The Optician Show - Optical Business & Marketing Podcast

Garry Kousoulou FBDO
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The Optician Show is the podcast for opticians, optometrists, and optical practice owners who want to grow. Hosted by Garry Kousoulou FBDO, this show explores marketing, patient experience, and business growth in optics. Learn how to increase footfall, improve conversions, and build a premium optical practice — without competing on price. Each episode features real-world strategies, expert insights, and conversations with leading figures in the optical industry. Topics include: * Social media for opticians * Google Business Profile & local SEO * Optical retail strategy * Patient experie

  1. 19h ago

    The Optician Show: Beyond the Eye Test with Jason Searle | Optometry, Patient Trust, Dry Eye, Clinical Problem Solving and the Communication Skills That Transform Eye Care for People and Professionals

    What makes an exceptional optometrist? It starts with listening. In this episode of The Optician Show, Garry Kousoulou sits down with optometrist, author and educator Jason Searle, founder of The Eye Care Advocate, for a conversation about the people behind the prescriptions. From complex clinical cases to the small moments that build patient trust, they explore what it takes to deliver eye care that makes a difference. Link to Jason's community https://community.theeyecareadvocate.co.uk/plans/1914297?bundle_token=c80278dbbe785ff9638155b9d2e22f7c&utm_source=manual Link to Jason's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-searle/ Jason shares his unexpected route into optometry, beginning as a junior photographer at Bristol Eye Hospital, and reflects on the experiences that shaped his approach to patient care. He discusses life as a locum optometrist, the challenges of starting out and why professional confidence grows through curiosity, support and knowing your limits. At the heart of the episode is a simple question: are we hearing what our patients are telling us? Garry and Jason discuss history taking, symptoms and the importance of translating a patient's description into useful clinical information. Jason recalls a patient describing "grass" in their vision, illustrating why the language people use can matter as much as the questions we ask. The conversation moves into the practical realities of optical practice: repeat visits, spectacle adaptation

  2. 6d ago

    Starting from Scratch: Building an Independent Opticians You Love with Stuart Humphrey

    Can you build an own independent optical practice you love? Garry Kousoulou talks to Optician Awards finalist Stuart Humphrey about starting from scratch, putting patients first and making technology work for a small practice. From personal service and specialist eye care to smarter systems and profitability, discover his lessons for practice owners and anyone thinking of going independent. Starting from Scratch: Building an Independent Opticians You Love Thinking about opening your own optical practice? Wondering whether you have the confidence, experience or energy to start again? This episode of The Optician Show is for you. Garry Kousoulou meets dispensing optician, optometrist and Optician Awards Owner Practitioner finalist Stuart Humphrey, who started a new practice from scratch four years ago after decades in the profession. What follows is an honest, uplifting conversation about independence, patient relationships and creating a working life you genuinely enjoy. “I have a really, really good job that I own.” For Stuart, success means building a practice that works for his patients and for him. He describes the satisfaction of knowing the people behind the prescriptions, watching families grow and bringing the eye examination and dispensing together into one personal experience. Starting your own practice: what really matters? Stuart shares his journey from dispensing optics and lens consultancy to returning to university while raising a young family, becoming an optometrist and eventually creating a practice on his own terms. He also reveals an important lesson from his launch: he originally intended to focus on clinical care, with only a small selection of frames. The reality taught him how much spectacle sales mattered to supporting that care. “If I had not done so, the business wouldn’t have worked.” It is a valuable conversation for anyone weighing up the clinical ambitions and commercial realities of opening an independent practice. Inside the episode Finding the courage to start again: why Stuart returned to practice ownership after trying locum work.Building patient relationships: the value of continuity, listening and remembering the person behind the appointment.Combining clinical care and dispensing: how his dual qualifications shape the patient journey.Developing specialist interests: his experience with orthokeratology, myopia management, semi-scleral lenses and glaucoma shared care.Making technology earn its place: using online booking and digital administration to free up time.Learning from commercial decisions: an honest discussion about smart eyewear stock and changing technology.Avoiding professional isolation: the value of hospital work, colleagues and Local Optical Committees.Defining success for yourself: creating a profitable practice you want to walk into each morning.What will make your boat go faster? One question runs through Stuart’s approach: what is slowing the practice down, and what could work better? From asking his secretary about everyday frustrations to simplifying his accounts and booking systems, he shows how small improvements can create more time for patients. “I would say embrace technology.” But the heart of this episode is his enthusiasm for the profession. Stuart talks about his practice as his “allotment”: somewhere close to home where he can care for patients, make glasses and enjoy his day.

  3. Oct 9

    Behind the Smile: Mental Health, Neurodiversity & Being Heard in Optics — with Tammy

    Who looks after the people looking after everyone else? For World Mental Health Day, Garry Kousoulou speaks with Tammy about postnatal depression, neurodiversity, workplace overwhelm and the loneliness that can exist even in a busy optical practice. Through honest personal experiences, they explore crying at work, bullying, asking for help and the small acts of kindness that can make someone feel heard. A conversation for optometrists, dispensing opticians, practice managers—and anyone who has ever thought, “Is it just me?”

  4. Oct 1

    He Saw a World That Didn’t Have to Be Blind

    WHAT IF THE WORLD COULD SEE? What if a life could change with a pair of glasses? What if the difference between dependence and independence could fit inside a box? In this episode, Garry Kousoulou meets John, a dispensing optician whose ambition reaches far beyond the walls of his practice: to help people around the world access the glasses they need to see, work and live more independently. His starting point is simple: “They just need spectacles.” For people whose sight loss is caused by an uncorrected prescription, glasses can make an extraordinary difference. Yet getting the right pair depends on where you live, what you can afford and whether someone with the skills and equipment to help is within reach. John asked himself a question: could he rethink the whole system? Not just the glasses. How they are assembled. How they fit. How a prescription is found. And how all of that could reach a community without a conventional optical practice. The result is “Optician in a Box”: a modular spectacle system designed to be assembled locally using interchangeable components and pre-cut lenses. During the conversation, John demonstrates how the pieces fit together, how the system accommodates different facial measurements and how it can correct astigmatism. Then comes the detail that makes Garry pause. “They’re working out at about eleven pounds twenty-five pence.” £11.25 a pair, according to John’s estimate in the interview. A modest figure beside the possibility of someone returning to work, reading more comfortably or regaining a part of their independence. But the glasses are only part of the story. John also demonstrates a prototype device designed to help people find their prescription without electricity. He explains the thinking behind it, the adjustable lenses and his ambition to make vision correction accessible in places where trained professionals and conventional equipment are scarce. Garry’s reaction captures the excitement: “The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.” This is a conversation about invention, but its heart is human. Behind every prescription is a person. A parent who wants to provide for their family. Someone who has travelled for days hoping to receive help. A community where clearer vision could open doors that poor sight has closed. As Garry puts it: “If we can get people’s sight back, we get their independence back.” The episode explores how John’s idea might reach those communities through charities, NGOs, governments and optical practices. He shares a proposed donation model in which practices and their customers could contribute towards glasses for someone else. “Buy one, donate one.” A simple invitation to connect the everyday act of buying glasses with an opportunity to help another person see. There is also a personal story behind this meeting. Garry and John share a history through the optical practice John now runs. Their conversation brings together friendship, professional experience and a shared belief that optics can change lives. John describes the outlook that has driven him: “Tomorrow’s the beginning of the rest of your life.” That belief runs through the episode. After decades in the profession, he is still experimenting, questioning familiar processes and imagining how things could work differently. This is not a claim that glasses can treat every cause of blindness. The discussion focuses on refractive sight loss and the potential of better access to appropriate vision correction. John’s wider ambition depends on turning an invention into a system that communities can use and sustain. But the question is compelling. “Could we change blindness globally?” “I think so.” Watch as Garry explores the invention, the person behind it and the possibilities ahead. Could a box of components become the beginning of something much bigger?

  5. Sep 5

    The Colour Vision Illusion: What Opticians, Parents and Patients Need to Know

    Colour vision deficiency is far more complex than simply being “colour blind”. In this special episode, recorded around Colour Vision Deficiency Awareness Day, Garry Kousoulou is joined by Mark Hickson, Programme Leader for face-to-face teaching at Bradford College and lecturer in ophthalmic dispensing and visual optics. Mark is a qualified dispensing optician with a specialist interest in visual perception, and this conversation explores what colour vision really is, how the brain interprets colour, why colour vision deficiency occurs, and why the optical profession may need to give the subject far more attention. One of the most fascinating ideas discussed is that colour itself is not a physical property in the way most of us imagine. Light has different wavelengths, but the colours we experience are constructed by the brain. Mark explains how cone cells, rod cells and higher visual processing all contribute to the way we perceive the world around us. The episode also looks closely at colour vision deficiency and the genetics behind it. Mark explains why congenital colour vision deficiency is far more common in men, how the X chromosome is involved and why a child with colour vision deficiency may have absolutely no idea that they see the world differently from everybody else. That creates an important challenge for parents, teachers, opticians and schools. A child may not complain that something is wrong because, to them, their vision has always been normal. Instead, clues may appear through behaviour at school, difficulties with colour-coded learning materials or problems distinguishing certain colours. Garry and Mark also discuss the Ishihara colour vision test, one of the most recognisable tests used in eye care. They look at the different types of Ishihara plates, how the test should be used, why lighting and presentation matter and why old or faded testing books may not give reliable results. This leads to a bigger question for the optical profession: are we testing colour vision often enough? The conversation explores whether dispensing opticians and optical assistants could play a greater role in colour vision screening and whether practices should routinely have access to recognised colour vision tests. The discussion then moves into careers. For some occupations, accurate colour discrimination can be important for safety or professional requirements. The episode considers careers such as train driving, aviation, the military, electrical work and even highly specialised jobs such as producing prosthetic eyes. However, colour vision deficiency should not simply be viewed as a limitation. Mark shares the remarkable historical example of people with colour vision deficiency sometimes being able to detect camouflage more effectively because they are less distracted by certain colour patterns. The episode also touches on one of the most famous examples of visual perception: the blue-and-black or white-and-gold dress illusion. Different people can look at exactly the same image and genuinely perceive different colours, demonstrating just how much colour perception depends on the brain rather than simply the eye. This is a fascinating conversation for dispensing opticians, optometrists, optical assistants, students, parents, teachers and anyone interested in how human vision works. If you work in optometry, ophthalmic dispensing or eye care, this episode may encourage you to think differently about how often colour vision is discussed and tested in practice. And if you are a parent, teacher or someone living with colour vision deficiency, it is a reminder that seeing colour differently does not necessarily mean seeing the world less clearly. It simply means the brain may be interpreting that world in a different way. Featuring: Garry Kousoulou – Dispensing Optician and host of The Optician Show Mark Hickson – Programme Leader and Lecturer in Ophthalmic Dispensing and Visual Optics at Bradford College .

  6. Sep 5

    One Child in Every Classroom: Understanding Colour Blindness

    Colour Blindness: What Parents, Teachers & Opticians Need to Know In this episode of The Optician Show, Garry Kousoulou explores one of the most overlooked areas of eye care:colour vision deficiency, also commonly searched for as color vision deficiency or colour blindness. Joined by colour vision experts, this episode looks at why colour vision deficiency can still go undetected in children,what parents should look out for, and why optometrists and opticians need to think beyond simply completing an Ishihara colour vision test. We discuss how colour vision deficiency can affect education, confidence, everyday life and even safety.The conversation also explores the science behind how we see colour, the difference between screening and diagnosis,and why people with colour vision deficiency can become extremely skilled at recognising colours through learning and experience. In this episode: Why colour vision deficiency is still frequently missed What the Ishihara test can and cannot tell us Why an Ishihara test is a screening tool rather than a full diagnosis How colour blindness can affect children in the classroom What parents should do if they suspect their child has colour vision deficiency How teachers can make learning more accessible Why you should never use colour alone to communicate important information The difference between rods, cones and colour perception How people with colour vision deficiency learn to recognise colours Why colour accessibility can also be a workplace and safety issue The role opticians and optometrists can play in improving awarenessOne of the strongest messages from this conversation is simple:never use colour alone to convey information.Small changes in schools, workplaces and healthcare can make information far more accessible for people with colour vision deficiency. This episode is particularly relevant for opticians, optometrists, dispensing opticians, ophthalmic professionals,teachers, parents and anyone interested in colour vision, colour blindness and accessible design. If you are searching for a color vision deficiency podcast,colour vision deficiency podcast,optometry podcast oroptician podcast,this episode provides a practical and thought-provoking discussion about an area of vision that deserves far more attention. The Optician Show brings together people, ideas and conversations from across optics, optometry and eye care. Keywords:color vision deficiency podcast,colour vision deficiency podcast,optometry podcast,optician podcast,colour blindness,color blindness,Ishihara test,colour vision test,colour blindness in children,optometry,opticians,dispensing optician,eye care podcast,colour vision deficiency education.

  7. Sep 3

    From Hungarian Tomatoes to Transforming Colour Blindness

    The Colour Vision Revolution: How Hungarian Tomatoes Transformed Eye Care Welcome to a revolutionary episode of the podcast that will change how optical professionals approach colour vision deficiency. Joined by Balazs Komolka and Mate Sabo from ColorOn, Garry Kousoulou explores a scientific breakthrough that turns a failed Ishihara test from a clinical dead end into a life-changing opportunity. Colour deficiency affects approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 400 women. Despite its prevalence, it remains heavily shrouded in stigma. For decades, the optical industry has lacked an accessible, real-time solution to enhance a patient's colour perception in the testing room. That narrative changes today. The genesis of ColorOn did not start in an optical laboratory, but in the agricultural export market of 1980s Eastern Europe. When East Germany rejected shipments of Hungarian tomato puree for "not being red enough," the Technical University in Budapest was commissioned to create an objective "tomato purimeter" to measure redness. Having successfully mastered red light filtering for agriculture, the research team asked a bold question. "The people and this researcher at Budapest Technical University asked, 'Okay, what do we do next? Because we have this knowledge about red light and red filtering... What can we use this for?' And there was a wild idea. Maybe let's check the human eye." (Mate Sabo) Early human research was flawed because the medical literature incorrectly assumed colour blindness was caused by missing or weak photoreceptors. The Hungarian researchers discovered that in over 99 percent of cases (specifically red-green deficiency), the cones are not missing. Instead, their sensitivity has shifted. Red shifts towards green, and green shifts towards red. This overlap creates a muddy "confusion zone." ColorOn lenses do not cure colour blindness. Because it is impossible to alter the biological sensors without gene therapy, the lenses manipulate the external stimuli before it reaches the eye. They act as highly sophisticated filters that cut out the specific wavelengths causing the confusion zone. When a patient first tries the ColorOn lenses, a crucial biological process must occur. Initially, their entire field of vision will appear tinted. However, within one to two minutes, the brain undergoes chromatic adaptation to achieve "white balance." Once the brain recalibrates and white balance is reached, the Ishihara test is presented again, frequently resulting in highly emotional reactions. "Then the brain starts the adaptation... the white balance comes back again and this is when we can go for a second time Ishihara check... you see the happiness of a child on their faces because it is truly the first experience they see colour differentiation." (Balazs Komolka) Extensive patient surveys revealed that 83 percent of colour-deficient individuals do not want to wear tinted lenses all day. They view colour enhancement as a functional, task-specific tool. ColorOn offers a tiered portfolio (Strong, Mild, Experience, and Sunglasses) with a heavy focus on clip-ons. This allows patients to overlay the technology onto their existing prescription exactly when needed. In practice, the diagnostic procedure takes just 10 to 12 minutes using a patented digital tablet tester. The software maps the patient's specific deficiency and instantly recommends the correct lens, removing all guesswork for the dispensing optician. With European Medical Device Regulation certification secured, ColorOn is preparing for a massive UK launch, spearheaded by appearances at the upcoming 100% Optical event at ExCeL London. We are currently looking for 50 pioneer optical practices in the UK to be the first to introduce this technology. "We are going to find 50 practices once everything is good... to test this, and this is so exciting for those first 50. If you're watching this and you think, 'Well, this is something I want to s

  8. Aug 23

    The Secret History of Optics: Inside the World’s Oldest Optical Museum

    The Secret History of Optics: Inside the World’s Oldest Optical Museum In this special on-the-move episode of The Optician Show, Garry Kousoulou visits the British Optical Association Museum at the College of Optometrists and speaks with museum curator Dr Neil Handley. Neil describes it as the oldest optical museum in the world, now celebrating its 125th anniversary. “We are the oldest optical museum in the world, and this year is our 125th anniversary.” This is a fascinating walk through the history of optics, eyewear, sight testing and the inventions that helped shape modern eye care. Along the way, Garry and Neil uncover remarkable stories involving: Benjamin Franklin and bifocalsGandhi’s spectaclesMarilyn Monroe’s final glassesGreta Garbo and monovisionearly Ray-Ban eyewearhistoric colour vision testingVictorian eye-disease modelsSir Harold Ridley and the intraocular lensOne of the museum’s most striking ideas is summed up by Neil: “There are so many eyes around the building that it’s the only museum where the exhibits look at you rather than the other way around.” The episode also reveals one of the oldest printed illustrations of spectacles, dating back to 1475, and explores how optical history continues to influence eye care today. A particularly powerful story concerns a Board of Trade colour vision test from 1912, introduced after concerns that ship navigators could struggle to distinguish red and green navigation lights. Neil explains how improved testing was followed by a significant reduction in shipping accidents. The conversation then moves to Sir Harold Ridley and the development of the intraocular lens. Observations made during the Second World War about Perspex fragments in pilots’ eyes helped inspire an invention that transformed cataract surgery. For anyone who has worked in optics for years, this episode will also unlock memories. “They see something from 40 years ago, and it’s a lightbulb moment. They go, ‘I remember that.’” Garry describes the museum as: “An Aladdin’s cave.” And that really captures it. This is not simply a podcast about old spectacles. It is about innovation, healthcare, fashion, science, public safety and the extraordinary people who helped shape the optical profession. The episode also looks ahead to the College of Optometrists’ Open House on Sunday 13 September 2026, from 12pm–5pm, when visitors can explore the museum and meet experts from the College. Garry and Neil also discuss plans to curate a collection of Snellen sight charts in different languages, potentially creating something truly unique. If you are an optometrist, dispensing optician, optical assistant, student, eyewear enthusiast or simply fascinated by eye care history, this is an episode worth watching or listening to. As Neil says at the end: “I hope it’s been eye-opening.” It certainly was. #TheOpticianShow #Opticians #Optometry #Eyecare #OpticalHistory #Eyewear #CollegeOfOptometrists #NeilHandley #BenjaminFranklin #HaroldRidley #IntraocularLens #ColourVision #EyeHealth #VisionCare #IndependentOpticians

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The Optician Show is the podcast for opticians, optometrists, and optical practice owners who want to grow. Hosted by Garry Kousoulou FBDO, this show explores marketing, patient experience, and business growth in optics. Learn how to increase footfall, improve conversions, and build a premium optical practice — without competing on price. Each episode features real-world strategies, expert insights, and conversations with leading figures in the optical industry. Topics include: * Social media for opticians * Google Business Profile & local SEO * Optical retail strategy * Patient experie

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