More Than Optics More Than Optics

Pat Smith qualified as a dispensing optician in 1992, and after a varied career in the industry, she followed her passion for dogs and their welfare to create a dog grooming business, Allsorts Premier Dog Grooming and Hydrotherapy.

In this episode of More Than Optics, Pat chats to Jayshree and Bhavin about what prompted her career change, what it took to achieve all of her canine-related qualifications and how she set up her business.

Reemal Rabheru was a dispensing optician, who spent two years in managerial roles at Sainsbury's, before pursuing his passion for business and property investment and development. He has spent the past fifteen years building his own property investment knowledge and portfolio and now invests in traditional Buy to Let properties & Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in and around Milton Keynes and Northampton, as well as in creating new homes through land development and the conversion of existing commercial units.

In this episode of More Than Optics, Reemal tells Jayshree and Bhavin about his change in career from healthcare to retail and eventually to property, and the challenges that he's faced and overcome along the way.

Maria Anubi is a business owner and a qualified optician, with many years of experience as a healthcare professional. She was contracted to supply optical products and services by Army Air force Exchange Services on USAF bases in the UK and for many years, she owned and conducted a successful Dollond & Aitchison optician franchise based in London, before eventually opening a new Independent optical boutique in Oxford. She has since taken her skills, talents and experience and put them to use in another way as a business coach and mentor, inlcuding for the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.

In this episode of More Than Optics, Maria tells Jayshree and Bhavin about her journey through optics and business, and also gives her thoughts on the dichotomy of the clinical and retail aspects of the optical industry.

After being caught between her love of optics and her passion for writing, Priya Patel decided against becoming a journalist in favour of qualifying as an optometrist over eleven years ago. Fast forward to the 2020s and Priya, now a wife and mother, has become a self-published children's author with the release of her Little James' Big Adventure series, which has hitherto spawned two installments: Little James Visits The Opticians and Little James Visits The Hairdresser. 

In this episode of More Than Optics, Priya chats to Jayshree and Bhavin about her journey into authordom and the idea behind the Little James series, and also explains the production process of each book, from writing to the illustrations.

Sam Strong is a lecturer in Optometry at Aston University, having graduated from the University of Bradford with a PhD in Vision Science in 2015, after initially graduating with a BSc in Psychology from the University of York.

In this episode of More Than Optics, Sam tells Jayshree and Bhavin about how her other passion for illustrating has helped her in the day job, as well as the challenges of teaching online during the pandemic.

Jaime Patel has been a qualified optometrist for over 20 years, but much of that time has also been spent developing her passion of painting contemporary art, and, more recently, of crystals. In 2020, during the throes of the pandemic, she combined those passions with the launch of her business, Crystal Artisan.

In this episode of More Than Optics, Jaime tells Jayshree and Bhavin the fascinating story about how Crystal Artisan came to be, as well as some of the inspirations for her art!

Check out her online shop and her Instagram page!