“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

“Walk a mile in my shoes….” – Unidentified, American idiom + various songs

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.” – Steven Wright

Many of us who are involved in the eyewear/vision care field often hear that this “business” is such a complex space. I often try to explain to people “outside” that “optical” is really at least eight or 10 different businesses in one: A critical health care field, a design and engineering business, many different realms of technology, medicine, physiology and biology, retailing,
3 Os of professionals, a fashion specialty…and more.

When VM’s editorial team brainstormed the idea of creating the concept of a photo-feature that could attempt to create a U.S. portrait of a Day in the Life of Optical, we were daunted by the mechanics of the idea. But we soon realized that it could be a cool way to begin to reflect the very diverse, mixed, assorted professional career roles that comprise what we think of as “optical.”

We’re in a unique position in our editorial roles at Vision Monday and Jobson, in that we get to talk to many different people involved in so many types of jobs, with such different points of view and expertise. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have that perspective, but appreciating those, and reflecting the range of talent and knowledge throughout the business, is one of our goals with the #DayInTheLife project.

You can be on the front lines of dispensing and not know what it’s like to work in an eyewear company. Your viewpoint at an eyewear company is different if you’re in the distribution center or sit in the president’s office. If you’re tackling R&D at a lens or contact lens company, your vantage point contrasts with the person at an outside lab in charge of the surfacing line. Your view toward the patient is distinct if you’re the eyecare professional.

The underlying message is of course this: all of these are important, to be valued and appreciated. Everyone plays a part. All of us are connected in delivering great products, vision care solutions, technologies and service to eyecare patients and eyewear consumers across the U.S.

Remember to see more from our contributors’ photo submissions at VisionMonday.com, in our special digital Day in the Life edition. And submit more of your own daily wins in #DayinTheLife via Facebook and Twitter. ■

maxelrad@jobson.com