Advertise on podcast: Sandbox Stories - The Podcast

The Illinois College of Optometry has for a couple decades held a Practice Opportunities Symposium.  The 2026 event was coordinated by Dr. Alyssa Lancaster, Assistant Professor of Optometry and Practice Readiness Curriculum Coordinator at ICO.  Under the leadership of Dr. Mark Colip, President, ICO continues to support students along their academic journey by bringing forth opportunities for experiences that bring them close to alumni who can bring them broader value.    In this episode, Sandbox Stories was afforded the opportunity to record the Lessons in Leadership sessions that were held with three incredibly successful ICO alums, including: Dr. Rich Mangan works for Sun Pharmaceuticals and has held a number of leadership roles including in tertiary care management between optometry and ophthalmology.  Dr. Tessa Sokol owns Sokol Advanced EyeCare in Madison, WI, and has a history as a leader in state optometric association work and is a key opinion leader and public speaker for a number of eye care industry product vendors. Dr. Pete Kehoe works in professional affairs for EyeMed after a longstanding career in practice ownership in Galesburg, IL, and leadership in the Vision Source doctor alliance. Each Doctor speaks about leadership traits, the impact of mentors on their careers, and shares insights to students that can be applied to anyone in the eye care industry.  The conversations cover a lot of ground and include three separate conversations with each featured guest, but also a final wrap-up session in which all three give input on the same question or prompt.  They even give insight to their most memorable ICO faculty member!   The Stories within the Story: 0:30 Dr. Jens Intro 1:23 Illinois College of Optometry President Dr. Mark Colip, on the Practice Opportunities Symposium and Its Impact on Students 5:35 Lessons in Leadership with Rich Mangan, OD, FAAO 31:48 Lessons in Leadership with Tessa Sokol, OD 58:00 Lessons in Leadership with Peter Kehoe, OD, FAAO, FNAP 1:23:06 Lessons in Leadership Roundtable

E. Dean Butler got into “brand management” in his early career at Proctor and Gamble.  While there, he helped a coworker’s in-laws optical business in Louisiana, particularly around branding.  Out of that work, he founded Lenscrafters, and in his career has contributed to starting 4,500 optical stores in 45 countries.  Given his brand work on “real people testimonial” advertising, he increased the throughput of the optical business, because he believed in increasing the value of products that don’t have any inherent interest.  He ultimately coined the phrase “glasses in about an hour,” which he used as he grew Lenscrafters. The Stories within the Story: 0:53 The Living in England Story 2:55 The Early Years Story 5:22 The Early Career Story 9:10 The Getting into Optical Story 15:35 The Marketing Eyeglasses Story 22:26 The Creation of Lenscrafters Story 25:09 The Starting Vision Express Story 29:16 The Russian Optical Story 36:22 The Russian Wife Story 40:55 The Delivering Service Story 45:26 The Future of Eyecare Story 56:49 The Lofty Goals Story 1:01:11 The Dynamics of Buying Eyeglasses Story 1:05:15 The Optical “Secrets” Story 1:07:50 The Message of Encouragement Story   Runtime:  1 hr 14 min

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

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