Natalia Camino-Cantu

Tell me a bit about yourself and your role at LEND

I’m a rising sophomore at NU, majoring in Economics with a minor in Business Institutions. I started LEND in the fall of my freshman year as part of the student body but I became really involved in the Spring quarter when I volunteered to help LEND with a Google Ad campaign. We were trying to analyze how LEND could reach more businesses to offer both Covid relief loans and business support. This summer I’m working on a couple of consulting projects.

What do your summer projects look like?

The first project I worked on was with Reyes (Witt) at Assembly Creators Market to help with SEO (search engine optimization) keyword research which built on my learnings from the Google Ad project earlier. We also helped with her website layout in terms of how customers could find products as well as advertising.

Next, I worked with Good to Go which is a Jamaican restaurant and Lenice (Levy). For her, we put together research on delivery services such as Grubhub, Doordash, etc. with a focus on the differences between them. The objective was to help her make a more informed decision about which one(s) she should sign up for and additionally find a credit card processor that was compatible for her business.

What inspired you to join LEND?

I first wanted to join LEND at the student org fair because it really stood out compared to other consulting and business clubs in terms of the direct impact on the Evanston community. I’m going to be living here for at least the next four years and wanted to give back to a community I was a part of. Seeing how much impact LEND has on local businesses, I knew it would allow me to practically develop new skills as opposed to learning or preparing to learn them later on.

What is something interesting you’ve learned from a business you’ve worked with?

Something that really struck me was learning how much delivery services charge in fees. I suppose it doesn’t seem as massive to large businesses but to a small business 20-40% commission is too much. Especially in the pandemic where people want delivery services, a lot of local restaurants have had to sign up for this to remain competitive even though it is incredibly difficult for them to shell out. I would have thought that these platforms would offer lower rates to businesses with only one location. 

Is there a result you are personally proud to have achieved?

I taught myself the basics of SEO by watching tutorials online and getting a subscription to a research database. So first teaching myself how to do this and then actually doing this for a client was a great experience. Reyes actually recorded a thank you video for us so you know that the work made an impact.

How can we help support LEND?

I would say the first thing is supporting the businesses we are trying to help. The next time you want to eat out check out Good to Go or Tomate or La Cocinita. Buy your friend’s next birthday gift from Assembly Creators Market instead of a big store. This is a really easy way to give back to the people in the community who are trying to create an impact.

Wrap up: How do you spend your free time (if any)?

Outside of LEND, this summer I've spent a lot of time on Duolingo practicing my French and Portuguese and walking my dog :)