Dr. Forrest Bryant (’97) was recently recognized as a 2020 UAB Excellence in Top 25 Business Class member, but it wasn’t in dentistry, the profession he trained for at UAB.

Bryant was honored for his role as CEO of High Speed Alliance, a Registered Investment Advisory company. “It’s such as great honor to be recognized by UAB. It’s a validation High Speed Alliance is making an impact with our clients and the dental community,” said Bryant.

With clients from coast to coast, and about sixty client doctors in 22 states, there is no time to waste. Bryant and his seven employees have jetted across the country since he formed the company in 2017. High Speed Alliance was also recognized as the fastest growing company in the 2020 class with a 319 percent growth last year. High speed indeed.

Bryant’s meteoric rise deserves a closer look because what he’s doing now is not what he trained for at UAB, although he says many of those skills learned are a big reason for the firm’s success. As a student, he excelled clinically and academically. After graduating in 1997, he associated with Dr. David White in Decatur, Ala. He went on to purchase that practice and two others, mastering real estate acquisition and managing a small business. His career path took a major detour in 2011 when he tore tendons in an elbow, had subsequent nerve damage, and multiple surgeries. He stopped practicing dentistry and started focusing on growing his practices. According to Bryant, “I had a great team. We continued to grow and expand those dental practices from 2011 to 2016. I became a true CEO of the business. I was able to hone my investment skills, and I learned new and better ways to create passive income. So, dentistry prepared me for my next career.”

So he sold those dental practices and embarked on a new career as a financial planner, first learning the ropes with a large, national firm. In 2017, he made the decision to launch High Speed Alliance. Yes. He says the name is partly a “tip of the cap to the dental profession”, but it also describes how he and his seven employees guide the community they created in the Rocket City of Huntsville, Ala. Many of his clients are dentists and physicians with an average net worth of $3 to $9 million. “We have a great team. We have a simple philosophy we call the Sticky Business Model. We treat our clients so well they stick with us and refer their friends and colleagues,” he said.

Bryant admits dental school was “challenging” but says he loved everything about school. “The Class of 1997 was a tight-knit group. I loved my classmates, my classes, and the faculty,” said Bryant. He went on to name Drs. Greer, Koth, Lemons, O’Neal, and Weems as some of his great professors.

In just three years, Bryant says High Speed Alliance has helped numerous clients maximize the potential of their businesses, master personal and professional finances, and focus on family and giving back. They’ve helped dentists and physicians grow their practices, reduce taxes, operate more efficiently, and eventually sell those practices where those proceeds can be invested to serve a higher purpose for generations to come.

Dr. Bryant and his wife, Carol, live in Huntsville, Ala. They have a son, Forrest, Jr. who is a student at Auburn University, and a daughter, Ava, who will enroll later this summer at Texas Christian University.