We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sophia Pray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sophia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?
I was going through a time in my life where I really wanted change. My mother had recently passed away and I started to feel like all this time I had been putting my life on hold and not living it to the fullest. My husband and I had been dreaming of moving to Seattle and decided that it was now or never. We sold our house and moved to Seattle, WA. We had no jobs, we had a decent savings and decided to take the chance on a brand new adventure. Once in Seattle, WA past job wants had changed. What I wanted in a job previously had now shifted, I finally decided to put myself first and actually come up with a list of wants and to try my best to not sway from this list. I had always worked jobs that had strict office appearance policies. No visible tattoos, fantasy colored hair, and you had to wear a uniform. It was always difficult to take time off and I was tired of never getting time off. I wanted a job where I felt proud of myself, something that pushed me to learn and a place where I could be creative. While looking up jobs I found a job as an optical assistant at a private optometrist office. The office was super cool and hip. They sold funky eyewear and looked like the perfect place for my new start. Only issue, I had zero experience in optical. I personally have worn glasses almost my entire life. I’ve worked in management, customer service and sales jobs previously. My last job was as a veterinary assistant, so doing something even a little medical was right on par. But I didn’t have any experience, I decided to take a chance and apply. The best decision I had ever made was putting myself out there and doing something hard. I was contacted for an interview and shortly after was offered a job. This job changed my life for the better and I finally found my true calling in optical. Now years later I am an office manager / head optician at an optical shop in the Chicagoland area. I love continually learning and growing in the wonderful field of optical.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Originally from Las Vegas, NV, coming from the city of lights and desert I moved to Seattle, WA for greenery and being much closer to water. I have always been a very unique creative person but I had never had the opportunity to share my strengths with the world. Finally taking a chance and going for a job I wasn’t qualified for I found my passion in optical. I found that sometimes the right person for the position may not have experience, but their life experience and their personal hobbies may be a perfect match. Having a passion for learning, loving fashion and being artistic worked in my favor when getting my first job in optical as an optical assistant. I am a natural leader, passionate about becoming an expert in any field I am in and being in a field that also focuses on fashion trends was a major bonus. I was finally able to show my true colors through my wardrobe, hair color and finally was able to share my inner sparkle with the world. Something I was forced to hold back for years at previous jobs that wanted to control my appearance. I found that being my true self gave me more confidence, the patients trusted my suggestions and I naturally found my place in the world. Shortly, after becoming an optical assistant I was able to become an apprentice optician. Through work experience, educational opportunities and in person lectures I found that the world of optical had so much to offer when it came to learning. It wasn’t only about eyewear trends, there was a science involved in choosing the perfect frame and lens option for each patient. The longer I was in the field the more I learned and gained confidence in myself. Optical is much more than choosing cool frames, it involves knowing the science on how the eye works, different eye conditions and how to troubleshoot issues when they arise.
Being able to provide someone with their dream eyewear wardrobe became one of my strengths. I love talking to people and getting to know them better, helped me when it came to choosing the best eyewear and lenses for their personal life. Im able to offer personalized options for each patient to make their lives better. A world with better vision and awesome glasses is always a nice place to be in. I learned about eyewear trends, how to order frames for the office and the importance of personally trying new lens options as they became available. Being able to offer the best and newest technologies available became one of my strengths. My patients now know that I know what I am talking about when I recommend an option for them and they know it will enhance their life. Most people haven’t had a specialized experience with an optician before, usually you go into a shop, pick a frame from the wall and tell a sales person to ring you up. Where, going to a private practice you get a completely different experience. Based on questions and the answers you give, with consideration of your lifestyle and prescription. Personalized options are pulled for you and often it is hard to choose only one.
Being able to be my true self at work has been amazing. My patients come in and can’t wait to see what fun outfit I am wearing that day. It brings them much joy to see me sharing my true self with the world. I have found that even in the most conservative communities they enjoy my colorful joyful wardrobe and eyewear collection. Now in my career, I went on a new adventure to the Chicagoland area in Illinois. I was wanting to find a historic home, Seattle was too expensive and I always loved this area. I was lucky to find the perfect office. They accepted me for who I am and within about six months of working in the office I was offered the position of Office Manager. I was still the head optician, but now office manager. At this point in my career I finally had the confidence, knowledge and knew I was ready for my next challenge. I wanted to push myself to share my personal brand with the world and try to become one of the specialist in my field. At this point I had a huge love for Transitions Lenses and decided to sign up to become a Transitions Change Agent. I really didn’t think I had a chance, I had applied previously a couple years prior, but felt I had grown and maybe this was my chance. I am so glad I put myself out there again, because they accepted me into the program.
Becoming a Transitions Change Agent pushed me to try harder and know that I am worthy of being here. My voice matters and I need to share it with the world. It took a couple years to really gain my confidence but I finally started gaining followers on social media. People in the industry knew my name. I then felt I was ready for my next challenge and applied to be the next Transitions Healthy Brand Ambassador innovations award winner. I didn’t think I would be chosen as a finalist, but to my surprise, I was chosen as a finalist. Again proving time and time again, when I think I am not ready for something, when I choose to put myself out there I find that I am doing much better than I thought I was. I was invited to Transitions Academy as a valued guest and even though I didn’t win the award I was proud of myself for doing something hard. For putting myself out there. And this has given me the confidence to realize I could have been doing more and I was excited to challenge myself to hopefully win this prestigious award in the future.
After this experience it allowed me to know I can do hard things, it’s ok to put yourself out there and not win. I learned from this experience and gained important connections. Be your true self. Share your sparkle and live colorfully. Next stop putting yourself out there. Always look for the next challenge. If you don’t try you will never know if you are ready for the next level in your career. Always keep learning, keep trying and never give up.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
For me personally, it was never changing who I am to fit in. Always being my unique self and never changing myself to “fit in”. It’s easy to want to feel accepted and look like everyone else, it’s hard to be your true self and not be afraid to show others your real personality. Being ok to share what you like and dislike. Being uniquely yourself, having no one else in the room look like you and knowing it is your strength. It’s hard, it’s not easy looking different and sometimes having different opinions. But people will start respecting you and know that you are the real deal. And even though you may be seen as unique, that being different from the norm isn’t always bad.
Sharing my personal sunshine with people this year has been amazing. I never thought anyone cared to see me daily through my outfits, doing a little dance or even sharing my optical knowledge. I never thought anyone was listening or watching. But really they were always and they started sharing how me being my authentic self brought joy to their daily lives. For some it started to get them thinking about changing their own lives for the better. They saw how scary it was for me, but saw me thriving.
Stay true to yourself, don’t change yourself for anyone. The right people will find out and appreciate all that you have to offer. Being uniquely yourself is your strength and should be shared with the world.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
If I could go back, I wish instead of staying at a job as a dedicated employee, I would have put myself first and found my dream profession sooner. When you are at a job and you start getting that feeling that it isn’t your passion anymore, instead of staying, it isn’t doing anyone favors when you stay and get burnt out. It’s ok to move on and find your next passion. You may get lucky right at first or it may take a couple tries to find something you love.
It’s ok to learn a new profession, be great at it and find out that it isn’t your passion. Living a life and having many experiences will boost your resume. With job and life experiences it can prepare you for your next adventure. Even when you feel you aren’t qualified, put yourself out there because you never know. Never stop trying for greatness.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foxysofa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foxysofa/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiapray
Image Credits
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