Judy Quinones

I think it's a lot of that drive. A lot of my colleagues are content with going to work, doing their optical work, and then going back home. I want more. I'm always looking for what else can I do, what else can I learn, what am I learning today? Learning is a big part of what I believe in. I also believe in networking - networking is fundamental. I would say I'm probably, and this sounds awful but it's true, I push myself to greater things. I'm never content with where I'm at.

The best career advice came from one of my mentors. She told me that the culture still exists where guys don't have to really explain themselves too much or own the room when they walk into a meeting, but we women still have to work a little harder at that. So definitely don't be timid and own your space. I also believe in casting a wide net and seeing what you're drawing - it's always been good to try different things.

I would say dabble in as many things as you can. Don't just be content with knowing the basics - you want to perfect your profession. Every day, try to be better at it, be honest, and try to expand into different fields. That's what I always tell my students - don't stop at just being an optician and going to work day in, day out. There are so many different paths this can take you down. There's mobile opticianry, there's speaking about opticianry, there's writing about it, there's mentoring, there's frame design - there are so many things, and that's what I love about the industry. There's really so many things that you can do with it. You don't just have to box yourself into one aspect of it.

The biggest challenge is that not all 50 states are licensed - it's only 23 states that are licensed, and there's no standard. If I were to move out of New Jersey, I would have to get relicensed in another state. Even just crossing into New York, I'd have to take the state board for New York. New Jersey happens to be one of the toughest states - we do several tests and require more than our neighbors, with the exception of Nevada, so that gives me a hand up. But it's hard to not be able to move around without having to prove yourself again. An optician in New Jersey can be making $45 an hour, but you cross into Pennsylvania where there is no licensure and all of a sudden they're being hired at $17 an hour. That's a big gap. I'm trying to work on standardizing licensure and making it so all 50 states have a standard and it's easy for people to move around. There's a huge lack of opticians in licensed states especially, so New Jersey is always looking for opticians. I'm also interested in the fact that in most European countries, opticians are optometric opticians who do refraction and step into what an optometrist would do here. I'm always looking to elevate the profession.

Ethics is very important to me. I'll be sitting with patients who say 'oh, you're a great salesperson' and I'm like, no, I'm not. I mean, yes, we all sell something at the end of the day, but every recommendation, everything I put out for you and recommend is ultimately led by the fact that I am an optician first. Whatever other title comes behind is next, so I will never recommend something to you just to upsell you or make those KPIs that day. Those KPIs fall second to my ethics, morals, and values.