039 ⎢ Focus on Vision: The Eyewear Architects Story

In this episode of the Tourism Hub Podcast, Despina Karatzias ventures into the heart of small business at the Brentford Shopping Centre in Victoria, featuring an inspiring conversation with Mel and Penny from Eyewear Architects. Discover how these small business champions bring a unique blend of passion, expertise, and community spirit to independent optometry.

Mel and Penny share their journey from the early days of their careers to becoming spectacle makers with a rare skill set. They delve into the differences between independent and corporate optometry, highlighting the personalised care and deep knowledge they offer to their clients. The conversation explores the importance of lifestyle dispensing, where understanding a client's daily activities and needs leads to better vision solutions.

Learn about the challenges and rewards of running a small business, from marketing and social media to building a strong team and community connections. Mel and Penny's story is a testament to the power of collaboration, continuous learning, and the courage to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

• 02:18 - Mel and Penny's Passion for Optometry
• 08:51 - Importance of Care Factor for Business Success
• 10:27 - Biggest Obstacle in Launching Optometry Business
• 16:53 - Content Creation Process
• 17:38 - Brentford Association vs. National Associations
• 27:22 - Challenges and Learnings
• 28:05 - Marketing as a Learning Curve
• 30:02 - Marketing Journey
• 34:22 - Common Glasses Myth
• 39:13 - Importance of Eye Health Checks
• 41:16 - Myopia Epidemic Linked to Screen Use
• 51:05 - Local Support and Collaborations
• 53:58 - Challenges in Finding Small Business Support
• 59:25 - Eyewear Brand Promotion

References:

Eyewear Architects: https://www.eyeweararchitects.com.au

Business Victoria: https://www.business.vic.gov.au

Women of Whitehorse: https://www.womenofwhitehorse.com.au

 

Connect with Eyewear Architects:

Website: Eyewear Architects

Instagram: @eyeweararchitects

Facebook: Eyewear Architects

 

Follow us on social media for updates:

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
there's a lot of synergy here whenwe're talking about tourism and we're

(00:04):
talking about small business vision,both vision in business, but the
importance of vision biologically.
I always think it's just themorning and then it's like, Oh,
it's carried on through the day.
You come in and you're seeing people thatare really knowledgeable and have a real,

(00:26):
So we're able to tick the boxes of yourneeds and and everyone has unique needs.
with the digital world we'reliving in now, you know, you've
got triple screens, double screens.
You're doing podcasts, which are amazing.
So your visual needs are quitedifferent than just a pair of readers.
to find somebody that shares yourpassion, because we are both passionate

(00:46):
about independent optometry, and,and helping the wider community.
I wanted to stay in independentoptometry, but I was frustrated to think
that I'd have to go work for someoneelse because I wanted to work for me
we had to find the right lensthat's going to give him that broad
distance area, but also make thatscreen nice and clear as well.
Automatically there's adifference there of care factor.

(01:08):
Absolutely.
Of care factor that willkeep everyone returning.
You don't know when you're going to gethit with that, like, I need a change.
I can go in this withconfidence because I've seen,
we've seen all the small businesspractices and optometry practices
within those two states.
So that gives you a really broadunderstanding of our industry as a whole.

(01:28):
I think if you're going to start asmall business, it really should be
in an area where you know it well.
This is my jam.
I'm really confident at what I do andnobody knows more about this than I do.
When you're faking at the start,you're learning and suddenly,
you know, you, you become quiteadept at those things as well.

(01:49):
So we, we jumped into those not knowinga huge amount, faking it till we make it.
And then all of a sudden werealised that We were making it.
if not you, then who?
If not now, then when?
I highlight that because I think anyother industry specific businesses,
when you're part of an industry,looking at your associations or the

(02:12):
lay of the land of the industry thatyou're in and seek out what is the
right membership model that's for me.
It's not enough just to open a door.
Yes.
And wait for people to come.
You have to integrate yourself intoyour local and wider community.
really seeing the children so happy.
Yeah, it was a reallygreat community event.

(02:34):
there's always a shire or a council,an economic development, a local
MP that you could go and make theeffort to go and introduce yourself
success leaves clues becausethey're also contributing and
putting in and giving back.
You have to know who you are.
Yeah.
And what you want to be.
Yeah.
Yeah.

(02:54):
And then attract the right people.
Yeah.
Um, that have the same vision as you do.
you need to invest in yourpeople and value them.
look after good staff because they'rehard to find the right people and if
you get the right people look after themwell so that they stay for the long term.
you'll either fail or you'll,you're failing or you're learning.

(03:17):
And that's called a flirn.
Mel here is probably a big part of,she's, we call her the ideas woman.
Yeah.
And I'm the doer, so Ipull everything together.
And usually what you see in ourmarketing and our posters and that's
usually something that I've, you know,
Canva's been fantastic and Ibelieve that's an Australian woman.

(03:39):
It's an Australian incrediblestory that's dominated the world.
That's the beauty of small business,of just starting out on your own.
You just have to dive in.
I learned to stay in my lane
and let Penny do her thing.
Because when it, what would takePenny five minutes would take me three

(04:00):
hours and it would look terrible.
Stay in your lane.
Mel does all the writing on thesocials and things like that.
And when I try, it'sjust like one sentence.
you just want someone to command what'sgoing on here and go, this is for you.
She'll look at me and go, Mel, third.
from the top shelf on the right.
And I can tell you now, 95 percentof the time, that is the one.

(04:25):
I've been to Three conferences in the lastfive days and I look around and there's a
lot of glasses in the room in our industryAll of them are centered around tourism.
We have muscles in our eye thatallow the eye to focus from a
distant object to a near object.
So the muscles pull the lens and itbecomes a thinner lens and then they
release it and it becomes a thicker lens.

(04:46):
So thicker for focusing close up and thenpulls as you go to focus in the distance.
when you hit your forties, your armsaren't long enough anymore because
you're, you're, you're holdingthings out here and that's where you
need to come into the optometrist.
And we just give you a littlebit of visual help to, to
bring it back up to here.
there's 50-60 year long studiesnow, whether you wear your glasses

(05:08):
or not, that elasticity is going tokeep deteriorating at the same rate.
So you might as well get agreat pair of glasses that are
going to correct your vision.
Focal contact lenses are a great option.
Another level of freedom or Yeah.
And a lot of technologicaladvances in that area.
Now there's so much more comfortable andeasy to wear and lots, lots more options.

(05:29):
you really should make an eye healthcheck at minimum every two years.
And that's if you don't havea family history of something.
Because there are a fewnasties like glaucoma.
a lot of children can't tell youthat they can't see well because
they don't know any different.
there's going to be a, well, there isactually, it's already started, worldwide,
there is a major epidemic of myopia,

(05:52):
It's really important the 15 minutesto look away from your screen, look
around the room, make sure that youyou're focusing on other things.
probably a standout holiday forus, um, was we went to Mexico and
then we went on a Disney cruise.
When I go away, it's such an opportunityto enjoy good food without all the work.

(06:13):
Yeah.
So that's a big part of mylittle trips, even if it's
just an overnight or an AirBnB
we are in the world that we justwe want opportunities to do things
with our families or with each otherand giving experiences over stuff.
And if you, you, you, you.
Walk the talk, even withyour collaborations.
Something that I talk a lot about andhad a lot of success with, but you're

(06:36):
doing it within your local community.
You will get out of itwhat you put into it.
Outlander, that man's sexy,but it's not business related.
We are an independent smallboutique optometry practice.
Yeah.
We are very reliant on word ofmouth, but we wanted to be unique.
Yeah.
And I think to be unique, we kind ofalmost had to not look too much Yeah.

(06:59):
At what others were doing andstart to think, how can we do this?
How can we do this in a way thatis going to engage with people
that hasn't been done before?
don't expect it to come to you.
Go and look for it.
You never regret it.
Going to like, yeah, going to,it's like, it's like the gym.
Yes.
It's so like, Oh, I don'twant to, I don't want myself.

(07:22):
But then you always walk away meetingsomeone or learning something new.
A beautiful Italian made glare frame.
It's actually a one off frame.
You won't see this anywhere else.
Emerald green, stunning,bold and fabulous like you.
Look, they make you smile,they'll bring you joy.
I can see clearly now, that I'm a man.