A Case Study on our Strategic Marketing Partnership from 2024–2026
The Client
KALE Functional Medicine is a physician-led practice in Houston, Texas, founded by Dr. Miiko Rowley, MD. Rooted in a 40-year legacy of integrative care, KALE treats patients across the full spectrum of functional medicine — hormone health, metabolic wellness, cognitive decline, and pediatric care.
Where We Started
When KALE brought on fractional marketing support in summer 2024, the practice had strong clinical credibility and limited marketing infrastructure to match it. Digital visibility was minimal, revenue was almost entirely appointment-driven, and there was no formal strategy for building brand authority or growing beyond patient consultations.
Like many physician-led practices, KALE was navigating a competitive and evolving market — staffing transitions, a shifting local landscape, and the ongoing challenge of communicating a sophisticated clinical model to a broad audience. The opportunity was clear: a compelling story, a distinctive clinical approach, and ambitions that far outpaced the practice’s current marketing footprint.
The Work
The engagement unfolded in phases, each building on the last — and the most strategic work came once we’d built two years of shared understanding.
Supplement Shop Launch and Growth (2024–2026)
KALE’s supplement shop launched at the start of our engagement and grew into a meaningful standalone revenue channel — reducing dependence on appointment-based income and addressing the seasonality inherent in health and wellness practices.
- 2025 total shop revenue is up +357% vs. 2024
- 2026 YTD is already tracking +230% vs. the same period last year
- 53.57% returning customer rate, reflecting a loyal repeat-purchase base built over two years
Digital Foundation (2024–2025)
The first phase was infrastructure. A full SEO audit and optimization established organic search as a primary patient acquisition channel. Analytics dashboards were built from scratch, giving Dr. Rowley’s team real visibility into marketing performance for the first time. Content strategy, social media, email marketing, and print collateral were developed and put into a consistent rhythm.
Website Redesign (2025)
The anchor project of 2025 was a full website redesign. The previous site functioned as a basic brochure — limited service detail, minimal conversion architecture. The goals for the new site were threefold: create a digital experience that reflected the full breadth of KALE’s clinical offerings, convert more visitors to booked appointments, and lay the groundwork for passive revenue growth.
The redesign touched every layer — brand expression, copywriting, information architecture, technical SEO, and analytics. The result was a digital presence that finally matched the caliber of the practice behind it.
Thought Leadership and Content Development
As part of a broader strategy to establish Dr. Rowley as a recognized voice in functional medicine, we developed and launched KALE’s first digital course — building out the content framework, marketing plan, and launch execution. The course staked a clear claim in hormone health as a primary thought leadership territory for Dr. Rowley, establishing the foundation for ongoing authority-building in a space where she has deep clinical expertise and a growing audience.
Brand Positioning and Strategic Framework (2026)
The most sophisticated work of the engagement came in 2026, and it was only possible because of everything that came before it.
We developed a comprehensive messaging strategy grounded in KALE’s physician-led, whole-family functional medicine positioning — language that differentiated the practice from both conventional primary care and the functional medicine competition in the Houston market. This was paired with a custom GPT built specifically for Dr. Rowley’s team, so staff could independently apply KALE’s voice and positioning in their own content without returning to training documents every time.
This brand work anchored a full 2026 marketing strategy — covering quarterly initiatives, channel priorities, revenue targets, and a promotional calendar — designed to carry the practice’s momentum forward with clarity.
Team Alignment
Marketing in a practice like KALE’s doesn’t live in one role — clinicians, front desk staff, and operations all touch patient-facing communication. To address this, I hosted a workshop to map marketing responsibilities across the team, clarifying ownership and creating a shared foundation that made every subsequent project run more smoothly.
Additional Projects
Open house event planning and project management, annual reviews and planning sessions, quarterly business reviews, and a podcast marketing plan as part of Dr. Rowley’s growing thought leadership platform.
The Results
- Organic search sessions up 39% year over year, 2024 to 2025
- Organic search sessions up 52% H1 2025 to H1 2026 — sustained growth, not a one-year spike
- Supplement shop revenue up 357% in 2025 vs. 2024; 2026 YTD already tracking +230% vs. same period last year, with a 53.57% returning customer rate
- Full website redesign delivered, establishing a digital presence commensurate with KALE’s clinical caliber
- Hormone health established as Dr. Rowley’s primary thought leadership territory
- Comprehensive brand positioning, messaging strategy, and 2026 marketing plan delivered
- Custom GPT built for ongoing team content consistency
- Marketing roles clarified across a non-marketing team
- Annual, quarterly, and monthly planning rhythms established and sustained over two years
In Their Words
“Working with Katy has felt less like hiring a marketing consultant and more like adding a strategic partner to our leadership team. What set her apart from day one was that she already understood the functional medicine space. I didn’t have to spend months explaining our practice model, our patients, or the unique challenges of physician-led functional medicine—she came in with the background and experience to contribute immediately.
She took the time to truly understand our practice, our philosophy, and where we wanted to grow, then built a marketing strategy that reflects who we are. From strengthening our digital presence to helping us clearly communicate what makes KALE different, her work has had a meaningful impact on our practice and our patients. I truly see her as an extension of our team, and her strategic insight has been invaluable as we’ve continued to grow.”
Dr. Miiko Rowley, MD
/
2026
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
On This Engagement
KALE is the kind of client this model was built for — a practice with genuine clinical depth that needed a strategic partner, not a vendor. Over two years, we built the infrastructure, grew a revenue channel from the ground up, and developed a brand positioning framework that will carry the practice well beyond this engagement. That’s what fractional partnership looks like when it works.
