Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Kim Uyen Nguyen.
Dr. Kim, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I knew I wanted to do optometry since I was a senior in high school. I got my first job in the eye care industry as an optician during my first semester in college; I went on to work in various optometry and ophthalmology settings all throughout undergraduate years. I graduated from the University of Houston College of Optometry in 2011 and joined a large retail chain as a subleasee (leasing a small space next to a big box store to provide services to patients only). While practicing in the retail setting, I realized that I was very limited to what I can do since corporate had a lot of saying in what can and can not be done. However, being a new graduated with lots of debts, no income history, no equity, it was very hard for banks to give you a loan to build your own practice. So I worked in my sublease office space for four years saving up money and equity and eventually branched out and opened Perception Eyecare & Eyewear in May of 2016.
Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not. As mentioned previously, being young and single and with lots of debts and no income history… no banks wanted to give you a chance to proof yourself. It took a few years to save up and establish income history. Once I was able to obtain a loan and a space, came the challenge of working with a contractor to build the space. Unfortunately, I did not have a positive experience with my contractor. Although he came highly recommended, sad to say, he only finished 90% of the work and was not heard from again. I was left with a several liens on the space requiring nearly a year of lawyer work to straighten out. Not only this, his work was poorly done. We had to redo and fix quite a bit of stuff along the way. Stressful was an understatement the first two years. Through this all, I couldn’t help but felt because I was a petite, female, minority… I was taken advantage of. As much as I tried to be as strong as possible and did as much due diligence as possible, I was still alone in this process. However, this experience did make me helped me grow tremendously and am thankful for the people that was able to help and support me along the way.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Perception Eyecare & Eyewear – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Having worked in many settings, I realized that private practice was where I wanted to end up. However, I did not want a typical eye doctor’s office type of setting. I wanted a place where it is inviting, warm, friendly, comfortable. I also did not want patients to sit in a waiting area with rows of chairs waiting and hour or more to be seen for only 5-10 minutes. I also wanted my patients to feel different and better about themselves after having visited my office. I wanted to provide services that not a lot of eye doctors provide. So, Perception (pause) Eyecare & Eyewear came about. Why perception? I wanted to change people/patient’s perception of how eye care and eyewear should be.
Eyecare – it should be fun, personable, enjoyable. It should be catered towards each individual. Aside from your normal eye care, treatments for glaucoma, dry eyes, eye infections and injuries, etc. I love doing children’s exam. I love custom contact lenses where people with very irregular shaped eyes, those who had surgeries in the past, those with injuries, etc. and was told they could not wear contacts, or that glasses alone would not improve their vision. These custom contact lenses are made to order specifically for those individuals and can help someone go from legally blind to seeing almost perfect vision. This is life-changing for these patients and I just love seeing the results. I am also working on setting up a specialty dry eye clinic where we will really get to treat it and not just tell you to use eye drops. We will be bringing in technology that only a handful in the state have.
Eyewear – instead of carrying all the generic names you hear on tv (Gucci, Prada, Raybans, etc.) I wanted to focus on quality, design, craftsmanship, uniqueness. I searched high and low for frame lines from all around the world (as well as USA) for something that would bring uniqueness to my patients. I didn’t want my patients to buy a pair of eyewear from me and then realized their co-worker got the same one. Also, I didn’t want patients overpaying for those “brand names” you hear all the time. Honestly, most (if not all) of those brands are own and made from the same company in the same manufacture with the same process. Mass-produced to cut down THEIR cost, but still maintain high retail price (because of the brand labeling) for the common shopper. Again, I wanted to pick independently owned companies; all they do is eyewear. They have everything to lose if the quality do not hold up.
As a first generation college graduate, not to mention doctorate… my parents worked extremely hard to provide for their children. I was taught (maybe more like drilled into my mind) that I must work hard for what I want. Having grown up in a lower income household, I know there are so many out there who are in need of so much; I promised myself that I would pick a career where I could help people and to give back when I can. So, we are very big in volunteering, giving back to non profits and support small businesses whenever we can. We also like to partner with companies (vendors) with the same mentality.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love how there are so many parks, trails, and outdoor activities! Oh, don’t forget the food options! I love all the locally owned spots around town. There are so many to choose from in every part of the dfw metroplex area! My least favorite thing about the city has to be the freeway system… it can be sometimes difficult to navigate as one freeway can have three different names! 😛
Contact Info:
- Address: 4150 E Renner Rd #300. Richardson, TX 75082
- Website: perceptioneyecare.net
- Phone: 972-250-0700
- Email: [email protected]
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