We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jennifer Chinn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jennifer below.
Jennifer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
My parents were supportive in every way possible. They allowed me to experiment with different career paths, ideas, and experiences. They allowed me to make decisions and see the successes and failures of them. That is what most impacted my career and allowed me to become and get to where I am now. They are my biggest cheerleaders, and my biggest critics and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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 Dr. Jenn Chinn, a second generation Optometrist in San Diego. Following in my father’s footsteps wasn’t always my dream, but I am thrilled I stumbled upon this path and can’t wait to see where it leads. As an Optometrist, I not only see patients in my clinic to improve their vision and take care of their eyes; I advocate for healthy eyes and clear vision by doing community out reach with Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs, Kiwani Clubs, by doing mission clinics around the world, and educating my community using social media as a platform. At my private practice we not only provide primary eye care for glasses and contact lenses, we diagnose, treat and manage blinding eye diseases like glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, as well as provide in office therapies for debilitating dry eye disease, styes and much more. I am passionate about preventative care and education is the most important part of my job!
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Communication skills are paramount in eyecare/healthcare, and frankly in all walks of life. As a healthcare provider, it can seriously affect the care you give patients. Listening and taking the time to make a client feel that their concerns, questions and needs are being heard is truly what allows me to educate my patients effectively. Again, educating is my favorite part of being a doctor, and great communication skills help show you care.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
As a new business owner, the services/products, as well as the experience you provide for your clients is basically all you can think about. You constantly question yourself about everything. Like, how can you serve the community, or provide in a way thats currently lacking? What would it take to create a loyal client that wants to continue supporting your business? Was the interaction I had with my client positive or memorable?…and the list goes on. You spend a lot of time in your head and you obsess over things, for me, in the beginning, I was obsessed with bad reviews or negative comments about me, my office, my services, etc. I would lay awake for nights on end racking my brain and internally seething with guilt and embarrassment that I wasn’t able to provide a positive experience with that person. It began to consume me and my personal relationships and my business began to suffer. The blame game became very popular for me and it started to spread to my team and that was when I realized it needed to stop.
I finally understood the phrase, “You can’t please everyone.” And I began realizing that perfection was impossible, but progress wasn’t. I decided to pivot my outlook on bad reviews online or negative comments from clients to view them as a blessing. They are now the constructive criticism and a proper unbiased reflection of what my business or I could improve upon. Because we’re all working towards progress!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @dr.chinnchinn
- Tiktok: @dr.chinnchinn