FAR BEYOND traditional wellness, our charming town has a hub of its own — a place where health education and delicious health-conscious drinks collide to create a better, happier life and community. That place is none other than Clayton Knight’s North High Nutrition store.
Knight’s wellness journey began when he started playing football in high school while attending Saltillo High School in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was later forced to transfer schools and started attending a different school. There, he helped his team win the state championship.
One aspect of playing sports that has always stuck with the expert is that playing sports requires physical conditioning even beyond typical practice days.
“You’ve got to be in the best shape and health of your life so that you can live life to the fullest. So a lot of it came from me being involved in sports but always having to work out, take nutrition supplements, etc.,” said Knight.
He eventually attended East Mississippi Community College on a football scholarship. But, an injury to the labrum in his throwing shoulder brought his career to an end, and he began working full time at his father’s grocery store.
“Since I was in high school, I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can do school.’ I knew how to get through high school, but I was like, ‘I’ll go to school if I can play football, but if something happens to football, I’m done,’” the business owner said.
Working at the grocery store for three years and with no college or football to lean on, Knight knew that even though his football career ended, his true aspirations outside of the sport didn’t have to.
Knight knew he would one day own his own business, but he wasn’t sure what kind it would be.
“So I knew, from a younger age, that I definitely wanted to have my own business. I just wasn’t sure it would be the nutrition route. I honestly thought I would end up taking over the grocery store,” the store owner said.
Knight’s enduring passion for health and nutrition and his entrepreneurial skills would eventually intertwine. The opportunist used the business skills he learned at the grocery store and, with determination, opened his nutrition business at just 21 years old.
Knight also capitalized on some of his successful stock investments during the COVID-19 pandemic to invest in major equipment for the business he knew he was destined to own.
Even more significant than simply running a business, Knight’s ultimate calling is to put Franklin County on the map as the healthiest place to live in the U.S., and North High Nutrition is his North Star.
He remarked, “Health is wealth as well. Health is everything when it comes to living a fulfilling, joyful, overall just great life. Because you could be the richest person on earth, but what good are those riches if you can’t go out and travel and use those riches? What good is it to have everything if you don’t have good health?”
The nutrition enthusiast added that not only does health change your physical appearance, but your spiritual body as well, bringing you mental clarity and confidence.
“Health just goes beyond nutrition. And although nutrition is a big aspect of it, it goes beyond nutrition because mental health goes right along with physical health in the long run.”
North High Nutrition in Winchester is where you might find your favorite healthy drink. Those who gag at the taste of “healthy smoothies” might just make it their “spot.”
With energy-boosting teas and a large variety of smoothie combinations, this is one place where you can splurge on yourself while feeling confident about what you’re consuming. Knight has forged a unique path, igniting a spark within his clients to confidently embark on their health and nutrition journey without feeling overwhelmed.
Treating each client as family, Knight forms a lasting bond during their initial interaction, ensuring their success and confidence throughout their transformative journey.
Knight said, “I’ve met some people that were just customers. And now, they’re like family and keep up with us outside of work. They have my cell phone number. Our goal is to create a great relationship with our customers and also serve a healthy, nutritious option.”
Every one of us has a health goal. Whether it’s to grow longer hair, feel better physically, lose weight, or stack on muscle, we all have something about ourselves that we want to improve upon. But nutrition is one thing that unifies us as a community.
“It doesn’t matter about religion or race. Nutrition has this odd-like, almost magic, about it that can bring people together. And that’s what I love about it.” GN
