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Uniquely Small Biz:
Pull the Pin

Tom Mattaini chats with Carolyn about his journey to owning a small business and why building confidence in his customers is the key to giving him a competitive edge over big-box retailers. 

  

Meet Our Guests
Tom Mattaini

Known as a sign of confidence in the world of golf, Tom Mattaini’s motto and business name, Pull the Pin, also reveals the driving force behind his business. When Tom took ownership of a golf shop in early 2021, his focus was on building the confidence of his customers through custom club fittings, personalized lessons, and stylish apparel. One year later, Tom reveals that Pull the Pin is now the #1 golf store in central Pennsylvania.

Meet Our Expert
Mike MacMullin

Mike MacMullin is the Vice President of Small Business at Selective where he focuses on technology and service advancements, and partners with independent insurance agents to help small businesses grow. Mike shares some key steps that small business owners can take to be competitive with big-box stores.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Carolyn: Welcome back to season two of Uniquely Small Biz by Selective Insurance, a podcast for small business owners to share their inspiring stories. I'm Carolyn McCardle, and we are so excited to be bringing you another round of insightful conversations with small business owners who are as unique as their ventures. On today's episode, dust off your clubs and put on your gloves; we're talking with the president, owner, and operator of Pull the Pin golf shop, Thomas Mattaini. He talks with us about how he offers services that big box stores can't while helping create confidence on the course. Then later, hear Selective’s Vice President of Small Business Mike McMullin give his thoughts on the conversation.

 


Carolyn: So the name of your company is Pull the Pin, and I'm curious as to what the story is behind the name of the company. I'm a horrible golfer. I've been on a course a couple of times, but I don't know the term ‘pull the pin’. There's got to be a tie-in, obviously, with the sport. So tell me about that first. 

Thomas: I've always wanted to play golf with confidence, and when you pull the pin, it's when you take the flag out of the hole. So, usually, you do that when either you're chipping or putting, and the way we describe it is it's a subtle sign to the guys who are playing with that you think you're going to hole your next shot. And that's the kind of confidence we want to instill in all of our customers. So, whether they're coming in to get fit for new clubs, whether they're coming in for a lesson or whether they're just looking for a new polo that they think they're going to be the sharpest dressed in their foursome, everything we do revolves around the idea of developing confidence. So we decided to go with, Pull the Pin.  

 

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