Advertise on podcast: Power Hour Optometry

AI is everywhere right now. And the real challenge right now isn't access, but knowing what to trust. Every vendor has a solution. Every platform claims to be "intelligent." Every conversation seems to come back to what AI is going to do next. But when you step into your practice, the question becomes much simpler: What actually works for me? In this episode of Power Hour, host Eugene Shatsman sits down with Dr. Abdullah "Abed" Sarhan, CEO and Co-Founder of RetinaLogik, who has been working in deep learning and AI long before it became widely used.  And what makes this conversation different is that it's not theoretical, but practical. They break down what AI is actually capable of in eye care practices today, where it can genuinely improve workflow and patient experience, and just as importantly, where ODs should be far more skeptical.

There's a point in every growing practice where things start to feel different. Not because the business isn't working, but rather it's working only because of you, and the moment you try to expand, that dependency gets exposed. You start to realize that growth isn't as simple as opening another location. It's about building something that can operate without you being everywhere at once, and that's exactly where this conversation begins. In this episode of Power Hour, Eugene sits down with Dr. Tommy Lucas (President, VIEW Optometry) and Dr. Mary Kate Walters (CEO, VIEW Optometry), a husband-and-wife team who have built a four-location practice in Central Texas, including three cold starts that didn't just survive, but ramped quickly. And while the growth itself is impressive, it's only part of what makes this conversation worth paying attention to. Just as important is how they think about building a business. Because underneath the numbers, you start to hear something deeper: a philosophy around people, systems, incentives, and what it actually takes to create something that can function beyond the owners being everywhere at once. And then, it shifts from building a practice, to something much bigger - VIEW Optometry Alliance.  

Most practice owners think growth is about doing more. More patients, more staff, more lanes, and more locations. But the truth is, scaling a practice is about building the right structure underneath it. In this week's episode of Power Hour, host Eugene Shatsman sits down with Dr. David Moore, President of Moore Eye Center, and Dr. Julia Zyrina, Founder of Pine Vision Care, two doctors who are both building exceptional practices, but in fundamentally different ways.  They meet for the first time on the show, and what unfolds is a fascinating look at how two high-performing doctors can pursue growth through completely different philosophies. They both prioritize patient experience. They both use technology to advance patient care. They're both focused on building something bigger than themselves. But the way they think about execution – exam flow, pace, trust-building, team consistency, hiring, and scale – is where the real contrast appears.  

Every year at Vision Expo, companies make massive promises about the "future of optometry." But as a practice owner, you don't need more hype; you need solutions that are real, scalable, and useful. In this special Innovators Edition of the Power Hour recorded live at Vision Expo, Eugene Shatsman sits down with three executives attacking the future of the profession from three completely different angles: surgical business models, patient-centric retail, and all-in-one operational technology. If you've ever wondered how to monetize your surgical referrals, give patients a reason to visit you between exams, or finally consolidate those 14 open tabs on your staff's computer into an all-in-one operational technology, this episode is for you.

What would you do if you discovered someone inside your business had been stealing from you? Not hundreds. Not thousands. Millions. In this week's episode of Power Hour, Eugene Shatsman sits down with Mick Hall, President of Bard Optical (one of the most respected multi-location practices in the country) to hear a story that every practice owner needs to listen to.  It started with something small… A financial number that didn't look quite right. That single moment of curiosity uncovered an embezzlement scheme that eventually totaled $4.8 million. But this episode isn't about scandal. It's about leadership, vigilance, and protecting the business you've worked so hard to build.

Burnout is more common than many leaders are willing to admit. It's rarely a sign that the practice itself is broken. More often, it's a signal that the systems supporting the business need to evolve. In this week's Power Hour, Eugene sits down with Allison Kraemer & Dr. Brian Spittle from The Power Practice to talk about something many practice owners experience but rarely discuss openly: Burnout in private practice.

How many times have you said, "We had such a great interview," only to be thinking 60 days later, "How did we get this so wrong?" Staffing is still the #1 issue in practices, but what if the sustainable fix isn't another job post? What if it's understanding who you're hiring (before you hire them) and knowing how to develop them once they're on your team? In this episode of Power Hour, Eugene Shatsman sits down with Kati Lechner, Senior Director of Learning at Wonderlic, who has spent 20 years in the science of selecting and developing great talent derived from evidence-based hiring. And by the way, PowerPractice has established a partnership with Wonderlic to provide eye care practices with direct access to these assessment tools. If you're interested in exploring how Wonderlic Select or Develop could support your hiring or team development strategy, you can reach out to PowerPractice and reference this episode to learn more about available options and next steps at https://powerpractice.com/hire-smarter/ 

How do you transform your practice from something that depends on you for everything, into something that grows with clarity and control on its own? You've invested in equipment, hired good people, and are working hard; and yet, growth feels heavier than it should. In this episode of Power Hour, Eugene Shatsman sits down with Jamie Rosin to talk about a systematic approach to practice growth.  The Eyecare BOSS System (Business, Optimization and Scalability System) is a structured operating framework built specifically for independent optometry practices that want to grow without chaos. Instead of relying on scattered ideas, reactive decisions, or owner-dependent execution, it organizes your entire practice around five integrated pillars: Accountability, Revenue, People, Experience, and Data. Jamie and Eugene take you through a strategic walkthrough of the system, revealing how your practice can eliminate bottlenecks, prioritize the highest-impact growth levers, develop leaders instead of managing personalities, improve patient satisfaction in measurable ways, and build a data-driven culture that predicts results before problems show up.

As the economics of practice ownership evolve, technology accelerates, and legislative conversations become more complex, who is shaping the future of optometry behind the scenes? And what decisions are being made right now that could impact your practice next year?  In this episode of Power Hour, recorded live from the AOA Leaders Summit in St. Louis, Eugene Shatsman sits down with three of the American Optometric Association's elected leaders: Dr. Jacqueline M. Bowen (President), Dr. Teri K. Geist (President-Elect), and Dr. Terri A. Gossard (Vice President).  Together, they offer a firsthand look into what these leaders believe are the profession's biggest pressure points, and what they say the AOA is doing to protect, expand, and advance optometry heading into 2026.

People, Technology, and Strategy.  Three pillars that shaped how Dr. Solomon Gould built a scalable medical model, developed high-performing teams, and grew without sacrificing patient experience.   In this week's episode of Power Hour, Eugene sits down with Dr. Solomon Gould, Sr. Director of Eye Care at EssilorLuxottica, and a leader whose career spans nearly every side of optometry: private practice ownership, consulting, corporate environments, and large-scale operational growth. He shares how to scale your practice without becoming the bottleneck, burning out the team, or losing what made your practice successful in the first place. 

What if the biggest story in vision care right now isn't a new product, but a shift in patient behavior that could reshape 2026?  Today's episode is a little different (in the best way) because we're recording live from The Vision Council's Executive Summit. This is a conference filled with CEOs, founders, and eye care industry leaders who are here to network, but more importantly, to answer one big question:  What is actually happening in our industry right now, and what do we do next?  Joining Eugene on the show are Ashley Mills (CEO) and Alysse Henkel (VP of Research & Insights) from The Vision Council, and they're bringing something every practice owner should pay attention to: the data behind 2025.   Together, they break down what the data is revealing about patient spending, category performance, and the trade-offs consumers are making, and connect it to what practice owners should be thinking about for 2026. You'll also get a preview as to what's changing at Vision Expo Orlando 2026, and why the show is being designed to deliver more than excitement, it's being designed to deliver results. 

2025 wasn't business as usual in optometry M&A.  Fewer buyers, more deal scrutiny, softer multiples, and a growing number of practice owners asking the same question: "Is my practice worth what I think it's worth?"   That's why this episode is perfectly timed for the start of 2026.  Eugene is joined by Anne Kavanagh (Founder & Managing Director) and Jason Preator (Managing Partner) from Kavanagh Consulting, two people who have seen more optometry practice transactions than almost anyone in the industry over the last decade. Their perspective is based on real deals, real outcomes, and patterns that repeat year after year.  Anne and Jason explain how the buyer landscape has evolved, who is actively acquiring practices right now, and how buyers are evaluating risk, structure, and long-term profitability.  

Going from one location to two sounds exciting… until it's not.  The truth is, scaling a practice brings on a completely different level of complexity than just more patients or an increase in revenue; it's new operational pressure points, and a whole new set of problems that don't show up until you're already in motion.  In this listener-requested episode of Power Hour, host Eugene Shatsman speaks with two highly qualified professionals (Dr. Susan Lake, Optometrist at Eyecare Specialties, and Kevin Whaley-Stefany, Business Consultant at Autograph Eye LLC) who actually built and scaled multiple practices, and what it takes to succeed and scale in today's market.  

If your optical felt different in 2025, you weren't imagining it.  Across the country, practices saw capture rates slip, exam-onlys rise, and patients walk out the door with a fresh refraction, buying absolutely nothing. We know this isn't temporary, so the Power Hour is not waiting it out, we're getting proactive.  This week, Eugeneand Kayla Ashlee, CEO of Spexy, collaborate againbecause she is obsessed (in all the best ways) with the real levers that move optical revenue. Unlike most conversations about capture rate, she helps her clients go far beyond pricing and "consumer sensitivity." Leveraging the data points from real practices she works with, Kayla breaks down human influence, retail science, merchandising psychology, and the subtle behaviors inside your practice that are pushing patients away instead of drawing them in. 

In this episode of Power Hour, Eugene Shatsman sits down with Gary Gerber to explore why growth stalls when practices run on autopilot — and how revisiting the basics can unlock revenue, efficiency, and sustainability without adding complexity.