Merchant of College Park

Maryland Gymnastics’ Hailey Merchant partnered with several different brands and companies during the 2023-24 school year. The partnerships were made possible through NIL compensation and working with agencies such as Opendorse and Icon Source.

The junior studying sociology worked with Sprouts Farmers Market, iHerb, Stanley, and other companies over the last few months. Sprouts is a supermarket chain that offers a wide selection of natural and organic foods. It has executed more than 150 female student-athlete deals through NIL partnerships and has become a key supporter of women’s sports. Other student-athletes to partner with Sprouts include Cameron Brink from Stanford women’s basketball, Jordan Bowers from Oklahoma women’s gymnastics, Lauren Gustin from BYU women’s basketball, and others.

iHerb is a distribution company that offers health and wellness products at the best possible value. Merchant’s code: “merchant25” gives customers 20% off their first order and 15% off for returning customers.

Stanley is a company that manufactures beverage containers that keep liquids hot or cold for long periods. The company has become very popular recently for its products that come in an assortment of colors.

Merchant spoke about her partnerships in a Q&A with umterps.com.

How have you worked with a variety of companies?

“It's been incredible because each brand that I've worked with promotes something different and it's a wide range of things from clothes to food. Then there’s iHerb where they can send things to you like skincare and all that stuff. I think it's been amazing, especially being in-season, working with different brands that can help me during competition season and lighten my load. Things come to my door, and I can promote the products for other student-athletes to potentially get involved in something as well.”

How have you promoted them?

“It's been a lot of Instagram, mainly on stories and then in-feed posts. I've also used other platforms like TikTok for making videos, which has been amazing as well. Most companies that I work with want you to be creative and want to see where you are as a student-athlete promoting them.”

What are the perks of the partnerships?

“I receive discounted and even sometimes free products and items. IHerb is one where they sent me a lot of skincare products and a lot of products that I use on a daily basis. It's been amazing not having to go out and shop during competition season because we're really busy and traveling almost every weekend.”

What has your experience with NIL been like?

“It's been amazing. I've been on different platforms like Icon Source and Opendorse. I've reached out to certain companies and a lot of companies have also reached out to me. It's just been amazing working with brands that I love and that support and promote something bigger than just what they sell.”

What brands or companies would you say represent something bigger?

“I have a deal with Sprouts Farmers Market. They promote women's empowerment across the world and work with people from different sports. It's just something bigger than what they sell. They sell many things that women can buy at their farmer's markets, but what they do is they promote and empower women across the world, which I think is amazing.”

What excited you about working with the brands?

“My familiarity with the companies. I have shopped at Sprouts in the past. There's one closest to my house and I've always gone there growing up and picking out food for the week. I also had one of the Stanley cups. When I got that deal, a lot of people were like, ‘Oh my goodness, that's crazy.’ They were going viral on TikTok and Instagram at the time.”