WO Voices

As the competition for eyewear stays hot, how can opticals rethink the patient experience and their marketing to stay competitive? Liza Amlani, principal and co-founder of Retail Strategy Group, talks about how to promoting individual brands can help a practice create its own brand, as well. Hear her tips for incorporating what successful retail brands do. 

Jacquie Bowen, OD, FAAO, who will become president of the American Optometric Association at the next Optometry's Meeting in June 2025 in Minneapolis; and Michele Andrews, OD, VP of marketing and professional affairs at CooperVision, discuss the goals of the Myopia Collective and the Change Agents who are driving change and best strategies in myopia management.

Cheryl Chapman, OD, FIAOMC, FAAO, Dipl ABO, of Gretna Vision Source in Nebraska, explains how she and Chris Wolfe, OD, joined together to co-found Peeq Pro, an eyelid hygiene company that puts the doctor front and center on eyelid cleanser and luxury skin care products. Hear how she uses it to help her patients be more compliant and her practice be more profitable. 

Sharon A. Bentley, BScOptom, MOptom, PhD, MPH, FAAO, FACO, will become dean of the Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of California, Berkeley, in February 2025. In this WO podcast, she talks with Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA, about her plans to advocate for excellence with kindness. 

Roya Attar, OD, MBA, DHA, of Jackson, Mississippi,  has found that artificial intelligence (AI) has helped her tremendously in her personal and professional life. For example, AI gave her ideas for her son's graduation party and she uses it to draft her patient notes. Listen to more ways she uses AI in her practice and how others could.  

Opticals combine providing medically necessary eyewear and fashion. So WO turned to Liza Amlani, principal and founder of Retail Strategy Group, to ask if there are missed opportunities in retailing and marketing opticals. In the first of this two-part podcast, she suggests optometrists and opticians can think outside of the box, especially in terms of simply "filling a need to get new eyewear." 

Several years ago, Caitlin Reghetti, OD, merged her interests in patient education with her skills for design and explaining things clearly. Believing that great design reinforces the quality content that doctors provide to patients, she branched out into a design business--DrReghettidesigns.com. Here, other eye care professionals can select forms, brochures, flyers and more to customize for their own offices. 

In this episode of WO Voices, Dr. Sara Varghai of Nova Optique + Eyecare in Arlington, Virginia, discusses how she finds the right staff fits for her practice, ensuring efficiency and collaboration between her entire team. 

Shira Kresch, OD, MS, FAAO, opened Michigan Contact Lens in Oak Park, Michigan, in the fall of 2023. Hear her explain how she determined there was a need for a contact lens specialty practice, how she discovered her passion for scleral lenses and where she compromised and where she didn't to get this practice off the ground. 

Janelle Davison, OD, of Smyrna, Georgia, uses goal-setting as a tool to help her expand her bandwidth, make an impact, leave a legacy and, in the process, amplify her own voice and that of others. Hear how she combines visionary thinking with practical steps.