Meet Tesiah Coleman

The bustling campus of a prestigious university buzzed with the energy of young minds eager to carve their paths in the world. Among them was Tesiah Coleman, a bright-eyed undergraduate with lofty dreams. 

As she spoke, I found myself drawn into her world, imagining a young Tesiah, full of ambition and ready to conquer the academic world. Little did she know that life had other plans in store for her.

From Psychology Aspirations to Healthcare Realities

The first plot twist in Tesiah's story came in the form of two pink lines on a pregnancy test. "I got pregnant with my son unexpectedly," she revealed, her voice a mix of nostalgia and wonder. "Pregnancy throws you into the healthcare system like nothing else," Tesiah explained. "I was still figuring out who I was in college, and suddenly, I'm constantly seeing doctors, midwives, and nurses. I was always talking about my body, learning about the changes happening to me. It was a wild experience, really opening my eyes to healthcare in a way I never expected."

This experience became Tesiah's first real glimpse into the healthcare system – a world she would soon call her own.

After graduation, Tesiah began working as a lactation counsellor. It was during her time at a residential health facility for women with substance use or mental health disorders that she first considered nursing as a career. “I was right out of college. I had a young baby. I was still breastfeeding," Tesiah recounted. It was in this role that she had a pivotal encounter with a nurse that would shape her future career decisions.

"And I saw a nurse there, and that just kind of blew my mind that there was a nurse working there," Tesiah shared. "She was providing maintenance therapy, so methadone and things like that and their usual kind of psychiatry medication to the women. But they would go in and talk to her about their problems and what was going on." This observation of the nurse's impact sparked a realisation in Tesiah: "That's what I want to do."

This epiphany led to Tesiah's next major career decision: to become a nurse practitioner. She applied and was accepted into a direct entry program – a controversial choice that allows non-nurses to fast-track into nurse practitioner roles.

Navigating the Challenges of Nursing School

But the road ahead was far from smooth. As she delved into her studies, she encountered not just the rigours of academia but also the harsh realities of systemic racism within healthcare education.

My heart ached as I listened to her recount these experiences. It was a stark reminder of the additional burdens that students of colour often face in their educational journeys. But what struck me most was Tesiah's response to these challenges.

Instead of letting the adversity break her spirit, Tesiah channeled her frustration into action. She founded "Students for Racial Justice in Healthcare," creating a platform for change within her program. As she spoke about this initiative, I could see the fire in her eyes – the same fire that would fuel her future endeavours.

"I ended up creating the Students for Racial Justice in Healthcare. That is what I kind of think of as the prototype of what Togather is," Tesiah explained, her voice filled with pride and purpose.

As I listened to Tesiah's story unfold, I couldn't help but marvel at her resilience. Balancing the demands of nursing school with the responsibilities of motherhood would be challenging enough for anyone. But Tesiah was also fighting battles on multiple fronts – against systemic racism, against self-doubt, and against a healthcare system that often seemed resistant to change.

The Impact of Personal Experiences on Professional Growth

After completing her nursing education, Tesiah's first role as a nurse practitioner was in community healthcare. She worked in a low-resource community in the Bay Area, primarily serving monolingual Spanish-speaking patients, many of whom were undocumented, as well as patients on Medicaid.

"I was seeing 25 patients triple booked in just one shift," she recalled. "I did both primary care and prenatal care for the clinic because we didn't have enough providers." This experience, while challenging, allowed Tesiah to serve the populations she was passionate about and put her women's health expertise to use.

However, the demands of this role soon collided with a personal crisis. Tesiah's son was diagnosed with cancer, necessitating intensive treatment and care. The inflexibility of her community health role in accommodating her son's needs became a significant issue.

This personal crisis became a pivotal moment in Tesiah's career, forcing her to reevaluate her professional path.

Transitioning to Health Tech: A New Chapter

The need for flexibility to care for her son during his treatment became the catalyst for Tesiah's move into health tech. She joined Tia, a startup focused on women's healthcare, initially as a virtual nurse practitioner. This role allowed her the flexibility to work remotely and manage her son's care.

"Tia at the beginning, when we were still the stage startup that we were at, was incredibly supportive," Tesiah recalled. "I mean, at one point we thought maybe Oliver was relapsing, and they sent me flowers and they told me don't worry, don't come in, don't work, do as much as you want, but you don't have to."

At Tia, Tesiah's career progression was rapid. Her problem-solving skills and innovative thinking quickly became apparent. "I started fixing things," Tesiah said. Within months, Tia created a new position for her: manager of virtual care.

As Tesiah continued to demonstrate her leadership abilities, she was promoted to Director of Clinical Services. In this capacity, she oversaw a team of 40 providers across multiple states, managing both virtual and in-person care delivery. Her role expanded to include protocol development, quality assurance, and the integration of collaborative care models.

"When I joined Tia, the virtual care team, which at the time was just nurse practitioners, there were five of us including myself," Tesiah explained. "By the time I moved from manager into a director role at Tia, I had built the team out to 40 providers across nurse practitioners and MDs."

Throughout her time at Tia, Tesiah was instrumental in shaping the company's approach to care delivery. She worked on developing protocols for virtual teams, structuring collaborative care teams, and balancing the needs of patients, providers, and the business.

However, the volatile nature of startup life eventually caught up with Tia. When financial challenges hit, Tesiah found herself part of a round of layoffs. This unexpected turn of events became the impetus for her next career move: entrepreneurship.

Building Together: A Vision for Health Justice

Drawing from her varied experiences – from community health to high-tech healthcare – Tesiah conceived the idea for "Togather," a platform designed to create a community for healthcare providers working in various aspects of health justice.

Togather is more than just a networking platform. It's a comprehensive support system for healthcare providers that has now come to fruition. "I always kind of talk about Togather as the thing that you need in order to run a marathon. Reaching Health Justice is a marathon," she says. "So for Togather, it's about us providing the training that you need to get ready for that marathon, about providing the support and cheering on the sidelines, about providing the snacks and the water that you need to get through it."

The newly launched platform addresses some of the critical issues Tesiah has observed throughout her career, particularly provider burnout and health inequities. It offers education, community support, and resources to help healthcare providers deliver on their missions more effectively and sustainably.

With Togather now live, Tesiah is navigating the challenges of running a startup.

From marketing to product development, from crafting the right message to improving the user experience, Tesiah is learning and adapting every day as she grows her newly launched venture.

Despite the challenges, Tesiah remains committed to her vision. Togather is breaking down silos in healthcare, fostering collaboration and support across different areas of health justice work. It's a bold attempt to address the systemic issues she's encountered throughout her career, from her early days in community health to her time in health tech.

Coinciding with building and running Togather, Tesiah also does consulting roles to support herself financially. For example, working with Violet, a health tech company, on projects involving clinical quality measurement, education program development, and protocol design.

As Tesiah embarked on this entrepreneurial journey, life once again demonstrated its knack for timing. Her son, having completed his cancer treatment earlier than expected, was ready for a new adventure. And so, Tesiah found herself launching a business while travelling the world with her son.

"It just so happened they changed the protocols during his treatment. So he ended up finishing treatment actually a year earlier than we thought he was going to," Tesiah shared. "So it was also never my intention to launch a whole business while travelling the entire world with my child – like that was not the plan, but it just ended up coinciding."

Tesiah’s son is now in remission.

Throughout her career, Tesiah has worn many hats – student, mother, nurse, executive, entrepreneur. Each role has brought its own challenges and lessons, shaping her understanding of healthcare and her place within it. Her willingness to step into new roles and take on new challenges challenges the idea that we must stick to a single, predefined career path.

Tesiah’s Wisdom

• Find people who will support you very much, whether that's friends and family, colleagues, or the whole gamut of people.

• Find people that will challenge you. We all have a tendency to cocoon ourselves in echo chambers, so it's important to have people who challenge some of your belief systems and make you think about different perspectives.

• Be comfortable changing how you're doing something. The why and the purpose of what you're doing may stay the same, but how you achieve that purpose can change. Be okay with that because it will change.

Find out more about Togather and connect with Tesiah on LinkedIn