Jeffrey E. Sterling is a physician, speaker, author and executive whose work spans across three dozen states and five continents. As the president and CEO of Sterling Initiatives, SI Medical Supply and SIMPCO, Sterling has dedicated his career to eliminating health inequities and promoting best practices in health care. His journey from personal tragedy to professional triumph highlights his commitment to excellence and his relentless pursuit of improving health outcomes for African American communities and beyond.
Recently, he took the time to answer some questions for rolling out.
Please describe yourself.
I am someone who simply seeks to make a difference in the places I exist and for the people I come across. I’m also someone who obtains joy from doing so. I’m a servant-leader who has been blessed to be put into positions to save lives and improve the future. I’m especially blessed to be surrounded by amazingly talented individuals who propel me and allow me to be the best version of myself. I’d like to think I’m living in my purpose.
What was the creative vision for your brand?
My vision is borne of a combination of necessity and desperation, particularly for those in my community. The vision is uplift. Blacks in America continue to struggle economically and in health. Neither has changed or will change until our subject matter experts and entrepreneurs focus on these challenges globally. I’ve lived a life framed with hard realities and phenomenal opportunities. The through lines from having a vision to ultimate success have been the pursuit and commitment to excellence. All my businesses are based on the implementation of best practices in pursuit of excellence. Excellence requires no apologies.
How would you describe your brand?
My brand is excellence. Across my platforms, I gather success because I’m a trusted messenger and servant leader promoting excellence via implementation of best practices. Fortunately, at this point, I have a sufficient track record of success to have credibility behind that aspiration.
Is there a backstory?
My father died from a gunshot wound when I was 6. At that point, my family and I were seemingly destined to become stereotypical statistics. However, we discovered that the way out of our environment was through excellence and education. At each level of my personal and professional advancement, I have applied those same considerations and found success around the world and in the highest levels of government and industry. Excellence accepts no excuses.
Was it a deliberate decision or a gradual and natural evolution to start a business?
I was successfully employed as a rising physician executive, having been a medical director, department chairman and regional medical director for large emergency medicine physician groups and facilities including Level 1 trauma centers in Washington and Milwaukee by the time I was 25. I had already run two national organizations and had created an organization in 1989 — the Minority Association of Prehealth Students — that grew to now be on 300 college campuses across the country. So, I was primed for an opportunity.
Regarding an impetus, I do recall an episode in which I had offered specific solutions to critical problems being faced by a hospital while [serving as] chairman of the emergency department. Instead of embracing my proposal, the hospital spent a quarter of a million dollars over two weeks on consultants who literally offered the same recommendations that I had. When I challenged why this approach was taken, the owner of my group told me that if I wanted to advance my thoughts on this definitely, [then, and I quote:] “I could do that when I had my own company.” I did so just a few months later, establishing Sterling Initiatives as a consulting and implementation firm as a means of controlling the way I felt services should be delivered within communities subject to health care disparities.
What key skills or qualities make you unique as an African American leader?
Maybe it’s that I see that my Blackness simultaneously has everything and nothing to do with my leadership. My pursuit of excellence doesn’t limit me to being an African American leader, or my expertise to issues only concerning African Americans. My undeniable Blackness, however, has framed and defined my ability to show cultural sensitivity. My choice to dedicate my efforts to uplifting the African American community shouldn’t be a distinguisher. I’d leave it to others to define what makes me unique, but I do take note of the intensity of my inclination to uplift the African American community out of the health and financial disparities that exist. I also am very intentional in my efforts to implement solutions that specifically accomplish that inclination. I am both an expert in implementation and efficiency/productivity. Also, I’m incredibly fortunate to have other simply phenomenal African American leaders [I] choose to work with me toward our desired results.
What is your commitment to the community?
To be a trusted messenger and someone who can be looked to and called upon as a proud product and representative of the community. [In] my entire medical career, I’ve made the commitment to focus on community-based health care and medicine instead of academic medicine. For my business career, my intention is to have a reach — both financially and programmatically — that allows me to effect change that directly impacts our community.
How important is technology in your day-to-day operations?
Modern technology provides opportunities for convenience and consistency. Sometimes that’s more rapid implementation of innovation such as telehealth or education. Other times it’s using electronic medical records to keep valuation information at your fingertips. Moving forward, we’ll see AI, or artificial intelligence, as a partner in making informed decisions in health care.
How do you utilize technology with your business?
In all ways possible. Sterling Initiatives provided telehealth and telemedicine for 13 years in Tokyo. I’ve written over 800 blogs made easily available to millions of readers around the world via the internet. I’ve used e-commerce to deliver medical supplies, including personal protective equipment during the pandemic, around the world. My online telehealth service, AskSterlingMD.com, continues that work. We’ve used most every available technology to improve service delivery and health outcomes.
What’s next for the business?
The businesses of Sterling Initiatives represent a health care universe in the making. The goal really is to do well by doing good. SIMPCO created the managed preventive care organization and is working to spread the practice of preventive health across America. SI Medical Supply is the only Black-owned master distributor of Purell products in the U.S., and we continue to export globally. SI-STEMS provides emergency physicians who provide care in hospitals across the country. The Jeffrey Sterling MD Foundation is launching within the next months, and we’ve already made a $1 million commitment to the Student National Medical Association and to the Minority Association of Prehealth Students.
What’s next is achieving higher platforms to implement change, transform communities and impact health.
What advice would you give to those wanting to start a business?
Get in touch with your passion. If you don’t love what you’re doing to the extent to which it’s what you’d prefer to be doing, it’ll be really hard to sustain the time and the financial and mental commitments necessary to get over the inevitable challenges that threaten every business. Every idea doesn’t translate into a business. Every inventor isn’t an entrepreneur. Every entrepreneur isn’t an executive. There is no substitute for surrounding yourself with expertise. You will be infinitely more successful when you are able to work more on your business than in your business. Your biggest threat within the first six months — during which most start-ups fail — will be access to capital. You must have sufficient cash reserves to make a go of it in your business; otherwise, it might become more of a hobby or habit than an actual business.
Finally, a big part of success is persistence. We tend to close doors in front of our own faces. Plan ahead, anticipate and address how you will handle both adversity and success because they both will always be present.
Dr. Jeffrey E. Sterling’s journey is a testament to the power of perseverance, excellence and community commitment. Through his various ventures, he continues to make significant strides in addressing health inequities and promoting best practices in health care. His story inspires many, showing that with dedication and the right support, one can make a lasting impact on society. Dr. Sterling’s vision and leadership are paving the way for a healthier, more equitable future.
For more insights and updates, connect with Dr. Sterling and his initiatives through the following platforms:
