ANNUAL OPTICAL ISSUE

BUILD FOR THE FUTURE

TWO SISTERS DEMONSTRATE HOW FUNCTION AND STYLE CAN BE ACHIEVED IN ONE PRACTICE

Olivia Carleo, O.D., Dallas

AFTER ALMOST a decade of combined experience, my sister, Anita Carleo, O.D., and I decided to open a private optometry practice together. While we were happy working at our respective employers’ practices, the dream of opening a practice together had always lingered in our minds. The decision to “go for it” was solidified when we drove by an undeveloped piece of property in North Dallas. What if we were actually crazy enough to buy it ­­— and build our practice from the ground up? Well, call us crazy, because that’s exactly what we did.

WE OUTLINED OUR GOALS

My sister and I had a couple of goals in mind for our practice:

1. We wanted to break away from the notion that practicing full-scope, medically oriented optometry and owning a high-end optical boutique were mutually exclusive.

2. We didn’t want our patients to necessarily feel that they were in a doctor’s office.

3. We wanted our personalities to be exemplified in every aspect of the practice.

For all these reasons, we forewent hiring an architect and designer. Instead, we hired a local draftsman. We sat beside him as he drew the floor plan and gave him live feedback. We picked every detail from carpeting to ceiling tile. We researched successful optical design aspects, such as the importance of lighting and interchangeable merchandising. We chose warm colors for the decor to give the office a more welcoming feel. In doing the a lot of the “grunt work” ourselves, we were able to save money, which we reallocated to diagnostic equipment and high-end finishes.

WE THOUGHT “LONG-TERM”

We built a 12,000 sq. ft. building with the idea of developing a mini-medical complex. We wanted to build a space the practice would grow into. Our practice takes up about 4,000 sq.ft., and the remaining units, with the exception of one that is vacant, have been rented to other medical professionals.

We also were mindful of patient flow efficiency and, thus, planned the practice layout to reduce pretesting and special-testing bottlenecking. For example, we created a larger pretest room that is divided with a partial wall, which allows more than one patient to be pretested at a time. We also have a separate diagnostic instrument room to run special testing so that we don’t interfere with concurrent patient workups. We have a total of five exam lanes, two of which are operational.

WE DIFFERENTIATED OURSELVES

It was important that we looked unique. We have a Tuscan-inspired, spiral staircase that goes up the bell tower of our optical. It presents a “Wow” factor to our patients and also serves a purpose, as it leads to a landing space we use for storage. Following along with the Italian theme, we have an espresso bar in our waiting room that patients love!

The Tuscan-inspired spiral staircase is both a focal point and functional. Drs. Carleo expanded the theme further in the optical with other Italian ties.

WE CREATED A SPACE THAT CAPTURES ATTENTION

To create the high-end, boutique feel of our optical, we knew that we wanted an open, airy space with a lot of natural light. Along with large windows and chandeliers, we used white, antique ceiling tiles to add a visual “pop” to the 12 ft. ceilings. To keep our optical from feeling too cluttered, we decided to go with less frame lines and, instead, opted to go deeper into each line so that our patients could really understand what each brand represents.

We have arched built-in shelving units along one wall with mirrored backing and glass shelves that give a visual contrast to the gilt frame boards, which line other walls of the optical. We had our frame boards custom made, without the rod system. This has given us much more flexibility in our ability to re-merchandize the frames regularly and continually rotate and re-energize the look of the optical.

Drs. Olivia, left, and Anita Carleo in their optical boutique. The doctors used arched built-in shelving and chandeliers to create their desired high-end optical look.

ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

Building a new practice from the ground up can be intimidating. Take things a day at a time, and work through the problems, which will undoubtedly arise, in a systematic manner. While the road we chose might not necessarily be the easiest, we hope that when we eventually retire, the personal fulfillment of providing exceptional patient care in a practice carefully and caringly nurtured, will give us reason to smile. OM

DR. CARLEO is co-owner of Vision Veritas, Dallas, with her sister Dr. Anita Carleo, O.D. Dr. Olivia Carleo, a therapeutic optometrist and optometric glaucoma specialist, grew up in the Dallas area, where she attended The Hockaday School. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology at Austin College and pursued her doctorate of optometry at The University of Houston College of Optometry. Dr. Carleo is a member of the AOA, Texas Optometric Association, Vision Source Network of Independent Optometrists and the Beta Sigma Kappa Optometric Honor Society. Visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment to comment.