Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ric Peralta. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ric, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I suffered from a major medical issue in 2003. I was hospitalized for 3 months and by all rights should not have survived the incident. It reset so much of my perspective on what matters to me, and what a patient is experiencing. I now approach every patient with the expectation that I will resolve their issues, no matter the expense. If need to redo multiple times, I will. I don’t really care if there is lab expenses incurred because if I give my all to make the patient happy, then they will never want to go anywhere else.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Ric Peralta, known as the OpticalJedi, has been working in the Eyecare Field for over 30 years. He began his career while still in high school, with the intention to pursue a career as an Optometrist. After completing his BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco, and taking his OAT, he realized his true calling and passion lay in the dispensary. Nearly 10 years working in Beverly Hills taught him how to find solutions for highly demanding patients. Since 2000 his primary focus has been in the understanding of Frame and Lens technologies, and perfecting a system for adjusting frames to improve patient vision and comfort in the era of modern Digital Lenses.
In 2017, Ric began a blog to provide information to patients so they could be better prepared to ask the right questions when they visited their ECP’s. Since that time he has launched on Social Media platforms with the goal of educating other opticians and eyewear professionals so they may better provide exceptional service to their patients. In 2021 he began consulting services, to train individual practices on their specific needs. This February, Ric was named the 2023 Healthy Sight Ambassador at the Transitions Academy Innnovation Awards.
Ric is also a Type3C Diabetic and advocate for Diabetic awareness and eyecare.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the three things that have had the biggest impact on my journey in the eyecare industry are: 1. Intellectual curiosity has probably been the one single biggest factor in my professional growth. Don’t just accept current practices as best practices. Investigate products, methods and solutions to help patients and you can keep growing.
2. Finding a way to comunicate with patients/customers without seeing technical jargon has been vital in my success as a professional. Understanding what you recommend and why helps to more satisfied clients.
3. Combining the two above skills has led me to have a reputation in the industry as an advocate for both the patient and the practice and has helped me to become a speaker in this industry.
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
Finding the best balance between speed and quality is one of the greatest challenges I face today. While everyone wants their glasses as quickly as possible, this often comes at the expense of quality. Either in the design choices themselves, or even the mounting of lenses into frames harming the fit for the face. Finding the balance between these two aspects of product delivery continue to be a challenge.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.opticaljedi.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/opticaljedi
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/opticaljedi
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/opticaljedi
- Twitter: @opticaljedi
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/opticaljedi
Image Credits
Transitions Academy
