Krystal Tawney of Pinnacle Dermatology celebrates 10 years of business in the Greenbrier Valley

By Dakota Baker, RealWV

Krystal Tawney, owner and CEO of Pinnacle Dermatology, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her business’s opening. To commemorate the milestone, Krystal met with The Real WV to discuss her journey to opening her practice, the ups and downs of her profession, her inspirations, some beauty secrets and myths, as well as some advice to future business owners. 

A West Virginia native who obtained both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from West Virginia University, Krystal has been the sole provider at Pinnacle Dermatology since its opening. As a Nurse Practitioner and female business owner, she has faced some adversities, but has succeeded and continued to provide the Greenbrier Valley with services she is passionate about. 

Before starting her practice, Krystal held what she called her “dream job.” However, she observed aspects she wished to change or be involved in but didn’t have a seat at the table. While she was learning at this time from some of the best mentors in the business, she realized the need to establish her independence. 

Krystal originally resided in Morgantown with her husband, but realized it was not where she wanted to have her forever home. She grew up in the small town of Sophie, and she wanted to be closer to family. Krystal already loved the Lewisburg/Greenbrier County area. When doing research, they realized it would be the perfect place to open her business, so they packed up, moved, and began her business journey. Krystal had never pictured herself as a business owner since she was a first-generation college graduate; she already had her dream. But Krystal explained that after working for so long, her goals and dreams evolved, and she started wanting different things out of life, so after some calculated research, she decided to take a chance, move to an area where she wasn’t familiar with anyone, and start Pinnacle. Krystal said when she reflected on the first couple of years of her business, she was so nervous and scared. She remembers looking at the Christmas tree the first year Pinnacle opened, thinking to herself, “What did I do? What are we gonna do? What if this doesn’t work?” and looking at the Christmas tree now 10 years later, she can say “everything was worth it, and here we are.” 

Krystal mentioned that her favorite part of her job is helping people. She loves that aspect, which is why she originally went into nursing. What she loves particularly about dermatology and what is offered at her office is the wide range of ways she can help people, from saving lives from skin cancer to helping people feel more confident by helping with acne or rashes or prevention and education. It’s just a full spectrum of the variety of services Pinnacle offers, which is her favorite thing. Every day is something different; she loves the services Pinnacle offers, and she loves her team. On the flip side, the most challenging part of her profession is being the sole provider because every decision she makes that involves the office affects every part of her business. She has to constantly think about how a wrong decision may affect her team and Pinnacle, which comes with a heavy weight on her shoulders. She gave the example of being out on maternity leave, which meant no income for her business, and she still has employees she must take care of as well as her own bills. Still, at the same time, she wanted to be present in being a mother and, at times, found it challenging to find a balance between being a regular person, a mother, and a business owner. 

COVID was also a whirlwind for Pinnacle, as Krystal was pregnant at the time, and they were also in the process of moving locations. Pinnacle was already planning to shut down for the month of April that year to move its office, but then the pandemic hit, and the mandatory shutdowns took place. On the brighter side of things, Krystal would be out on maternity leave, and the shutdowns gave her business the float time it needed to move locations and complete reconstruction. Additionally, her son had to spend some time in the NICU, and the mandatory shutdowns also allowed her the time to be there for her son. Krystal says she has a love-hate relationship with COVID because it helped Pinnacle a bit with their moving process. It also helped her be there for her son, but also, as she mentioned before, if Pinnacle isn’t open, there is no income coming in, and it was challenging to stay afloat during this time since small businesses already tend to struggle enough without a world pandemic and throw in maternity leave and a move on top of that. Pinnacle did its best to follow the guidelines, keep everything up to date and everyone safe, and be available to do what was needed. 

When asked about her biggest inspirations, Krystal said she draws inspiration from various people and things, which change daily. Her most significant sources of inspiration are God and Jesus, whom she says she strives to be like in every way. She also draws inspiration from the people she is surrounded by: her husband, kids, parents, and her patients and their stories. It’s a combination of all those things. 

Krystal is a big advocate of confidence and knows confidence in yourself can go hand-in-hand with mental health. While she helps others reach their goal of confidence with her services, she also says, “You don’t see everything about a person in just their reflection; there are things you’ll never see in a mirror. So, I think to gain confidence, you need to love yourself as a whole person. Not just what you may be seeing in that reflection at that time.” She says people are extremely hard on themselves, and we are always our own worst critics. Her advice is that we need to love ourselves first and foremost; your confidence will come the more that you love yourself, and how you can gain that when looking at yourself in the mirror is to pretend like you are talking to your best friend. Krystal also says if there happens to be something in the reflection you do not like, like acne, don’t let that be your sole focus. Still, if it continues to bother you, it’s worth talking about, and that’s why her profession exists. Krystal says the tagline at Pinnacle is “Be happy, be beautiful, be you,” and when you look and feel your best holistically, that is where your confidence will come from, and there are a lot of components to that. 

Krystal also told The Real WV that the biggest skincare myth she has heard is “getting a base tan. ” She says there is no such thing as a base tan or a healthy tan. A tan is still damage, and you are still increasing your risk of skin cancer. You also still have to wear sunscreen. If you want the look of a tan, go with a good sunless tanner. While there are benefits to the red-light therapy beds now offered in some tanning salons, they do not decrease your risk of skin cancer if you use them after using a tanning bed. She says she is very happy with recent legislation and that they have banned tanning for individuals 18 and younger. Still, tanning is in the same cancer-causing category as cigarettes, and every time you get in a tanning bed, you increase your risk of skin cancer.

Moving on to skin-care secrets, which everyone wants to know, Krystal says SPF is the best anti-aging source you can have in your skin-care regimen. She says, “If you wear SPF daily all year round, that’s the best thing you can do for your overall skin health.” “While there has been some controversy around sunscreens lately, some are obviously better than others. If you have the time to pick a healthier choice, then do that, but never go without,” Krystal adds. Always use an SPF 30 or more, broad-spectrum, and if you can get something with a physical barrier, such as Zinc or Titanium Dioxide, that’s a great choice. There are many clean brands to choose from, and you need to reapply any sunscreen you get. Krystal recommends never going longer than 60-80 minutes without reapplying. Another secret Krystal let us in on was to try not to be a side sleeper if you are worried about wrinkles; train yourself to sleep on your back, which will save you a lot of trouble later in life. 

Krystal said she feels incredibly grateful when she looks back on her journey and is now celebrating 10 years of business. She knows that God had a hand in every single piece, and when she tries to look back and see how the whole puzzle fits together, she realizes there is no way she could have done it. He had a big, masterful plan, and when she reflects on it, she is just eternally grateful. And she has been blessed to have some of the best staff who have kept her afloat and sane, and if it wasn’t for God and the good people she is surrounded by, she wouldn’t be here. 

 For anyone thinking about taking the leap, like Krystal, and starting their own business, she offered the following advice: “Have stay power; stay true to yourself.” She says when Pinnacle first opened, she wasn’t prepared to be quite the target that she was, being one of the few sole Nurse Practitioner offices there was. While there were many positive things, there were also many negative ones, and she had to find a way not to take things personally and separate what was considered professional and how far she let that go on her personal heart. “So, finding the balance between personal and professional is essential, as well as surrounding yourself with people who will support you, because some of the people you think will support you don’t, but don’t let that disappointment drag you down. Just stay true to yourself. Remember, your business will be a relationship, and you will go through all the emotions. You’re going to love it, you’re going to hate it, you’ll be happy about it, then sad about it, and that’s all normal. Stick to it, let yourself feel those emotions, stay strong in your faith, be strong in your confidence, be strong in your morals, and stick to those. Find the things important to you in your life and stick to those.”