# Melea McRae-Hall

> Melea McRae-Hall is the Kansas City-based founder and CEO of Crux KC, which she launched in July 2016 to combine fractional marketing leadership with a team that executes the strategy. She also co-founded Crux-Xcelerate with Rick Kahle in 2019 and earned an Executive MBA from Rockhurst University in 2020.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Crux KC
- **Organizations:** Crux KC, Crux-Xcelerate, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Forbes Communications Council, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Arvest Bank
- **Education:** Executive MBA, Rockhurst University, Helzberg School of Management
- **Known for:** Founded Crux KC in 2016., Co-founded Crux-Xcelerate in 2019., 2021 Women Who Mean Business honoree, Kansas City Business Journal.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2016** — Served as senior vice president and chief marketing officer at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; subsequently worked at a traditional advertising agency.
- **2016-07** — Founded Crux KC.
- **2019-01** — Co-founded Crux-Xcelerate with Rick Kahle.
- **2020** — Completed her Executive MBA at Rockhurst University.
- **2021** — Recognized in Kansas City Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business and received an Enterprising Women of the Year award.
- **2025-08** — Crux announced its fourth consecutive Inc. 5000 appearance, ranking No. 2341 with 182% three-year revenue growth.
- **2026-07** — Marked ten years of Crux and published reflections on a thirty-day sabbatical in Italy.

## Achievements

- Founded Crux KC in 2016.
- Co-founded Crux-Xcelerate in 2019.
- 2021 Women Who Mean Business honoree, Kansas City Business Journal.
- 2021 Enterprising Women of the Year award recipient.
- Led Crux through four consecutive Inc. 5000 appearances from 2022 to 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Spoke at nbkc’s Bank on Her event about education and professional development; coverage was published October 10.
- **2026-07** — Published a reflection on her thirty-day Italy sabbatical as Crux reached its tenth anniversary.
- **2026-05** — KCTV5 identified her as Kansas City’s interim communications director and published April emails in which she proposed an exclusive interview with advance questions and statement-only responses to KCTV5 during earnings-tax coverage.
- **2026-01** — Crux selected Kansas City Public Library and Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy for $50,000 each in pro-bono marketing services.

## Links

- Website: https://findyourcrux.com/insights/author/meleacrux-kc-com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meleamcrae

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/melea-mcrae-hall
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25