John Machacek, Chief Innovation Officer for the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation, has worked with countless startups throughout our community over the years. He knows their ups, and their downs, but most of all, he knows the questions to ask them. Here are John Machacek’s 10 questions for Crystal Nelson, Founder of Fargo Ergonomics and Alter Ergo.

Contents

1. Will you please tell us your Fargo Ergonomics and Alter Ergo elevator pitch? 2. Can you tell me more about the difference between these two brands? 3. You mentioned the North Dakota Workforce Safety & Insurance ergonomic grant, which seems like a great program to support workplace health and safety. What are the basic details of the grant program and the role you serve as a provider?4. What are the most common ways you assist a company and its employees? 5. What got you started on creating your own business to do this work? 6. Your husband owns his own business as well. How has it been with two entrepreneurs in the household?7. What type of marketing strategies do you use to grow your business? I often see your videos on social media. 8. What are your hopes for the future of your business? 9. If you could go back in time to Crystal from several years ago, what hindsight advice would you give yourself? 10. Lastly, what can we do as a community to help you and Fargo Ergonomics & Alter Ergo succeed? About John John Fargo Ergonomics Alter Ergo

1. Will you please tell us your Fargo Ergonomics and Alter Ergo elevator pitch?

Fargo Ergonomics and Alter Ergo provide both on-site and virtual ergonomic services and solutions for small to large businesses in all industries, to reduce and prevent musculoskeletal disorders and other work-related injuries.

Musculoskeletal disorders are soft-tissue injuries caused by sudden or sustained exposure to repetitive motion, force, vibration, and awkward postures. These disorders can affect the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, and cartilage in your upper and lower limbs, neck, and lower back.

2. Can you tell me more about the difference between these two brands?

If you are looking for a short answer, I would tell you that Fargo Ergonomics is a local company and Alter Ergo is a national company.

Fargo Ergonomics was established to provide ergonomic services in Fargo-Moorhead and the surrounding areas. I also became a provider for the North Dakota WSI Ergonomic Initiative Grant Program after establishing the company Fargo Ergonomics. After doing a few ergonomic assessments I discovered there are a lot of questions that people have about ergonomic products and ergonomics in general which motivated me to want to share about ergonomics even more. However, I had no clue how to do this. I have a medical degree, not a marketing degree. I think it was around 2019 when Mike Brevik with Cyberdogz Marketing encouraged me to start shooting videos to share my ergonomics tips with people. To be honest, I laughed at the idea of getting in front of a camera and pushed this idea aside. Getting in front of people seemed pretty scary. I remember doing a presentation in front of my class in the eighth grade and passing out because I was so scared.

After some cheerleading and convincing from my husband, I agreed to give it a try. Then shortly after this, you also recommended the same idea as Mike! So with the three of you encouraging me to shoot ergonomic videos, I figured I should at least give it a shot to see what happens. I created a couple of videos on my own for Fargo Ergonomics. It wasn’t too bad—and I didn’t pass out!

Then the pandemic hit in 2020, and people were sent home to work in some pretty awful ergonomic conditions. I was getting many messages and calls from friends, family, and previous clients to help with ergonomic improvements. It was this that prompted me to create the company Alter Ergo to provide virtual ergonomic assessments. It started out with a simple website and Facebook page. It wasn’t until 2022 that I was able to start marketing Alter Ergo.

3. You mentioned the North Dakota Workforce Safety & Insurance ergonomic grant, which seems like a great program to support workplace health and safety. What are the basic details of the grant program and the role you serve as a provider?

It’s a wonderful program that has been around for a while, but many aren’t aware of it. WSI’s Ergonomic Initiative Grant Program provides employers resources, including financial assistance to address ergonomic concerns. The purpose of the program is to reduce or eliminate cumulative-type injuries at the workplace. If ignored, what typically begins as minor aches or pains, has the potential to develop into costly claims.

This grant program is a great way to utilize funds for new ergonomic equipment in the workplace. Grant money varies between $5,000-50,000 and is dependent on your WSI premium. The company must have a WSI account for at least one year and be in good standing. The grant money is used for 75% of an approved ergonomic purchase, up to your maximum grant award. Ergonomic equipment for this program must be approved by WSI before purchasing.

There are several of us providers throughout the state that help with this program. We are all qualified physical therapists or occupational therapists who have gone through an application process, following a request for proposal (RFP) to become a provider. As providers, we visit the job site and complete an ergonomic assessment to identify potential or existing problems. We then provide ergonomic recommendations and interventions, assist with selecting appropriate ergonomic equipment, and provide ergonomic education and training. Each company that applies for the program has the choice to choose any provider they would like to make sure they are getting the help they need. If companies are unsure which provider to choose, it is completely okay to check out websites, social media pages, and even call providers to get more information if needed.

4. What are the most common ways you assist a company and its employees?

Most of the time, I am on-site at various businesses completing one-on-one assessments to gather information about the work area, habits, and available equipment. I do provide some group training as well. Research, along with my experience, has shown that training is not as effective as one-on-one assessments.

I would say that 40% of my assessments are at offices and the remaining 60% are at warehouses, production facilities, dentist offices, manufacturing facilities, and with various other jobs such as electricians, plumbers, construction, mechanics, cleaners, etc.

When most people think of ergonomics, they often think of offices and posture. In an office, this would include better ergonomic solutions for the employee such as desk and chair height, keyboard and mouse placement, lighting, monitor settings, and room layout. There is a lot more to ergonomics in all industries which includes physical, cognitive, and organizational ergonomics.

Physical ergonomics is the study of how people interact with their physical environment, such as furniture placement, workstation design, and lighting. The goal of physical ergonomics is to reduce fatigue and injuries by making sure the workplace is designed for comfort and efficiency.

Cognitive ergonomics is the study of how people interact with information such as user interface design, software design, and document design. The goal of cognitive ergonomics is to reduce error rates and increase productivity by making sure that the way information is presented is easy to understand and use.

Organizational ergonomics is the study of how people interact with their work tasks such as job design, workflow analysis, and task analysis. The goal is to reduce stress and make sure jobs are designed to be efficient and effective.

One thing that is not common for me is to get a kiss during an ergonomic assessment, but it happened once! I was helping a lady with her computer settings since she was complaining of eye strain and headaches. Once I got everything set to where she needed it to be, she immediately gave her new set-up a try. No less than a second later, she turned to me, grabbed my head with both hands, gave me the biggest kiss on my forehead, and said “You changed my life!” This story still makes me giggle. I love to make people happy!

5. What got you started on creating your own business to do this work?

In 2014, I had an opportunity to start my own business which was an outpatient physical therapy and occupational therapy clinic in an assisted living facility. I am an occupational therapist and I hired a physical therapist. I grew this company to three locations in the FM area. I have always been passionate about ergonomics since learning more about it in college. I enjoyed helping people with their therapy and rehab, but I also saw the value in educating people on ergonomics as a preventative measure. Soon after becoming a business owner, I decided to use my experience to create a niche business that I was already passionate about and one that would focus more on stopping the injuries that I had been treating for several years. I called it Fargo Ergonomics.

It was stressful managing two different businesses but at the same time, it was fun to see that a company like Fargo Ergonomics could grow in our area. It was my husband who started to notice that I was happier coming home from work on the days I worked at Fargo Ergonomics. I agreed. I loved it. After some tough discussions, I decided to part ways with the rehab industry and I went full-time with Fargo Ergonomics. I haven’t looked back since.

6. Your husband owns his own business as well. How has it been with two entrepreneurs in the household?

In a nutshell, it’s definitely a roller coaster ride. It was more so in the beginning than now. We both started our businesses in the same year, close to the same time. I wouldn’t recommend starting two different businesses at the same time. We still talk about those early wild days with managing our businesses and taking care of our growing family, but we survived.

The first couple of years were by far the toughest. We scraped by for a while. We had just moved into a new house, so we didn’t have home equity to work with for early business financing. We also decided not to ask our family for financial help either. Luckily, I was able to get a line of credit from a local bank so I could make sure my employees could get paid. It was frightening to see money going out and not coming in. After six months of money going out, I finally got my first check to deposit into the bank.

On the upside, we have a better understanding of each other because we know what it’s like to be in the other person’s shoes. We can also refer to advice. Every once in a while, we have an opportunity to send business to one another as well.

Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say that I have a formal marketing plan and strategy but I would say that my marketing strategy that has worked was hiring Brynn Wznick, first as a Communications Intern and now as the Communications Manager. Brynn is my marketing plan!

Much of the regional work for Fargo Ergonomics has come from word of mouth and referrals. Alter Ergo strategies have consisted mostly of getting content out there on social media and seeing what sticks. I have been fortunate that, to date, we haven’t really used paid boosts or sponsored ads. Short-form videos seem to get the most attention. The content for Fargo Ergonomics is mostly information with a little wit. Alter Ergo has all of this too but it is more entertaining. Brynn often comes up with ideas and we work on them together and learn from them. We recently had a TikTok post that so far has about 750,000 views. I was surprised about the number of people commenting and wanting to learn more about their ergonomic health.

I started dabbling with affiliate marketing links in the Alter Ergo social media accounts. Alter Ergo was qualified to be an Amazon Associate. Once the account grows, we should be able to qualify to be a part of the Amazon Influencer Program. For now, our Amazon affiliate links are then posted in Linktr.ee with some of my favorite products, such as office chairs and small office items. If a reader clicks on the items to purchase them, Alter Ergo does get a portion of the sales.

8. What are your hopes for the future of your business?

Ultimately, I want to continue to help people feel better and increase awareness of ergonomics. When people feel better, they are more productive at work. I’m just testing the waters on the national level with Alter Ergo and we will see how the efforts go.

Right now, I’m in the early stages of working with a large national company to build out and test an ergonomics program for their company. If it goes well, I will work with them to implement it further in their other locations around the country.

9. If you could go back in time to Crystal from several years ago, what hindsight advice would you give yourself?

All of the stress, tears, and hard work are going to be worth it. You are stronger than you think you are and braver than you believe you to be. You will be living your best life, doing the job you love, with your biggest cheerleader, your husband, still by your side. Your family will be healthy, and you will still have a roof over your head. You will also have time to read, cook, exercise, play pickleball, take care of your house plants, and garden, and take a day off every now and again. The number of people who support you and believe in you will only continue to grow.

10. Lastly, what can we do as a community to help you and Fargo Ergonomics & Alter Ergo succeed?

I appreciate all the support so far! However, if you are ready to address any ergonomic concerns or high injury rates or maybe you just want to be the best in your industry, I’m here to help you. A simple conversation or phone call to get started is always an option.

About John John

Machacek has been helping local startups with the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation since prior to his position with the GFMEDC. Before joining the team, Machacek was the VP of Finance & Operations at United Way of Cass-Clay and a business banker at U.S. Bank.