Thornborrow got into the industry
later than most, starting her schooling
in opticianry at 28 after finishing a
double major in criminology and
sociology at Western University.
She became a licensed optician in 2014
and Thornborrow says before taking
that path she felt “a bit lost” career-wise
until she sat down with her father. He
explained how opticianry might be a
good fit, from the sense of fashion to
the practical side of the career.
through her own personal experiences.
Le Beau Optical, a boutique store in
Oakville, gave her a chance to meet
what would become a mentor of hers
in owner Martin Lebeau. She said
his grasp of optics, the need to match
frames to a client's prescription and
his knowledge of sales and service
were all huge rewards for Thornborrow
during her time there.
“I knew a bit about it because I'd
worked at my dad's office before, but
I didn't really know too much about
opticianry,” she says. “Finding the correct pair of glasses
for a prescription was so important to
him. He really honed the skill to pick
an appropriate frame for people's
prescriptions and how to do it right
the first time.”
But once she got into the training, she
excelled in her schooling where she
didn't at university and “absolutely
loved the program” from the hands-
on aspect, to the theory, which made
college an excellent fit. She then changed gears by working at
Costco Optical Centre. This again was
a major learning experience for her
with a change in the type of clientele,
to the type of product, with less time
for education-focused sales.
But she didn't want to just fall back
to her father's office after her school
and planned to “dabble in different
industries” to learn about opticianry “With Costco, people want a less-ex-
pensive pair of glasses, so the volume
was there and you got to see a lot of
people over an hour period of time.”
Thornborrow says Costco's focus on
contact lens fitting was prominent
and became her favourite part of the
job at that time.
Thornborrow then decided to return
to work at her father's practice with
the experience she'd gained and
“could not be happier” for it. Since
she returned, her focus has been
developing relationships with clients.
“It's exactly what I'd look for in a
career. As an optician I get everything
I need from that environment.”
Thornborrow says she enjoys the
problem-solving aspect of the industry,
so when a patient comes back with
an issue, pinpointing what is going
wrong is a challenge she enjoys. Is it a
frame, lens, or prescription issue?
“I like to find out why people aren't
seeing well and then correct it. Because
once you come up with a solution, then
you have a customer for life and they
have a reason to trust you because
their vision is important to them, and
it's important to us.”
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