Community Highlights: Meet Morgan Kuchynka

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Kuchynka.

Hi Morgan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The vision of owning a gym began in my childhood, as I fell in love with the sport of gymnastics. After going through a coaching change and losing my desire to participate in the sport, I began coaching at a local rec center.

This allowed me to fall in love with the sport of gymnastics all over again! I loved helping kids learn and seeing them light up when they accomplished something new. While I continued to pursue my future “adult” career at the University of Kansas, no matter what classes I took, the most exciting part of my week was making the trek back to my rec center to coach.

Each semester, I changed my major – engineering, physical therapy, teaching, math – just searching for the same magic that coaching provided. Entering my third and final year of college, I settled on law school. My mom went back to law school when I was a freshman in high school, and it seemed like something I could try. As I was filling out the applications, my parents intervened with the life-changing question – “What do you really want to do in life?”. The answer was easy – own a gym. But that seemed very unrealistic for a 20-year-old girl who couldn’t even pick a major.

Luckily, I listened and dove head-first into writing my first business plan. I ventured to bank after bank, hearing the same rejection over and over again. They wanted my parents to cosign on the loan, and as one of five children, my parents were not going to set that precedent. On around my tenth try, I found a bank that would allow me to count the equipment I was purchasing with the loan money toward my collateral. In addition, my parents agreed to add a stock certificate to the guarantee to seal the deal. I like to think it was one of the best parenting decisions they have ever made.

I graduated from KU in May of 2005 and went straight to work with a goal to open on August 1. I canvased neighborhoods, assembled equipment, advertised in the local paper, and created as much buzz as I could about my new gym in Western Shawnee. On opening day, I had 75 customers. By the end of the first year, I had 300! The small 6,000-square-foot facility in an industrial park became a staple of the community. Within 3 years, we were bursting at the seams. My landlord at the time was developing a new industrial park and had a perfect space for Pinnacle to expand. We jumped on the opportunity to move into a facility over twice as large.

It was at our second facility that we began to really settle in. We were able to onboard full-time staff for the first time. Our culture became a blend of people who love gymnastics, love working with kids, and believe in the power of sports. We began expanding our operations to include more programming – including camps, clinics, and hosting meets.

We even expanded into a second smaller location in Overland Park. We couldn’t meet the staffing needs and consolidated back to one gym in 2019. By 2016, I knew that we needed more space, but it was a challenge convincing myself to actually do it. After exhausting all my options, I settled on purchasing a plot of land about a mile away from the current gym and building from the ground up.

I hired an architect who was experienced in gymnastics facilities and began interviewing builders. That has always been one of my favorite parts of business ownership – it evolves! I had the opportunity to meet so many great people during the building process, many of which I am still in touch with today. In January 2018, we opened our 17,700-square-foot facility in Shawnee, KS.

It’s hard to believe that it has already been over 6 years in our “new” facility! We put so much thought into the construction – providing space for each of our disciplines to operate independently, adding soft landing areas to keep our competitive athlete’s bodies healthy, and offering two-story parent viewing.

I have learned over the course of time to heed the advice “never say never”. There are so many things that change over time. You can just not predict where life and business will take you.

Around Christmas of 2022, I received a phone call from a local gym owner. She was ready to retire and was looking for a buyer that would keep her dream alive. It was out of the blue and unexpected, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Over the next few months, I learned as much as I could about her business. In July 2023, I closed on the purchase of Byrd’s Dance and Gymnastics. We are approaching the 1-year mark already!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Business ownership is always bumpy. Not only are there the day-to-day struggles – toilets are overflowing, vacuum doesn’t work, air filters need to be changed – but there are strategic decisions that have to be made as well.

One of the challenges with small business ownership is there is no corporate back up – we don’t have a legal team, an HR department, a maintenance crew – all of those people are me. I have developed a network of professionals and peers who have helped guide me through some of the trickiest times.

Being willing to try something new has been one of our greatest assets. We strive to be the best place for kids to play sports, but we also know that there is always room for improvement. Sometimes, we try things that completely flop. Sometimes, we try things that are amazing successes. It’s the willingness to try the new or scary thing that has kept us thriving.

I appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Pinnacle Gymnastics and Pinnacle Dance and Gymnastics Kansas City?
We have two locations in the Kansas City metro.

Our Shawnee facility offers recreational and competitive gymnastics, tumbling, and ninja classes. Our Kansas City facility offers recreational and competitive gymnastics, tumbling, and dance classes. Both of our facilities offer camps, birthday parties, and activity programs.

The mission of Pinnacle is to empower youth to reach their physical and mental potential through sport. We employ an energetic, skilled coaching staff that provides the best level of instruction for every child regardless of ability. Self-motivation, perseverance, dedication: the lessons learned at Pinnacle carry far beyond the walls of the gym.

Looking for the best place in the Kansas City metro to take gymnastics, dance, or ninja? Pinnacle is the answer. We use progressive lesson plans. Skill stations. Special equipment for each of our disciplines, preschool, recreational, and team classes.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I took a huge risk opening Pinnacle as a 20-year-old fresh out of college. Looking back, I lacked so much experience. However, I think one of the biggest factors was my willingness to learn. I was eager to learn from others’ successes and mistakes and apply them to my own business.

As my family grew, my risk aversion did as well. There was just more on the line for making those big decisions. However, when the opportunity arose to purchase a second location, that risk-taking 20-year-old came back alive. After talking it over with my husband, the final decision was made based on the thought – “If you found out tomorrow, this opportunity no longer exists, would you regret your decision not to do it?”. I knew that I would regret not taking this chance.

I also knew that this provided an opportunity to expand my vision and Pinnacle’s mission and touch more lives.

In general, I’m willing to try just about anything, but I’m equally willing to call it quits on things that aren’t paying off. Whether it’s a new bar drill (my staff makes fun of me regularly for these) or a program that just isn’t profitable, having the ability to say no opens up the ability to say yes more often.

Pricing:

• Classes 30 min $50-65
• Classes 50 min $80-90
• Classes 75 min $115
• Varies by location and program.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pinngym.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinngym/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinnacleGymnastics
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pinnacle-gymnastics-kc/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/pinngym?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pinngymkc
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-kuchynka-7927138/

Image Credits
Sherri Schwinn