The Story behind Pinnacle Performance and Nutrition

An interview with Tyson Maher, the Director of Pinnacle Performance and Nutrition.

So Tyson, What is Pinnacle to you?

Pinnacle to me is an extension of myself, so initially coming into the industry as a personal trainer I wanted to help people with their health and fitness goals so pinnacle performance the supplement store in the brand is basically a way that I can extend myself to a large audience to try and pass on the education and message to people on how to improve their health and fitness lifestyle and mindset.

When did Pinnacle Performance and Nutrition start? And how did the name Pinnacle come about?

We opened on 7 July 2017, so we’ve been open for almost 2 years, and as for the name Pinnacle, initially I went through a number of names all to do with the same concept which was based on how to become the best version of yourself, obviously meaning the pinnacle of a mountain meaning the top so basically just finding a word that suited the analogy of becoming the best version of yourself.

What made you choose your current shop location?

I've grown up on the Central Coast my entire life and the Central Coast was definitely the location that I wanted to pick; Budgewoi in particular just worked out to be a convenient location.

How did you get the idea to start Pinnacle? And when did you make the decision to open a supplement store?

The decision was probably made three years ago, I was studying food science and human nutrition which led me to want to work in the sports supplement industry because I have a huge passion for sport supplements and then fortunately had the opportunity to start a retail store and Pinnacle Performance and Nutrition the supplement store basically blossoms from that.

What do you attribute to Pinnacle's success? And what helped to get to where you are today?

Probably the biggest attribute to Pinnacle’s success would come from the people that surround me and help keep me in a good mindset. I believe mindset is everything and I tried to work a lot on mindset myself and the people around me have definitely shaped my mindset of who I am as a person and that's allowed me to be successful in the industry and kind of gradually keep moving forward bit by bit. 

What would you say are Pinnacle’s goals? And what are some of your personal goals?

I think the biggest goal of pinnacle will be to evolve the online space from a retail perspective but also from an educational platform perspective, ideally through video or in long form audio which is some of the goals that I have set for over the next 12 months or so. For a personal goal, there's always training goals that I set for myself, as well as nutrition goals that I set for myself but from a business goal stand point, it would be to ideally have most of my energy put into the health and fitness industry with pinnacle performance and spreading myself into other areas of business, whilst trying to maintain pinnacle's succession.

 What would you say makes Pinnacle different from all the other supplement stores?

Definitely the mindset of the people that work here, everyone has a mentality of trying to make other people's health and fitness journey easy and successful. It's not just about being a money driven business, it's definitely driven by the passion of the people that work here and wanting to help other people and you can see that in the brick and mortar  and the spirit of the store that we probably have a lot more people walking through our doors because people want to interact with the people that work here and we do a lot of stuff in gyms with seminars and samplings because we interact well with other people.

What would be your best advice for anyone looking at doing what you do or just starting their own business?

My first piece of advice would be to pick something that you are truly passionate about because to be successful it shouldn't feel like work, it should feel like play, it should feel like something that you can do every day and that shouldn't exhaust you. My second piece of advice would be to maintain some other stream of income which may be from a part-time job that you do. My third would be to surround yourself with people who are honest and pretty cool about the decisions that you make and not just surrounding yourself with people that are yes-men and will constantly say yes to the ideas you have, people that will kind of make you second-guess or Look at your decisions from a different perspective so you're not constantly making biased decisions.

And lastly, Where do you see Pinnacle in 5 or even 10 years’ time?

I'd like to see pinnacles growth online expand much larger than what it is now, I'd also like to see Pinnacle’s clothing expand to be something much bigger than it is now, I'd like to see the store have a few more locations because I know our local impact here is huge due to the people that work for us and I know if we can employ people with a similar mindset we can have a similar impact in other areas.

Interviewed by Ethan Clark.