Today we’d like to introduce you to Tory Navarro.
Tory, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I don’t own my own business yet, but I will be opening my own optometry office in the next five years. I didn’t have the luxury of going to school or living with my parents to finish college because that wasn’t an option. The only jobs I could work around my busy school schedule were in the restaurant industry. In 2017 I was brought on to manage a brand new restaurant in Kennesaw called Bandera Mexican Grill and proceeded to build an entire catering unit for them along with 100 recurring clients solely through cold calls and door to door introduction by myself. After leaving Bandera, I was offered a management position at Chickfila. I never thought the offer I received for this position would lead me to my passion for optical. I was working my morning shift at Chickfila and saw an old friend who told me that her Doctor’s office was looking for opticians. I was completely unaware of what that meant, but anything was going to be better than serving food and drinks while I waited to earn my degree.
So I took my friend’s offer, entirely unaware of the position other than what Google had to inform. After being trained completely from the ground up as an optician, I realized helping people see better quickly became a passion of mine, and I wanted to be the best at it. I invested the majority of my time after work and school to understand optometry as quickly and as much as I could. I was offered an optical management position at Colony Square Eye Care less than a year into optical.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been a smooth road, but I am happy to say I chose this road. I have gained so much knowledge and experience in making an enormously helpful difference in peoples’ lives. I never in my life thought I would be interested in anything involving the medical field, but had I not taken a chance on my future, I wouldn’t know what I would be happy doing for a career. Looking back now, I know I chose my major to be Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in media entrepreneurship to learn exactly the right way I will be opening my own optical and how to pursue this dream.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
The company I work for is a small family business. We specialize in complete optical health, eye care, vision exams, eyeglasses, contact lens fitting, etc. I am most proud of this company in that we take full care of our patients’ needs and keep their best interests in mind and in our hearts.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was always the child whose mouth never shut. I made a friend everywhere I went, and that still seems to be my case. I was extremely methodical and analytical of my decisions and of others.
Contact Info:
- Website: colonysquareeyecare.com
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