We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Terrence Hight, Jr. a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Terrence, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

I was an undergrad student and soon-to-be father of a baby boy, Trenton. There were a few reasons that led me to being out of school for a semester or two, but ultimately I had to relocate to my hometown. So, I did the typical, asking around and seeing if anyone knew of jobs that were hiring. One day, my dad called me and said, “You can probably get a job in registration here at the hospital.” I said, “What’s registration?”
I remember him being in between meetings and he made an attempt to quickly explain, but I was still confused. The thing is, I was relatively healthy and I’d never been to the hospital or emergency room on my own; so I had no clue what registration was. being intuitive, I said again, “So what is it exactly?”
In a hurried voice, he said, “Son, you know. You just register the patients. Just get the job.” (LOL)
Reluctantly I said yes and went through several rigorous interviews (though he was in management at the hospital, they cut me NO slack!).
Long story short, the registration department liked some of the skills I brought and gave me a role to build-out. The Fast Track Registrar – I sat at the front desk of the Outpatient Department from 5:00 am – 2:00 pm and when patients were late, rushed from the emergency room, or when the other Registrars were behind, my job was to get them registered accurately and quickly, so they could get to the surgery. When there was downtime, The rest of the time, I was sent to the Emergency Department (ED) to relieve the ED Registrars for lunch and breaks. During the year and a half there, I fell in love with healthcare.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I went into college hellbent on becoming an entertainment attorney. I interned with law firms, worked as a runner (taking legal documents to courthouses and other attorney offices, among other things), and even majored in Political Science concentrating on legal studies, but over time it didn’t feel right. As I matriculated through undergrad, entrepreneurship stuck out to me more and more – I had started my first business, a record label and artist management company when I was 20. By my senior year, I realized that the legal field and the entertainment industry was not what I really wanted to do. Healthcare had been my 9 – 5, supporting my new family and my dad continuously reminded me that healthcare was on the rise. – He was right.

Fast forward to 2014, I had finished undergrad, taken the LSAT, and threw my law school applications. By this time, I was in healthcare management at a bustling cardiovascular medicine office. I knew that it was going to be hard explaining to my mom and grandmom that I didn’t want to be an attorney, but I knew that if I wasn’t committed to that career path, I’d be miserable. I even went as far as speaking with attorneys and law school students who, after speaking with me said, “You don’t sound like you really want to be an attorney. I think you should try business school…”. Boy were they right! So, I spoke with one final person, a mentor and young executive at the healthcare system I was working for. We had a long discussion about career paths and school (I was enrolled online in a master of health administration program). I remember it like it was yesterday. He explained why having the highest degree in a field was so significant and what it could do for my career. That night, I dropped out of the MHA program and went on a search for an MBA program that fit my needs. Fast forward, I was accepted as the youngest male student in one of the top Executive MBA programs, at just 25 years old. It was one of the best decisions of my life.
During my time in the program, they frequently mentioned that the last couple of semesters would be dedicated to creating a business and business plan, and pitching that business to investors and business professionals. That, to me seemed like a great opportunity and by the end of the program, my team voted to use my idea as our business. Though we ended up getting a B on the final project, that business, Connected Care, LLC, led me to winning half a dozen pitch competitions across Atlanta between 2016 – 2017. It was also the catalyst of my true entrepreneurial career in healthcare.
Since then, I’ve designed solutions to connect people to healthcare resources, in an effort to expand health equity. Today, Hight Health addresses social determinants of health (SDOH) by providing direct access to health resources for those in communities with limited health resources. If I had not followed my true passion, I would have never been a healthcare consultant for a Fortune 5 company (United Health Group – Optum 360), I would have never been a faculty member and taught in the College of Nursing at Georgia State University, and I likely would have not currently been in my 5th year as a ‘full-time’ entrepreneur.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Persistence. That’s it. I feel like society, in general, pushes a narrative of, school, family, career, etc. in that order, with no hiccups. That’s false. In 2013, when I was out of school for what ended up being a year and a half, I felt like I’d failed. The reality is, that time was time I spent exclusively learning the healthcare industry. This then led to me becoming a manager at the age of 25 and getting into an Executive MBA program shortly after. Today at 33, I lead major projects and health initiatives, I’ve spoken nationally on healthcare panels, and have relationships with some of the largest healthcare companies across the country. The thing I always remember is that I could have stopped school and never gone back, but I remember my grandmother (Mommy) telling me, “You’re either going to be 25 getting your degree or 25 without it. Choose.” So I remained persistent and today, I thank my younger self for not giving up. To anyone going through a hard time right now, TRUST ME, don’t stop going! Your future self will thank you!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Relationships are by far the most effective strategy to grow your clientele. And not just ‘I’ll call you when I need you’ relationships, but true genuine relationships.So many deals have been passed to me and I effortlessly closed them, all because of the relationship I’d built with the person who referred the client. If you take the time to build genuine relationships with people, you will remain top of mind once opportunities come about. sometimes you will not even have to market yourself/your business and can thrive off of relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hight.health
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrencehightjr/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrencewhightjr/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/terrencehightjr