HPU Health Care Expert, MyEyeDr. CEO Sue Downes Mentors Students
MyEyeDr. CEO and co-founder Sue Downes, who serves as High Point University’s Health Care Expert in Residence, answered students’ questions in the Cottrell Hall Entrepreneurship Center during her visit to HPU’s campus on Oct. 16-17.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Oct. 24, 2024 – MyEyeDr. CEO and co-founder Sue Downes, who serves as High Point University’s Health Care Expert in Residence, recently visited campus to mentor students and provide career advice.
Downes co-founded MyEyeDr. in 2001 with a single location, four employees and an original goal of establishing 40-50 locations near Washington, D.C. Her vision care business has since grown into a $1.5 billion organization with more than 850 offices in 28 states. About 1,500 of its 8,000 employees are eye doctors, which fits her goal of providing management infrastructure for their offices to promote better vision care for people.
“No matter where you start with your company or where you start with your career, you’ve got to make sure you’re investing and thinking about where the future is going to go because it’s going to be changed,” Downes said.
During her Oct. 16 visit to campus, Downes taught marketing and entrepreneurship classes, recorded a mentorship message and enjoyed a power lunch with students. The following day, she participated in a celebration of life for Elizabeth Miller Strickland, whose $12 million endowment gift established the Elizabeth Miller Strickland Leadership Fund, the Strickland Leadership Council and the Strickland Endowed Scholarship Fund.
Downes shared with students her personal story of feeling frustrated by having to focus more on medical insurance plans for her father than his care during his battle with brain cancer. Realizing that other people had similar struggles led to her company adopting three foundational pillars:
- Welcome all vision insurance programs.
- Partner with local optometrists and provide management infrastructure to help them run their offices.
- Provide the best selection of quality products and services available to help people meet their vision needs. This incorporates her interests in fashion, brands and retail.
Christina Losacco, a junior entrepreneurship major from Chatham, New Jersey, who wants to start a business of her own, said she was inspired by Downes’ story.
“Obviously, getting it off the ground isn’t the easiest thing,” Losacco said. “Based on her story, it takes sticking with the cause you believe in, finding something you feel passionate about and enjoy, and doing whatever it takes to invest in that to take it from nothing to something. It seems like that was completely her mindset, her story, and it was interesting to hear. Also, I totally agree you’re not supposed to necessarily just do it for the money. Do it because it’s something you enjoy and are passionate about.”
Downes noted the trend of wearable technology, which includes Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and Nuance glasses with built-in hearing amplifiers. Predictions are that the use of smart glasses will overtake smart watches in five years, and people will sport more wearables on their faces than on their wrists, Downes said.
She encouraged entrepreneurship students to pursue their own business ideas by:
- Finding what they love doing
- Learning everything they can
- Removing fear
- Taking risks
Tessa Belanger, a senior fashion merchandising major from Boston, Massachusetts, found Downes’ comments inspirational.
“I thought it was nice to hear from a woman who has made such an amazing company, to hear her values and what she puts into the company,” Belanger said. “And from a social entrepreneurship stance, hearing what MyEyeDr. does.”
Sarah Beychok, a sophomore fashion merchandising major with a minor in marketing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said Downes’ personal story resonated with her.
“Obviously as a sophomore, it’s time for me to start looking for internships and jobs. That is nerve-wracking,” Beychok said. “Hearing about her perseverance in coming through all the hardships she experienced, as a woman especially, it’s inspiring to hear how she came out the other end of it.”