Rising Stars: Meet Scott Stephenson of Reunion

Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Stephenson.

Hi Scott, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started an impoverished kid from a broken home in Clearwater, FL. I took honors/AP classes in high school and graduated with a full scholarship, but I made a series of bad decisions that cost me that scholarship. After 3 sad years I joined the Navy to get my education back. After six years I got out, got my B.S. in IT, got a M.S. in Cybersecurity, and started my MBA. I had a feeling I was going to get laid off in 6 months, so I started business hunting to prepare for the worst. After looking into a couple options I decided that, since my 12-year-old daughter just got her black belt, maybe a martial arts studio makes sense. She wants to get into the Air Force Academy anyway, and this could help with that effort. We eventually bought the one down the road from us and have been expanding operations toward a more community-oriented mindset.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Everybody has their struggles. Most of mine were self-inflicted early in my adulthood. The Navy was a struggle, but that’s its nature and it made me who I am. Getting laid off two months before I expected to was a major hit.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At Peak Martial Arts Reunion we offer Skillz Child Development. It’s essentially a fun way for children ages 3 through 9 to develop the core skills needed to make great martial artists while thinking they’re just playing games and having fun. From 9+ we switch to Soo Bahk Do, which is a more traditional form of martial art that is uncommon around this area, but is internationally recognized. The Soo Bahk Do Federation is more critical of a student’s abilities and is more hesitant to hand out higher ranks than what are known as McDojos in this line of work. We also have an after-school program where we transport kids from school to our location to get their lessons done before parents get off of work, a school year camp where kids can hang out with us during the day and we follow a strict schedule consisting of a wide variety of fun and engaging activities, and a summer camp that does the same plus field trips and pizza parties. The next frontier is partnering with the local police department for community engagement activities and volunteer services.

What matters most to you? Why?
Purpose. When I got out of the Navy, nothing seemed very important, or impactful. I bought this business as a way to replace my income and it has become a vehicle for community service. Whether that pays the bills remains to be seen, but I’ll have a positive impact while I’m here.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://PeakMartialArtsAcademy.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093052418826
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@pmareunion?si=-ohLiRVGgF385Akd
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/peak-martial-arts-commerce-city?uid=npl6Ccye6J3G-7VJxRAc1g&utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)