The Insider: Alumna encourages students to #getsweaty

Between busy schedules, countless tests and exams, and extracurricular activities, college students may be tempted to put health and fitness at the bottom of their to-do lists. As a way to make healthy living a priority, recent Tulane University alumna Lindsay Nelson, along with her co-founder, Carlyn Shear, developed The Sweat Scene, an online community that shows students how to embrace health and fitness as a part of the everyday collegiate lifestyle.

With a mission to #getsweaty, Nelson says, “The purpose of The Sweat Scene is to make fitness and wellness both approachable and accessible to a demographic that was previously underserved.

“In college, we had to work pretty hard to access fitness and wellness in the same way that we could at home. It wasn’t because it didn’t exist, but rather because it just wasn’t presented to college students in a way that felt approachable,” Nelson adds.

“Fitness and wellness ... just wasn’t presented to college students in a way that felt approachable.”

Lindsay Nelson

The site has already launched on the campuses of Tulane and Emory universities. Motivated students also join “Sweat Teams” that allow them to contribute their fitness knowledge to the site. A planned retail section will allow students to shop and team members to curate their favorite styles.

Tulane sophomore and marketing major Danielle Shapiro says, “I love trying new types of workouts, getting unique tips on health and being able to share them with the community around me.” Shapiro is on a social media/marketing Sweat Team.

Nelson hopes “to bring The Sweat Scene to as many college campuses as possible. We want to redefine health and wellness and make it as synonymous with college as parties and library all-nighters.” Nelson and Shear are working toward bringing Sweat Teams to the University of Wisconsin, Vanderbilt University, the University of Michigan and Washington University in St. Louis this spring.

Melissa Felcher is a sophomore at Tulane University studying communication.