Pride Month Episode: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Health Care, with Dr. Grant Parrelli

Happy Pride Month!  Join Miranda Bosse, MPH, MSW as she interviews CEO and Founder of Professionally Proud, and recent medical school graduate Dr. Grant Parrelli, MD.
The main inspiration for Professionally Proud and its products are rooted in patient advocacy and Dr. Parrelli's personal experience as a patient, client and working professional in the healthcare setting. There is a lack of explicit acknowledgement of support or belonging that can be addressed through visual aids. While some already exist, few are concrete in their delivery.  Professionally Proud strives to make allyship and representation visible for the LGBTQ+ community in the health care setting. 

To purchase your own Professionally Proud merchandise, visit: https://www.professionallyproud.com

Follow Professionally Proud on Instagram @professionallyproud
Follow Dr. Parrelli on Instagram @grantp845

Credits:
Host/Writers: Miranda Bosse, MPH, MSW | Sarah Robinson, MPH
Guests: Dr. Grant Parrelli, MD
Production Assistant/Audio Editor: Sarah Robinson, MPH
Theme Music: Dr. Sungmin Shin, DMA

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Transcript

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Sarah Robinson  0:02 
Welcome to Buffalo HealthCast, the official health equity podcast of the University at Buffalo's School of Public Health and Health Professions. My name is Sarah Robinson, your production assistant for this podcast. It's Pride Month, an entire month dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall Riots, a series of Gay Liberation protests in 1969, and has since spread outside of the United States. This month's episode brings us through the importance of advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community in the healthcare setting and beyond, with Dr. Grant Parrelli, CEO and Founder of Professionally Proud. Be sure to visit the show notes to learn more about Dr. Parelli and the work he's doing in the Buffalo community, as well as to learn about a giveaway Grant is running for Pride Month. We hope you enjoy this special episode of Buffalo HealthCast.

Miranda Bosse  1:01 
Hi, everyone, my name is Miranda Bosse, and I work here at the University at Buffalo's School of Public Health and Health Professions. And I work with our graduate public health programs here. Today, I am here with Dr. Grant Parrelli, who is the CEO and Founder of Professionally Proud. Welcome, Dr. Parrelli.

Dr. Grant Parrelli  1:19 
Thank you so much. I appreciate you guys having me.

Miranda Bosse  1:21 
Yeah, it's great to have you here. So would you mind introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about yourself, being a recent graduate of the Jacobs School and also the founder of your own company?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  1:33 
Yeah, of course. So as you said, my name is Grant Parrelli. I'm originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. And then I lived in the Hudson Valley in New York for a while, that's kind of how I ended up here at Buffalo to go to medical school. I just graduated literally two weeks ago, which is super exciting, but also very strange. And I'm going into emergency medicine, my residency is going to be in Indiana, at Indiana University. And a little bit about my company, I actually started it going into, I think, my third year of medical school. And I had some inspiration, as a patient and as a future physician, regarding wanting increased representation and medicine of LGBTQ+ individuals to create safe spaces. So I had this idea to start an apparel brand that would create that visual cue for patients.

Miranda Bosse  2:34 
That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that, of course, we are going to be talking more about your company, and everything. So you talked a little bit about your experience as a patient and as a provider. So would you mind walking us through the journey of your startup, you know, really how you kind of got it off the ground?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  2:51 
Yeah, of course, I started with an idea back in July of 2021. I wanted a concrete way to showcase someone belonging to or support of the LGBTQ+ community. So I thought it would be a nice idea to fuse the LGBTQ+ acronym with any number of professional designations. So such as myself, I will be using MD in the future. So mine is LGBTQ+ MD. But there are so many different designations in medicine and other professional settings that kind of create this. I thought it was cute for lack of a better term, like fusion of those two things, your identity and your profession. And then we also offer "ally" versions for each of these. That way, if you don't identify, you can still show your support. So I had that idea. I kind of worked through the graphic design part because I'm not much of an artist, but bounced some ideas off a bunch of people, finally settled on something, came up with Professionally Proud as the overarching company, and then slowly chipped away at finding a vendor to make the product and starting my LLC and what that all entailed - a lot of Google searches, reaching out to actually the law school at UB, they were very helpful with a lot of that. And establish that LLC and then finally got some product made and started selling online. And right now it's really just word of mouth and small marketing ploys on Instagram and Tiktok. But it's slowly growing, which is super exciting to see.

Miranda Bosse  4:27 
That's awesome. So how has it been received by your colleagues in medicine and also maybe some patients that you've been working with?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  4:35 
Yeah, it's been resoundingly positive, I would say, a lot of support at the Med School amongst my colleagues in my class and then other classes as well. And then some attending physicians have also been super supportive. And as far as patients go, I think that's where I'm most excited about how it's been perceived. I've had people who outright, immediately when I walk in the room, ask me about it and tell me that they they love it. And that it makes them feel so welcomed. I've had people who don't identify that can kind of take it as a point that I'm pretty open minded walking in the door, and feel much more comfortable conversing with me about whatever the topic may be, because there were obviously some very personal topics that come up in medicine. So that is really the biggest positive feedback that I can draw from that this is a good idea and that it is worth the time and energy because people, the patients are the most important part of this. And if they're receptive to it, then that's amazing.

Miranda Bosse  5:34 
Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you for sharing that. You know, you talked a little bit about your initial goal of creating a safe space in medicine, right, for having these conversations, especially because medicine, there are a lot of different vulnerable conversations that can exist between the patient and the physician. So do you think your goals for the company, have changed over the trajectory of start to where you are now? And how do you kind of see that moving forward?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  6:02 
Yeah, definitely. I think, with anything, any initial idea kind of grows and forms or transforms into many different things as it goes along. I've had a lot of different ideas of what I would like to come from Professionally Proud, including an online directory of LGBTQ+ physicians and their allies, a national one that patients can draw from to make sure that they're going to safe spaces from the jump. And I also have looked into certification platforms, to assure that physicians have access to this education, we're just now kind of turning the page where LGBTQ+ health is being taught to medical students, in the last, I don't know, maybe decade or so, which means that there are hundreds of 1000s of physicians out there that haven't had this education. So I think providing that avenue is something that I would love to look into, and make sure that as many physicians as we can, and other health care professionals are educated in these matters and understand what it's like to be an LGBTQ+ person in the United States.

Miranda Bosse  7:12 
Yeah, that's actually leading right into sort of our next topic here, which is kind of talking about the history, not only of your company and your inspiration, but the historical context of the LGBTQ+ community, and why we're at where we're at today, especially within the United States. So could you provide your perspective on where you think we're at in the US, and also, in terms of like, you were just mentioning medical education and education for health care professionals, kind of where the education has come from and where it's going.

Dr. Grant Parrelli  7:45 
Yeah, I think if you had asked me this question, five or so years ago, I would have had a much more positive response. But I think in the light of some very recent events, we're kind of heading in the opposite direction, which is disappointing, but fuels the fire even more to continue fighting for this community. A lot of the context surrounding the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, you could go back, I mean, we're talking 1000s of years to see where the root of this discomfort that people tend to have is from. And it's grown and morphed in a lot of ways, a lot of negative ways. I think the most recent one that a lot of people can draw from is the AIDS epidemic, and the lack of resources, and time and effort put towards solving that issue, because it affected a particular group of people that were forgotten about or discriminated against in medicine historically. A lot of the more recent changes or progression, I guess, kind of started from that point on. And we had a lot of great progress where it was becoming a little bit more accepted in a general sense, with the same sex marriage being passed back in 2015, I'm pretty sure. And, you know, we were heading, trending in very good direction. And unfortunately, we've taken a step back. I say this all with a caveat that there, throughout this entire time, have been negative aspects as well. I mean, I think the true inspiration behind a lot of this change is the trans community, and they are still to this day, some of the most marginalized individuals in this country, which is horrifying. And as a provider, it's my goal to make sure that they - while I don't want to treat them differently, they need more support than maybe your average patient does. And I think having more physicians recognize that can help us continue to head in that direction where we were heading prior to, I mean, you know, Florida's the big one right now that a lot of people could think about.

Miranda Bosse  9:58 
Yeah, no, I think you bring up a lot of unfortunate but really great points because that is the reality that we're all living in, right. And I think it's incredibly important, especially being a provider, you are working with these people day in and day out. And for so many people, as we had kind of talked about before, people are coming to you, because they don't know who or what to do in terms of their health and their well being. So you are their one source of trust and guidance and everything. And so the fact that you're doing this, and you have these perspectives, and you're looking to create more of a change is really incredible.

Dr. Grant Parrelli  10:00 
Thank you. I'm not the only one. There are many people out there, I promise.

Miranda Bosse  10:43 
So would you mind talking to us a little bit about the specific health needs and concerns that you noticed within the LGBTQ+ community? You just started talking about this, specifically within the trans community, but maybe what you've noticed yourself being a patient. And then also, on the flip side, being a provider.

Dr. Grant Parrelli  11:02 
I think, to start simply, one of the most challenging parts of being part of this community and accessing healthcare is knowing whether or not you're in a safe space, when you go to see a physician or any kind of health care provider. That right off the bat can deter people from seeking out health care, which is a huge problem, because everybody needs or, in a perfect world would have access to and continually follow up with their physician to make sure that they maintain good health. That barrier from the get go is concerning, because it then leads people to be less consistent about going to the doctor, to wait until something major has happened, and they're required, almost forced, to go see a physician. And that can again lead to some difficult situations because they don't have the time to seek out a provider that they can identify with. So that is kind of at the base some of the root of the issue. And then just kind of tying in the historical context. I mean, you have physicians out there that still have biases against these communities. And that is harmful to those particular individuals. That leads to a lot of decreased trust amongst that community in the healthcare setting. And they don't want to rely on those individuals for the most up to date information. I would say, as a patient myself, you know, as a cis, white male, my main issue has been whether or not I'm talking to somebody who I can be open with. So I cannot speak for the community as a whole. But those are just some of the things that I've witnessed as a provider and as a patient. I think the biggest one and the most concerning, from my perspective, right now is the onslaught of attacks on gender affirming care across the country. Obviously, they're mostly in southern states, but it's kind of creeping its way into everywhere. And that's at the forefront of my mind of something that I want to champion against. Because I think that community in particular, the trans community is, again, it's been marginalized, and people refuse to keep their hands off of other people's bodies, which is just horrendous, in my opinion.

Miranda Bosse  13:15 
Yeah, I completely agree. Can you talk a little bit about some of the intersectionalities that you've noticed, not only within the marginalization of the LGBTQ+ community, but also looking at other factors of classism, or racism, or disability or veteran status, you know, other things that kind of play into all of these inequities? Maybe that you've noticed in practice, and your perspective on what is some of the good that's being done to address these issues again, and then what are some of the additional barriers that you've seen?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  13:50 
Yeah, I think anytime you mix in an additional qualifier, if you will, or marginalized community, meaning the intersectionality, where you have more than one of those, for lack of better term, labels, it becomes that much more difficult as a patient. I think recent events, I mean, historically speaking, obviously, as far as gender and race go, there have been many, many examples of how women and people of color and black individuals have been discriminated against in medicine, in a professional setting, any number of things, and you kind of have a reservoir of stress that these people have to deal with on a daily basis that takes a toll. And over time that can result in physical manifestations of issues. And a lot of that pent up stress caused by this intersectionality of being part of multiple groups that are marginalized, leads to poor health outcomes, and makes it that much more difficult to seek out care when it's necessary. And find someone that you identify with, right, if we're talking about the Black population as a whole in America, makes up, I don't know the exact percent, but it is not reflected in the physicians that are currently active in the United States as far as the percentage goes. So that right there is a problem that needs to be fixed, right? There are initiatives being done to try and navigate those situations, to try and create environments that are more friendly and receptive to people of various backgrounds. And we've seen a lot of that change at Jacobs, it was spearheaded by our own Black students at the Jacobs School of Medicine: Dr. Adetayo Oladele-Ajose, Dr. Toyosi Olafuyi, Dr. Dolapo Olawunmi - those are some of the main key players in that. And they've done a lot of great things to create an environment and an anti racism, education. So those are some of the positive things that I've seen that are wonderful. And we're trying to mirror that with the LGBTQ+ education as well. I think a lot of this is happening across the country, too. There are a number of schools that have already implemented a lot of these things, which is wonderful to see. So I'm hoping it just continues because that's what medicine should be about, you know, creating very competent providers across the board.

Miranda Bosse  16:11 
Yeah. I appreciate your perspective on these very broad and hard to answer questions as well, right. Like you said, these are issues that exist not only within Buffalo, across the state, across the country, but across the world. And so how do you grasp and grapple with all these different things as just one individual provider, but I think the work that you're doing, and that some of your colleagues are doing and everything is so important, and even your company, it's really, what I see as maybe, informally is an advocacy company, right? You're bringing awareness, and like you said, you're putting visual representation to the LGBTQ+ community or to ally ship. And so would you mind now kind of diving into that advocacy component that your company is really bringing to creating safe spaces in medicine? How do you think healthcare professionals can ensure that healthcare environments are inclusive and welcoming, and accessible? And even that, we could break down into multiple questions, right?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  17:15 
Yeah, I think, so there are surface ways to make it more well known that you're supportive, right, I think that's kind of the basis of my company is to create that visual cue, right? And there are many other ways, not just my company that does that. But there are many ways that you can do that. And I think, taking the time and effort to make sure that it's well known, and that you really put that out there is very important, right? Because if you have to search for whether or not somebody is LGBTQ+ friendly, and really search for it, then it's kind of like, are you actually, if you're not upfront about it? And you're not very open about it, then it's a little bit questionable. So I think that's a great way to start, I think the main issue is education on these matters. I think the providers, as a provider, you are in a unique situation where you have access to knowledge that the general population does not, or at the very least, your job is to kind of convey that information to the general population, they might have access to it, but they may not understand exactly what they're reading, right. And you have been given the tools to do such a thing. With that said, I think what we mentioned before, there's a lack of education, amongst many providers with LGBTQ+ issues. There are probably many providers out there that don't even know what hormone therapy is, right? Or don't know how to prescribe that or don't know how to - don't put the effort in to figure that out. That is the root of the problem - that people, their biases affect what they choose to educate themselves on. And as well as just historically in medical education, where those areas have been lacking. So I think those are probably the two biggest components, I would say. And again, we're trending in the right direction from a medical education standpoint, and I can only hope that it continues.

Miranda Bosse  19:05 
Yeah, absolutely. So obviously, education is a huge proponent of moving these efforts forward and everything, but also dismantling a lot of the stigma and like you said, the biases that exist within healthcare and just around the LGBTQ+ community. So do you think that there are enough resources or support services for the queer community in healthcare? And would you mind addressing this from both the patient and provider perspective?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  19:37 
Right off the bat, no, is probably my response to that. I think, where there are a good amount of resources, I don't even know if it's necessarily the correct amount of resources, are going to be the major cities, right - New York City, San Francisco, some of those more overtly known gay friendly or LGBTQ+ friendly environments, where they do invest a lot of their time. and energy into those issues. From my research, it's more places like Buffalo that have a decent population, kind of mid-sized to small city that don't have as much money or resources going towards these issues. But there are still plenty of the population that identify, right? I think that comes with, again, there's not as many people, there's not as many resources at the base, right? So how do you spread these out evenly? I'm not going to pretend to know how to do that. But I think that's really where the issue is, not in those big cities as much as it is in some of the smaller areas. I would also say, as a provider, kind of what we've been touching on, that lack of education in medical education is a great place to start. I think there was a study done in 2011, that showed a very small percentage of schools had more than five hours of LGBTQ+ education amongst the four years of medical school, which is a very small amount, and there was a subset that had no education whatsoever. And unfortunately, that study is a little old, kind of outdated. So hopefully, it's changed since then. But you know, in 10 years, only so much can change. So there's still a lot of room for growth in that regard. And I think the change unfortunately, is going to have to happen with the students. That's kind of what I've noticed over time, while the administration has been very receptive and very helpful in getting things off the ground, the passion, and the knowledge is coming from the younger generations, right. And until that kind of flips, where we're the ones that are in charge, that's kind of where it has to come from, unfortunately. I mean, there are many great advocates in older generations, I recognize that and appreciate the support, but just from my personal experience, that's what I've seen. So I think continuing to support and show students that they have resources and means to make these things happen is very important. And we'll start kind of championing that change.

Miranda Bosse  22:10 
Yeah, I think you bring up a great point, though, in terms of education, right? You know, we could talk about this all day about things that need to be done in the educational system as a whole, but also in things, making LGBTQ+ education a part of the medical system, and healthcare professionals, systems and everything. But also education doesn't just stop once your degree is done, right. And so I think what's really important is that your company is doing this the way, at least, we've seen it, is that your company is doing this continuing ed in an informal way, creating advocacy, while you're still continuing to practice, not just while you're in med school, which I think is so important, right? Because as you know, as a student, for many years yourself, it doesn't just end right when you get that degree. And so carrying that into the workplace, and then carrying that beyond your initial starting point. So now speaking to your personal perspective on your own company, why do you think initiatives are so important to the LGBTQ+ community, such as your company, what has this really meant to you, not only for being an entrepreneur and creating this whole, this journey and everything, but really at a broader scale for the LGBTQ+ community?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  23:29 
Yeah, I think one of the main things that I have appreciated about this experience is, and you'll hear this a lot from older generations, when they see TV shows or movies that that they wish had been around when they were younger. This is something that I wish I had seen when I was going through my experiences as a young, queer person. It took me quite a while to come out and feel comfortable with that, as it does have many individuals in the community. And so that kind of continues to fuel the fire. And I think what it does is shows that there are people out there that care that want to be there for you, and that want to change the way that this community is perceived as a whole. And that's like, one of the most important things I think from a patient side is just knowing that somebody does care, or finding someone that you can identify with and understands whatever it is that you're going through. Professionally proud is wonderful, and I'm so proud of myself for having started it but it is not the end all be all by any means. I think there's so much more that can be done, especially with people that have more resources than myself and I'm balling on a budget like we do, but we're trying our best. So I think continuing to make yourself known to not shy away from maybe some larger individuals or groups that don't want us around and can Anything that fight regardless of other people's perspectives or biases is super important. And then just kind of getting that ball rolling. I mean, it's already been rolling, right? I'm not I'm not the start of this by any means, but I hope to continue to roll it in the right direction, even as we're combating some, some difficult climates.

Miranda Bosse  25:19 
Yeah, like you said, the work never stops. And I think that's just another point that your company just pushes to that it really does never stop. In your experience, you know, you talk about reaching audiences that maybe yourself as a kid, or as a young adult didn't have, people who were able to advocate for you, or you just didn't even have that representation. And maybe that was because, well, one, people didn't really talk about these things. But two, things were not out on the internet or social media as much before. And now, as we all know, through your Instagram and Tiktok presence you've really been able to reach so many more people through that audience. And I think there's a lot of good that can come from social media and reaching such expansive audiences. So can you talk a little bit about your business's journey on social media? And how you see that those platforms as serving as advocacy units for your company?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  26:20 
Yeah, of course, I think one of the main things that I've learned as a small business owner is, you are limited in your resources in terms of marketing and advertising, right. It's expensive if you go the more traditional routes, but using something like social media is free. It takes a lot of time, energy in terms of that currency. But as far as you know, financially, it's free. So it's a great way to try and connect and get your name or brand or idea out there and kind of get a following gauge whether or not people are interested. I am a millennial. And I recognize that there are many Gen Zers that are much more adept and quicker at the social media game. And I just try and hang on and work on whatever trends I can to get noticed. And get people engaged and excited about LGBTQ+ education and representation. I think humor is always a great thing to go off of that is something that I've done my whole life. And as I've learned in medicine is a mature defense mechanism. It's a slightly healthier way to kind of work around some of the more touchy subjects, I would say too it allows, like, you're saying the younger generations are far more engaged in those platforms. And that's one of the main inspirations behind my company is to make sure that people in those vulnerable ages know that there's support out there, and there are people advocating for them in these spaces. So getting in touch with those younger individuals, however it may be, it's super important. And I'd say I've had the most fun and most feedback from Tik Tok for sure. And I think it's a great platform. It allows you to educate in small, digestible pieces. And I think that's a huge part of it is mixing in some humor, but then also trying to be like, Hey, here's like, just a general piece of information of how you can navigate X Y & Z situation, right. So I'm hoping to kind of take that to the next level and continue to grow. And use those platforms as a positive reinforcement for what professional crowd is trying to do as a whole.

Miranda Bosse  28:41 
Yeah, I love that. And I think you've really, you know, hit the nail on the head with reaching younger audiences not only standing up for them, like you said, and letting them know that, hey, there's people in this space who are advocating for you and are doing the work, but also meeting them where they're at, which is usually through small bits of information on social media and with humor. And like you said, that those training, audios and everything, so I think that's really awesome, that blend of information that you've been able to showcase. My next question is how do you really like to stay informed and up to date on emerging issues and trends, not only in healthcare in general, but LGBTQ+ specific health care issues?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  29:23 
I would say the main source of my education in those regards, is, I guess there's a few avenues, news outlets, although they tend to be quite pessimistic, and can be a little overwhelming at times. I think it's so important to tap into those when you have the space and the bandwidth. I would say also just chatting with other people that identify in the community and hearing their perspectives and what they know and what they've heard, is a huge, huge part of it. I think that is, you know, we call ourselves the LGBTQ+ community and I think that's a huge part of how we can be successful and advocate for ourselves as if we kind of lean on each other. And grow in that way becomes a lot more powerful. So that's something that I've tried to really take advantage of. And then, honestly, social media, I learned a lot from any number of those platforms about changes that are going on, people share a lot of great links to some of the legal proceedings that are occurring in different different areas. On Twitter, there's a lot I follow a lot of doctors that will tweet, you know, new studies or new findings that are really interesting and kind of keep me up to date on that. And so those are probably the main avenues, I would say.

Miranda Bosse  30:40 
Great. Yeah. So you talk about, you know, obviously, we refer to the LGBTQ+community as a community, as it very much so is, and I think the healthcare community is also  a community in itself, right. So have you had any partnerships or collaborations or connections with any community organizations in terms of the health equity work that you're doing with your company in expanding your own community resources?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  31:09 
I have had a couple of partnerships. I recently partnered with Excelsior, orthopaedics and the Buffalo surgery center to sell branded attire to their employees, they were very receptive to the idea from the start when I initially launched my products. And we've kind of been working for the last seven or eight months to try and get it off the ground. And I'm super excited, because here in Western New York, they're a pretty big entity. And so just knowing that there are going to be safe spaces created with that little visual cue is amazing. And to have a company like that, that wants to do that, and put the effort, kind of put the money where their mouth is, is amazing, right? So I think I'm hoping to continue to grow in that way. And then as a result, once I am able to profit, begin reinvesting this and to other community organizations that could benefit from more funding. And that's kind of my big goal right now. Because I can't do it all. I don't want to recreate the wheel either. But I want to be able to support some of those more well established groups and whatever way I can. So that's kind of what I'm hoping for. I have a couple other partnerships in the work. And it works, I would love to kind of look into some more advocacy groups, like you were mentioning and local, like the Pride Center, and things like that, to see if there's any way that I can help or that they can help me. So that's kind of like a next step direction for sure. So stay tuned.

Miranda Bosse  32:50 
Yeah, that's awesome, and congratulations on the partnerships you've had already. That's really awesome.

Dr. Grant Parrelli  32:55 
Yeah, it's exciting.

Miranda Bosse  32:56 
Yeah. So now into, you know, the fun part, you know, so we've been talking about what your company does and everything, but we haven't talked about your merch. So I gotta know, what do you have, walk me through your website, what is customizable about it, and everything. And so what can somebody get for their practice or for themselves?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  33:19 
Yeah, so we offer a number of apparel items right now. So we have t shirts, crewnecks, zip ups, hats, there's a bunch of stuff. And we're always kind of adding things here and there, as I continue to grow and I'm able to reinvest in the company, the logos themselves, so that fusion of the acronym with any number of professional designations, totally customizable, so I have created a number of things that I never thought of before. That's the beauty of customization. There are so many people out there that have different things that they are a part of, and they want to have this representation. So essentially, you can go to professionallyproud.com. And any of our items, you can get customized with whatever logo you're looking for. So when you add the item to your cart, you can type in whatever logo you want. And then I send that out to get made and then I can print it on any number of items. And then we also offer some different bag options. We have tote bags, and we have fanny packs, which are very in right now coming back from the 90s which is awesome, and especially in healthcare, I love it because I can put my stethoscope in there, I can put my phone in there and walk around and I'm kind of you know, unencumbered by a lot of the wind. You're at the go ready to go. And so those are kind of the, you know, the options that I have right now. And as I said, we're always growing and looking for more things and partnerships with different companies that are interested.

Miranda Bosse  34:50 
That's awesome. Well, we have to check out your website, you know, go to professionallyproud.com, correct?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  34:56 
Yes. Yep.

Miranda Bosse  34:57 
All right. So what are the next steps for you? On top of, you just graduated from med school and you're running a business and you obviously have so much free time and I'm sure you're just sitting around. So what are the next steps for you?

Dr. Grant Parrelli  35:12 
Yeah, well, I will be moving to Indianapolis. About mid-June, my partner and I are heading over there. And we'll kind of start our new adventure out there. And residency starts at the end of June, like June 22nd. So it's kind of an ease into it, it's just like an orientation to start some some shifts here and there to get your bearings, and then kind of go from there. As far as the business goes, I mean, I take it with me, I'm going to continue to grow it the best way that I can. As we continue to grow, because we've definitely grown a little bit more the last couple of months, I'm going to be looking to you know, bring some people on. I'll probably start with friends and family, which I know is a little questionable business but when you don't have much to go at, you kind of have to work with the resources you do have. So we'll start there and then I'd love to tap into you know, medical students that would like a part time gig or something like that. That would be that'd be super cool once I have the resources. So we're definitely not going to stop, I know things are gonna get busy. As my partner said when I when I initially told him that I was going to start a business while I was in medical school he's like you're absolutely insane what free time will you be doing this? And you know what?

Miranda Bosse  36:30 
You did it anyway.

Dr. Grant Parrelli  36:31 
Yeah. Figured it out. I think as long as the passion is there, as they say, if there's a will there's a way. So yeah, I'm definitely not going anywhere. Things might morph for the future, but I'm excited to see where we go.

Miranda Bosse  36:46 
Yeah. Well, Grant, it has been so great talking to you today. Thank you so much for sharing all the information about not only yourself but your company. And we really wish you the best of luck and we can't wait to see where Professionally Proud goes and you yourself as a physician. Thank you so much.

Dr. Grant Parrelli  37:03 
Thank you guys so much. I really appreciate it.

Sarah Robinson  37:09 
This has been another episode of Buffalo HealthCast. Thank you to our amazing guest, Dr. Grant Parrelli for joining us today. Be sure to visit the show notes to learn more about Grant and the work he does in our community. This episode was written and recorded by Miranda Bosse and Sarah Robinson. Our theme music was written and recorded by Dr. Sungmin Shin of the UB Music Department. Our production assistant and sound editor is Sarah Robinson. Buffalo HealthCast is produced by the University of Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions. To learn more about health equity in Buffalo, the US, and around the globe, visit our website linked in the show notes to find more episodes. Thank you for listening to another episode of Buffalo HealthCast.