Last January, two members of Vanderbilt’s football team, then-juniors Dan Sutton and Kurt Lockhart, began discussing the possibility of beginning their own protein and supplement store here in Nashville. Ten months later on Oct. 11, those plans have come to fruition in the grand opening of their store on Elliston Place, Nutrishop of Nashville.
After building a comfort level by lifting together frequently during their offseason workouts, the two found that they had similar interests, and soon Lockhart got excited about presenting the idea to Sutton.
“I presented the concept of the store to Dan (Sutton) in January because we had started working out together for football. He was really receptive to the idea and it just took off from there,” Lockhart said.
Soon, however, the two realized that pursuing their passion for business would have to mean sacrificing one of the things they loved most in their lives.
“I’m not going to lie, it was extremely difficult,” Sutton said. “I love football, but more so I loved training and hanging out with the guys on the team.”
The two were able to translate this passion for training into the opening of their shop, which they hope will help satisfy the Vanderbilt student bodies every nutritional supplement need. Sutton reveals that using their connections to the Vanderbilt football team has been crucial to their success so far and that their former teammates have been very understanding of their decision to leave the team.
As a true representation of their efforts on the field, many of the current members of Vanderbilt’s football team have rallied together in order to show support for their former teammates and help them in any way they can.
“The football guys have been great,” Lockhart said. “Duane Vaughn and Charlie Byrge helped get everything set up in our last week before opening. A lot of guys have also stopped in (to help out).”
Lockhart reveals that the store would like to help return the favor by working closely with strength and conditioning coach John Sisk and developing nutrition plans for some of the players’ offseason training programs.
By using their close connections with the Vanderbilt football program as well as with the greater Vanderbilt and Nashville communities, Sutton and Lockhart have seen great success with their earnings and even some support from some local professionals.
“We well surpassed our initial two-week sales target and have seen everyone from Nashville Predators players to an 82 year old guy just looking to get back in shape,” Lockhart said.
But the most rewarding thing, Lockhart reveals, is seeing their customers gaining benefits from their products.
“We are starting to get a lot of referrals from people we have helped, so that’s a good sign and rewarding for us to see people have success.”
Nutrishop of Nashville is a part of the larger national Nutrishop Corporation, but the first of its kind in Tennessee. Both Sutton and Lockhart hope that they will be able to build off of the success of their first shop and expand their efforts by creating more shops in Tennessee in the future.
Life outside of their respective sports may seem scary to many college athletes, but Dan Sutton and Kurt Lockhart have shown that with hard work and dedication, there are plenty of other opportunities beyond the life of competition.
