FEATURE
by Sofia Tokar
Bryan Adams 鈥04, 鈥09G, Merica Whitehall (onscreen), and Tanner Crisafulli 鈥22 gather before a weekly Zoom meeting for the student intern and the Seattle startup leader.
Merica Whitehall, a seasoned nonprofit professional, is not easily daunted. Yet launching a startup committed to social impact has occasionally felt 鈥渏ust short of paralyzing,鈥 she admits.
Whitehall is on the board of directors of the Xena Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Xena Fitness & Training. Founded in 2019 by her partner and daughter, Allanah Whitehall, and based in Seattle, XFT offers individualized personal training services virtually. XFT鈥檚 business model earmarks 40 percent of its profits to reinvest in the foundation, which provides fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness services to economically disenfranchised people of color who are at risk for or experiencing chronic disease.
The COVID-19 pandemic amplified the need for such services, especially as gyms and fitness centers limited capacity or closed entirely. 鈥淧eople with pre-existing or underlying health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease are disproportionately experiencing the risks and brunt of COVID-19,鈥 Whitehall says. 鈥淢any of them are also economically disenfranchised people or BIPOC.鈥
The company鈥檚 commitment to public health and equity led Whitehall to the 2021 Naz ROCs Public Health Week conference. From Seattle, she virtually attended a session about using marketing to advance racial equity. One of the presenters was Bryan Adams 鈥04, 鈥09G, clinical faculty member and director of the MS in marketing communications program in Nazareth College鈥檚 School of Business and Leadership.
The two connected offline, and since then a coast-to-coast partnership has flourished.聽
In summer 2021, Adams鈥 graduate marketing students consulted with Whitehall to create a brand strategy for XFT and the foundation. Then, undergraduate students in Adams鈥 fall content marketing course provided client consultation for the startup and devised ways to enact the brand strategy.
Among those students was Tanner Crisafulli 鈥22. 鈥淚 knew the next step for them was SEO,鈥 says the business leadership major. SEO, or search engine optimization, is a must for digital or app-based services like the one Xena provides. If search engines like Google can鈥檛 find the website online鈥攂ecause it鈥檚 either too new or not built correctly 鈥 then potential customers or clients can鈥檛 find it either.
The cost of hiring a professional to help with SEO can be prohibitive. But Crisafulli asked Whitehall whether he could complete an internship for Xena. As part of the arrangement, he鈥檚 optimizing the website, using Google Analytics to map and improve the online experience for site visitors, and teaching Whitehall about data-informed marketing.
鈥淲e can look at traffic to the website to see if we鈥檙e reaching the right audiences or at session times to figure out if people are engaging with the content,鈥 says Crisafulli. 鈥淭hen, depending on the data, we may have to shift tactics.鈥
Interning at a smaller organization lets Crisafulli apply his skills in a meaningful way and build his resume. Meanwhile, Whitehall estimates that the nearly yearlong collaboration with Nazareth has not only saved Xena several thousands of dollars, but also leveled up the startup鈥檚 mission-driven marketing efforts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really been an invaluable educational experience,鈥 she says, 鈥渙ne that will help us make the benefits of physical activity accessible to the community, including those with the greatest need.鈥
Sofia Tokar is a writer in Rochester, New York.