Dr. Davison
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Jeremy: Hello and welcome to season three of the Jeremy Haselwood Show. This podcast is all about exploring a wide range of topics that spark curiosity, build community, inspire action, and deepen our understanding of the world around us. Each season, we dive into a new theme, offering fresh perspectives and insights that are practical, informational, entertaining, and thought provoking.
Before we get started, make sure you subscribe now on whatever platform you're seeing or hearing this by smashing that follow or subscribe button. In season three, we are shining the spotlight on [00:01:00] women business owners, the trailblazers, innovators, and leaders who are redefining what it means to build with purpose.
Each episode will bring you stories, strategies, and inspiration straight from the women who are creating businesses that make an impact. This season we're going to celebrate and learn from the powerful voices of women in business. Now, today's guest. Let me, let me take my breath. Here is the nationally recognized licensed board certified therapeutic optometrist and dry eye expert, founder and clinical director at Visionary Dry Eye Institute, and Brilliant Eyes Vision Center.
Welcome to the show, Dr. Janelle Davison.
Dr. Janelle Davison: thanks for having me. I appreciate the invitation.
Jeremy: Sure. To start off with, I know you have your hands in a few things right now. So tell us a little bit about Brilliant Eyes and what led to the Visionary Dry Eye Institute.
Dr. Janelle Davison: yeah. Great. So I'm an optometrist. I've been practicing, this is my 19th year now. Brain Eye's Vision Center is my main location where we
Jeremy: I.
Dr. Janelle Davison: glasses, contact lenses, we [00:02:00] co-manage for lasik, cataract surgery, and glaucoma as well. I started that practice cold. 15 years ago, so that means I didn't have a record to my name. I built that practice from the ground up. I jokingly say my initial place that I leased used to be a Washington Mutual and Washington Mutual was long gone. And
Jeremy: mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: built that practice ground roots, really getting involved in the community, setting myself apart with different services that we provide. And then in 2020 we relocated from Marietta to Smyrna. In that process, I really figured out what my passion was, which was managing ocular surface disease, specifically dry eye. And because I
Jeremy: Mm
Dr. Janelle Davison: eye, I had LASIK and I had dry eye
Jeremy: mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: nineties. And the field is really starting to advance far as diagnosing patients and the therapeutic options that are available. And that's how I started my practice. And so within that practice I
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the dry eye specialty and it did
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and I really wanted to be able to focus and provide that time to patients. 'cause it does require a lot of counseling to understand you have [00:03:00] a
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: that technically doesn't have a cure. And so I. Open up a dedicated dry facility a year ago, and I can like
Jeremy: Wow.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the two. I'm in the
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: an associate at my main location. She starts in November. I'm excited about that so that way I can dedicate
Jeremy: Awesome.
Dr. Janelle Davison: to that.
Jeremy: That's great. And congrats on the growth from starting one business, having success and moving on and starting another one while maintaining your other business. That's no small feat. So what made you decide to start your own business?
I.
Dr. Janelle Davison: always wanted to have my own practice. When I was in optometry school, my goal was to work for so many years, gain a little experience. My goal was like within five years, start my own practice. So I worked in a corporate setting and believe it or not, I got
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: back in
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: when like the housing market crashed, like things
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and they were laying off a lot of doctors and I was in a corporate setting and I got laid off.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: immediately I incorporated, I came up with Brian Eyes Vision Center and Sore And Ice has been [00:04:00] around way longer than 15 years. But I
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: like a relief doctor. So I drove around the various areas in metro Atlanta as far as Elijah in for doctors, working in different practice settings, and that's when I really realized, okay, I definitely wanna do private practice.
And I started a little bit earlier than I anticipated, but I'm glad I did.
Jeremy: Yeah, it's interesting you say that. You really started it. I don't know if necessarily because of the layoff, but that certainly was a spark to do it because I've talked to a lot of people recently who've been laid off, and I certainly encourage them. I was like, whatever your passion is. Try to start a business, and I know it's not for everybody but talk about the fear you had of starting your own business versus let me just try to get on somewhere else.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I think the fear was an initial, I thought I had to work for so many years to gain experience. In school they don't teach you a lot about the business aspect of it, so a
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: it
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: not, and that's a lot of cases, a lot of careers that you go into. If you wanna start your own business, you may not have that business background. Luckily as a healthcare
Jeremy: [00:05:00] Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: some of the marketing is done by just being a provider. We took
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: that helps. And so a lot of other things. I reached out to other colleagues that have private practices. I started going to a lot of practice management conferences. I have to get
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: for disease states, but then I was doing like doubling up because I was getting practice management, how to run a practice, how to start a practice, how to market, how to get on insurance panels.
I just reached out to a lot of people.
There was fear,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: more motivation than the fear after being laid off. I just didn't really want
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: fate in anybody else's hands. And
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the biggest fear, was. Figuring out how I was gonna manage motherhood and
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: my oldest is
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and my practice is 15
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: so he was like a toddler.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I did the
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: on maternity leave, so that tells you how,
Jeremy: wow. Yeah. That's amazing. I know my company started out of a layoff. There's several other people that I know that started their company after a layoff because they wanted that freedom and flexibility and just to bet on themselves and not [00:06:00] put their destiny in somebody else's hand.
Starting your practice, starting an optometrist, obvious you need equipment, you have to build out your retail space. So I'm curious about two things. One, like how did you secure funding, or where did funding come from? And talk about the build out of your first location.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I think when the fear started to kick in, when I started to see those dollars, it was well
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: a quarter of a million. To
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: And of course I had to take loans. I
Jeremy: Well,
Dr. Janelle Davison: of money. Plus I have student debt at
Jeremy: yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I had a young
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: daycare. I actually found a broker, and a broker was able to help
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: a business loan. He found a loan that was
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: healthcare providers. It was through
Jeremy: Oh, nice.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the time, and they
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: a process where you would get the loan, but you had to do so many check-ins every quarter, every month.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: were times where it got dark. The business loan was for
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and 10 years later, that was a lot. I paid it
Jeremy: Wow.
Dr. Janelle Davison: so it was perfect
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: my business loan was paid off, and
Jeremy: congrats.
Dr. Janelle Davison: A lot of times you have to
Jeremy: yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: how to make a way. [00:07:00] But I got a broker
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: a resource for a new practice
Jeremy: I.
Dr. Janelle Davison: specifically optometrist through Wells Fargo.
Jeremy: You know, go ahead. And I'll, I'll circle back to the build out in a second, but just with what you're saying, I think it's important for people listening, like the money is out there and there's many ways to have capital for your business and starting an optometrist. Business is, is not inexpensive.
There's a lot of businesses that are less expensive that don't require the medical background that you have, but there's many ways, someone may have a rich uncle, some may have money in the bank, some may have to secure those loans, but I'm always curious with entrepreneurs
How did you get the money? Because I want people to know there's many ways to do it. When you look at that price tag, that 250 k to start up, that would scare a lot of people away from doing it. So, you know, for you to just believe in yourself and be like, I know this is a lot of money, but I believe in what I'm doing and there's a market for it.
People have bad vision. I'm one of them. So it's just kind of like believing that [00:08:00] what you're doing is the right thing and that you're going to make that back plus more. So, you know, definitely props to for doing that. But tell me the story about the build out of the first location.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Yeah, the build out was interesting, part of that loan. And then to be clear, it was well over 250. So I still
Jeremy: Yeah,
Dr. Janelle Davison: I hear, I'm like, Jesus Christ, but.
Jeremy: yeah, yeah.
Right, right.
Dr. Janelle Davison: architect. We had to secure
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: be the the kind of foreman we had to get blueprints. We had to
Jeremy: I.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the state, the, the city, the
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: it was a lot of stuff. I literally had no clue. I was one of the first people in my family to have a brick and mortar business. I had
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: businesses, but more online, but a brick and mortar. So I had to know all the insurances and things I had to get. So the first
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Wasn't bad because I did get a contractor who specialized in building eyecare facilities, so he was educating me more
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: than I could educate
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: And so he really took
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Of the project he helped me to do, to bid out the project. So he was the architect who did all the designs, he was starting his business, so it worked out perfect for the longest we [00:09:00] stayed really close.
I even recommended a few of the optometrists who were starting their practice, but he was starting his own construction business architect business, so he was leaving
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: America. Somehow we met, I
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: if it was a referral. I can't remember how I met him, but he was in the
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: of his business.
I was starting my business. He worked on a few projects far as building out eyecare facilities. So he was able to
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: it, and then he
Jeremy: nice.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the project to make sure we bid it out to the different contractors so we get the best possible pricing. I did have
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and a a realtor, a commercial realtor to really help negotiate the lease.
'cause all that stuff I was coolest to. Even with
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: all those, I still got screwed. So the second time
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I knew, I was like
knew exactly what not to do,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: And some of
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the second time around, I just negotiated for myself on a lot of things.
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: build out, and negotiate for a lot more funding for build out, which I got from the realtor,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: time
Jeremy: [00:10:00] Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the third time around, I'm like, I know exactly what to do and what not to do.
Jeremy: Yep. Yep. You become an expert by that time. Yeah. That's a lot to manage. And you know, you had your background in optometry, and like you said, there's so many new skills that you have to. Learn and know enough about, and also trust people, you know, that they're not gonna screw you over. And because you don't know something.
So you tap in people who you hope will have your best interests in mind. So it's a lot of faith that you exhibited in order to, to do that. So that's pretty amazing. But it shows up 'cause brilliant eyes on Google. Over a thousand reviews. With a 4.9 rating, how is that possible? That like '
Dr. Janelle Davison: cause we do a good job. I always take pride in, I
Jeremy: yeah,
Dr. Janelle Davison: for any reviews. We
Jeremy: yeah,
Dr. Janelle Davison: you know, we're not perfect. So it's not all five stars, not all 4.9 'cause we're humans.
Jeremy: sure.
Dr. Janelle Davison: You
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: take it to. Pride in that. I don't pay anybody for anything. We come up every
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: we show up as best as we [00:11:00] can.
I have some of the same trials that most business owners have with staff up and down. We just try to do the best we can
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Be accountable when
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and then we just ask each patient that comes in. We don't cherry pick who to ask. We just ask every patient basically to show your, share your experience.
And so those are legit organic. This is how it is.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: perfect, but for the most part, we show up and I like to say we show out. In the area,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: providing the best educational eye care that you can get in the vicinity, in the
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. I'm giving you a moment, we're not gonna call it bragging, but what is it about your leadership that you believe has the staff following your vision 'cause reaching a 4.94 any kind of service provider is extremely difficult.
What are you instilling into your employees that are helping this move to such great reviews and a great experience?
Dr. Janelle Davison: leadership comes from the top down. I don't expect my
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: anything that I'm not willing to do. I'm first in little
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: even now with my practice being 15 years old, I'll come in and you'll see me cleaning the toilets [00:12:00] and I think my staff
Jeremy: Yeah
Dr. Janelle Davison: she's not only walking the walk and talk.
Gonna talk. She's legit. Like I don't expect them to do
Jeremy: yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: that I won't do. I'm very genuine.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: upfront. I'm
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: for the most part. I usually don't, people don't really know what I'm doing most of the time. But I believe leadership
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the top down and
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: practice is a reflection of you. So I'm the business owner. I'm the
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: here. So anybody that comes in here, they're gonna see whether another associate optometrist. Or a staff member that this date, this doctor, this CEO practices here, this founder, she's not asking anything of me that she would not do. whatever
Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: if I wouldn't recommend it for my parents, my siblings, my husband, I'm not gonna recommend it for you.
Jeremy: Yeah. I like that because it really goes back to really treating people how you wanna be treated, and the servant leadership modeling behavior because that's something that you don't get in chains, you know, like chain optometry office or optometrists office, like. A lot of people are there 'cause [00:13:00] it's a job, they're there to collect a check.
But when it's your own and you care about it so much, the way you move is a a little bit different. so let's transition a little bit. So you have brilliant eyes. You've now are leading the visionary Dry Eye Institute. That sounds like a lot. Tell me your thought process to say, I already have a successful business going.
I'm gonna take it a step further and start a whole new thing. What was that process like in your mind?
Dr. Janelle Davison: was passengers driven because I was doing that service
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I was one of the first in the
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: of bring this concept of a dry eye spa. And I was doing that in 2018. It got a little setback because of COVID in 2020, once you start to do things for a while I'm type A, I get. Bored easily. after a while
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: another adventure. I need something to keep me going. My will starting. And so I really enjoyed dry eye and I thought that I could
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the care at a different level if I was able to separate it out. And so I was
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: who's my business partner, and he's at the point now,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: If you think you can do it, I know you [00:14:00] don't do anything without thinking it through. You've gotten the numbers written
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: It's pretty successful in here. The only thing is if we take it out, how can we balance that, that revenue potentially that was coming into this practice
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: gonna have here.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Had to do a little bit of looking at the numbers, but it actually worked out really great for both practices.
So Greenhouse is not
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: looked at our year to date, we're actually up 14% and I'm not
Jeremy: That's great.
Dr. Janelle Davison: more than a day and a half. And we've already profited in whatever business loan I took out on that.
Jeremy: Wow.
Dr. Janelle Davison: off.
Jeremy: That's awesome. That's amazing. Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: just make sure I'm really a stickler for looking at the numbers.
Does it make sense? In this case with dry eye, just felt the care that patients need. And it's millions, upwards, almost 30 million people in the US that have this condition that just recently
Jeremy: Wow.
Dr. Janelle Davison: true diagnosis globally, that they need care
Jeremy: Yeah,
Dr. Janelle Davison: mix very well with primary care. And I'm happy with my
Jeremy: yeah,
Dr. Janelle Davison: It's my little
Jeremy: yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: because I really enjoy the aspect of it. So when I'm over there, it's
Jeremy: [00:15:00] Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: spark back that I was looking for.
Jeremy: Yeah. That's great. And speaking of your husband, so business partner. What is that like to work with your husband? 'cause your business partners, you go home, he's there. How do you do it? How, how do you have a successful marriage and business partnership without driving each other?
Crazy.
Dr. Janelle Davison: a great question. My sister and her husband do the same
Jeremy: I
Dr. Janelle Davison: They coached us
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Their dentist and
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: thing. But he
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the background, always kinda the CFO. And
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: In 2020, he decided to leave corporate America. He wasn't too happy, but he was very
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: corporate America. out perfect 'cause he has a practice management background, he's an engineer and he's done some it. he comes in, he helps with
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and so I jokingly tell my colleagues, if you're in fact steady and busy. I don't see
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I'm seeing patients.
Jeremy: Yeah,
Dr. Janelle Davison: And so during the
Jeremy: yeah, yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: different as if he wasn't working here because I'm in the exam room
Jeremy: Got you.
Dr. Janelle Davison: patients, he helps
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Manage the staff. He's stepping back a little bit 'cause we do have a software [00:16:00] business as well, so that's a whole separate thing. But
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: He does some edging, he helps with some of the interns. So he's taking more of a, just keeping the practice running role.
But when I'm. In the exam room. I'm toggling between the two offices. I don't see him as much. It's the
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: crazy. I'll call him on the phone, driving into the office, and then I'll call him
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Sometimes we're in the office at the same time, but most of the time we're kinda missing each other, just like we'll be if he was working at a different location.
Jeremy: Right, right. Okay. It's strategic scheduling , the time apart keeps you together just like a regular nine to five if you work somewhere else Now. That's cool. So tell me about eyecare. Why is it so important to you? Because clearly this is a passion of yours. You went to school to become an optometrist.
You're advancing your work that you're doing with eyecare. Why is it so important to you?
Dr. Janelle Davison: I grew up wearing glasses, so I started wearing glasses in seventh grade. So I I've been wearing glasses for corrective lenses most of my life til I lasik, but that's not really why I went into it. It's funny, I always wanted to be a healthcare
Jeremy: [00:17:00] Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I wasn't athletics. I was always
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: that was volunteering at hospitals when I was like in middle school and
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: crazy, but. I
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: point I didn't wanna dedicate that much of my adult life to schooling. So it was like, what can I do to still
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: care, be involved in healthcare? And it was actually my optometrist that suggested I look into optometry. Once
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: She said, it's a great feel. The eyes are very essential, important to the overall health of the body. You can own your own
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: can teach, you can speak all the things that she said you can do, which is adding on maybe
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: years of schooling post college. so I went
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Found a mentor and I was sold. But once I got into the field, I
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Understand how important the eyes are.
It's legit that cliche. The eyes are the window to the soul. Eye care providers
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: few providers that can look into the back of the eye and see your blood vessels, see your arteries and veins,
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: brain, see your optic nerve. So I've helped diagnose brain tumors. I've diagnosed hypertension, doing
Jeremy: Wow.
Dr. Janelle Davison: This is all literally just
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the back of the eye and I'm [00:18:00] navigating
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: to different providers. I've even had some
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: where they're seeing these subspecialists, these neurologists, and they're like. Who found this? Your eye doctor, your optometrist.
Jeremy: Wow.
Dr. Janelle Davison: underestimate
Jeremy: Wow.
Dr. Janelle Davison: important the eyes are to the body and how the eyes can really
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: you're taking care of the overall health of your body.
Whether you partake into rec, recreational activities, I can see those things
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and get really geeked out about it. Because it's really
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: field beside the glasses and contact lenses, you really can improve the overall health and function of a patient Just. Maintaining
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: overall eye health.
Jeremy: Yeah, I mean that's actually a really good point that you bring up. Being able to see just the back of the eye, the brain and the nerves, everything you're talking about. It's also an optional service at a lot of places. I think maybe even at, at. Your business and because insurance sometimes doesn't pay for that, so people opt out of doing that.
So what would you say to people who are like, eh, I'm good. I don't need to have [00:19:00] that done. Like, what's your case to say, no, go ahead and do this additional scan? 'cause it doesn't cost that much, I don't think it maybe it varies from practice to practice.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I would say a minimum get a dilation. I could see a lot about the back of the eye with the dilation. Standard of care is dilation,
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: in dilation at
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: All the other things are just adjunct. They're synergistic. Okay, so don't.
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: on a dilation. It's something you need to do every year.
So just
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: assume you'll get blood work, you need to get a dilation at minimum, because people that will
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: dilation will say, how's the health of my eyes? I'm like, I don't know your guess as good
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: So it's like going to your primary
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and declining blood work and to say, doc, how do my levels look?
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Doesn't make
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: it's something that you need
Jeremy: Yep. Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: year, whether you wear glasses or not, because there's several patients that we've caught end stage eye disease. we're still
Jeremy: Wow. Wow.
Dr. Janelle Davison: clearly, right? You see clearly in
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: but if it's not
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Five years from now, you'll be blind.
And so a lot of the eye diseases don't have symptoms in the early phases and even in the moderate to advance. So just make it a part of
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Every year [00:20:00] at minimum, opt to dilate, because most of the time that is included. If you wanna give
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: doctor a more advanced look without having a diagnosis, then that's when you opt into those screenings.
The, I appreciate
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: but at every visit we're looking in the back of the eye. It's just how wide of a view are we gonna be able to get And the dilation. It's, not fun. I get it. But now they even have dilation reversal drops, which we offer in our office. So it's no excuse not to get
Jeremy: Oh,
Dr. Janelle Davison: something we just
Jeremy: I didn't know about that. That must be some new New.
Dr. Janelle Davison: new at the end of the year, so
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: year. And so we have that now where we can reverse that dilation. So we get that process going back a lot faster. So now you have absolutely no excuse, excuse a minimum to get a dilation.
Jeremy: you know, I get it dilated just so I can wear those cool little glasses over my face, you know, that way you know, you pull up at the stoplight after you leave the optometrist office and yeah. People, you know, it, it, it ups your swag a little bit. They know
Dr. Janelle Davison: in
Jeremy: exact people relate to it. They're like, I see you.
Yeah. It's a reminder. It's like [00:21:00] marketing for you. Now you may have answered this in the last question I just asked, but if there was one thing that you would want the general public to know about eyecare, what would it be?
Dr. Janelle Davison: So eyecare is important. I really think that most people neglect their eyes until they're having a problem. So there have been some surveys that ask what is the thing that you fear the most? And most patients will actually say, going blind. And then you'll ask them, what was
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. Hmm,
Dr. Janelle Davison: had an eye exam?
And they'll say, oh, maybe three, four years ago. So there's a disconnect.
Jeremy: hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: general public should understand getting your eyes checked, should just be as frequent as you go for your routine wellness. Check with your primary care doctor and as often as you visit your dentist, right? So you need to go at minimum once a year.
It can tell you a lot
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: of your body, but also you only have one set. Thank God
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: two. So something goes wrong with the other one. At least you have one eye you can work
Jeremy: True.
Dr. Janelle Davison: but you only get one set and we haven't figured out how to
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: that set. So a lot of times
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: come regularly so that we can make sure that one set that you've been given is healthy and that it's working properly for [00:22:00] you.
Jeremy: Yeah. Okay. If you could go back to when you first started your business, what would you tell yourself?
Dr. Janelle Davison: I gotta think all the way back. I was like in my, I think I was like
Jeremy: That was a few years ago. Come on now.
Dr. Janelle Davison: oh, love her. It is still, it's just be flexible, be fluid. 15 years in, I still don't know what I'm gonna get each week. I still have the same woes
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: entry level entrepreneur, when you own your own business, you have to be fluid. You can't be
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: A and so you
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: have to be, I'll take it day by day. 'cause you literally don't know what you're going to get each day when you own a business. So just be fluid.
Jeremy: Yeah. Okay. And you've been on this journey for a little while with starting the business to the successes and where you are now. What have you learned about yourself on this journey?
Dr. Janelle Davison: That I'm resilient. When
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: the wall, I'm able to, panic a little bit, which I encourage. Panic is needed as part of
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: but also turn that panic
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: purpose. Where I can[00:23:00]
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: transition, where I need to get whatever to the next level. I need to be I'm resilient enough and I can always turn my panic into purpose.
Jeremy: Yeah, it's actually really important because I do think when people do hit that panic, , it stops some dead in their tracks and they reverse course or they stop whatever the journey is. So it's something about sticking to it, knowing that the panic will come, knowing that there's going to be some pressure applied.
Having your own business is the land of unpredictability, you know, and you're gonna have some really great days, great months, great years, and there's, there's gonna be some really challenging times. So I think it's just, at least from my perspective, is just believing that what you're doing is the right thing that you're offering a product or service that you can stand behind.
And just having faith in what's been given to you. So what would you say about that?
Dr. Janelle Davison: mean, I definitely agree. I definitely agree. Entrepreneurship, I always jokingly tell my husband some weeks about it is not for the week. Just like parenthood. It is
Jeremy: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: there's
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: You are gonna have a [00:24:00] great years and you'll have some years that are a little slower. But just understand that it's fluid and being able to be okay to ride that wave. And have resources. Resources are gonna be time where you need to have access to . Capital. Knowing when the
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: are, even in our industry, they're slow months. And then what are you gonna do during those slow
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: know
Jeremy: Right.
Dr. Janelle Davison: in additional services, things like that. You a vision. It's not the vision just to get the practice open. You always have to be, in my belief as a CEO,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: of the practice,
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: to see what other people can't see, right? So a lot of times,
Jeremy: Right.
Dr. Janelle Davison: now my husband's my business partner. He's comfortably okay, I didn't get it. But I'm glad we went this way because sometimes I'll see,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: need to do this. We need to do that. I'm looking always three, four years, sometimes five years down the line, I'm looking at things like, I think we're gonna need to pivot, we're gonna need to
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: That I'm good about seeing things before a lot of people see it so that I can position or
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: my business or myself to make sure that we're still successful. I say billion
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: businesses closed, COVID, they didn't survive.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: We survived.[00:25:00]
Jeremy: Right.
Dr. Janelle Davison: housing market, crisis we've,
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: you always have to be a visionary when you say you're the CEO.
Jeremy: Yeah. That's great advice. Let's talk about legacy for a minute. What would you want your kids to say about you one day?
Dr. Janelle Davison: That I was a good person. That I was a good human. That's all
Jeremy: Hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: about I did what I do because I care about people and I'm genuinely doing it to make a difference. All that
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: Just I was a good person.
Jeremy: Yeah, that's great. And it's great that they can see you and your husband working together having a successful business, because I believe when you're seeing that you not only think that it's possible, you know it's possible, you see people that are successful or have a business, maybe on TV or know someone that knows someone.
But when it's right there in your home, , really creating. That environment where it , it's a confidence , that your kids have to have that they don't even recognize because it's just how it's always been for them. Just seeing mom and dad working hard and seeing the fruits of the labor. So, you know, definitely congrats to [00:26:00] you on that.
I wanna ask you if you could instill hope and another woman who's considering starting her own business, what would you say?
Dr. Janelle Davison: I would say just do it. But do it with a plan, do it with strategy. Have faith, but faith without works is dead. So I always believe in, I'm a
Jeremy: Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I always have faith. I'm always praying, but I know I
Jeremy: Okay.
Dr. Janelle Davison: too. And so have faith
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: it, but do the work. But get resources.
Make sure people in your circle understand the journey, understand the vision. Everybody's not gonna be able to be in your circle when you're starting your own business. Even some family members.
Jeremy: Mm. Mm-hmm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: ' em back in. Once you get where things are stable. Some people get scared and they wanna put their fear on you, and so if
Jeremy: Mm. Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: you. Hope being that you always like to be realistic too, is not all, princesses and ponies. It's rough.
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: a plan,
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: and have that faith, you'll get through it.
Jeremy: Okay. That's a good answer and I think it is important because there's a lot of that in this world. When you start your own business, whether it's a, a friend or family member, that puts a lot of fear on you. Like, oh, you [00:27:00] shouldn't do that because of this. They tell you , all the reasons why you shouldn't do it, and everything that will go wrong.
So being able to have like that fortitude to press on anyways. And sometimes you just have to find out for yourself, it's just going after it. And you may find out that it's not for you. \ You may think that you wanna start a business, but if you never start it, you'll never know. So, no, that's really great advice.
We've reached the time where we're pulling out the clarity cards, I got one for you here. This is how do you incorporate self-care into your life? How do you incorporate self-care into your life?
Dr. Janelle Davison: bad about that for a decade.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Dr. Janelle Davison: my kids are a little bit older, they can take care of themselves. I. Incorporate a few things. I, my husband for Mother's Day got me a membership to a spa. So once a month I try to get
Jeremy: Nice.
Dr. Janelle Davison: massage and alternate that with a facial.
That makes a big difference.
Jeremy: Great.
Dr. Janelle Davison: I've
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: hours. There was a time that I worked almost six
Jeremy: Mm.
Dr. Janelle Davison: worked on weekends. I realized I cannot be everything for everybody. I stopped working
Jeremy: [00:28:00] Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: work weekends. If you need a weekend, doctor. I'm not your girl. I've
Jeremy: Yep.
Dr. Janelle Davison: that I work as late, so self-care, mini massages, facials, but also modifying working hours where it balances and works better for my life.
I'm taking ownership of me.
Jeremy: Yeah. That's great. Yeah, it sounds like some boundaries in place. , That's really great. How can people contact you if they have questions? 'cause I know you also do speaking . What's a good place for people to contact you?
Dr. Janelle Davison: I'm on social media platforms, LinkedIn at Dr. Janelle OD Instagram as well. I do usually respond to any dms or private messages and then also if you go to our website brain eyes vision center.com, you are able to reach us there through the contact. And if you need a dry eye appointment, you're able to click on the dry eye appointment through there as well.
Jeremy: Okay. Cool. Alright, well thank you Dr. Davidson for joining and thank you all for tuning into the Jeremy Haselwood show. If you've enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to follow or subscribe. So you're always up to date when the latest episode drops. And until next time, keep [00:29:00] following your dreams to find your purpose.
