Episodes

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - Stay Fresh In this week's nugget it's all about not letting yourself or your practice become stagnant, but keep things fresh! The world continues to turn. Technologies continue to change. Change with them! Try new things! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to register your email on our website and I will be sending out newsletters and other great bonuses as we go. I love g...

Finding a Sustainable Work Life Balance: Part 1 - E110 Highlights from this episode: Finding a Sustainable Work Life Balance: Part 1 (00:42) Office Talk: Training, Medical Model, Work Paying Off (19:51) In today's episode, we are talking about the elusive work-life balance. We have a great profession where on paper it doesn't look too difficult to achieve a great professional career and a relaxing home life. However, for those of us who own our own practices, you know how this can be extremely d...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - Share Your Victories In this week's nugget it's all about sharing your victories and successes. Your team will feel more invested if the get to experience some of those highs you achieve with you! Not only does it build morale but it is important to actually recognize how far you've come and give yourself a chance to celebrate it! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to regi...

Office Evolution - E109 Highlights from this episode: Office Evolution (00:51) Office Talk: How my practice has evolved this year (23:32) In today's episode, we are talking about the evolution of a practice. If you aren't changing and evolving, you will be left in the dust and you will survive at best but not thrive. We talk a lot about the importance of having a vision for your business. This is what should always be guiding your decision making and help you keep the big picture in focus when t...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - Plans Can Change In this week's nugget it's all about being flexible. Plans change all the time. Your BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) usually remains pretty consistent but the path to get there may take some tweaking and maybe even some turns you didn't expect. Be open to it and watch yourself grow! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to register your email on our website a...

5 Simple Ways to Be a Great Leader - E108 Highlights from this episode: 5 Simple Ways to Be a Great Leader (00:48) Office Talk: Office reinvention (22:46) In today's episode, we are talking about the importance of leadership and 5 ways to become a great leader in your life. These things are universal. Apply them to not only your practice but to your home, your community, etc. People WANT great leadership and they will do amazing things if they only have someone to guide them, encourage them, lea...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - Fees In this week's nugget it's all about talking about your fees. Your costs are going up on everything from frames to copy paper. Have you increased your fees to protect your margins? If you let your margins suffer or even worse go negative, are you really doing your patients a favor? You will not be able to provide the kind of quality care you want to give your patients if you can't afford to anymore. Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the...

The 5 Types of Wealth - E107 Highlights from this episode: The 5 Types of Wealth (2:06) Office Talk: Finding Happiness and Feeling Important (15:45) In today's episode, we are talking about all the different kinds of wealth. Financial is the first one most people think of and yes, it's important but there 4 other less-thought-of types that will affect your life just as much if not more. We will dive in to each one of these to help you make sure you are prioritizing things correctly in your life,...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - Key Points for Your Patients In this week's nugget it's all about talking about what your patients care about. They care about things that they can tell affect them: blurry vision, can't see up close, dry eyes, etc. You need to talk about these problems that they already know they have and then provide them with the solution. Enjoy! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to re...

CEO Series: How To Find Your Edge - E106 Highlights from this episode: CEO Series: How To Find Your Edge (2:12) Office Talk: New Scheduling Model, Iron Sharpens Iron (12:29) In today's episode, we are continuing on in our CEO series and talking about how to find that slight edge in your practice. Believe it or not, competition is a good thing! It makes us better and experts in our niches. We discuss where to look for an edge you can have over your competing practices and how to maximize it to st...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - When The Going Gets Tough, SIMPLIFY! In this week's nugget it's all about simplifying and becoming more efficient when things get hairy. We all have those seasons as a practice where things get a little tight, off-kilter, or there's a downturn of some kind. Instead of leaving yourself with so many things demanding your attention and that of your staff, simplify it as much as you can and you will come through it with flying colors and be better off in general going forward....

CEO Series: Better Business Operations - E105 Highlights from this episode: CEO Series: Better Business Operations (2:01) Office Talk: Small Fish in a Big Pond (21:04) In today's episode, we are continuing on in our CEO series and talking about how to maximize your day to day business operations to protect your margins and work more efficiently. There are so many things that go into this and one segment of a podcast is not going to do it justice but we are giving you a short list of things to lo...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - Managing Your Schedule In this week's nugget it's all about managing your schedule to benefit everybody. It is doable, I promise! The key is to find a healthy balance between you, your staff, and your patients. There will probably be a little give and take throughout the week and that's fine. Just make sure you aren't neglecting one of those three completely or that could come back to bite you in the end. Enjoy! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with...

CEO Series: 3 Changes You Need to Consider Making - E104 Highlights from this episode: CEO Series: 3 Changes You Need to Consider Making (2:02) Office Talk: Bad Reps, Priorities, & When Times Are Tough (13:59) In today's episode, we are continuing on in our CEO series and talking about changes you might want to make in your office to stay at the forefront of the profession. These 3 things will easily separate you from the masses. The devil is in the details and that's what being the CEO of your ...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget.- Change with a Purpose In this week's nugget it's all about making changes that matter. We all have those uncomfortable situations pop up that are few and far between, and we feel the need to put a new "rule" or procedure in place to safeguard against that EVER happening again. Most of these situations are extremely rare and for the extra work and headaches it causes to now "safeguard" against it, is it really worth it for your staff or does it maybe not matter quite as muc...

CEO Series: Online + Social Media Presence - E103 Highlights from this episode: CEO Series: Online + Social Media Presence (2:06) Office Talk: Frame Pricing, Strategy for rest of the year (15:31) In today's episode, we are continuing on in our CEO series and talking all about your online and social media presence and strategy. Do you follow a schedule? What kind of content do you post? Are you posting weekly? Is your website current or has nothing changed in years? All these things have a MAJOR ...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - Frame Margins In this week's nugget it's all about controlling your frame margins. Do you know what your margins are? How often do you check them? Chances are you need to take a look at them with costs going up everywhere. Enjoy! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to register your email on our website and I will be sending out newsletters and other great bonuses as we go. ...

Outside the Box - Social Jazz Interview Welcome to new bonus episodes we are launching with a segment called "Outside the Box"! There is a wealth of knowledge to be gained from other businesses/industries that can be applied to our optometric practices. Dr. Nick Lillie is interviewing people from all sorts of professions and businesses to find those nuggets, strategies, etc. that we can take and apply to our own practices. Why reinvent the wheel if there's already a solution and we just need to ...

CEO Series: Evaluating Your BHAG/Vivd Vision - E102 Highlights from this episode: CEO Series: Evaluating Your BHAG/Vivd Vision (2:31) Office Talk: Slower Weeks, Seasonal Businesses (17:22) In today's episode, we are starting a new series on being a CEO of your practice. Today we focus on your Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (affectionately referred to as your BHAG) and overall vision for your practice. What does it look like to have one? Can it change or must it be nonconforming? These are just some ...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - The Danger of "Good" and "Gratitude" In this week's nugget it's all about not letting "good" and "gratitude" for where you're at keep you from continuing to improve and make things even better. Enjoy! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to register your email on our website and I will be sending out newsletters and other great bonuses as we go. I love getting feedback, ques...

Listener Q&A - E101 Highlights from this episode: Listener Q&A (1:53) Office Talk: Hiring & Interviewing from the applicant's POV (21:00) In today's episode, we have taken a bunch of listener questions and given you all the answers! We love sharing our thoughts and experiences with you so if you have questions or ever want to chat, connect with us on social media or shoot Dr. Lillie an email at drlillie@theultimateod.com! (1:53) In our Office Talk today, we are talking hiring and what it looks l...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - The Power of Choice In this week's nugget it's all about the power of choice... your patients', your vendors, and yours. Life is too short to work with people you don't like. This road also goes both ways. Make sure you are the type of person people want to work with as well! Enjoy! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to register your email on our website and I will be send...

Make Managed Care Work For You - E100 Highlights from this episode: Make Managed Care Work For You (1:56) Office Talk: Office Meeting & Highlight Board (13:07) Managed care is a much talked about battle we fight in our practices. There's the constant back and forth between the poor reimbursements and losing patients because you don't take their insurance. In this episode we are talking about how to make the most of managed care because it's here to stay. This is the sandbox we need to play in at...

Ultimate O.D. Nugget - Hiring In this week's nugget it's all about Hiring! This can be one of the worst parts of being a business owner unfortunately but you can use it to your advantage and build a bigger, better practice if you have the foresight to know what you need. Enjoy! Join in the fun and subscribe to the podcast to keep up with all the great content coming down the pipe! For exclusive content, be sure to register your email on our website and I will be sending out newsletters and othe...