 Hi, welcome to School Apostle, I'm your host Sarah and this is the show where we chat with everyday entrepreneurs about everything that goes into starting a new venture. Today's guest is not only an entrepreneur, model and influencer with 170,000 followers, she's also a doctor. Dr. Jennifer Sy is a modern-day optometrist that has achieved what few others in her industry have done. She runs a concierge vision care and optical botique unlike any other called line of sight. Jennifer also founded Carrot Eyewear, a fashion forward eyewear brand that is made for those with heavy screen time. Jennifer, welcome to the show, it's so great to have you here. Thank you for having me, I'm so honored. So tell us a little bit about your story. I was really passionate about eyecare, starting in I think high school, not on purpose but because I was a really bad contact lens wear. Were you one of those people that just puts it in and sleeps in it? I might have been. I've done that, it's terrible. It's awful and I tell patients that now but I definitely had a, I slept in my contacts, ended up with a really severe corneal infection that led to an ulcer and it could have led to blindness if I didn't catch it in time. That really piqued my interest in otometry and when I went into, I guess, undergraduates to do my studies, I explored different specialties in healthcare. I knew that I wanted to be in a career where I helped people but during that time while I was shadowing different specialties, I shadowed an otometrist and I got my exam done and I was dilated and I found out that I had another eye issue which is called a retinal tear. Wow and how does one get a retinal tear? That sounds scary. It is quite scary and usually you're asymptomatic. A lot of people don't know. Your tissue in the back, it's really delicate and if you develop a hole or tear, you could also lose your vision. So you've almost lost your vision two different times. Yes, kind of. You're very lucky to have perfect vision today. Which is why I'm here. Yes. But I was really shadowing those otometrists and I think what stood out to me was they were so compassionate with what they did and I could tell that they cared about me as a person. So they really were the ones that inspired you to get into the field and most people that go into the eye field, they just become an otometrist and that's where it ends. But you want to step further and you've now designed an eyewear brand. You've opened your own boutique shop. So tell me about that. Why not just become an otometrist? Why did you decide to go the extra step and become an entrepreneur in this industry? It's funny in school they have you, the very first day in orientation, you draw and I thought I was like that's silly. I feel like I'm in kindergarten. You draw a picture of how you expect your life to look like in five years and I drew I think a picture of a house and me and kids and that's what I thought my life would be. I feel like we all thought we were going to have like a house and kids by 25 and then you become 25 and you realize way I don't. This is yeah this wasn't and I think that you know it's because the society and what you see everyone else do you think the path to success is the same and I didn't know that I could explore other options and these are things they also don't really tell you in school because you're there to learn eye care primarily and I think part of it was I was always curious in nature. I think being an entrepreneur wasn't something I planned on doing but I think because I'm curious and I think that things could always be done in a better way. I think that passion really pushed me forward to want to create a space or products that I think are helpful for people. So you have the two brands you have carrot eyewear and you have line of sight which is where we are today in her beautiful new boutique shop in Hudson Yards so congratulations I know you opened during a hard time but it's currently doing really well so that's a huge accomplishment. So which one did you start first carrot eyewear or line of sight and why? So the first one I started was actually carrot eyewear. I started I think January or March of 2018 which at this point I feel like with the pandemic it's been it feels like years ago but it's only been two years so I think at that time the reason why I decided to create an eyewear line again it wasn't because I thought that that was something I wanted to do but I was seeing patients and every patient especially New York and more prevalent now that everyone's working remote is they always complain that they had headaches at the computer and that they had trouble focusing and they were experiencing eye strain and they asked me what I recommended for them to purchase online because they wanted something that was affordable that they could just easily put on in front of their computer desk and I found it hard to recommend something that I would personally you know tell my patients to purchase online without knowing the ingredients where they got the lenses from the quality of the blue light protection and after I think a while I decided you know I I do want to be able to create a doctor made affordable eyewear line for blue light protection that is something that anyone can purchase domestically and in Canada so really to be able to reach out to others who need more help because they recognize it's not just the patients that I see it's probably a lot of people are experiencing eye strain and being able to provide good quality lenses for them myself included because sometimes when I'm on a computer too long my eye starts twitching is that a sign of uh something relating to blue light uh you know my mom might be something else we'll talk about it my mom used to say like oh that's like one eye is good luck or the other one isn't but that's more like a myth um that's called lid myokimia okay so it can happen from digital strain when there's too much computer usage or your prescription is not corrected properly um but it happens because um it's usually due to stress lack of sleep too much caffeine dehydration and excessive computer use so okay I mean that's like everyone that's the definition of um COVID-19 because that's when it started exactly uh so carrot eyewear isn't just your normal blue light glasses which I mean we've all seen the classic blue light glasses they look like it's um just not the most fashion forward let's just say that you've designed some very fashion forward glasses uh and was that part of the plan when you started carrot eyewear was there's nothing in the market that actually looks good that actually works uh yes I think yes I I thought that what was available on the market um I didn't think that the styles um spoke to uh different personalities so creating styles that I think um are fashion forward without having to shell out like hundreds of dollars for something that you could wear simply for the desk um was important to create and I think that there was a lack in the market space for that because a lot of the frames seemed generic um and they were plastic acetate frames um one solid color so um or the light the glasses were either too yellow or too blue um in terms of the the tint and I wanted to be able to create something that looked virtually transparent and this carrot eyewear right here um yeah so this is uh the line these are a few of the products that I have and these are all blue light protection too or yes they all have yep you should see my blue light glasses they look super cool and I'm being sarcastic there like the lenses are like orange I like I wear them at night or when I'm in front of the computer all day long and my eye starts twitching uh because they're so ugly that I'm embarrassed to even have my husband see me wear them this looks so fashionable thank you thank you wow how did how did you okay so let's get into I'm just sorry speechless at how disappointed I am in my current blue light glasses given that these also work um let's talk about execution right so starting uh carrot eyewear how do you start an eyewear brand where do you get the materials the funding can you walk me through this process yeah um so I worked for I would say maybe four years prior to starting my eyewear line and um I in the beginning work like two to three different positions I had some days work seven days a week wow anytime um a place could offer me more hours I took it um and it partly was to learn as much as I could and absorb all the information that I could learn from different practices but part of it really was to save money to be able to create something and I knew that I wanted to open a store but I wanted to get something going with eyewear line it was something that I felt like I could sort of bootstrap myself with a smaller funding save on the side so every month I would put aside savings towards being able to eventually manufacture frames I went through the process of going through designs and also seeking different manufacturers even going on a trip to different locations to evaluate if this is a place that I want to create my product so you really started it from the ground up you've you did everything from designing the lenses to finding the materials to designing the website the marketing which I know you you do all your marketing organically and we'll talk a little bit about for marketing strategy a little bit later on um you've designed the lenses you love what you made what's the next step with carrot it is an e-commerce line um and it was initially very fun for me it's like a great way to reach um I would say like millennials young professionals who really just wanted something quick and easy affordable and trendy um you know hopefully maybe in the future I would be able to expand it into sort of different designs and possibly adding prescription into them and I think that's something that a lot of consumers have requested um to be able to do that so I think being able to possibly put prescription in it and maybe making it global I think would be amazing so it seems like you thought of line of sight um and then many years later you actually went through with starting the business now any entrepreneur knows that it takes time to formulate the perfect idea and I'm sure that was part of your process so um how long did it take you between concept and execution and what did you do during that time um it definitely took me the full four years of practicing I think I knew maybe my second year out that after working in all these locations that things could be done better and that I eventually did want to start my own and part of what I did was trying out different places um I remember just going into different practices that were on the market to sell and evaluating their profit P&L sheets um that was something I did not learn in school at all and I had to go in there and really learn to understand um what business was about that's so true do you think starting carrot eyewear is what gave you uh that confidence to start another venture which would be line of sight I think having an online e-commerce product line that I started with my own savings um and growing from that has taught me a lot about being an entrepreneur and running my own business that I felt confident um so I'm going forward and signing an actual retail space and really creating a brand from scratch um I never jamed in a million years that I would or think that I would open a brand new cold star practice in Manhattan the interior design of line of sight is so beautiful it feels like you're in someone's living room it's cozy it's welcoming um it's unlike any eyewear location I've been normally I feel like I'm in a hospital or something so this is very nice and I'm sure that that was a strategic decision did you design the interior and why choose this style uh so the design actually came down to just me and my partner um partner I designed it together and um he has a background in finance but he also is quite creative and so am I and I think that um we were able to really just put our heads together and create a space um both with my background on how I'd like the patients to feel and experience the space and his experience on the other side of it how were you able to fund line of sight which would require much more money down um so with the funding for the store um this is something that again I didn't really quite understand until going into it and I'm lucky to have again my partner who has a background in finance and investing to really have a good grasp on it um so uh he taught me a lot um but together we focused on being able to save enough um money on the side to have you know working capital to plan for something that I don't think anyone could plan for which is a opening in the middle of a pandemic um and luckily for me being able to work as I mentioned in the past for years two jobs to three jobs to four um six to seven days a week was really to save up um to be able to start something um bigger and even with carrot I was able to take the money um saved from that with just doing organic marketing and not having to spend quite a lot on paid advertisers or budgeting to use that money towards um funding um the store um and then having small like business loans taken out um is something that I uh we also invested in you've mentioned marketing a few times um as you spoke about starting this business uh tell me about your marketing strategy both with carrot eyewear and line of sight they're different slightly um required different types of marketing uh you do have a very large social media following which can definitely help so how did you market these two brands uh with carrot eye um the neat thing was I um I'm also a I guess um content creator digital creator um um and I guess influencer right back in the day I think back in the day it was like more like two years ago on three years ago back in the day the four goals you know like healthcare professionals I think it they felt really uncomfortable putting themselves out there um to to share that they have social media because it's a conflicting view should I put myself out there as a professional does it feel wrong and for a while I actually didn't even plan on growing my social media until I think up until maybe two three years ago I I decided I know it's really a fear of self judgment if anything because I'm really the only person that's holding myself back from putting myself out there and so what if people um don't like it and then I was shocked people really responded to me being able to share my story um being authentic and sharing that I am an optometrist but I also do have a personal life and that's where my social platform came from Dr. Jenin juice and that's um where it grew and I think from from learning that being as an influencer on the side and working with companies um and other brands I learned uh the the opposite side so when I started carrot I actually learned what it's like to be the brand approaching influencers so I kind of use that to um that knowledge to be able to sort of turn it around and know that what the influencers want and how to work with them and um to get them to um meet or maybe want to share a product that they personally really authentically enjoy wearing so mainly for you it's been social media and it's been word of mouth marketing through online reviews and things along those lines I've noticed that you have gotten some press and publicity um you've been on a few tv shows many people would love to be on tv shows many people would love to have their business um featured like how do you do it how um I knock on the door please no but like and I'm just grateful I think there are just opportunities of doors that um people have opened up for me and I um I'm just really lucky and I think that um I just um I'm really appreciative of people who are able to help me along the way and I think it's really knowing key people that want to be there to help me and put me in touch with um specific companies or or um others with tv shows um they have reached out to me some of them to um bring me on the show and they thought um no life they just looked me up and they saw my social media or um my my website um and they see the store and they think that it's a cool concept and they're intrigued and they want to um talk about it um do you have any tips on networking in this type of industry and and networking in a way that provides results like that you've seen when you're good to someone and you are I guess generous and you um help someone in a way where there's no like intense behind it I think that that really carries a lot of weight and I think that it's always really just like making sure that um for example if I have a patient come in um I'm really taking good care of them as a friend um and treating everyone that way and they happen to maybe be in this in this specialty or they know someone that know someone else they're more than happy to um put me in touch with someone and I think that really is just the most authentic way in the past hosted a few events when prior to having my space and these events consisted of working with different um local brands um that are in New York I would tell them that I'm hosting events let's say one of them was for like woman um empowerment I had a lot of um key leaders within New York City um come into a space to do wellness and yoga and then we did a talk um and then there we had products um from local vendors that are founded by women as well to really spread the mass that message what is one piece of advice you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs can I give two you could give three you know the more the merrier um my first advice and I think that applies to really um everyone is uh don't focus on what success looks like um focus on what makes you happy and um for the longest time and I think it's very easy especially especially in this modern digital age to see what someone else is doing and to think that they're successful and to think that maybe you're not there yet and to um feel like you have to do something just because someone else is doing it and I think that lacks purpose um I think that understanding that someone's life may look very different from yours and that's completely okay but you'll get there when you're passionate about something and you're happy with what you do success will come to you in a different way that's so true because it's so easy to compare yourself these days but it really is about what makes you happy because even the most successful people what you think is success they're not happy I mean you've seen so many celebrities talk about this that just because they're famous it doesn't mean they're happy yeah um uh and the other one was uh oh yeah three so the other one is we're getting extras with this interview uh my other one is really to focus on your craft mastering your craft um just like um you know I think this is something that I see and I learned a lot in terms of eyewear like some of the brands that are made in Japan um in the culture they focus on their specific craft and they do it over and over and over and over until they reach perfection um and I really think mastering your craft and being good at one or two things is important because that is your specialty and um being able to carry a product that you know within that one or two um uh realms of specialty you are exceeding in it and I think is really important as an entrepreneur um so focusing on what um your key purposes or your your niche um and then really the last one is to um I follow a one percent role or one percent plan have you heard of that before I think I I think I know what you're getting to but I'd love to hear more yeah I think um to me maybe it means something different but to me it it means um each day to wake up and work on some being one percent better each day as long as you do work on it on that one percent it adds up and it's accumulation of that over time so it's been absolutely wonderful having you on the show Jennifer and thanks for those that joined us and everyone that tuned in today now if you want to learn more about Dr. Jennifer Psy visit drjenniferside.com follow her on instagram at drjen and juice and her studio line of sight vision that is all for this edition of school puzzle keep up with all of our episodes on youtube apple podcast google podcast or wherever you stream and download podcasts and if you like what you've heard please leave a review share with your friends and subscribe to our show we'll see you next time bye