Dr. Bill Rafferty has dutifully committed much of his career to the critical issues of regulatory activities that govern Optometry, both in his home state of North Carolina but also nationally through ARBO. He is a 1977 graduate of the UAB School of Optometry, and has had many professional roles in addition to clinical practice, including serving as faculty at Duke University and Wake Forest. His stories include those who influenced him into health care, his family’s citrus groves in Florida, and his service to our country through the National Guard. He spent his early years in the VA and supported scope expansion efforts for Optometry. Today he is Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Optometry where he cares passionately to support the profession and the public.

The Stories within the Story include:

1:03 The “What I Thought Optometry Would Be” Story

3:18 The Early Years Story

8:21 The Service to Country Story

10:04 The Optometry Training in the 1970’s Story

13:01 The Mentors Story

16:57 The Early VA Efforts Story

18:50 The Duke University Story

21:12 The Educator Story

22:55 The Regulatory Affairs Story

30:53 The Optometry-Ophthalmology Story

39:20 The Joy Story

40:58 The Words of Inspiration Story

Runtime: 46 min.

Dr. Masoud Nafey is a technology expert who brings a wide array of views about how Optometry might utilize the tools at their discretion to best connect with the 21st century health and eye care consumer. He provides an excellent insight to how we might advance as a profession while the patients advance toward more of a consumerist approach to consuming their eye care. From a family of Afghan refugees, he has an incredible sense of the importance of education and shares why that has shaped his path in Optometry, following a wandering career of entrepreneurism that started in his youth. He’s a graduate of The Ohio State University College of Optometry and achieved an MBA to demonstrate his commitment to being a business person as much as a Doctor of Optometry.

The Stories within the Story include:

1:11 The Patient Mindset Story

4:53 The Online Shopper Story

9:22 The Professional Advancement Story

15:32 The Metaverse Story

20:04 The Afghan Refugee Story

28:06 The Athletics Story

31:23 The AI in Eyecare Story

36:03 The Mentorship Story

37:42 The Business Mindedness Story

42:13 The Hope Story

Runtime: 44 min.

Scott Harris Shapiro is a leader in the US optical business, as owner and CEO of Europa Eyewear. His parents started the business, which his father spoke of as a “people business,” and grew it from the ground up. Scott has a history of being in the public eye - spending time in his early years as a stand-up comedian and radio personality, from which he learned business insights that he still uses today. Ultimately his father’s passing brought him back to lead the family business, in which he partnered with his father’s long-time associate and best friend. This includes the work they did to begin to manufacture eyewear right here in the United States, which is highly unique in the frame industry. These stories and more are incredibly heart-warming and make this interview an instant classic.

The Stories within the Story include:

0:52 The Europa Eyewear Story

3:48 The Growing Years Story

5:39 The Stand-up Comedian Story

11:07 The Life-Changing Event Story

14:30 The Return to the Business Story

16:43 The Business Diversification Story

20:21 The Family Business Continues Story

24:20 The Family Story

27:26 The Relationships in Optical Story

31:02 The Vision Council Volunteering Story

34:53 The Great Advice Story

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