Tales From The Trenches: A Cold Start Journey with Dr. Emily Ridge

In this Tales From The Trenches episode, we sit down with Dr. Emily Ridge, owner of Elite Eye Care in Hernando, MS. Emily started her practice nearly 3 years ago and has learned a lot along the way, growing faster than she planned.

Key Takeaways:

1. Emily knew she wanted to be an optometrist in elementary school and as she worked her way back to her home town, knew that starting her own practice was the only way to create the ideal environment for her.
2. Her vision was to create a practice that would serve all ages of patients and while that vision has stayed the same, the practice has evolved to provide more pediatric services and specialty contact lens care.
3. Mentorship and building a team/ community around her to support the cold start launch was critical to opening on time and successfully. Being curious and asking questions is one of the most important skills.
4. Fear of failure is a normal emotion to have not just before opening but after as well.
5. While it is important to know and understand as many areas of the business as possible, do not hesitate to outsource components of the business to allow you to focus on the aspects on you can focus on.
6. Your staff will never feel the same depth of connection to the business and its success as you the founder, but there are ways to get them to invest long term in the success and care about the patients and business.

What Emily is Reading:

• The Housemaid Series by Freida McFadden
• Sara J Maas series

Practice Advantage Reading List

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