Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Morey and Josh Yakes.
Shawn and Josh, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Shawn and I had worked on businesses together on the past (paid to play media group, California fight syndicate, etc), but as a result of severe vision issues, I had to step away from the business for a few years. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I’d work again because I was pretty sure I was going completely blind… At a school located in Los Angeles, for people losing their vision, I learned to read Braille and use a cane, but more importantly, I found their gym and began to train non stop. At the time, Shawn was at USC for graduate school, so on weekends we would meet up and train, where we would also discuss business opportunities he was looking into and wanted insight on.
A friend suggested he look into opening a Nutrishop, so he wanted to know about Northridge (where I was living for grad school at CSUN after I left the vision school). I went out and analyzed the territory and we decided there was a severe lack of care taken in the area regarding health and wellness. We knew we could offer the community more by actually helping them change their lives. Through providing them with the tools they needed to do so. By listening to them and working with them one on one as actual clients and not just customers…
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We have had our highs and lows as all new businesses do, but we have learned so much along the way.
One main obstacle has been changing some people’s perception of supplements because often times they are viewed in a negative context. Despite all the great products on the market, the few companies that take advantage of people put a bad light on the overall industry. However, when you are looking at every client’s individual body composition and utilizing nutrition to help them make a change, proper supplementation is only going to assist in the overall process.
As a team, we continue to research ingredients and products to properly inform our clients about them and answer any questions asked of us.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We offer our clients free body composition testing, free nutrition plans, and free supplement guides to best achieve the results they are pursuing. We do not place any one thing above another, it’s a three-sided attack: nutrition, fitness, and proper supplementation.
One of the biggest things we are known for is our community involvement and outreach. We work with Cal State Northridge, the Northridge Chamber of Commerce, local middle schools and high schools, LAPD Devonshire Divison, and many local events hosted by locally owned businesses. It is a privilege for us to support people in our community doing amazing things and offering quality services.
We hold ourselves to a high standard because of the high standard of people around us that we are fortunate enough to work with.
What were you like growing up?
For me, to grow up half blind half sited, so I was always living between two worlds.
Sometimes I was treated disabled and sometimes I wasn’t, it all depended on a person’s perception of me. My father never allowed me to sit and cry about my disability, nor did he want others around me to be held back by my visual issues, instead I had to keep up with them, which made me a stronger person.
Growing up I was always extremely skinny and treated pretty awful by people in athletics and at supplement stores because I wasn’t big enough. They only want to work with the beasts and alphas, not the half-blind kid trying his best. As a result, everyone who comes into our store is treated equally and no one is overlooked.
For Shawn, he grew up being very involved, at first in marching band, then in Brazilian ju jitsu, and finally in bodybuilding. Shawn grew up very slender as well, but was able to put on muscle after high school. Shawn has always been very interested in real estate and business, so it’s no surprise he excelled at it later in life.
We met in undergrad at Woodbury University and have since worked together on multiple business projects. Shawn graduated with his Masters from USC, I am currently at USC completing my Masters degree.
Our passion for fitness is still very strong, I competed in my first men’s physique NPC show last December and Shawn will be competing in his first men’s physique show in June.
Contact Info:
- Address: 19240 Nordhoff St Suite C-1 Northridge, CA
- Website: www.nutrishopnorthridge.com
- Phone: 8189602307
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Nutrishopnorthridge
- Facebook: Nutrishop Northridge
- Yelp: Nutrishop Northridge
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
