Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. James Chin.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My first visit to the optometrist was the result of a failed vision screening at Strack Intermediate School in the north Houston suburb of Spring, Texas. I still remember that first eye exam, the dreaded “air puff” test, and my fascination with the phoropter (the machine we use when we ask “1 or 2?”). I was less excited about the unflattering wireframes my mom picked out. I was so embarrassed that I refused to wear my glasses at school, but that experience left a lasting impression on a potential career choice. Fast forward to my college years, I attended the University of Houston, where I completed my degree in nutrition science as well as my doctorate of optometry. During my undergraduate studies, I worked and shadowed two optometrists, Dr. Sanchez and Dr. Hoang, in Northwest Houston. While working alongside them, I learned that there was so much more to eye care than just glasses and contacts. They were wonderful mentors, and I deeply admired them for their warm and compassionate care toward their patients. Their impact solidified my decision to apply to and ultimately attend optometry school at the University of Houston. During my fourth and final year of optometry school, I completed my internship rotations at the Community Eye Clinic in Fort Worth, Texas, and Cedar Springs Eye Clinic in Dallas, Texas. Both clinics focus on serving the local indigent population and helped hone my skills in patient care and managing ocular diseases. Spending six months in DFW during my rotations influenced my decision to settle here after I graduated, along with my love for the local food and culture of the metroplex.
The biggest inspiration for opening my own practice came from the legacy my father and grandfather impressed upon me. My father owned and ran his own independent pharmacy, and my grandparents before him owned a small grocery store in Houston. I shadowed my dad at his pharmacy and always admired his personable approach to making sure customers were informed and well taken care of. As a result, patient education became a core emphasis of my practice, as I want to ensure that my patients have an understanding of their ocular health as well as to empower them with the knowledge to take a proactive, preventative stance. My father and grandfather followed the principle of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would want to be done unto you.” I carry that with me and do my best to honor their memory every day in both my practice and personal life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I signed my lease for Thrive Eye + Optical in the height of COVID. I knew this was the path I wanted to take but didn’t fully foresee the difficulties of opening and running a new cold-start office during a global pandemic. Initially, I was told by my contractor that my office buildout “should be easy” and would only take a “couple of months,” but those couple of months turned into 12 before I was open to the public and seeing patients. The supply chain took a massive hit throughout the pandemic and consequently, construction supplies were back ordered and inflated in price. On top of that was the winter storm in 2021 that shut down Texas. As the snow melted, we realized that water was leaking into the space of an exterior wall and from the roof. After multiple attempts to plug the leaks, it took a specialized engineering team to seal the office. COVID shutdowns and staff shortages also exacerbated permitting delays that made it harder to progress on a tight timeline.
Throughout the construction delays and an unprecedented pandemic, tragedy struck our family, and my father was diagnosed with inoperable stage IV pancreatic cancer. He decided to try high dosage chemotherapy to extend his life an extra year. The chemo was so intense that it tanked his immune system, and he developed sepsis. I rushed to Houston to stay with him in the ER for 2 weeks as his only visitor allowed during COVID protocols. His ER visit weakened him, and as a result, he could no longer walk without assistance, but was able to make it home while we made him comfortable. When he was released from the hospital, I split my time between Dallas, trying to open my practice, and Houston every couple of weeks helping my mom to care for my dad. A personal dream of mine was to open my own practice and have my dad around as my business mentor as his father had been to him. I was looking forward to growing our relationship and making him proud. I’m sad that he wasn’t able to see the finished product, but I’m determined to honor his and my grandfather’s entrepreneurial spirits. Family is very important to me, and as a remembrance, I have a picture of my dad in his pharmacy displayed at my office.
We’ve been impressed with Thrive Eye + Optical, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are an independently owned eye care clinic and optical located at the newly renovated Hill Shopping Center. We are excited to serve the surrounding areas of Preston Hollow, Lakewood, and Lake Highlands. Our mission is to provide compassionate, high-quality vision care and a custom-tailored experience to make sure you look and see your best! We utilize technologically advanced optometric equipment such as a digital phoropter for more accurate refraction testing, an Optos widefield retinal camera to check for ocular diseases, and a digital I-care tonometer which means no more “air puffs” in the eye! After you pick out a new high-quality glasses frame from our curated collection, our optician will custom tailor your fit and accurately take your measurements with our Optical iPad camera to guarantee your lenses are precision edged for your prescription and glasses shape.
Our service specializations are comprehensive eye exams for glasses and contacts, “red eyes” or ocular emergencies, and dry eye management. Furthermore, we are proud to offer solutions for myopia management which may include specialized contact lenses, glasses, and eye drops to slow or halt the progression of nearsightedness and allow a better quality of life. Myopia or nearsightedness is a growing epidemic in children, and we have more tools than ever before to slow it down. I highly encourage every parent or guardian of a nearsighted child to come in for a myopia management consultation. We are extremely proud of our frame lines at Thrive Eye + Optical. We have carefully chosen timeless, independently owned frame brands. Many of our brands are handmade, with a focus on sustainable luxury and charitable initiatives such as “Buy a Frame, Help a Child See” and “One Frame, One Tree” for each frame purchased, a frame is donated to a child in need of a tree is planted and donated. It is a personal goal of ours to focus on reducing our carbon footprint and preserving our environment for the next generation to “Thrive in Style.”
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We love our patients! Everyone has been incredibly pleasant, and it’s wonderful getting to know the diversity in our community. We have been fortunate to have many patients who have moved here from out of the state. Many have entrusted us by referring their friends, family, and coworkers, which has been incredibly rewarding. Word of mouth and organic growth really helps small businesses survive and thrive. If you have had a wonderful experience with us, taking a moment to leave a positive Google review and/or referrals goes a long way to helping us grow as a new practice! We don’t have any collaborations at the moment but would be open to doing some with other local businesses in the near future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thriveeye.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thriveeye/
Image Credits
Austin Graf
Michael Lewis
