We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Chaka Norwood-Bell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chaka below.
Dr. Chaka, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
As an optometrist you can work In different modes of practice, I started as an employee of a private practice optometry office for two years after graduating, I then moved to role of a lease holder beside a retail store. This was first dive into being a business owner, I was owner lease holder about 10 years and around year eight I started thinking about owning a private practice. I was comfortable with the low overhead expenses and only having to provide eye exams and not worry about the retail side of optometry. I started to want to offer my patients more and become more in control of my work schedule without having to adhere to corporate contracts of hours and days. I decided I would go for private practice ownership and went to bank and was unfortunately turned down for a start up loan from several different banks despite having great credit and at least 8 years by that time of being an OD lease owner. I took 2 years to secure funding for my office. COVID hit in 2020 and I thought I wouldn’t continue the process but I was encouraged by other OD owners who were still thriving during the pandemic. I had to reapply for the loan and the amount was cut so I decided I would lease my equipment for my office to get me started. March 2024 will be 3 years of me owning my private practice.
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?
I decided that I wanted to become an optometrist when I as in high school and my optometrist at the time mentioned the idea of optometry to me. At that point I had not decided on a career and optometry intrigued me because I was very near sighted and worn glasses and contacts. I didn’t always have access to eye care and thought giving others the gift of sight would be the most helpful thing I could do as a career. When I entered college, I majored in biology which a major that could get you into optometry school. during my junior year. Found out gross anatomy was a required class in optometry school, i absolutely did not want to take a gross anatomy class so i changed my major to accounting, i hated accounting and quickly switched back to biology and ended up going to graduate school and getting a master of Public Health degree. I worked in public health for six years and i still wasn’t happy and i still wanted to be an optometrist. So I started taking prerequisites and preparing for optometry entrance exam. This was a tough process, working full time, taking classes and not doing well on OAT. I kept applying to the same school and getting rejected because I didn’t want to attend another school. I decided to apply to the university of Houston on the first try the Dean accepted me and I took the gross anatomy class and it wasn’t bad at all. It was all fear in my head that lead me to put off my dream career. I am one of a few African American Private practice owners in Memphis area and I provide a personalized eye exam to people who want their eye care needs met and the stylish eye wear they want. My exams are all about eye health and not getting people in and out. I am blessed to have so many of my patients from my corporate office follow me to my private practice and proud that some of my patients drive a couple of hours to see me.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I believe my entire life is one of resilience. growing up in small all Black town in the MS Delta the oldest of 6 children with humble beginnings. I always knew I wanted something more than what i saw growing up. My mom and teachers were great encouragers of my academic success. Going to college, changing major, starting an another career path, struggling to get into optometry school, struggling with the course load, failing a class, getting a divorce during school, failing a board exam, the there was the struggle of getting funding for opening private practice and never giving up on my dream of practice ownership.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think being genuinely invested in the eye health of my patients has helped me to build my reputation. That’s how I was able to build my private practice because my patients wanted to go with me. I have had some tell me that didn’t go anywhere else until they found my new office. I listen to what patients need and prescribe and offer services based on their needs
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.norwoodfamilyeyecare.com/%EF%BB%BF
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/norwoodfec?igsh=MXhqcTB6aWNvdXFkYQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/norwoodfec?mibextid=qWsEUC
Image Credits
Lakethen Mason