400 Life October 2020

400 LIFE OCTOBER 2020

Modern OBGYN leading the way in women’s health care for a decade

Former CEO solves the work-life balance equation for moms Crumbl Cookies: ‘Unlike any cookie store I’ve ever seen’

ALSO: Integrity Foot & Ankle opening new practice | Morrow Family Medicine believes in giving back Mortgage lending agent puts the client first | Insurance agent Marshall Blair gives back to community

Thank you for voting us BEST PEDIATRICS in Forsyth 770-888-8888 Monday - Friday | 8am - 5pm 1800 Northside Forsyth Drive | Suite 460 Cumming, GA 30041

www.cummingpediatricgroup.com

2 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

contents from the editor

I first met Shannon Miles in March of 2019. She, along with her husband, Bryan, and business partner, Joe Garcia, invited me to the Miles’s home in North Forsyth to talk about the brewery they planned to open that is now NoFo Brew Co. That was impressive enough to me: as the son of a small business owner, I could appreciate the risk and undertaking of opening something brand new, with all the weight of its performance on no one else’s shoulders but your own.

During our interview, BELAY came up. That’s the virtual staffing company that Shannon and Bryan started in 2010. At the time, it was merely a footnote in my story in the Forsyth County News about the trio’s new business venture.

But a few months later, I received a press release. It was about BELAY. This company, started by Shannon and Bryan out of their home in Forsyth County, had been named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. – for the fifth year in a row. Shannon didn’t mention that during our interview. Nor did she mention that much of the genesis of the company came out of her own path as a professional and mother and wife. She didn’t mention the book she wrote in 2018 that’s message points women toward a lifestyle not confined by society’s traditional binary options of work or family. How fascinating, I thought; I think I need to write about this person (so I did, in this issue!).

This interaction reminded me of all the compelling stories lurking around Forsyth County in people and places, and the depth of those stories beyond first impressions and outer appearances. That’s obvious from many of our stories in the October issue of 400 LIFE. Marshall Blair is an insurance agent, but he’s also a 20-year military veteran who lived in Japan. Dr. Jim Morrow practices medicine, but he also donates technology to students in need in the Forsyth County Schools district. Sonja Bullard is a mortgage lender, but she’s also plugged in to volunteer efforts around the county.

Each has not just one story to tell but countless ones – all captured in the pages that follow.

— Brian Paglia

contributors

Publisher Stephanie Woody

Staff writers Kelly Whitmire Sabrina Kerns

Editor Brian Paglia Director of Revenue Leah Nelson

Special contributors Becky Cahill Jennifer Colosimo Kara McIntyre

Advertising Tim Anderson Stacy Clark This magazine is a product of the www.ForsythNews.com

Modern Obstetrics & Gynecology of North Atlanta, P.C. At Modern Obstetrics & Gynecology of North Atlanta, P.C., providing truly personalized care from the best doctors and midwives in the country is the main priority for the practice’s founders, Dr. John Reyes and Dr. Ingrid Reyes.

Modern Obstetrics & Gynecology of North Atlanta’s staff, including: back row, from left, Dr. Christy Kenkel, Dr. Nada Megally, Dr. John Reyes, Dr. Ingrid Reyes, Dr. Annie Kim, Dr. Natu Mmbaga, and Dr. Stacey Pereira; front row, from left, Nuria Nelkin, Emily Dixon, Mimi Song, and Cecilia Brown.

14 James Griffin and Lance Jefferies recently opened a Crumbl Cookies location on Peachtree Parkway in Cumming, greeting customers for the first time into an even more beautifully modern store than they could have imagined.

20

Production manager Tracie Pike

Photography Ben Hendren

4

10 When Sonja Bullard decided to open her own branch of Acopia Home Loans in Cumming, she wanted to make taking out a home loan — or mortgage lending — feel different.

Dr. Patrick Qualtire opening new Integrity Foot & Ankle practice in Cumming

18 BELAY recently made the Inc. 5000

fastest-growing private companies in the United States for the sixth year.

26 Morrow Family Medicine makes community the priority patient.

30 400 Reads: read Pride and Prejudice, or an alternate version of the story.

October 2020 | 400 LIFE | 3

Dr. John Reyes and Dr. Ingrid Reyes are co-founders of Modern Obstetrics & Gynecology of North Atlanta, P.C., which has been leading women’s health care for 10 years.

4 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

Modern OBGYN celebrates 10 years of personalized obstetrics, gynecological care Story by Kara McIntyre | Photos by Ben Hendren

F

or the last 10 years, Modern Obstetrics & Gynecology of North Atlanta, P.C. has been a pioneer in terms of women’s health care for the North Atlanta metro area. Providing truly personalized care from the best doctors and midwives in the area is the main priority for the practice’s founders, Dr. John Reyes and Dr. Ingrid Reyes.

“I feel blessed to have met a wonderful wife, both of us doctors, and then together we have been able to create something that has a significant positive impact on our community,” Dr. John said.

The husband-and-wife team opened Modern OBGYN as a private practice in Johns Creek in October 2010, and have since added two more office locations in the North Atlanta metro: one at the Northside Hospital Forsyth campus in Cumming, and one inside Avalon in Alpharetta.

They also recently moved the Cumming location to a brand new, larger state-of-the-art facility across the hospital campus from its previous location.

Story continues page 6

LOCATIONS: Cumming Johns Creek 2000 Howard Farm 10692 Medlock Bridge Dr., Suite 330 Rd., Suite 100-A Cumming, GA 30041 Johns Creek, GA 30097

Alpharetta (at Avalon) 2710 Old Milton Parkway, Suite 100 Alpharetta, GA 30009

Visit www.reyesobgyn.com for more information or call 404-446-2496

October 2020 | 400 LIFE | 5

“The fact that this practice has developed and grown astronomically in just a short time is a testament to the fact that good quality care is provided,” Dr. John said, “because it’s the patients who decide the success of a practice.”

But Modern OBGYN does not provide just routine checkups, prenatal care and standard OBGYN services.

The practice is comprised of highly-trained experts in their field. Some of the doctors on staff also speak multiple languages, allowing the practice to serve a broader portion of the community.

“We have a very diverse group of award-winning physicians, who are leaders in their field, right here in our backyard. It’s truly something special,” Dr. John said.

Each of the seven physicians on staff has a special interest in minimally-invasive surgeries, and each of the physicians is a specialist in robotic-assisted surgery. In fact, Dr. Ingrid was the first gynecologist to perform a robotic surgery at Emory Johns Creek

Story continues page 8

The group recently moved the Cumming location to a brand new, larger state-of-the-art facility across the hospital campus from its previous location.

6 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

3 Convenient Locations! Johns Creek, Alpharetta, & Cumming

‘The best part is being able to practice and provide outstanding medical care to such an appreciative and supportive community.’

- Dr. John Reyes, Modern Obstetrics & Gynecology of North Atlanta, P.C.

The group recently moved the Cumming location to a brand new, larger state-of-the-art facility across the hospital campus from its previous location.

Hospital.

“Minimally-invasive surgery benefits the patient with faster recovery, less downtime and it’s much better for them,” Dr. John said. “So when we do our [minimally-invasive] hysterectomy and other procedures, these patients are going home the same day or the next day and back functioning in about two weeks, versus six to eight weeks. That’s an unbelievable benefit.”

In addition to the practice’s seven physicians, Modern OBGYN also has six midwives on staff, which enhances the patient’s obstetrical experience — something that’s very special, Dr. John said.

Midwifery — the art and care of women in pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period — is not a new concept. The six midwives on staff at Modern OBGYN are Certified Nurse Midwives, or CNMs, meaning they are licensed and certified through the American Midwifery Certification Board after completion of a master’s degree in nursing.

“We wanted to provide a full spectrum of obstetrical care, and in order to provide truly personalized care during the time of delivery, we wanted to enhance by providing Certified Nurse Midwives,” Dr. John said. “It’s an enhancement of the labor process providing the mother a very personalized care.”

Many patients often wonder what the difference is between a 8 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

midwife and a doctor, and how that could change their experience or care. Midwifery care looks at pregnancy and labor as a normal life process, rather than a medical condition, and focuses on developing trusting relationships with patients and their families from prenatal to postpartum care.

“A Certified Nurse Midwife is an experienced nurse who focuses on the labor process and complete prenatal and postpartum care, with a more personalized approach,” Dr. John said. “They’re there with you during the prenatal visits, childbirth, coaching you during the pushing phase and even beyond the birth of your child.

It’s an enhancement to the physician care we also provide.”

As Modern OBGYN arrives at its 10-year anniversary, Dr. John said the success of the practice is credited to not just the highest quality of care that he and his staff provide, but the support of the Cumming and surrounding communities.

“The blessings of having a practice like this in your own backyard is truly special. It is the community that has created this practice to be so successful based on good patient outcomes and reputation,” Dr. John said. “The best part is being able to practice and provide outstanding medical care to such an appreciative and supportive community.”

— Sponsored content

400 homes

Acopia Home Loans

Sonja Bullard is the branch manager of Acopia Home Loans in Cumming. She wants her community to see the people aspect behind her profession.

Local business woman focuses on the personal aspect of buying a home Story by Kara McIntyre | Photos by Ben Hendren

T

he mortgage industry does not have the best reputation. Many professionals in the industry are known to be “takers” who are only in the business for commission checks, with little to no regard for their clients. And when the financial crisis of 2008 happened, most of America pointed fingers at mortgage lenders as the reason.

So when local resident Sonja Bullard decided to open her own branch of Acopia Home Loans in Cumming, she wanted to make taking out a home loan — or mortgage lending — feel different.

She didn’t want mortgage lending to be painted with such a broad, negatively-viewed brush. She wanted her community to see the people aspect behind her profession.

“Mortgage lending often has a dynamic where it’s selling and closing the deal, making a bunch of money and not really caring 10 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

about who you’re doing business with. That’s the way most loan officers do their job; it’s just churn and burn because the more you close, the more money you make,” Bullard said. “We’re 180 degrees different. We listen to people, we ask questions and we help our clients understand each of the steps we have to take to get them their loans.”

This passion for people is why Bullard chose to open a branch through Acopia Home Loans to begin with in 2017. Acopia is an acronym, which stands for A Company Of People In Action.

Bullard said she calls her branch Acopia on Main, because she wants to be “the Main Street lender” that the community knows and loves, rather than the mortgage lender of a bigger bank.

“On my team, we all live here, our kids go to school here, we’re going to church here — we’re a local-based lender,” said

Continues page 12

Come see why Acopia Home Loans is 180° different than every other lender out there.

Acopia On Main is located conveniently in The Collections of Forsyth where our clients and realtor partners come in, grab a coffee and collaborate with our team of seasoned loan advisors. We are the main street lender in Forsyth County, lending with expertise of a large bank but with the charm and service of a boutique lender.

Every loan is different, and we tailor our lending solutions based on the individual needs of our clients. We work when people buy houses, so we are available at nights and on weekends to help secure contracts in the competitive Forsyth market.

Offering the best technology streamlines the loan process for our clients. AcopiaGO Mobile App provides instant access to apply for a loan, review rate and payment scenarios and upload documents directly to your loan file from your phone or computer.

Sonja Lane Bullard Branch Manager, Forsyth NMLS ID: 546285 Lender NMLS ID 4664

Dan Welkley Sr. Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS 6054 GRMA 27743

Carol Jeffries Sr. Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS 4664 GRMA 28627

Christina Cotner Sr. Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS 182110 GRMA 25367

Michele H. Wentworth Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS 455474 GRMA 64299

410 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 372 • Cumming, GA 30041

Terri Cagle Senior Mortgage Loan Advisor NMLS 207639 GRMA 28627

‘Mortgage lending often has a dynamic where it’s selling and closing the deal ... not really caring about who you’re doing business with. We’re 180 degrees different. We listen to people, we ask questions and we help our clients understand each of the steps we have to take to get them their loans.’

- Sonja Bullard, Acopia Home Loans

Acopia Home Loans is located at 410 Peachtree Pkwy., Suite 372, Cumming, GA 30041. For more information, call 770654-1022 or visit acopiahomeloans.com/ga-cumming.

Bullard, who is the branch manager.. “We’re not a bank, we don’t look to make a ton of money, get you a checking account and try to get all of your banking business … We only do direct mortgage lending.”

While mortgage lenders at some of the larger corporations may ignore the people side of the profession, Bullard and her team do not. They show up to every home closing, they take the time to explain each step of the loan process and, most importantly, they listen to their clients.

“People usually buy and sell at different mile markers in life.

The first time you get a job; for the first baby you have; for the third baby you have; for the first time all your children have left your house; for a divorce,” Bullard said. “My whole team goes to their closings. People move at really important milestones of their lives and we’re a part of it, and more importantly we want to be a part of it.”

In addition to attending all their home closings, Bullard and her team also prioritize giving back to the community they serve.

Being involved in the community is an integral part of the job, Bullard said. In fact, it’s intrinsic to even being hired onto her team.

Each of Bullard’s team members, including herself, is required to adopt a nonprofit to support and serve for one year in a highlevel capacity, such as serving on the board of directors or a selection committee. This idea all started from Bullard’s experi12 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

ence in the Leadership Forsyth program in 2007, when she heard about the challenges of the county from local nonprofits at the program’s Nonprofit Day. “I had no idea that Forsyth County had children who didn’t have electricity, or children who didn’t have food to eat, or homeless people that live in and around the county behind stores,” Bullard said. “If you live in some suburban neighborhood and play Bunco and tennis, you’re never going to know that there’s kids without running water in North Forsyth. My eyes were opened at that point so when we opened Acopia here, I wanted us to be involved and give back.”

Bullard and her team have since worked with CASA of Forsyth County, Rotary Club of South Forsyth County, Habitat for Humanity and other organizations to help fundraise and get the word out about each of the nonprofit’s missions. They also work closely with local schools, sponsoring school programs and providing free luncheons for teachers, students and staff.

“One of my teammates came to me and said, ‘I’ve never volunteered before.’ After she started doing it, she was like, ‘I had no idea. I didn’t know there were needs out there and I didn’t know it can make you feel so good just to give back,” Bullard said.

“That’s what it’s all about. The more you give, you receive it tenfold back. And I’m not just talking about money; I’m talking about helping people around you.”

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October 2020 | 400 LIFE | 13

400 eats

Crumbl Cookies

James Griffin and Lance Jefferies, right, opened Crumbl Cookies in Forsyth County on Sept. 10.

Not your average cookie store

Business duo bring sweet, homemade treats to town Story and photos by Sabrina Kerns

J

ames Griffin spotted a cookie shop while on a work-related trip in Phoenix and he immediately knew he had to point it out to his business partner.

“I love cookies and sweets in general,” Lance Jefferies said. “So we went into this cookie store, and it’s unlike any cookie store I’ve ever seen before.”

Rather than the old-fashioned décor and darker tones he usually finds in bakeries and other cookie shops, when Jefferies walked through the doors of Crumbl Cookies, he was immediately greeted with a bright, beautiful shop. Filled with stark white and light grey colors, with little splashes of pink here and there, the store felt modern, sleek and welcoming.

As Griffin and Jefferies walked to the

Continues page 16 14 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

405 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 120 Cumming, GA 30041 (470) 239-1986

front counter to order, they noticed the number of people crowding into the shop, excited to come in and buy a giant, freshly baked cookie, and they instantly had an idea.

“It hit,” Lance said. “James and I were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have got to open this business in Georgia.’”

More than a year later, they were able to do just that. The Forsyth County business duo opened a Crumbl Cookies location of their own on Peachtree Parkway in Cumming on Thursday, Sept. 10, greeting customers for the first time into an even more beautifully modern store than they could have imagined while surrounded by warm, mouth-watering cookies.

“I’m the guy that, if you go to dinner with me, I order everyone at the table a dessert without asking,” Jefferies said, laughing. “I love that I’m upping something that I have a passion for and that I actually enjoy so much.”

Even before they opened, Jefferies said that people were popping their heads into the store while they were working to ask about their business and when they could 16 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

‘I’m the guy that, if you go to dinner with me, I order everyone at the table a dessert without asking. I love that I’m upping something that I have a passion for and that I actually enjoy so much.’

-Lance Jefferies, co-owner of Crumbl Cookies

come in to try one of the cookies. They were both overjoyed to see so many already excited just by the look of the shop.

Jefferies said that, while planning for the store’s opening, they were both concerned when the pandemic first hit in March at first. They started to question whether it was still a good time to open a business in the moment, and they were unsure of what might happen next.

“We just had to have faith that it was going to pull through and things would be normal,” Jefferies said. “And by the time we finished the store, I thought it would be a little bit more back to how it used to be in January, but I feel like we’re slowly getting there.”

In the meantime, Jefferies said they have taken plenty of precautions inside of the store to keep both employees and customers healthy and safe, including putting up plexiglass dividers, a sneeze guard and implementing a contactless payment system.

Customers also do not have to go into the store if they want to get a taste of the new cookies. Crumbl Cookies offers delivery for those who live within 15-20 minutes of the store until midnight, and they offer curbside pickup.

Now that the store is open and ready despite the pandemic, customers can look forward to the fresh cookies and homemade ice cream, called Crumbl Cream, in rotating flavors.

Every week, aside from the store’s consistent chocolate chip cookie and chilled sugar cookie topped with almond icing, customers will be able to choose from a new selection of four different cookies. Past featured cookie selections included peanut butter and jelly, salted caramel cheesecake, snickerdoodle cupcake, honey graham cracker and many, many more.

The Crumbl Cream flavors also change every three months, and Griffin said the flavors usually pair well with their cookies they are offering at the time.

You can find Crumbl Cookies on Facebook at facebook. com/crumblcumming, call 470-239-1986.

The buisness is at 405 Peachtree Pkwy., Suite 120, Cumming, GA 30041.

Cookies are delivered to the customer in sweet, pink pastry boxes in three sizes: a single large cookie, a pack of four, and a party pack of 12. While the Crumbl Cream comes in half-pint containers, customers can also order a four pack of the containers for home.

Both Griffin and Jefferies are beyond thrilled for the new store, open at 8 a.m. Monday-Saturday, and to see customers enjoy their cookies and ice cream for the first time.

“I’m very excited,” Jefferies said. “It’s something that I worked very hard on for I feel like such a very long time.”

— Sponsored content October 2020 | 400 LIFE | 17

The Third Option How former CEO Shannon Miles solved the work-life balance equation Story by Brian Paglia | Photo by Ben Hendren

S

hannon Miles was going to pick up right where she left off. She was going to jump back into her full-time job at McKesson Corporation selling milliondollar software systems around North Georgia after returning from maternity leave following the birth of her first child. “That lasted for about three months,� Miles said.

So Miles talked with her bosses at McKesson and created what now, in the midst of a global pandemic, appears to even more closely resemble the future of work: a few days in the office, the rest at home; communicating with coworkers in Zoom meetings and Slack messages; coffee breaks in the kitchen; the end of interminable commutes every weekday.

18 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

‘There were many points, in those first eight years even, of having to expand and grow myself and take the lid off my own leadership, so that I could be the leader that the company needed me to be.’

- Shannon Miles, co-founder of BELAY For five years, Miles fulfilled the majority of her work duties remotely from home in Forsyth County, a near perfect set-up to balance career and family rather than choosing one option or the other.

Here was a third option, and it ended up helping to inspire a wildly successful company, book (appropriately titled, “The Third Option”) and lifestyle.

In 2010, Miles and her husband, Bryan (a fellow remote-worker at the time, actually), founded BELAY, a staffing company of virtual assistants. Today, BELAY also offers bookkeepers, social media specialists and website specialists. The company’s 1,100 “team members” all work from home. In August, BELAY made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for the sixth year in a row.

And when Miles and Bryan strategized during BELAY’s infancy about who exactly would make a good team member, they used Miles’s experience as their guide.

“A lot of women have to make that choice when they start a family: What do I do? Do I continue accelerating my career? Or do I make a shift and pare things back?” Miles said. “I knew that that part-time work-from-home situation that I had for five years at McKesson could be something that a lot of women could craft for themselves too.”

Born in Ohio, Miles grew up around the Southeast. Her stepdad was in the military, so the family practiced the nomadic existence of those in the service during her childhood, going from North Carolina to Louisiana to South Carolina. Her family eventually settled back in Ohio when Miles’s stepdad left the military. After high school, Miles went to a small liberal arts college not far from home. She and Bryan met move-in weekend of her freshman year. Miles studied for an eventual career in law.

On trips to visit Miles’s brother in Atlanta, the couple was enticed by the area’s growth and moved to Alpharetta in 1999 after Miles graduated. She took a job at a firm in Midtown. When they decided it was time to buy their first house, they chose Forsyth County. They liked that it, too, was growing, the local school system was among the best in the state, and their church in Alpharetta, North Point Community Church, was just opening a new branch, what is now Browns Bridge Church.

But that meant an extra 20 minutes to Miles’s commute to the law firm downtown. “I just thought that’s a lot of life to be spending in the car,” Miles said. So Miles took a job in the legal department at McKesson Corporation. Later, she was promoted to assistant manager.

After a few years, Miles decided to switch to sales. She took a junior position. “I always love putting myself in a place of being uncomfortable and seeing if I could rise to the occasion,” Miles said.

In 2005, she and Bryan had their first child, Rainey. Miles returned from maternity leave and was prepared to continue her new career trajectory. They even hired a nanny to help. Still, work was taking its toll. “We were like, OK, this is not for us,” Miles said. “It was just too taxing on our family to continue selling and traveling.”

It was at that point that Miles felt the pressure to make “the choice” women are disproportionately faced with: family or career. Miles rejected those limits. Instead, she went to her bosses at McKesson and worked out a new arrangement. Miles moved

into a project management position, much of which she could accomplish from home and at the convenience of her schedule.

No, Miles wasn’t racing up the corporate ladder anymore, but she was still using her skills and expertise to contribute to a company’s mission while also being present for her now-growing family. Work-life balance was restored.

The new role worked through 2008 and the birth of Miles and Bryan’s second child, Harper, until 2010. By then, both Miles and Bryan felt their careers were at an “inflection point.”

“We started talking about what it would look like if we started something of our own,” Miles said. “We had enough business experience. It was varied experience, too. If we came together and did something together maybe we could build something really special for our family.”

Inspired by their own experiences with remote work, they came up with BELAY. Miles and Bryan quit their jobs on Oct. 1, cashed in their 401(k) plans, and got to work.

The kids were 5 and 2. Their incomes were cut in half. “We were equal parts excited and terrified,” Miles said.

About nine months later, BELAY’s breakthrough came while the Miles family vacationed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Their first-ever client messaged the couple: Michael Hyatt, an influential leadership personality, had just tweeted that he was looking for a virtual assistant. Bryan reached out to Hyatt. They connected, and a few days later Hyatt had signed up with one of BELAY’s virtual assistants.

Soon after, Hyatt posted on social media about BELAY. A flood of interest followed.

“It was our Oprah moment,” Miles said. “It really was. It was the moment that transformed the validation of our business.”

BELAY continued to grow, and as it did, Miles grew with it.

“There were many points, in those first eight years even, of having to expand and grow myself and take the lid off my own leadership,” Miles said, “so that I could be the leader that the company needed me to be.”

She added, “I had to work through feelings of inadequacy, imposter syndrome, of ‘I’m not enough, I’m not worthy of all of this,’ to get to a place of saying, for me, having faith, knowing God called us to do this, that, ‘If not you, then who?’ That’s the phrase that just kept coming up for me over and over again: ‘If not you, then who?’”

In 2018, Miles distilled all of her experience to that point — of solving the work-life balance equation and co-founding a trendsetting company — in her book, “The Third Option: Why a Woman Doesn’t Have to Choose Between a Career and Family, but Can Actually Have Both and Succeed.”

Today, Miles and Bryan are co-chairs of BELAY’s board and have handed over the company to current CEO Tricia Sciortino (who happened to be the first virtual assistant BELAY hired). Miles and Bryan, meanwhile, have embarked on new ventures. They co-own NoFo Brew Co., which opened in North Forsyth in 2019. Most recently, they started Own Not Run, the couple’s vehicle to “help business owners experience the freedom of owning their companies, instead of running them.”

A concept Miles now knows all about.

October 2020 | 400 LIFE | 19

400 health

Integrity Foot & Ankle

Dr. Patrick Qualtire, center, is set to open his new practice, Integrity Foot & Ankle at 106 Pilgrim Village Drive, Ste. 400 in Cumming, in early October. Anita Hughes, left, and Georgiana Biggs work alongside Qualtire.

A modern view of medicine How this new podiatry practice will use surgical and non-invasive options to stop foor and ankle pain

Story and photos by Kelly Whitmire

E

ven for those in pain, no one wants to deal with foot or ankle surgeries, and a new podiatry practice in Cumming is attempting to use the latest technology to make surgery as painless as possible — or eliminate it altogether.

Dr. Patrick Qualtire is planning to open his new practice, Integrity Foot & Ankle at 106 Pilgrim Village Drive, Ste. 400 in Cumming, in early October, where he and his staff will treat all ages and “do everything from toenails to total ankle replacement surgery.”

Qualtire graduated from the California School of Podiatric Medicine in San Francisco and completed his residency program and surgical training at the University of Florida Health System’s Shands Medical Center in Jacksonville in the orthopedic surgery department.

20 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

‘I’m one of only a handful of surgeons in all of Atlanta that’s trained on two minimally-invasive bunion systems. Traditional bunion surgery requires a three- to four-inch incision, and it’s on top of your foot, so you see it, then also, you’re off your feet for a while.’

- Dr. Patrick Qualtire, Integrity Foot & Ankle “Even though I’m trained in surgery, I don’t consider this a surgical practice,” Qualtire said. “We are a general practice and we focus on conservative treatment first to try to keep you away from surgery, but then if it needs surgery, we can do it.”

A big focus for Qualtire and Integrity is non-surgical or minimally-invasive procedures, such as a bunion procedure that improves on previous generations of surgeries and medical technologies.

“I’m one of only a handful of surgeons in all of Atlanta that’s trained on two minimally-invasive bunion systems,” he said.

“Traditional bunion surgery requires a three- to four-inch incision, and it’s on top of your foot, so you see it, then also, you’re off your feet for a while.

“With the minimally-invasive approach, there are three or four small poke holes and an implant that goes in there and you can stand on it the next day.”

Qualtire said the procedure also uses about 80% fewer narcotics for pain management and a patient could have the procedure on Thursday and be back to work on Monday.

The center will also have a focus on regenerative medicine.

“We’ll focus on stem cell products, amniotic fluid, platelet-rich plasma,” he said.

“These are all cutting-edge kinds of therapies that help people with tendonitis, sports injuries, helps them return faster. It’s minimally invasive. Most of them are injection based.”

Using resources like platelet-rich plasma and deep-heating lasers that help produce growth factors for damaged tissues, Qualtire and his team can treat injuries like tears, Achilles tendon injuries, tendonitis and plantar fasciitis that can stave off surgery.

“I’ve seen people with calcified Achilles tendonitis, where their Achilles hurts right in the back of their heel, and we were ready to take them to surgery,” he said. “We used the laser and injection therapy, and no surgery, so big win there.”

While many develop foot and ankle pain later in life, Qualtire said there are a myriad of conditions that can bring kids and young Continued on Page 22

October 2020 | 400 LIFE | 21

adults to his office, such as sports injuries, heel pain and ingrown toenails.

Qualtire said he often recommends a full biomechanical evaluation of hips, knees and ankles to see what is causing issues and address them with custom inserts for shoes.

“A lot of times with this biomechanical exam, I can make some adjustments with this new shoe, and we can stop issues from happening down the road,” he said.

“I have a lot of patients where I tell them, ‘Boy, I wish I had caught you 10 years ago. I could have maybe stopped this from being as bad as it is today.’”

Integrity will also include a state-ofthe-art X-ray machine, have a partnership with local surgery and wound care centers, and will have a focus on diabetic patients, who often suffer from foot problems.

Qualtire said he has more one-on-one interactions with patients that would happen at a larger facility and he strives to make sure his patients have a say in their own health care.

“I like to converse with the patient, let them talk, tell me what’s going on, then explain,” he said. “So rather than just saying, ‘oh, we need this or that.’ I like to explain why. It’s kind of a more modern view of medicine.”

— Sponsored content 22 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

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400 faces

Marshall Blair, State Farm Insurance Agent

Community service is the main focus for Blair and his family Story and Photo by Sabrina Kerns

Marshall Blair never would have imagined a few years ago that he would find a new career at State Farm, opening up his own insurance agency and moving his family to Forsyth County.

After 20 years in the Marine Corps, travelling across the world with his wife and two daughters, Blair and his family finally had to think about their future after Blair would retire from the military and they would go back to the U.S. from their home in Japan.

At the time, Blair just knew he wanted to continue with community service wherever they decided to live and work.

Service has always been a part of Blair and his family’s lives, ever since Blair first met his wife, Jessica, in Burundi where he was currently working at an embassy and she was serving as a Christian missionary.

“And each place we moved to, we tried to make it a focus of service and at Christianfocused organizations,” Blair said.

Blair eventually spoke with a couple of Jessica’s family members who live in Ohio and work as State Farm agents, and after hearing about their career and lifestyle, he knew instantly that State Farm would allow him to make a change in the lives of others both through his work and through other community service opportunities.

Blair talked to 400 Life about his family’s interest in community service and the transition from the Marine Corps and working overseas to owning his own business in Cumming.

www.marshallblairinsurance.com | 770- 781-6550 3125 Dahlonega Hwy, Cumming, GA 30040

help with resumés and interview prep and teach them how to dress, talk and just present themselves in a respectable and professional manner.

“Everyone also loves getting involved with The Place, we’re involved at No Longer Bound and Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and organization that works with local business owners to build resources for families in need.

“But for me, it’s the children. We try to support the schools as much as we can.

It’s really any opportunity that we have here. I don’t know that I have a favorite one. It’s more that I like the quantity of it because each organization has a specific and needed goal.”

What’s been your favorite service project you and your family have worked on?

How was that transition going from a position in the Marine Corps to owning your own State Farm agency?

“I’m with the Forsyth Rotary Club and we do a lot of different stuff. But we work with domestic violence intervention with Family Haven, and [Jessica] is part of Orange Duffle Bag, which is more of a North metro-based organization for troubled students who don’t have a lot of the opportunities that we might have in Forsyth County. They take them through what life is like after graduation, they

“I had no insurance background and really no sales background [at the time]. I was a logistics officer in the Marine Corps. God had a plan for me, and it just kind of worked out for us.

“We focused on lifestyle and we focused on opportunity as far as growth and business as well as service and our two daughters and what the schools were like. So the transition, at least for me, was

24 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

pretty easy because it had kind of a flow from enlisted to here.”

What has been the most exciting aspect of working as a State Farm agent for you?

“When someone has an incident and there is a claim, there is a lot of anxiety and stress and frustration, and they just need guidance. They just want someone to tell them it’s going to be OK. We’re going to get this figured out with the products that we have here.

“Instead of feeling like they’re throwing away money for insurance, it makes people really appreciate what they have and what they’ve done.

“This lady was 45 and her husband was 47, and he died suddenly. He was diagnosed with cancer and within three weeks, he died.

“You can never take away that kind of pain, but you can definitely make the pain easier to manage when you take all the stressors away like money for the burial and all of this other stuff.

“I was able to take a substantial check to them and say, ‘Hey, we’re here for you.’”

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400 gives

Morrow Family Medicine

The Morrow Community Foundation formed The Forsyth BYOT Benefit shortly after opening and have since held biannual fundraisers that help put technology into the hands of underserved students.

Competing to Care

Morrow Family Medicine makes community the priority patient Story by Jennifer Colosimo

W

hen Morrow Family Medicine opened in June 2011, they wanted to introduce Forsyth County to a unique kind of health care — one that wouldn’t be simply patient-centered, but also that put the entire community’s wellbeing at the forefront.

They’ve done just that. They’re a neighborhood staple with two locations and have established one of the area’s most beloved charities for helping students where it matters most.

“We opened the practice to be able to provide the kind of care that people deserve and are looking for,” says Dr. Jim Morrow, CEO and one of two family physicians at the practice. “I wanted to ‘bring care back to health care,’ which I think we are doing.”

They definitely are. The Morrow Community Foundation formed The Forsyth BYOT Benefit shortly after opening and have since held bi-annual fundraisers that help put technology into the hands of underserved students so that they can be successful in school (Bring Your Own Technology).

In an age where digital is everything — especially for students, as the COVID threat put 100% of students learning from Continued on Page 28 26 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

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home this past spring — this year’s event could not be more important. But it does look a whole lot different.

“There has never been a time when students have needed access to technology as much as they do now,” says Peggie Morrow, co-owner and MFM’s marketing manager. “Just ask any mom or dad or grandparent whose children are attending virtual classes during this pandemic. We knew that it would have to look different this year, though. We had to create a new kind of event where anyone could get involved, but where everyone would be safe.”

The result is iChallenge, a virtual event that incentivizes physical activity through friendly community competition. Individuals or teams can register to log their active minutes over a one-month period (October 1-31) in hopes to win prizes as they raise money that helps young people right here in their own neighborhood.

“This is not just an event for athletes to log miles or burn calories,” adds Peggie. “This is for any kind of physical activity — brothers wrestling in the living room, playing a game of Twister, walking the dog. We wanted everyone to be able to get in on the fun and help their community in an active way that takes us away from the screens.”

In healthy contrast, virtual bevy is what this fundraiser is all about. BYOT helps students get their hands on technology like laptops and tablets, access to Wi-Fi, and it helps make improvements to media centers in schools across the county.

“We started BYOT because I wanted there to be something that [Jim and I] were doing for the community together,” says Peggie.

“Through conversations with the PTO and the superintendent at the time, we learned that there were more than 2,000 kids who didn’t have access to technology. That was a big deal to us.”

It’s an even bigger deal now.

“Over the years, the Forsyth BYOT Benefit has raised more than $350,000. This huge sum of money has enabled us to purchase devices and connectivity for families in need,” says Dr. Jeff Bearden, superintendent of Forsyth County Schools. “We needed it last spring more than ever. We need it just as much now. As we enter a new school year that is fraught with uncertainty, we must be prepared.”

28 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

The Morrows have collected several invaluable contacts throughout their experience with BYOT, including Jason Naile, the director of instructional technology and media for Forsyth County Schools, Bearden, and the PTOs here in the county. This year, the hope is that as their network spreads the word, the participant pool will emerge from all over the country. And since “race” packets are delivered contactless this year, everyone still gets a t-shirt.

Back in the office, it’s all about the pandemic right now. In eight months, Morrow Family Medicine has changed just about everything logistically on how they see patients. And diligence like that is, in part, responsible for earning them the vote for Best of Forsyth every year since its inception, not to mention also being named Best of North Atlanta every year they’ve been open in Milton.

MFM offers everything you’d expect from a family medicine practice: complete physical exams, acute care, chronic disease management, sports physicals, immunizations, lab work, and COVID-19 testing. But it’s unique. They’re cutting edge, and they’re old fashioned — in the way they care about their patients.

They provide attentive care in the office and resource materials, such as podcasts and patient portals, for patients to receive education and care even when they’re not face to face with a doctor.

Of course, visits look a little different these days — patients wait in their cars, masks are required, rooms and surfaces are sanitized even more and sick and well visits are isolated between offices. But, the overall feeling remains: these are professionals who really care.

“Our guiding principle behind the company today is treating people they way they deserve to be treated,” says Dr. Morrow.

“That includes both our staff and patients. I want our patients to feel well cared for …to feel like we care about them, to know there is never a time they can’t count on us, and I want the community to know that we are a part of them. To know that we support them every way we can. If something is not working the wayW it should, we fix it.”

Now that’s an activity worth logging.

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400 reads

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that every fall you should read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. All those Austen-ites out there will recognize the first seven words of one of the most well known opening lines in English literature. Written in 1797 and published in 1813, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice remains a ground-breaking novel. It was uncommon for a female to author books in Austen’s time period and even less common for a book to build such a historic legacy. Pride and Prejudice has been the inspiration for books and movies, some which are true to the original story and some of which take a more creative approach. No matter what your reading style is, there is a version of this story that will engage and delight you. books. These books are set in a variety time periods, locations, and cultures. There is a version to appeal to every reader.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice introduces us to the Bennet family living in rural England during the turn of the 19th century. It is the sole purpose of Mrs. Bennet’s adult life is to find eligible husbands for each of her five daughters, because there were not many things worse than the lack of a male heir in this time period. The main protagonist in the book is Elizabeth Bennet, the intelligent and quick-witted second daughter who is in no hurry to be held down by an unworthy man. Many would argue that Mr. Darcy is the defining character in the novel, and while integral to the book, it is impossible to overshadow the importance of Elizabeth’s character set against the expectations of the time period. While the focus of the book is on the relationships of the Bennet sisters, a close read of the text provides an insight into the life and opportunities of women during the 1800s. This novel showcases Austen at the height of her craft, inserting witty social commentary into what is ultimately a love story.

If reading Regency era English literature is not your idea of fun, do not despair. Austen’s novel has been the inspiration for a plethora of other 30 | 400 LIFE | October 2020

Readers looking for modern fiction can try Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible. This book follows the life of Liz Bennet, a career-focused magazine writer living in New York City.

Sittenfeld is known for using humor to expose social issues in the US relating to gender, race, class, and age. Eligible is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice with unapologetic opinions of the world in which we live.

Staying in the modern time period and moving from Manhattan to Brooklyn is Pride by Ibi Zoboi. In this retelling of Pride and Prejudice, the main character is 17-year old Zuri Benitez.

Zuri’s whole world revolves around her neighborhood in Bushwick, so much so that the community feels like a character in the novel. Zoboi spends a lot of her time focused on the importance of race, class, and identity, especially as it relates to Black and Latinx communities in American urban areas.

The final book set in the modern day takes Pride and Prejudice to a whole new continent, setting the book in Pakistan. Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal stays true to Austen’s original story, but takes the opportunity to examine religion, class, gender roles, and opportunity in South Asia.

Readers from American or English

with

Becky Cahill

backgrounds will have a hard time understanding Elizabeth’s fear of being forced into an unwanted arranged marriage in Pride and Prejudice.

However, due to the cultural elements at play in Pakistan, Kamal is able to maintain the intensity of this original plot point.

The majority of the adaptations and retellings of Pride and Prejudice maintain the main characters, and then take creative liberties in other aspects of the books.

There is one book that combines the new and the old to produce a very unique result, this is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth GrahameSmith. in fact, this novel follows the original plot so closely that Austen is credited as a coauthor. Grahame-Smith for his part in the book added zombies, fight scenes, and carnage to the classic novel. The title of this book is not ironic, the book is the original story with zombies added in. This would be a fun read for an Austen fan, assuming they are not offended by the addition of brain-eating creatures to one of the most widely hailed books in Western literature.

Becky Cahill is a career educator and an avid reader. She reads extensively in her free time and you can follow along on Instagram at beckycahill25.

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