According to Guidant Financial, women made up 31 percent of all owners of small businesses or franchises in 2021. Further, Forbes reports a steady increase in female entrepreneurs in healthcare industries. It makes sense; a whopping 80 percent of “women make 80% of the healthcare buying decisions in the United States.”
To celebrate our Ladies Issue, Dr. Anne Metzger and Dr. Tiffany Gates, owners of Visionary Eye Care in Broomfield, tell us what it’s like to be a woman business owner in the healthcare field.
How has being a woman helped you in establishing yourselves in optometry?
Dr. Metzger: It helps me relate very well with parents and children of all development levels, which helps me to care for young eyes.
Dr. Gates: Our perspective lends to compassionate care, which is one of our core values.
What convinced you to go into eye care?
Dr. Gates: My childhood optometrist was a family friend and always seemed happy. My dad was highly myopic and also had a stroke in his 50s. Seeing first-hand how important vision is inspired me.
Dr. Metzger: I had many childhood eye conditions and later discovered that eye condition affect learning. The eyes and the brain are connected and this impacted my choices in college and life.
What advice would you give to women considering professional optometry?
Dr. Metzger: The field is flexible and versatile. We can work full or part time and easily switch back and forth.
Dr. Gates: Eye care is a great choice for women! We tend to work normal hours without on-call, and have holidays off.
What was the funniest thing that happened to you in your field?
Dr. Metzger: The joke in optometry school was that if the latch on the lens case wasn’t locked, a student might drop them. Well, I did—my first day of clinical.
Dr. Gates: During school I worked at a clinic in downtown Los Angeles where I spoke a lot of Spanish. “Gota” means drop and “gato” means cat. A nice lady finally told me that I kept telling patients, “Okay, now I'm going to put three cats in your eyes!”
Optometry is a very rewarding field for women. They help people see, treat their eye diseases, infections, and injuries. Keratoconus is Dr. Gates’ specialty, and she can restore sight for patients and greatly improve their ability to work and function in life.
They also have some advice for young women considering becoming entrepreneurs. Dr. Gates says, “Become an entrepreneur if you want independence, have a passion for your field, and are ready to work hard. It’s a roller coaster ride, but it's all worth it.”
Dr. Metzger says that owning a private practice with another woman can be ideal. “We both understand work-life balance. Also, take a lot of time to decide on a location. Our current site was actually our fourth choice, but we are now convinced it’s the best. We’re excited to be here!”
