Verizon
By Stacy Morrison
LaTonya Neely has always been interested in health and nutrition. But it was her young son’s struggles with being bullied for his weight that prompted this military veteran to drastically change the way her family approached wellness — and launch a new business, as well.
Neely dove into learning about nutrition to support her family’s health, earning a certification in sports nutrition. “We threw away a lot of stuff in our pantry, in our refrigerator, and within a few months our son’s body totally changed. And my husband’s too,” Neely says. “And I had a lot more energy, which I was really happy about.”
This family journey also started Neely’s journey as an entrepreneur: In 2017, she launched Wellness Choice, LLC, a nutrition and wellness consultancy, based in St. Louis, Missouri, which hosts free events where Neely shares her wealth of knowledge and passion for nutritious food. “Health really is wealth,” she says. “The reward for me is seeing the joy of hope in people’s faces when they realize they have simple options that will improve their health.”
Neely’s first step was creating a small wellness fair at her son’s school on parent-teacher conference nights. She invited other practitioners from the community, including a family counselor and a massage therapist, to set up tables and share information with parents about healthy practices. “It was a way for us to share what we know, and the conversations and outcomes were very positive,” she says.
Neely began to think about other audiences she wanted to reach, such as young mothers or seniors living alone. “I had to figure out how to let people know about what I wanted to offer them,” she says, which started her search for marketing advice. That’s how Neely came across Verizon Small Business Digital Ready — and she was instantly hooked. She immediately signed up for “The Fundamentals of Selling Online,” “Building Resiliency Into Your Business,” and “Intro to Online Growth Marketing.”
“It was valuable information at no cost,” she says. “And it provided information that helped me grow my company.”
Neely was also drawn to Digital Ready’s live events, where she interacted with both the experts leading the classes as well as other business owners. “I was able to reach out to a few people who were in the wellness community and just pick their brain,” she says. “It is really nice being able to find a community of people who are looking for the answers to your same questions.” Years later, she still exchanges ideas with entrepreneurs who are both local and as far away as the East Coast.
In a Hands-On Help live event, a program instructor advised Neely to take a grassroots approach to expand her business, by connecting with other local organizations aligned with her mission. The instructor helped Neely with the outreach language and named a few groups she thought were a good fit with Wellness Choice. “One of those organizations has been a regular partner for me,” says Neely, who then contacted several dozen similar groups and launched events with some of them.
In response to Neely’s focused outreach, Wellness Choice was invited to participate as a nutrition resource at a large baby shower event at an active local military base. The event had particular significance for Neely, who served in both Desert Storm and Desert Shield. “It was the biggest event I have done, more than 80 pregnant and newly beginning mothers whose significant others were deployed,” says Neely. “That’s the main thing I learned in being part of the military family: It’s just, ‘We’re in this together.’ ”
Digital Ready courses on branding and e-commerce taught Neely how to improve her website. “It was a whole new language,” Neely says of learning about search engine optimization and e-commerce. “I didn’t realize there was so much to it.” But the classes provided her the knowledge and confidence she needed to hire a local web designer. Together, they completely redesigned and rebuilt the website, including a more streamlined path for people to sign up for the cooking demonstrations, farm tours, and farmer’s market tours Neely offers. The new site also allows people to make donations to support Neely’s community events.
The redesign of the Wellness Choice website was a huge success, leading to a 60 percent increase in both page views and inquiries as well as an uptick in online donations. A recent farmer’s market tour sold out, and the Cooking with Hope classes, which Neely hosts at her church (and occasionally via live video calls) have been well-attended and well-appreciated. “That has been really cool for me,” says Neely. “The live reactions from people, saying ‘I can’t believe I actually prepared this meal in less than half an hour — and it’s actually good.’”
These results keep Neely learning and expanding her Wellness Choice offerings. “To know these meals are actually going to help people with their health issues — for me, that’s the best part,” Neely says.
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is part of Verizon’s goal to support 1 million small businesses by 2030 with the free resources to succeed in the digital economy. Visit CitizenVerizon.com to learn more about the company’s responsible business efforts. To sign up for Digital Ready, visit digitalready.verizonwireless.com. An individual user’s experience may vary and results are not guaranteed.
