A family affair…
I never really wanted to be an optician although I came from a line of them. My father was an optician, my uncle was an optician, my great uncle was not only an optician but also the President of The New Jersey Board of Opticians. Nope, I wanted to be a chef and during my first year of culinary school my then girlfriend decided that she couldn’t deal with a chefs hours, so I dropped out of school and came home.
My father insisted I get a job while figuring things out so he got me a job with a friend of his that owned an optical surfacing lab. After working there a few months I realized that it wasn’t so bad and started going to school. 3 years of school and 18 months of state board exams later I was a licensed Optician. I started at a higher end boutique in Livingston, NJ and loved it. It was smaller boutique brands and hands on lens making. I was there for about 8 years when a different and unique opportunity presented itself to me. I was approached to work within an optical management company that would open up small optical shops inside of eye doctor’s offices. It sounded exciting so I left Livingston and started doing that. While opening a shop in Bloomfield, NJ I met my now wife, who was one of the doctor’s office managers. I was only with that company for a little over a year and realized how much I missed the boutique style.
In May of 2006 I joined the staff of Gleek and Howard and immediately felt like I was home. I’d definitely been missing this. I love fashion and design and most importantly, I love the old fashioned service. I love making the glasses here in house and being as hands on as I can be throughout the process. There is nothing better than changing the way someone looks while also changing the way someone sees. I love what I do and I cant wait to see what the future of this industry holds.
Oh…..whatever happened to the old girlfriend and old food dreams? Well we broke up a few months later. As far as the food dreams…..she was right….I couldn’t have done the hours either, but I still am an avid foodie and cocktail enthusiast with some published pieces of my food adventures as well as a dining club that I co-created that takes up most of my free time.