Dr. Sherrol Reynolds is full professor at NOVA Southeastern University College of Optometry.  Her perspective about the power of mentorship and its influence on her, and how she now mentors others, is powerful.  Her family emigrated from Jamaica and she grew up in Florida, where she considered becoming a physician but turned toward Optometry partly due to vision loss that hit her aunt.  She is past president of the National Optometric Association and shares insights about the value of that organization to the profession.  She is passionate about retinal care and education, and understands and supports the next generation of Optometrists as they go through their educational process.

The Stories within the Story include:

1:08 The Mentorship Story

7:35 The Immigrant Parents Story

10:40 The Going into Optometry Story

15:40 The Diversity in Optometry Story

22:10 The Optometric Educator Story

27:42 The Today’s Optometry Students Story

31:48 The Today’s Optometric Education Story

36:49 The Social Determinants of Health Story

40:54 The Access to Care Story

45:18 The Caring for Humanity Story

48:48 The Personal Joys Story

Dr. Dori Carlson’s accomplishments in Optometry are stupendous, including a decade-plus of service  to the American Optometric Association which culminated with her serving as the first female President of the AOA.  Dr. Carlson has leveraged the values of her early days along with a commitment to continual personal and professional improvement to become an incredibly important part of the fabric of the profession.

The Stories within the Story include:

1:00 The Hobby Story

4:01 The Family Story

6:05 The Couple Building a Practice Story

12:02 The Growing Up in a Small Town Story

15:26 The Influence into Optometry Story

18:04 The Pacific University Story

22:26 The Volunteerism Story

24:34 The AOA President Story

30:30 The Observation of the Evolution of Education Story

34:49 The Masters in Leadership Story

37:48 The “Not Ready to be Done” Story

42:32 The Combating Apathy Story

50:43 The Story That’s Never Been Told Story

52:42 The Motivator Story

Dr. Steven Lee grew up in Toronto, studied at the University of Waterloo, and attended the Illinois College of Optometry. A self-described “nerdy gadget guy,” he quickly became interested in disruptive technology that might support patients. He co-founded the company, Opternative, that eventually became quite controversial for its direct-to-patient care approach, and has had a career full of entrepreneurial journeys. Learn all of them in this episode!

The Stories within the Story include:

1:21 The Influence toward Science Story

2:42 The Toronto Upbringing Story

6:20 The Interest in Optometry Story

9:17 The Early Career Story

9:57 The Opternative Backstory Story

14:52 The Opternative Story

22:46 The Opternative Evolution Story

28:12 The Opternative Controversy Story

31:13 The Opternative Learnings Story

34:42 The Optometry Studyguide Controversy Story

38:19 The Building a Family Story

40:21 The Evolving Businessperson Story

48:27 The Zenni Optical Story

49:53 The Online Optical Scrutiny Story

53:02 The Doctor-Patient Story

56:54 The Entrepreneur Story

58:48 The Patient-Facing Technology Story

1:02:52 The Prospect (or not) of AI Story

1:07:39 The Benevolence Story

1:09:33 The Future of Optometry Story

Dr. Linda Casser has had a career of service — to three Colleges of Optometry, the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, the American Academy of Optometry, the American Optometric Association, and the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry.  Her career concluded with being granted Professor Emerita status in August 2022 from Salus University Pennsylvania College of Optometry.  She’s an author, mentor, and industry leader, and someone I consider having established the bedrock foundation for modern Optometry.  Dr. Casser has always championed the powerful, positive impact of women in Optometry.

Her many stories weave together to demonstrate her commitment to patient safety, advancement of the profession of Optometry, and a steadfast view that Optometric education should continue to advance to best serve the patient.  Whether it’s hearing about her being part of one of Optometry’s first residency programs, or her role in leadership of the Indiana Optometric Association, or her efforts to lead interprofessional health care education programs, Dr. Casser has been a part of incredible teams that advanced eye care.

In this episode, you will hear about her long and winding road from graduation from IU in 1978, to PCO, back to IU, to Pacific University, and then back to PCO.  She shares insights about some of her colleagues with whom she partnered in various endeavors, a list that is truly a “who’s who” of Optometry.  Dr. Casser is certainly one of those!  As a current member of the AOA Optometric Historical Society Committee, this set of stories are truly a series of important steps in the advancement of the profession, as influenced so positively by her involvement.

The Stories within The Story Include:

1:09  The Retired but Contributing Story

2:29  The NBEO Story

7:15  The Advancing Education Story

9:53  The Upbringing Story

11:47  The Path Into Optometry Story

18:09  The Early Optometry Residency Story

23:56  The Start in Academics at PCO Story

28:01  The Headed Back to IU Story

31:00  The Pacific Story

32:56  The Advancing PCO/Salus Story

41:59  The Academy Story

45:49  The Indiana Volunteerism Story

48:51  The ASCO Story

52:37  The Mentorship Story

Runtime:  1 hr 1 min

A 1993 graduate of NECO, Dr. Alan Glazier has spent a career in Optometry as an entrepreneur.  He worked in his dad’s practice in his early days along with many other roles that found him starting businesses.  He learned business insights along the way, and credits his height for his accomplishments.  He self-taught to become a marketing expert, which led him to become the founder of the most prolific online community for Optometry, called ODs on Facebook.  He’s an inventor, but also knows that failure is part of the road.  Dr. Glazier built a fantastic private practice, and also went through a sale to Private Equity while also doing business development for the buyer, Keplr, giving him an incredible context of its impact on the profession.  His Optometry and personal and family stories are inspiring and worth a listen!

The Stories within the Story:

1:16  The Metal Detector Story

4:03  The Family (and Dog) Story

5:11  The Growing Up Story

7:00  The Family of Optometrists Story

8:08  The Early Career Story

10:49  The OD Business Acumen Story

12:44  The Height Story

14:05  The Online Community Story

20:27  The FluoreSCENE Media Story

22:02  The Inventiveness Story

25:56  The NECO Passion Story

29:18  The Hope for the Profession’s Future Story

31:08  The Private Equity Story

34:49  The Israel Story

36:44  The Bernie Cohen Story

38:04  The Phish Story

39:00  The Influencers Story

42:38  The Presbyopia Theory Story

46:02  The Managing Reviews Story

49:07  The Organized Optometry Story

51:05  The Challenge of the Future Story

53:45  The No One Knows This Story

54:29  The Appreciation Story

Raised on a rural farm in Maryland, Ed Buffington learned the lessons of hard work.  These lessons translated into a tremendous career in the eye care industry, where he was the founder of OfficeMate software and today serves as CEO of GPN Technologies, the company that brings the EDGEPro data dashboard to eye care professionals.  In March 2024, he was honored by Prevent Blindness as the 2024 “Person of Vision” in recognition of his incredible contributions.

Ed’s many stories cover his start as a contact lens rep, as well as the efforts to bring OfficeMate to the industry.  He is a proud husband, father, and grandfather, and speaks about how important that part of his life is.  Equally important is the positive influence he has had on the many people that have worked with and for him. 

The Stories within the Story:

1:14  The Building Friendships Story

2:31  The Growing Up on the Farm Story

4:31  The “Charlie” Story

7:30  The Plan to be an Educator Story

9:54  The Marriage and Family Story

10:25  The Salesperson Story

12:06  The Getting into the Eye Care Industry Story

14:14  The Creating OfficeMate Story

20:34  The Adding the EHR Story

24:40  The Marchon Partnership Story

26:29  The VSP Partnership Story

28:40  The GPN Data Story

31:15  The Mentors Story

36:40  The “Person of Vision” Story

40:57  The GPN VISIONS Story

42:23  The Incredible Teams Story

Runtime:  46 min

Dr. Ann Hoscheit is owner of EyeBridge Consulting Associates, after a long career in which she built two separate iconic eye care practices. She’s a graduate of the University of Houston College of Optometry. Dr. Hoscheit has been a trailblazer in women’s leadership in Optometry. She finds true joy and prosperity in Optometry, and through these many stories she hopes that her colleagues will also.

The Stories within the Story include:

1:11 The Midwestern Upbringing Story

3:29 The Mom’s Example Story

4:55 The Inspiration from Matthew Story

6:36 The Getting into Optometry Story

8:39 The Incredible Husband Story

10:36 The Harold Varner III Story

11:15 The Novel Practice Model Story

15:15 The Women-Centered Practice Story

20:58 The Power of Mentorship Story

22:18 The Sale to Private Equity Story

25:10 The Specialty Center of Excellence Story

30:42 The Integrative Medicine Story

35:54 The Industry Supporter Story

41:18 The Eye Care Equates to Quality of Life Story

43:26 The Power of Influence Story

46:28 The Future of Optometry Education Story

52:34 The Reassurance Story

An Ohio guy who thought he would remain there forever, Dr. Rick Weisbarth became an internationally respected Doctor of Optometry who supported the profession through his role in professional relations for Alcon Laboratories (and formerly CIBA VISION) as well as a lecturer on a variety of contact lens topics.  He graduated from The Ohio State University College of Optometry and became connected with friends with whom he would provide career-long support of the American Academy of Optometry.  One of his unique contributions was involvement in the National Academies of Practice, which is a multidisciplinary group working to support each other’s approach to caring for patients.  Dr. Weisbarth has been a leader since his days in the optometry fraternity at OSU, and that has carried through to his retirement during which time he has helped advance the Alcon Children’s Vision Center in Fort Worth, TX.  His many stories are compelling because he consistently challenged himself to move out of his comfort zone, and the lessons that come from his experiences can be of value to all.  And - it’s very important for the audience to know that Dr. Weisbarth was put on the spot when talking about mentors, so if he didn’t mention you, please forgive him!

The Stories within the Story include:

1:08  The Cleveland Upbringing Story

2:58  The Advice Story

4:07  The Introduction to Eye Care Story

6:42  The OSU Optometry Story

9:40  The Leadership Journey Story

11:04  The Early Career Story

16:56  The Contact Lens Industry Story

20:23  The International Lecturer Story

22:01  The Industry Support Story

27:04  The Optometrist Insight Story

29:11  The Commitment to the Academy Story

32:50  The Volunteering Advice Story

35:50  The Lifelong Learning Story

37:55  The Mentor Story

40:12  The National Academies of Practice Story

44:35  The Alcon Children’s Vision Clinic Story

52:42  The Hobbies Story

54:05  The Family Story

Run time:  57 min

Scott shares four pearls to building and enjoying a life well-lived, which is aspirational and to which we will be judged by others some day in the future

Dr. John Potter is a true treasure to the profession. A graduate of the Indiana University School of Optometry, he has been at the forefront of every major evolutionary step in Optometry over the last fifty years. After all of his time in Optometry, he used his intellectual basis to move into an entirely different career as an educator - now serving as clinical associate professor of dispute resolution and conflict management at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

The Stories within the Story include:

1:20 The Gradeschool Essay Story

2:50 The IU Story

3:53 The IU Legends Story

5:18 The Dr. Irv Borish Story

9:06 The Mentor Story

11:45 The Push to Education Story

13:30 The Naval Optometry Story

19:55 The Treatment of a Foreign Body Story

22:36 The Dr. Henry Peters “Diagnosis” Story

34:40 The Therapeutics Story

36:07 The Dr. David Sullins Story

39:36 The Laser Vision Treatment Story

55:00 The Patient Advocacy Services Story

59:00 The Conflict Resolution Career Story

1:09:26 The 1990’s Eye Exam Assessment Story

1:13:51 The Caring for Others Story

Run time: 1 hr 17 min