If I could start over knowing everything I know today, what would I do differently?

Dr. Jennifer Stewart actually got the opportunity to find out.

After spending 15 years helping build a successful multi-doctor practice, she sold her ownership stake, stepped away from patient care, and spent time teaching, consulting, speaking, and learning from practices across the country.

Then she decided to start again.

But this time, she designed the practice around everything she had learned about how patients shop, how they make buying decisions, and what makes an optical experience feel completely different from simply picking frames off a wall.

The result is Look New Canaan, a deliberately small, highly curated optical where patients typically generate $1,000- $1,200 in revenue per visit, capture runs around 80%, and roughly half of patients may purchase two or three pairs at the time of their exam.

In this week’s Power Hour, host Eugene Shatsman sits down with Dr. Stewart to unpack exactly what she does differently, and why many of the ideas driving those numbers can be applied in almost any independent practice.

Dr. Stewart Didn’t Build the Optical for Everyone

One of Dr. Stewart’s first decision was also one of the most important: Stop trying to be everything to everybody.

Before choosing inventory, she thought carefully about the patient she wanted walking through the door.

Their age, lifestyle, income, how they dress, what they value, and what kind of shopping experience they expect.

Then she built the optical around that person. And when some of her original assumptions turned out to be wrong? She changed them.

Dr. Stewart originally wanted Look New Canaan to carry more colorful, adventurous eyewear. But the actual community gravitated toward a more understated, minimalist aesthetic.

Instead of forcing her original vision, she watched what patients bought and adapted the optical accordingly.

The lesson is simple:

Your optical should not be built around what you want patients to buy. It should be built around what your ideal patients actually value.

Look Outside Your Practice to Understand What Patients Want

Dr. Stewart does something surprisingly simple that many practice owners never consider.

She watches people, walks through the community, looks at the stores they shop in, the clothes they wear, the brands they display or deliberately don’t display, and the difference between obvious luxury and “quiet luxury.”

Those decisions tell you something about how your patients want to present themselves, and that can tell you a lot about the eyewear they may ultimately buy.

Instead of guessing what belongs on the frame board, Dr. Stewart combines that observation with actual sales data and continuously adjusts the assortment.

Stop Letting Eyewear Become a Commodity

Here is where the conversation gets especially interesting.

Dr. Stewart argues that when every frame feels the same to a patient, there is only one obvious way left to compare them: Price.

Look New Canaan deliberately gives patients another reason to care.

Every member of the team learns approximately four meaningful facts about each frame line.

• Where is it made?
• What makes the construction different?
• What is unique about the designer?
• Why did the practice choose this line?

Dr. Stewart even recommends bringing frame reps into the office and asking them to train the team on the story behind the product, something several experienced reps told her practices had rarely asked them to do.

Then those stories become part of the patient experience.

Not a 10-minute sales pitch. Just enough information to turn, “Here’s another black frame” into, “Here’s why this particular frame is different.”

That information creates something price alone cannot, emotional value.

Dr. Stewart says that once patients understand the craftsmanship, origin, design, and reasoning behind the eyewear, they begin to develop a connection to what they are buying, and often become far less focused solely on price.

Don’t Ask Patients to Shop. Curate for Them.

Another major difference happens before the patient even leaves the exam room.

Instead of sending someone into the optical and asking, “So, what are you looking for?” Jennifer’s team has already started answering that question for them.

While the patient is in the exam, the team evaluates their existing eyewear, prescription, style, and other information and pre-selects a tray of approximately eight frames.

Dr. Stewart calls it an “eyewear wardrobe.”

The patient walks out and finds a curated selection already waiting. Some may be lightweight titanium. Some may be acetate. Some may be more adventurous. And sunglasses are deliberately included as part of the conversation.

Instead of asking the patient to navigate hundreds of frames alone, the practice immediately demonstrates expertise.

That changes the experience from browsing to consulting.

Multiple Pairs Become Solutions, Not an Upsell

Dr. Stewart is also unapologetic about recommending multiple pairs.

During the exam, Jennifer may identify several visual needs.

A regular progressive. An office lens. Reading glasses. Prescription sunglasses.

Then the optical experience connects different frames to those different jobs. One pair might become the everyday progressive. Another lightweight frame becomes the all-day office pair. A third becomes the sunglass solution.

The patient is not simply being offered more eyewear. They are being shown why different eyewear solves different problems in their life.

That is a very different conversation.

And it helps explain why Jennifer says approximately half of her patients may purchase two or three pairs during the exam visit.

Make It Ridiculously Easy to Buy the Second Pair Later

One of the simplest ideas in the episode may also be one of the most actionable.

If a patient loves another frame but is not ready to purchase it today, Dr. Stewart’s team takes the measurements anyway.

They record everything.

Then the patient can simply text later, receive a secure payment link, and have the glasses ordered without returning to the practice.

Practices often make it unnecessarily difficult for patients to do business with them. Online retailers remove friction. Independent practices should be thinking about how to do the same.

That second pair can even become a future birthday or holiday gift without requiring another fitting appointment.

Stop Making Patients Choose Things They Don’t Understand

The same principle applies to lenses.

Look New Canaan does not overwhelm patients with an extensive good-better-best presentation or ask them to compare a long list of progressive designs, materials, and coatings.

Dr. Stewart’s team largely selects the appropriate premium solution for them.

Why?

Because when patients are overwhelmed by choices they do not understand, they naturally fall back on the one thing they do understand: Price.

Instead, the practice explains why the recommended lens is right for that patient and moves forward.

Dr. Stewart believes practices need to give patients the opportunity to choose excellent products without forcing them to become optical experts first.

Expertise Is Part of the Product

Dr. Stewart is also willing to tell a patient, “No. That frame isn’t the one.”

Maybe the shape cuts awkwardly across their eyebrows. Maybe another color brings out their eyes. Maybe the frame needs more lift. Maybe something else fits their face better.

That honesty matters.

Instead of simply selling frames, Jennifer becomes the expert helping the patient make the right decision, and that expertise itself becomes valuable.

Patients begin trusting the recommendation instead of feeling like someone is simply trying to close a sale.

Put The Eyecare B.O.S.S. to Work in Your Practice

Are you reading The Eyecare B.O.S.S. yet?

Thousands of copies of the growth manual have already been sold, but the book is only the beginning. If you’re ready to start implementing the systems inside your own practice, visit EyecareBoss.com.

There are more than 40 free tools available to download, including the same tools used with practices to help turn the concepts in the book into execution.

And the results are worth paying attention to.

Across a year-long study involving approximately 25 practice locations, participating practices saw average:

Refractions increase 19.4%. Revenue increase 23.9%.

In a market where much of the industry is flat, those results stand out.

You can use the book and tools independently, work alongside other practice owners in a group, or get one-on-one coaching support. Your call.

Your dream practice is waiting for you. Visit EyecareBoss.com

• Build the Optical Around the Patient You Want | Learn why Jennifer stopped trying to serve every possible shopper and instead created an assortment and experience around a clearly defined ideal patient.
• Give Every Frame a Story | Discover how learning just three meaningful facts about each collection can help move the conversation away from price and create emotional value around eyewear.
• Curate Before the Patient Starts Shopping | See how Look New Canaan creates a personalized “eyewear wardrobe” before patients even leave the exam room.
• Turn Multiple Pairs Into Multiple Solutions | Learn how connecting eyewear to specific parts of the patient’s life can make two, three, or even more pairs feel logical instead of salesy.
• Remove the Friction From Buying Later | See how taking measurements today can make tomorrow’s second-pair purchase as simple as sending a text.
• Stop Overwhelming Patients With Choices | Understand why simplifying the lens conversation can make premium recommendations easier for patients to understand and easier to accept.

Connect with Dr. Jennifer Stewart

Dr. Jennifer Stewart is the founder and Chief Vision Officer of Look New Canaan, a design-forward, patient-focused optometric practice in Connecticut built around independent eyewear, premium products, technology, and a high-touch retail experience. She is also an international speaker, writer, consultant, and educator, serves as Professional Editor of Independent Strong, co-founded Performance 20/20, and has been recognized as one of Vision Monday’s Most Influential Women in Optical, as well as receiving the Optical Women’s Association Emerging Leader Award and Eyecare Business Game Changer Award.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferstewartod/
• Website: https://looknewcanaan.com/

Connect with Eugene Shatsman

Eugene Shatsman is Host of Power Hour, Managing Partner of National Strategic Group, and Co-Creator of The Eyecare B.O.S.S. A growth strategist and consultant to hundreds of optometric practices nationwide, Eugene specializes in scaling independent eye care businesses through structured strategy, data, marketing science, and operational clarity.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugeneshatsman/
• Website: https://eyecareboss.com