In this episode, Dr. Steve Vargo sits down with Dr. Shannon Joseph for a conversation about one of the most overlooked revenue opportunities in eye care — the contact lens dropout.

Steve and Shannon explore why so many patients quietly stop wearing contacts and never bring it up again, why doctors aren't having the conversation either, and what happens to a practice when someone finally does. They dig into the assumptions patients carry — that they were told they couldn't wear contacts, that the technology hasn't changed, that nobody can fix what didn't work before — and how a few simple questions can unravel all of it.

This conversation goes beyond contact lens sales. It's about building the kind of patient experience that creates loyalty, drives referrals, and reminds doctors why they got into this work in the first place. Shannon shares how she's built a whole-team approach to re-engaging dropout patients — from the first phone call to the pre-test questionnaire to the exam room — and why fixing a problem a patient didn't even know they had is one of the most powerful things a practice can do.

In this episode, Dr. Vargo sits down with Dr. Elizabeth Roush, a practice owner from Northeast Indiana, to discuss the transformative impact of annual retreats on leadership, teamwork, and business growth.

Dr. Roche explains the logistics, planning, and execution of successful annual retreats, sharing how they have become her staff's favorite day of the year. She delves into the themes, activities, and strategies that make these retreats effective, including team-building exercises, custom-tailored content, and the importance of fostering vulnerability and connection among staff.

Dr. Roche also provides insights on maintaining the momentum of retreat learnings throughout the year for sustained improvements in practice operations and patient care.

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In this episode, Dr. Steve Vargo sits down with Luke Mathers — optometrist, author, and stress resilience expert — for a conversation that challenges one of the most common assumptions in healthcare: that what you're feeling is burnout.

Luke spent 27 years in clinical optometry before following a personal health experience down a rabbit hole of evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and human behavior. What he discovered reshaped how he thinks about stress, exhaustion, and why so many high-achieving professionals feel stuck even when everything looks fine on the outside.

Steve and Luke explore Luke's framework for three distinct states that often get lumped together under the burnout label — burned out, bored out, and checked out — and why getting the diagnosis wrong means the treatment will fail.

They also dig into the business case for human connection, the neuroscience of why presence in the exam room changes patient outcomes, and what it actually means to recover on purpose rather than just waiting for things to slow down.

This conversation goes beyond stress management tips. It's about understanding what's really happening beneath the exhaustion — and finding your way back to the work that gave you a sense of purpose in the first place.