Walk-I-Task

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Matthew Ward

Chris and Jordan Fischer, Co-Founders, WALK-i-TASK

WRITTEN BY Frew Murdoch

The WALK-i-TASK desk attachment demonstration

Walk The Talk

WALK-i-TASK helps companies and individuals to navigate the gray area between work and wellness.

Organizations continue to feel the pressure to introduce flexible hybrid working models or fully remote positions. However, with this new frontier comes new responsibility in the form of work-life balance and employee wellness for both the individual and employer. Work-life boundaries have been blurred and individuals are increasing the time spent in front of devices. These behaviors are habit-forming and, as many people have reported, it becomes difficult to “turn off” after a long day of work, even when in the comfort of their own home. Chris and Jordan Fischer are two individuals who have experienced both the positive productivity effects as well as the negative wellness impact of working from home. The Fischers are co-founders of WALK-i-TASK, an innovative health and fitness product in the form of a height-adjustable desk that attaches to a treadmill.

Launched in 2019, the product was designed to solve the classic digital age problem: how to find the balance between optimal work efficiency and being tied to a desk, which can easily lead to a ball-and-chain sedentary lifestyle. The revered ideal of 10 000 steps a day, as touted by various charged-up fitness gurus, has always seemed so unrealistic, until now.

“Jordan and I started working on WALK-i-TASK back in 2019 before the pandemic. We had just started working from home where we began to experience the effects of sitting all day. It wasn’t just the physical impact of gaining weight, but also the mental drain that took a toll on us. We knew that we needed to make a change in our lives and essentially, move more,” said Chris.

WALK-i-TASK

Chris and Jordan decided to take a shelf from the wall and create a makeshift desk to place on a treadmill. At first, they were thrilled as they could work and walk, however, several pain points soon emerged.

Many treadmills have low handrails, which means the user has to hunch and compromise their posture to work. DIY variations also pose a harmful risk to both the user and their work devices. In addition, traditional treadmills with built-in desks cost thousands of dollars, making them extremely inaccessible to the average Joe. The final issue is that many available treadmill desks cap out at around 4mph, preventing users from performing strenuous cardio activity. As a result of these problems, the seed of WALK-iTASK was planted.

“We realized that there were many people out there looking for products like this. We decided to design and develop a product that people would love so we created a height-adjustable desk attachment prototype to solve these problems. We took pictures and shared these as advertisements on social media to gauge customer interest through clicks and interactions. This gave us confidence as many people were looking for a resource just like this but hadn’t been able to find one,” shared Chris.

A woman works on a laptop whilst walking on a treadmill

Walking alongside employers

Remote work looks like it is here to stay in the world’s new normal. In a recent study, wellknown job search site Indeed found that global remote work job listings tripled from 2.5 to 7.5% between January 2020 and September 2021. Career search resource Ladders predicts that 25% of professional positions in North America will be remote by the end of this year. With these statistics in mind, how can employers assist with employee wellness in the work-from-home environment?

“The pandemic created this unique market where people are working from home; whether that’s full time or this new hybrid model. People are looking for a solution to move more throughout the day. On the business-to-business side, the pandemic put pressure on corporations to value the health and wellness of their employees more, which is fantastic and should have happened sooner. We’ve been connecting with more corporations to either include our WALK-i-TASK desk in their existing wellness programs or subsidize the cost for their employees,” explained Jordan.

“Employee wellness is huge. Whether it’s physical or mental health, it should be at the forefront of every employer’s culture. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it also has the knock-on effect of healthier and happier employees, meaning higher productivity and lower corporate health care costs. Many of our customers are work-from-home employees looking to lead better lives; better for themselves, better for their loved ones, and better for their communities. That’s a huge part of building company cultures. It is truly a win-win; not only for the employee but also the employer,” said Chris.

The starting blocks, the sprint, and the marathon

Chris and Jordan stick to three core values that guide them in business. Firstly, the customer is everything - there is no detail too small. They continue to exceed their target market’s expec-

Wellness Feature

Wellness Feature

WALK-i-TASK

tations by acting upon feedback from their website’s live chat support and discovering new ways to improve the online customer journey.

Secondly, to embody passion. Jordan elaborated: “We are both very passionate about helping people sit less and move more. We know that sitting for six plus hours a day can take a toll on you, both mentally and physically. We’ve been able to provide a resource to our customers to help them live a more active lifestyle and now they get to experience the benefits of walking, which include an increase in energy, increase in productivity, and even weight loss.”

Lastly, to remain innovative and agile in an ever-changing market. This manifests in several ways, such as improving the WALK-i-TASK desk attachment design to fit more treadmill brands and finding new and creative means to leverage ad spend and marketing methods. With this solid foundation in place, WALK-i-TASK is striding towards an interesting and successful future.

In terms of what the future holds, WALK-iTASK has clearly defined goals. In the short term, they aim to continue to build excellent relationships with companies that have existing corporate wellness programs. This is WALK-i-TASK’s path of least resistance as these employers have already accepted that investment in employee wellness is key to success.

“In the medium term, we look to expand into Europe. Currently, we are only selling our desk in North America and we are getting a lot of attention and requests from our friends there in Europe. We aim to begin a partnership over there so we can start fulfilling orders,” said Chris.

“For our long-term goal, we want to help the lives of over 100,000 people. The treadmill is the most popular cardio equipment in the world so we know that our possibilities are endless with that, and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t benefit from a WALK-i-TASK desk,” finished Jordan.

www.walkitask.com

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