Life for Columbus couple Trip and Bethany Reed Hairston is all about balance — balancing a family with three children, three cats and a dog; finding time to participate in civic activities and overseeing several business ventures. The business skills of the family Hairston have been recognized by the Mississippi Business Journal. Bethany was named to the magazine’s “50 Leading Business Women in Mississippi” list in 2011, and Trip has been named to the newspaper’s “Top 40 Under 40” for 2012.
Bethany is the owner of the Dermatology Clinic in Columbus and recently opened Vitality Skin and Spa in Starkville. Trip is the office manager of Nephrology Associates in Columbus, the owner of Golden Triangle Business Ventures and is involved in a $2.5 million project that will bring a nephrology clinic to Starkville. The couple said it’s these things for which they were recognized.
“I’ve often admired the people on the ’40 Under 40′ list,” Trip said. “I think we were recognized for investing in our community during a tight economy. It takes a lot of thought and forethought. (Vitality) in Starkville has created several full time jobs. This is more about investing in the community than receiving personal gain.”
Bethany said the awards are part of something bigger than themselves.
“I think the two awards are a collective,” she said. “We wouldn’t have either one without the support of our spouse and our family.”
The Hairstons are natives of Lowndes County, but the successful partnership had its beginnings on a college campus in North Mississippi.
“Our parents knew one another, but Trip attended Oak Hill and I went to Heritage,” Bethany said. “When we were attending Ole Miss, I was persuaded by some friends to invite Trip to a dance my sorority was hosting. After going on the ‘grab a date,’ we set one another up with our friends. It wasn’t until the end of college that we started dating.”
Upon graduating from Ole Miss, the couple moved to Jackson where Bethany graduated from University Medical Center and Trip worked for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee while finding time to receive his MBA from Bellhaven College.
“After Jackson, we moved to Rochester, Minn., so that Bethany could do a residency at the Mayo Clinic,” Trip said. “I worked for Rochester Management Accounting as a senior analyst. We had a great experience in Minnesota. We were on our own and living 900-something miles away from home.”
But as the Hairstons began to add more members to their family, they decided it was time to get back to their roots.
“We wouldn’t be as successful in our careers if we weren’t here with our families. They help with picking the children up from school, taking them to lessons — both sets of grandparents are very active in the lives of our children,” Bethany said.
Another aspect of the couple’s lives is their involvement in civic and social clubs. Both are Rotarians and Trip is the president of the Golden Triangle Rebel Club. Trip is also chairman of the board of deacons at Main Street Presbyterian Church. Bethany divides her time between the Columbus Junior Auxiliary and her own non profit group.
“I have my own non-profit called Shade for Students,” she said. “We take charitable donations of one shade item per year to a school to place on playgrounds that do not have any trees.”
When asked what they do for fun, Bethany jokingly said, “We don’t have any time for fun.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
