We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vik Otra. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vik below.

Hi Vik, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is to “Beat the Monotony of Eyewear with FYEWEAR”, my 5-year-old daughter sparked the creation of FYEWEAR, she was at Optometrist’s office and couldn’t decide between a pink and a purple frame and wanted my help to make that decision; I decided to get her both the frames, one frame was covered by insurance and the other costed roughly $ 260. That evening, when asked why she couldn’t go with a purple as that was her favorite color, she said, “Yes, but I want to wear purple frames with Sofia the First dress, and pink frame with my favorite Minnie Mouse dress”. This reminded me of how many times, despite my preference for different looks, I had to compromise and chose only one pair of shades that fit most of the occasions. Yes! I could buy multiple pairs but that would get painfully expensive, or I should compromise at the quality and buy multiple cheap frames, both the options didn’t seem exciting. This was a problem worth solving!

So, I developed and perfected our patented hinge technology, which allows you to inter-change temples and lens frames to create a fresh look. I chose premium materials and latest lens technology to create high quality shades that could be customized to match your outfits, mood, and style. You no longer have to compromise; instead of buying entire pairs of sunglasses, you can now have very high-quality shades and create a range of fresh looks for a fraction of the cost.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am Vik Otra, the founder of FYEWEAR, a customizable eyewear startup based in Cumming, Georgia. By education, I have an MS in mechanical engineering and an MBA, worked for 15+ in Information Technology as project/ program manager, agile coach, and Human Centric Design. My then 5-year-old daughter sparked the creation of FYEWEAR, prior to that, I had no experience in the optical industry. I have spent next couple of years studying the optical industry, market research revealed a gap for high quality, affordable, and customizable eyewear options, FYEWEAR was founded so that you no longer have to compromise; instead of purchasing entire pairs of sunglasses, you can now have very high-quality shades and create a range of fresh looks for a fraction of the cost.

We also offer customizable eyewear to schools, colleges, sports teams with their school’s/ sports team’s name, logo, or anything else they want. Custom printing is applied to one or both of the glass temples (side stems). Furthermore, the temple stems can be easily and quickly changed to match the sport, season, or color. This one-of-a-kind offering would make an excellent gift as part of a fund-raising campaign, to recognize contributions, or simply to demonstrate team spirit.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I made a conscious decision to self-fund FYEWEAR until certain milestones were met. I was able to do so because of the planning that began a couple of years before the conception of FYEWEAR. I’ve been actively exploring entrepreneurial opportunities and started saving a portion of my income to serve as my seed money, just like vacation fund, it’s my startup fund in the making.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

My startup journey so far has been a succession of hurdles; each obstacle I’ve encountered has led me to discover new prospects that we hadn’t considered before. Finding a dependable manufacturing partner was one of the first major challenges. I worked with a US-based sourcing firm to assist me with manufacturing, but the experience was somewhat frustrating because the factories they recommended were not meeting my quality and reliability expectations, and I was losing time in the process. So, I took charge of finding the right manufacturer, did a couple of international trips to factories, the magic happened when I attended a global Optical convention in Hong Kong, where I was able to interact with many eyewear manufacturers; the data I collected there assisted me in finding the right manufacturing partner.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.FYEWEAR.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefyewear/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFYEWEAR
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fyewear/