We recently connected with Matthew Smith and have shared our conversation below.
Matthew, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
After years working in an ophthalmology practice where everything was very run if the mill and generic in style, I felt a need to shake things up and do something different, something our small town hadn’t really seen. The idea was simple, a small fashion centric boutique where doctors didn’t exist and the focus was all on the end user and their personal expression at it’s core. Of course this didn’t mean there could be any slack in the lens technology and fitting, as glasses still need to serve a purpose and fit well! Our Town didn’t have much in the way of fashion forward eyewear, and I wanted to create something special that could really draw people in. Fast forward a few years and it’s now regular to hear our customers talk of walking the streets of NYC and Italy while getting stopped and asked about their eyewear. In the months before opening I knew curating a selection of frames was the key to success, and that part has always remained a constant. I truly love finding that perfect pair of eyewear and building out an entire wardrobe selection with each client to help them find their style and help them express it!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The optical industry is one where we often joke that you almost always fall into it, but you can never leave (Hotel California anyone?!). For me this was absolutely the case, as I just began working in the industry as an assistance for an optician to help enter data and file insurance. That, however, was never enough and I kept pushing to learn more and more. I had the blessing of an incredible mentor and a full medical practice to use as a sandbox in my early career, and I credit that a lot for where I am today. The ability to access and work in the medical lanes to understand the eye, and see on the back end how it all comes together in the glasses, while learning from an amazing optician the key principles of fit, function, and how to build a business are all details we discussed regularly. See, this mentor wasn’t just any old optician, he had built, managed, and scaled several stores and even a lab! This core knowledge helped, but the real pashion came when I stumbled into the world of luxury eyewear. Initially, much like my first job, in the industry, I fell into the world of social media and grew a network of like minded opticians and optical shops that I could admire but not really do much with at the time. Watching other opticals and seeing some of the amazing products out there in the independent sector that I had never experienced truly lit the passion on fire!
Today I share my own creations in much the same way, through various social media outlets including youtube and tiktok, where you can find me as “That Glasses Guy” This brand is truly about creating a special look and experience as well as embracing who you really are in maximum style and comfort. Never much of one for minimalism, bold and punchy are where I work my best, and all of that flare and design passion gets to have an outlet into lens design as well. With the world turning more and more to personalized fashion tints, it has been an absolute blast creating eyewear these last few years!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media for me is at it’s absolute core something people miss and forget in the hunt for followeors and to become an influencer. I’m no mega influencer (not even close) nor do I seek to be, but where I have excelled is focusing on what social media is, an outlet to speak and be social with both those in the industry and interested in what I do. It’s really just about building relationships and being social, not about the posts and maddening content creation, though it matters as you have to get seen, but being there and interacting and engaging is the real key. I’ve always been a huge fan of Gary V’s work and follow a lot of his advice here, just get out there and be social!
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
I’ve been huge in E-commerce at bare minimum due to the timing of opening my business. Covid shutdowns were rampant as year one was closing out, and we were forced to shutdown as well, when our county mandated closures of malls. Immediately I went to work building out a strong e-commerce presence and doubling down on the youtube channel I had only started a few months prior. I also dabbled with amazon and any other outlet I could find to sell on to try to get through this difficult time as a cold start practice. Today is makes up a solid percentage of what my business is and has allowed a reach far greater than a typical small business brick and mortar would otherwise have. This has allowed me to really dial in to who our customers are and work with them directly both in person and from afar, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Of course the negative of this is the absolutely monumental amount of time and research to create content and build in strong SEO to even be seen, along with the massive amount of work keeping up with multiple systems and inventories creates. It’s not for the feint of heart that’s for sure!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thatglassesguy.net
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/thatglassesguy03
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thatglassesguy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThatGlassesGuy03
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/that-glasses-guy-optique-de-luxe-chattanooga
- Other: www.thatglassesguy.shop link.me/thatglassesguy