Ray's Story

Ray Grandoit, popularly known as Ray Grand was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up, Ray always had dreams of playing in the NBA and being the CEO of his own company. However, at the young age of 14, Ray contracted spinal meningitis, which left him in a coma for several weeks and left him paralyzed from the waist down making him wheelchair bound ever since. This completely changed his life, but not his dreams or aspirations. Ray looked at being paralyzed as a blessing, he was alive and able to do everything anyone else could, just in a different way, including playing basketball and running his own company. At 16, he was chosen by a High School teacher to participate in the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) class. This NFTE class gave Ray the spark to launch his own entrepreneurial endeavors which Ray used as an opportunity to start a clothing line, Ray Grand Apparel www.raygrand.com. The company Ray Grand Apparel is the celebration of overcoming adversity expressed through clothing. Ray Grand also provides custom orders for organizations, teams and clubs with custom graphic design and tee shirts. Ray is an active member in Mass Mentoring and Partners for Youth with Disabilities, where he was featured in their national mentor Month public service announcement with his mentor, Federal Judge Reginald Lindsey.

Ray earned a full scholarship to Oklahoma State University to play wheelchair basketball which gave him an opportunity to pursue a degree in Entrepreneurship. The School of entrepreneurship and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship were the catalyst that Ray needed to further progress the venture. Ray Grand Apparel was accepted as a student business in the Cowboy idea hatchery a student business incubator operated by the Riata Center of Entrepreneurship at OSU. Ray progressed well and within a year completed a detail business plan and expanded his business model to include the B2B segment by providing products and services to established businesses. The resources and mentors available through the school helped Ray device a model that was robust and adaptable so Ray could successfully operate his business remotely.

Unfortunately, in February of 2007, medical complications left him on complete bed rest and in the hospital for 11 months. Shortly after Ray was honored by the Boston Celtics with the “Hero Among Us” award for demonstrating extreme courage, and overcoming a disability

In February of 2011, medical complications left him on complete bed rest again and in the hospital for several months. During this time, Ray leveraged his entrepreneurial skills to turn his hospital room into an office. Ray currently conducts business  via email, phone, Internet and has made sales of up to $9,000 dollars over the last 4 months. His positive energy and contagious smile has been a positive influence to those around him.