to be in this position,” says Shields.

The Big Body Butcher has a number of products, but specializes in domestic and international wagyu steaks.