Female Founders: Dr Juanita Collier of 4D Vision Gym On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Get a business coach! Many people are concerned with how much a good business coach costs, but I can tell you from experience that not having one cost me way more.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Juanita Collier.
Dr. Juanita D. Collier, MS, OD, FCOVD, is the founder of 4D Vision Gym, an Optometric Vision Therapy practice that specializes in treating and empowering patients to overcome vision-related academic, athletic and occupational challenges. Dr. Collier obtained her Doctor of Optometry degree from the State University of New York and went on to get her Master in Vision Science degree from the Schnurmacher Institute for Vision Research. She is changing the way people advocate for their vision health in addition to being a mother, a podcast host, an entrepreneur and a role model.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
My grandmother left my mother and my aunt in Panama with my grandfather in search of a better life for her family. My grandfather later joined my grandmother in the United States with the two girls when they were only two and three years old. My mother was a single mom, but that didn’t stop her from getting her Master’s in Business from Columbia University. Hard work and sacrifice were hallmarks in our family and she raised my sister and I to know that nothing could stop us. My family’s motto is, “Good, better, best, never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best.” It was expected that we never stopped, that we always kept pushing for the elusive “best.” In my case, that meant becoming a doctor.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
I’ve found that owning a company is a transformative process. Through developing my business, I developed as a person. That growth, personal exploration and expansion were not only beneficial, but necessary. When I started 4D Vision Gym, I was terrified to own a company. I created a structure where my family did all of the behind-the-scenes work and I was only responsible for seeing patients. It didn’t take long to realize that this was not in my, my family’s, or my company’s best interest. I knew I needed to step out of my fear and grow into a business owner, or I would lose my entire company. Many precipices of this sort forced me to decide between my fear and my future. I have done my best to bravely walk through that fear, sometimes kicking and screaming, but I got through it.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
During exams, I use lenses that make images appear in either single or double vision. During one particular exam, I made the image double and needed to know when the patient could view it as single again. I asked, “single?” He responded with extreme hesitation and stumbled uncomfortably over his words, responding, “I’m married.” I clarified that I was referring to his vision and he and I both had a good laugh.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am lucky enough to have had a partner from the very beginning. When I graduated from optometry school, I met my now, Practice Manager, Kelsey Duffy. Four years later, we birthed 4D Vision Gym from the ground up. We would sit in the grass before the property was built and imagine it. She has been with me from starting a company, to my wedding and the birth of my children, to opening a new location, being there for me through my divorce, and everything in between. Over the last 14 years, she’s become a fixture in my life and my company and I couldn’t have gotten where I am today without her.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
I love defying any limitations people attempt to place upon me. I am a black woman born in Queens, NY, the daughter of an abusive alcoholic father and an immigrant mother. I managed to graduate in the top ten of my high school class, attend the University of Pennsylvania where I graduated early, obtain my Optometry Degree concurrently with a Master’s Degree in Vision Science, buy my first house on my own at 29, start my own practice at 30 and I had one of the most successful Vision-Therapy-only practices in the country by age 35. It was a brilliant decision for my investors to invest in me because I am invested in me. I think more women could benefit from a brag session every now and then. Look at yourself in the mirror and list everything you’ve accomplished, just like I just did. And remind yourself, “I DID THAT!!!” When you take a step back and look at everything you’ve done, there is no way anything can hold you back. It also helps to have a village of women around you to help “adjust your crown.”
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
As a society, we should focus more on empowering children to be their best selves and less on having them be better than someone else. Our competitive culture doesn’t allow for the celebration of our differences. This is why we focus on this so much in our practice. Our pediatric patients create their goals for what they want to accomplish. They are encouraged to self-advocate, check in with their bodies and develop a strong sense of self. While the medium that we do this through is technically Vision Therapy, our patients leave with a transformed vision of themselves.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
It is always empowering to see someone who looks like you, speaks like you, acts like you, or thinks like you, where you would like to be. While breaking glass ceilings is amazing, it is nice to also see the paved road. I didn’t see my first black female optometrist until I was in Optometry school. My patients are seeing that at 6 months old. Many of my patients watched me transition from a 20-something-year-old, to a business owner, wife, mom and everything in between. I want the little girls watching my development to know they can own their own business, be a mom, a doctor, to be anything they want to be. They saw the pack n’ play in my office while I was doing their exams. A woman’s place is everywhere; the more we remind the world of that, the more it becomes a given.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
During college, as I was researching different potential careers, I interviewed a female obstetrician/gynecologist/practice owner. She told me, “Juanita, they lied to us and told us women could be it all, and we can’t and that isn’t fair to think.” I didn’t realize what she actually meant until recently. My goal isn’t to be everything to everyone. My goal is not to put the pressure of the world on my own shoulders. I am in competition with no one and have nothing to prove. My goal is to be the best me that I can be, and I am working toward that every day. Yes, I can bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan, but I could also outsource those things as much as I desire and not have to feel bad about it. The more successful I can be, the more opportunity I can create for others.
It is okay to do things your own way. Unfortunately, there are so many traditions that are upheld in business based solely on precedent. I find myself facing those daily in Optometry. According to Vision Therapy societal norms, Vision Therapy cannot be done at home; it needs to be in an office and performed by a doctor. However, we have created an entire digital program market that empowers parents and patients to correct their vision. We arm them with the knowledge of our many years of experience and give them the tools to transform their own vision.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
Anyone can be a founder if they are willing to put in the hard work. Being a founder often means putting your business and mission above all else. If you’re willing to do that, you can be a founder. However, there is also immense value in being a team member. I watch how my team works together, and how they manage the day-to-day, and I am in awe of their skills. I couldn’t do what they do. I believe that instead of trying to be more like someone else, it is so important to be happy with who you are. Whatever drives you is what you should pursue.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Get a business coach! Many people are concerned with how much a good business coach costs, but I can tell you from experience that not having one cost me way more.
- There is no reason to reinvent the wheel. We started doing so many things from scratch and having so many different Excel sheets to organize things. It can be total chaos. You aren’t the first person to have a business. Learn from the mistakes, processes and systems that came before you and utilize them whenever possible.
- Your team is everything. The people you choose to represent your business and your mission can make or break your success.
- It is okay to go on vacation. When I first started, I thought I had to always be there. I didn’t trust my team and I didn’t trust myself to choose a good team. I involved myself in every aspect of my business and started down the path of burnout, which negatively affected me and my well-being but also made the team feel like I didn’t trust them. Most of my best ideas came when I was away from the office, and I allowed myself to be creative and recharge.
- Checks and balances! Learn your strengths and outsource your areas of weakness. No one will ever care about your company as much as you do. Find competent people who are experts in their field and ensure you understand what is happening. Attempting to learn everything makes you spend too much time out of your area of expertise. But knowing nothing gives too much power to those who might not have your best interest in mind.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Every single day in our practice, we change lives. We foster confidence in children. We bring compassion and understanding to families. We educate teachers on the issues that their students are struggling with. We give athletes a competitive edge. We restore functioning to concussion patients. We give stroke patients back their sense of autonomy.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
The world would be a better place if Vision Therapy was offered in the school system. When children learn to trust their bodies, advocate for themselves, and train their visual systems, the barrier to learning is removed. The confidence lost, resulting from a poorly functioning visual system, is detrimental to children and their development.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
If I could have lunch with Michelle Obama, we could change the world. Most people don’t know the impact vision has on children’s educational, personal, and career trajectory. Conveying that information to a person with such a passion for education, like Michelle Obama, would be life-changing for many.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Dr Juanita Collier of 4D Vision Gym On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.