Beyond Success: Dr. Melissa Barnett on Giving Back and Uplifting Others

Dr. Melissa Barnett is a world-renowned expert in scleral lenses and specialty contact lenses who has authored over 300 articles and delivered 500+ lectures world-wide. Today, her greatest satisfaction comes from something different: coaching and empowering other optometrists to reach their full potential.

In this episode, we explore:

• How scleral lenses change not just patients' lives, but entire families and communities
• Practical tips for getting started with scleral lens fitting
• Dr. Barnett's journey to professional credentialed coach
• The shift from personal achievement to making broader impact
• Work-life alignment (not balance!) and non-negotiables for career happiness

Whether you're interested in specialty lenses or wondering what the next chapter of your career could look like, this conversation will inspire you.

Dr. Melissa Barnett's Contact:

https://alpinebluecoaching.info/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-melissabarnett/

Transcript

Fred H. Cho 0:00

Today's theme is finding more joint optometry to specialty, as well as nonclinical roles. And we have a great guest for this today. Dr. Melissa Barnett is a world renowned key opinion leader, recognized for our expertise in dry eye disease, specialty, and scleral lenses, keratoconus. And presbyopia. She has authored more than 300 articles and books delivered over 500 lectures, and is a board member and founding member of Intrepid Eye Society and serves on several industry boards. Dr. Barnett is the author and editor of Specialty Contact Lenses and Contemporary Ral Lenses Theory and Application, which features insights and contributions from leading international experts. Burnett is an associate certified coach. Credentialed by the International Coaching Federation ICF, she specializes in mindful leadership, wellness, and public speaking, empowering individuals to become their best selves in both their personal and professional lives. She's energized by her passion for helping people improve their lives by optimizing their vision, health, and wellness with a customized approach. Barnett has received numerous awards and is the host of the Clearly Casey and Starting Strong podcast. Welcome.

Dr Melissa Barnett 1:16

Oh, thank you so much. It's so great to be here today. It's wonderful to be here with all of you.

Fred H. Cho 1:21

Amazing. And here we like to start with a segment called Monday Fuel, where we just share something that light us up and I'll ask r first to share.

Riyad Khamis 1:31

So this is our first podcast actually in the new year. So it's a good reset, kind of, I think New Year is always a great time for me to kind of reflect and, and especially doing this podcast, just kind of figuring out priorities So I've gotten to take some time off gotta spend some time with some family and kind of reorganize things. So yeah, I always enjoy this time of year'cause it's a new year here. I also did wanna shout out, I was saying like my so my niece and nephew always listened to the podcast. So my nieces she's five years old and we shouted her out and a few episodes ago, and now my nephew, every time I call him is like. I'm waiting for my name to be called. I'm waiting for my name to be called, so I wanted to shout out Eli as well. And Eli's been a loyal listener of our podcast, so that's, that's part of my fuel again,

Fred H. Cho 2:15

Right?

Riyad Khamis 2:17

All the way to daycare. He is a big, big fan. Yeah.

Fred H. Cho 2:20

Amazing.

Dr Melissa Barnett 2:20

Eli. Hi Eli. What's

Riyad Khamis 2:23

Yes.

Dr Melissa Barnett 2:23

yours name?

Riyad Khamis 2:24

Yes. Her name's Leanna and it was just her birthday yesterday on the seventh there

Dr Melissa Barnett 2:29

Happy birthday, Leanna.

Riyad Khamis 2:30

yeah, so she's she had a great birthday as well.

Dr Melissa Barnett 2:34

Awesome.

Fred H. Cho 2:34

What about you, Melissa? Anything else that you wanna share? I,

Dr Melissa Barnett 2:38

Oh, there's so much to share. So much to share. Today is the day we are going. My boys and I are going to Nicaragua

Riyad Khamis 2:47

Oh wow.

Dr Melissa Barnett 2:48

with Vosh, and we are gonna help serve a lot of people, so super excited about that. We're all packed up. We have bags and bags of glasses, tons of different. Options as far as eye drops, everything. I feel like I have a pharmacy right now in my house. But we are so excited to go help and serve People and.

Fred H. Cho 3:12

That's amazing. Have you done that before with your children or first time?

Dr Melissa Barnett 3:17

Not with my children. So they're 17 and 19 two boys, and they're fluent in Spanish, so they went to Spanish immersion school and I've always wanted to take them on a trip where they could help and translate. So they're gonna serve as translators and clinic assistants, and I'll play Doctor on this trip.

Riyad Khamis 3:38

That's amazing. Wow. And it'd be such a great experience as well. And we actually had someone on our podcast a few episodes ago, Ben Kenig, who he actually helped start the school in Nicaragua when he first out of school there. And he helped with the optometry school there. And he always, I, I know him pretty well and he always tells me great things about Nicaragua

Dr Melissa Barnett 3:56

Wonderful.

Riyad Khamis 3:57

stuff down there as well. So

Dr Melissa Barnett 3:58

I believe I'm gonna meet some people from the school, so That's fantastic.

Riyad Khamis 4:02

I'm sure. Yeah.

Dr Melissa Barnett 4:03

Yeah.

Fred H. Cho 4:03

Yeah, he did say the language was a challenge there in Nicaragua.'cause Spanish is so important to know.

Dr Melissa Barnett 4:09

Yes,

Riyad Khamis 4:09

of the steps I should be on there, but no, it'll be a great experience. Are you guys heading out? You said you're heading out today

Dr Melissa Barnett 4:14

today right after this, so

Riyad Khamis 4:17

Yeah, we cut you

Dr Melissa Barnett 4:17

today.

Riyad Khamis 4:18

time.

Fred H. Cho 4:19

All right. Okay. Amazing. And we will go right to it with our first question. So you've authored over 300 articles and delivered 500 lectures on specialty areas among other things, I think it really speaks to your belief in the value of the specialty niche. Can you take us back to the moment you first realized that these specialty areas could really transform patients' lives in a way that maybe general optometry can't?

Dr Melissa Barnett 4:46

Sure. That's a great question. So going way back, I'm gonna share my scleral lens story. So I graduated from school, never taught scleral lenses at all. Just the timing that I was in school and. Then I was in a practice working with COR four corneal specialists in the practice and a lot of referring corneal specialists as well, and we didn't have scleral lens technology, so at the time. I reached out to several people, and I'm gonna put a shout out for Craig Norman, who came and taught us and all these years ago, we're still in touch, and he's just so wonderful. Thank you, Craig. All of you who know Craig love Craig. He's amazing. So he taught us in our clinic with our patients how to fit scleral lenses. And so that completely changed my life. Being able to help people in practice help our patient. Let's start with patients so completely change their lives, letting them see. Letting them drive, giving them the freedom to do whatever they wanna do, whether it's to work or go to school or take care of their kids. So many experiences over so many years and scleral lenses, this little piece of plastic is completely life changing. But I believe that scleral lenses don't change just the lives of our patients. It changes their family's lives. If someone's able to work. Or go to school or do or travel or be independent. It changes their partner, their kids and their family and communities. And so I really truly believe that scleral lenses change communities. And so a lot of the work I do now. Is very much focused, not just on scleral lenses, other specialty lenses as well, but what we, what I've been so fortunate to do is travel the world and teach others how to fit these lenses so that they can help their communities. And our book, contemporary Scleral Lenses Theory and Application with Lynette Johns is now, came out in Chinese this year and last year in 2025, and hopefully this year will come out in Spanish. So it is in final touches. And then the newest book, specialty Contact Lenses with Dotie Fidel came that was released in 2025. And actually just yesterday, there's a new guide for scleral lenses called. Scleral Lens Success version two with Dotie as well. And that one has videos so you can download that free of charge, and that's brand new. It came out yesterday, has videos in order to learn how to fit scleral lenses. That guide, it's not a book, it's a guide, is available in five different languages as well.

Fred H. Cho 7:42

That's amazing. A lot of exciting things there. And I love how you brought up the impact on the patients and the kind of larger scale impact on the community.

Dr Melissa Barnett 7:52

I am so fortunate to be able to go into practices now and just like Craig did all those years ago, and I've been doing that for many years, and so that helps doctors and their staff, and it's more when I'm having these one-on-one conversations. And in my lectures I talk about this a lot how as clear lenses are and workshops, I do workshops at all the major meetings and things like that. So I explain more in those sorts of situations than the guides and books. But in the guides and books, I really do talk about the importance of collaboration. And that's collaboration, not just with ophthalmology or corneal specialists, it's with other specialists as well in order to serve our patients. So that could be neurology, rheumatology, especially when we're talking about dry eye. I'm moving off the scleral lens topic, but collaboration is so incredibly important in our profession of eyecare.

Riyad Khamis 8:51

And I think that it's important too that people, even if they don't fit Sclerals, they can recognize when sclerals would be a benefit and to find someone who does do it. Sometimes just making a referral is as important as the actual fitting process to, to someone so that inter optometry referrals, I think, become super critical and can be super beneficial as well.

Dr Melissa Barnett 9:13

I completely agree. I want everyone in the world to know scleral lens's indications, but with an optometry, no, not everyone needs to fit them at all, but making that referral and then having that relationship. If a colleague sends me a patient, I will send them back to that colleague for other general eye care.

Fred H. Cho 9:36

Awesome. Yeah. And what did your first practical steps look like when it came to integrating that specialty into your primary care practice?

Dr Melissa Barnett 9:46

Sure. So one of the first practical steps was learning how to fit scleral lenses. In my practice, whenever bringing in something new into practice, it's really. A team approach, so the whole staff, so the technicians, the front desk staff, sometimes the opticians. It's having the conversations of how to bring it in. So scleral lenses, that's just one specialty. Dry eye could be another one, but having conversations, creating protocols about. How to actually make it work. And that can be very different in different primary care practices. So it can look very different in one practice compared to another practice.

Fred H. Cho 10:36

Yeah.

Dr Melissa Barnett 10:36

think in some organizations it's easier than others in order to make these changes, but. For me I always think about the patient first. What can I do to best serve the patient? What can I do to provide the best care for the patient? And that really motivates me to make these changes. And sometimes it's taken a lot of work in order to make the change, but it's really worth it to provide the best care for the people that we're serving our patients.

Riyad Khamis 11:10

Yeah, for sure. And I'd love to touch on the sclerals a little bit more

Dr Melissa Barnett 11:14

Sure.

Riyad Khamis 11:14

well, and I think I fit into this category a little bit. So I do mostly vision therapy. I vision therapy, only practice, but I do do primary care as well. And sometimes there's that feeling and optometrists have that feeling of, okay, so we did sclerals a while ago in school. This seems kind of complex, so how do you encourage the primary care optometrist or the optometrist who's interested in it to go from saying, okay, this seems like an intimidating process to that mindset shift of, okay, so maybe this is something I can offer to my patients.

Dr Melissa Barnett 11:47

Oh, sure. So there's so many resources out there. So I just shared a few of them with you, so I won't repeat those.

Riyad Khamis 11:53

Yeah.

Dr Melissa Barnett 11:54

for example even people who have never ever fit scleral lenses, I've taught so many different. Doctors over the years in their practices, even doctors who have been practicing 30 years, for example, and they've said that it really has reignited their love for the profession. So to answer your question, I would start with some basic things like reading a book, a guide to listening to a lecture, seeing, oh, is this something that I could do? Starting with what? What does my practice look like? Are. Is it more dry eye? Is it more people with irregular corneas like keratoconus? Are there normal corneas and I wanna offer this technology? And then the next step could be either going to a major meeting, attending a workshop, or. Talking to a company that you work with and seeing if they have a consultant who can come into your practice and teach you with your patients. So I really think that's the most important thing, being in your practice and having your own patients and fitting and really doing it right then and there. Now, the other advantage of having someone come into your practice is that. They can help go over different efficiencies, like what is gonna work in your practice might not work in someone else's practice. In addition to the scleral lens fitting, it's looking at instrumentation. So for example, anterior segment, OCT, do you have a sclero? Profilometer? What do you have in your practice and what is the flow for say, scleral lens fitting? So there are many resources. And I would look at the company that you're working with for contact lenses in general. Maybe you fit corneal, gas permeable lenses. You can look at out to that company. And if you're looking for all the companies, a few different resources. One is the Scleral Lens Education Society, and then the second, the Clinical Guide for Scleral Lens Success has clickable resources that you can contact every company as well.

Riyad Khamis 14:06

I think that would be, that's super helpful and I know I share a story and it kind of goes with what you were saying as well. I remember I had a scleral fit, it's probably a little while ago now, and I remember seeing my schedule and this is my primary care day, so. A bunch of patients, like 20, 25 patients, but then I had an hour booked out for that scleral lens fit and I remember being nervous for it.'cause it had been a while since I did it. And being like, okay, I need to do this right. I need to figure out how to do it. And I kind of went back and, and kind of made sure I knew what I was doing and I remember doing it and then finishing. Afterwards. And as you said, kind of what you said initially, like it changes the patient li patient's life. Like all of a sudden, almost instantaneously they were seeing way better than I could have got them with glasses. And I remember thinking afterwards, like all this time I was like nervous for this one kind of hour or whatever fit and it ended up being like the highlight of my week

Dr Melissa Barnett 14:55

Hello.

Riyad Khamis 14:55

there as well. So I can imagine doing it more often or kind of what you were saying really would benefit and really kind of reignite passions into optometry as well. Like you had mentioned.

Dr Melissa Barnett 15:06

Yes. And one, a few other things I, that is just such a beautiful story and I love it. It brought up two thoughts, one. Is that the consultants from all these different companies are fantastic. So you can, maybe you're new and you don't even know what to say to what you're describing. It's okay. You can take a picture. You can take a picture and share it with these consultants, and they can give you feedback on that. And another thing is timing. So you're saying you have a busy schedule. Many patients you have this hour, the timing of that hour is important. Into your schedule. So I like to do fits first thing in the morning. Other people like them first thing after lunch. Other people like them at the end of the day. Whatever works into your schedule, into your practice. But I would not recommend just putting it into a random appointment and expecting everything to work because the fitting can take a little bit more time. But fortunately, we do have great instrumentation that can reduce that fitting time.

Riyad Khamis 16:08

Yeah, that's perfect. And I, I don't know if you find it, but I remember that patients that tend to be fit in, these tend to be a little bit more, I guess, patient if no better words, because they know you're trying to come up with solutions to really help their vision as well. And, and a lot of times they're excited for this as well. So it's kind of that mutual benefit there as well.

Dr Melissa Barnett 16:28

Yes. And oftentimes they've had quite a journey. And so we really need to be em empathetic and listen to the story because oftentimes it's the last hope. And so really caring for the patient and providing them attention. And sometimes it does take a little bit more time, not just for their eyes, but having the really empathetic communication.

Fred H. Cho 16:56

I think actually listening to what you're sharing. I know Riyad shared the sentiment before too, of how sometimes patients come to him and he's like the last hope in terms of like vision therapy or concussion related symptoms. So I know you can definitely relate to that, right? Rt, I.

Riyad Khamis 17:13

Yeah. Yeah. I met a patient, I was just actually in the other day and this patient is driving three hours. To see us from trial every week for their session.'cause they just, like, finally they were just having post-concussion symptoms and no one was taking their symptoms seriously. And finally they, they found us. And, and I was like, you know, you don't, we can like figure out a way to do it so you don't have to drive every week. And she's like, no, I'm gonna be here every week. So every, every day she comes three hours, does her vision, therapy appointments for 45 minutes, drives three hours back, and yeah. And she's just like dedicated'cause it's helping. So yeah, it's really neat to see you in those cases.

Fred H. Cho 17:46

the specialty obviously has these like great impact that I think, when we're used to the day-to-day clinical, how you say primary care it's easy to disconnect with the why of everything. And specialty is like that amazing new way to inject new meaning. But I just wanna remind everyone that even the base optometry is really amazing and I'm in a rural town right now to. Service these people who cannot see anybody for like months at a time. There's no eye doctor in like hundreds of kilometers around. So I've had some patients take a ferry from their island to get to the appointment, and I just overheard a patient today that with the snow storm, it's really bad out there, they, I just overheard them saying, oh I can't miss an appointment. It's so hard to get one. So they just made it through a snowstorm to get here. So it just made me feel really like grateful that I can provide that kind of value for patients and just to remind everyone that, even if you just say, oh, I'm just an optometrist doing primary care, there's still so much value in what we do.

Riyad Khamis 18:55

Yeah.

Dr Melissa Barnett 18:56

Yes. Okay, Fred I have a few very important comments here, and that's amazing that patients are going through the snow and on ferries and all that to find you. One is, you're not just an opt. No one is just an optometrist. Optometrist, you are amazing. You are doing incredible work. Cross out the just no. And number two, you can be in primary care and you can be doing great work and you are doing great work and you can do something within primary care. Maybe it's how you communicate with patients that is, that you are quite good at. That you can share. Maybe it's how to train your staff, how to elevate them, right? That is something that you can do. You can bring soft contact lenses, fit multifocal contact lenses, like that is primary care work. But that can completely change people's lives. And what about, seeing a kid and giving them their first pair of glasses so that they can see there is so much. And I think that we really need to focus on the positives because there's so much great work. Think about all those years ago that when you were thinking about applying to optometry school, like what is your story? Why did it bring you here? And bring that to your day to day. And there's so many different ways that we can do that. So again, no one is just an optometrist. You all are awesome doing great work, and. Really, be proud because you are. You are amazing.

Fred H. Cho 20:32

That's such a great message. Thank you for sharing that. And I can definitely see the coach coming out in you like just the positivity, but also throwing out like what is your passion? It's your story. So this is a good place to actually ask you about how you got into all that. So you founded Alpine Blue Coaching and became a Coach.

Dr Melissa Barnett 20:53

yes.

Fred H. Cho 20:54

doing everything that you're doing now, but I'm curious if there was a moment or conversation that nudged you into that coaching direct.

Dr Melissa Barnett 21:02

Another great question. So I've been practicing almost 25 years and mentoring other optometrists for a large majority of that time. And I was involved in a few different mentoring programs, which got me into coaching. So I actually completed a five month intensive coaching program and that was doing it just fantastic, life changing, wonderful program and that. It got me to doing coaching, so I've been coaching mostly people in iCare, but also those outside of iCare as well, and then obtaining the hours in order to pass the exam. And coaching is, for those of you who don't know what coaching is, it's really defining and achieving your goals. So that could be personal, it could be professional. It all goes hand in hand. And so it is the most rewarding work that I am doing. I can, I share a few wins from this week, but two wins from this week. These will be short because it just warms my heart so much. So I do, my coaching style is bringing in coaching and consulting because of my experience in eyecare. And so one was talking about efficiencies around charting and electronic medical records. So we had this plan. My client and I, we had this plan, this is what we're gonna do, and she did it. And then she sent me a message saying, this is completely life changing. What you taught me just changed my life because I can finish my charts on time and my staff is noticing that I've finished my charts on time, so I'm a happier person. And and then I go home to my family and they notice I'm happier and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. Amazing. And then the other one was, had again, a win from this week going through a career transition. And partnered with her on this journey and she got a new job, which has so many benefits in so many different ways. She's this is the best thing I've ever done. I'm so excited. Thank you so much. So it's. Being able to see our wonderful profession and it is a wonderful profession from a different perspective and a different lens, and bringing in these skills that I am learning to really help people I absolutely love and I feel very fortunate. So now, yes, I started my company Alpine Blue Coaching, and we offer individual and group coaching and to those bi doctors out there and also working with companies to really help everyone become their best selves. So it's amazing.

Fred H. Cho 24:07

Yeah.

Riyad Khamis 24:08

I'm curious to know where the, where did the name Alpine Blue come from?

Dr Melissa Barnett 24:12

Oh, I love names too. Yes, I was struggling, actually, I'll share this with you. I was struggling around these I names, right? We have so many good I related names. And then finally Alpine blue goes along with my why. So my why and this why was created years ago is to elevate others through the power of connection. And so Alpine and I love being outside and hiking and. Being out in nature. And so the alpine blue is with the mountains and that includes the sky. It includes the ocean or the sea, really everything. But it goes along with the why.

Riyad Khamis 24:59

Interesting.

Dr Melissa Barnett 25:00

Yeah.

Fred H. Cho 25:01

amazing. I'm a big proponent of optometrists putting themselves out there with their passion, whatever it is, right? Because even if it's just something that doesn't relate exactly to core optometry, it will somehow relate back to your core profession exactly how it happened for you, like coaching, but now it's like coaching in the realm of optometry efficiency and leadership within the community.

Dr Melissa Barnett 25:24

Yes.

Riyad Khamis 25:24

think that optometry can be such a, a profession where you don't always have a big team around you, especially as the doctor. And it's, it's sometimes nice you get kind of into your day routine of there's more patients to see. More patients to see. So I can see how it would be valuable to have like an outside perspective of a coach to really kind of. Take a step back'cause your day to day gets so busy and, and that way, and it so at least creates more of like a team-based, like throwing ideas there as well, which would be, I could see being very helpful and probably as, I mean I'm sure it helps profitability as well for a lot of practices there as

Dr Melissa Barnett 25:57

It. It does. It does, and you're exactly right. I've been having a lot of conversations with different people, and optometry can be very lonely. And that's interesting to me because I've never felt lonely. I think because of all the volunteer work that I've done over all these years in different organizations within optometry. And so I, and I still feel like I have this wonderful community around me, but lots of people don't feel that at all. And they do feel isolated. And when you're talking to patients all day, yes, you're interacting with people, but it's not the same relationships. As you have, so I encourage all of you amazing optometrists out there is to get involved with your local society, volunteer, get involved with whatever specialty you might be interested in, whether that's low vision or contact lens or disease or whatever that might be, and find your people and continue these conversations. And that's a great thing about social media is that there are. Great groups. There are so many groups right now, and there are some really great conversations that are going on.

Fred H. Cho 27:12

Yeah. And

Riyad Khamis 27:12

for sure and

Fred H. Cho 27:13

now, right? We're connecting.

Riyad Khamis 27:14

yeah.

Fred H. Cho 27:14

Cali, I'm in Newfoundland, we as in London. So I

Riyad Khamis 27:18

we're all over.

Fred H. Cho 27:19

of being able to just connect online and putting yourself out there, connecting with people who are like-minded. Yeah.

Dr Melissa Barnett 27:26

yes, no, we're about as far away as you can go.

Riyad Khamis 27:29

I know all over the, all over the continent. So I also, one thing that we'd like to touch on, on the podcast is also just like that work life and that the happiness and finding that balance, and I know you're a big proponent of that. On your website you do stress the importance of creating a balance between work and home life especially for women in optometry. And so I'd love to hear your thoughts on a boundary or a practice ritual that's being a non-negotiable for you. For sustaining joy in your career so we can all achieve like happiness for a long period of time with our career.

Dr Melissa Barnett 28:00

Yes, my, I'll start with my word for 2026, and that is alignment. So the work life balance, I don't know if it's balance, it could be alignment, and it's always shifting and changing. So I love when people ask me this question because it's always gonna change, and that's okay. You might have little kids, you might be at a different phase in your life. You might want to do something different, like it's all different. But to answer your question. I, for me, a non-negotiable is exercise and that is something that I do every day because we all have to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others. And I love to do yoga. I love to go hiking, walking. I have strength workouts too, but I find that when I exercise, I feel better and that helps me help others. So that is really a non-negotiable. That is every single day

Fred H. Cho 29:08

I, that actually my New Year's resolution is to exercise every day, so I love that you brought that, and it really does help with the mood

Riyad Khamis 29:15

Yes.

Dr Melissa Barnett 29:16

Yeah.

Fred H. Cho 29:16

so far I haven't missed a day, first thing in the morning. That's what I do. I just exercise for

Riyad Khamis 29:21

Hmm.

Fred H. Cho 29:22

minutes and then Sustains the energy for the for the day.

Dr Melissa Barnett 29:27

yes.

Riyad Khamis 29:27

Yes, I'm the same way. I love, love any type of exercise, love being outside, kind of, yeah. I can tell when I haven't done it because I can almost feel my week being like, oh, this, this week's been a little harder. And I realize, okay, I haven't done as much like outdoor stuff or, or things like that that I enjoy or even swimming. So and it sounds like. Just even from your description of the name you were talking about, like you love being outside and doing the hikes and nature and getting that fresh air, which I'm sure makes a big difference

Dr Melissa Barnett 29:54

Yes. And then we can talk about mindfulness and how that can, tie in there too.

Riyad Khamis 29:59

Yeah, for

Dr Melissa Barnett 30:00

And then being in a routine is helpful too. And when we exercise, then it helps with other things. So we might eat a little bit healthier, we might sleep better. It's, it all goes hand in hand.

Fred H. Cho 30:14

Yeah.

Riyad Khamis 30:15

Yeah. And even the confidence just in general, I think is a big one too. So I'd love to kind of touch on one more thing that I know that you've had done. So I know we looked at, you were a founder of a group called Intrepid Eye Society. We'd love to hear a little bit more about that and kind of how that came about.

Dr Melissa Barnett 30:31

Yes, I am so proud of all the intrepid members. So these are leaders in optometry who are very forward thinking and it is just such a wonderful group of people. So this came about years and years ago, and a group of us got together. There is a similar group in ophthalmology. And a group of us in optometry said, Hey, we need to do this. And so that is how it started, but it's really evolved and it's continued and everyone in Intrepid is just amazing. So if I have a, we have a very active group chat as well, so if I have a question about anything I can ask and we'll get a response almost immediately. And I, I feel like I'm the mama bearer. I'm on the older end at this point in time, but I could not be more proud of the whole entire society and the growth of the society as well.

Fred H. Cho 31:36

So I can see that collaboration and connection is really important to you. Would you agree with that?

Dr Melissa Barnett 31:40

Yes. Oh yes, definitely a hundred percent.

Riyad Khamis 31:45

We can also, and I think that creates, as we said, like that creates that sense of group and you can learn so much from everyone else, especially colleagues, because I think like other people can understand what you deal with. But the co colleagues really fully understand kind of the profession, the ins and outs. And it's always nice to have have those conversations.'cause there's so many similarities as you talk more and more. And I found that sort of. Podcast as well is the more we've talked to people, it's like just that similarities and kind of what they're going through and it, it kind of resonates a lot of the ways and motivates you to get through a few things as well.

Fred H. Cho 32:16

Yeah, I, When I was studying burnout. Professional isolation was actually a big driver of burnout too. And a lot of people feeling like they can't really people don't really understand them the same way that a colleague would because we go through the same struggles and the same problems day to day. And I want to highlight one more thing that you said that it keeps replaying in my head actually, which was not necessarily work life balance. You said it was work life alignment, and I've never heard anyone quite say like that, and that makes a lot of sense to me because, mean, work life balance is a bit difficult because at times you might need one more or the other. But this idea of aligning your passion and your strengths and your uniqueness in your life, and then having that aligned with your work and life like that's such a beautiful wording. So I just wanted to highlight that again. That really resonate with me.

Dr Melissa Barnett 33:12

Oh good. I'm so glad it resonated. And it's really also bringing your values, so bringing your values into your life. And helping with that alignment as well.

Fred H. Cho 33:22

Amazing. Perfect. Now to round out the episode, I have a few more reflective questions for you. The first is, if your younger self could see you today, what would she find most surprising? I.

Dr Melissa Barnett 33:36

My younger self would find it most surprising that I feel very comfortable lecturing in front of thousands of people. I was a very shy child very shy, and I was talking to my mom about this the other week and she said, oh yeah, you used to hide behind me. You were so shy. Like that sort of shyness and it came out, it became a bit less shy in college. So for most of my really younger years I wouldn't even speak all that much. And so that would be the most surprising thing.

Fred H. Cho 34:14

And how did you get into all this speaking then?

Dr Melissa Barnett 34:18

So I got into the speaking, and again, have to thank a few mentors here too. So Mark Andre being one of them who saw it in me way before I saw it to myself and said, you need to do this. And I said no. My kids are not sleeping through the night. I'm not even sleeping. I don't think I can do this. And once my kids started sleeping, so when my younger son was almost two years old. That's when I started the lecturing and then I had other people who taught me how to create a lecture and how to do it, and it's a huge passion. It's something I love so much.

Fred H. Cho 34:58

That's amazing. So it's like an

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:00

Yes,

Fred H. Cho 35:01

like new identity

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:02

yes.

Fred H. Cho 35:02

being really shy to become, now I can speak in front of thousands of people. and I think that also fuels growth as well, right? Like your satisfaction in the work that you do.

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:15

Yes. I'm a continuous learner. Lifelong learner, and

Fred H. Cho 35:18

agree with

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:19

lifelong learner.

Fred H. Cho 35:20

That resonates with me.

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:21

Lifelong learning relief. Fuels growth.

Fred H. Cho 35:24

Yes.

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:24

Yeah.

Riyad Khamis 35:25

I think like doing something that you maybe weren't when you were younger, maybe think you weren't going to do so much and now getting to do it. So I get to do a little bit of speaking as well, and I always find you get this high after you finish a presentation and it ends and you're like, oh, that went so great and I

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:41

Yeah.

Riyad Khamis 35:42

questions. It's like that high that you get afterwards too. And it's, it's that feeling that that's really that keeps, keeps you wanting to do more as well.

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:50

Yep. I completely agree.

Fred H. Cho 35:52

And they say nervousness and excitement is the two sides of the same coin. So I do think

Riyad Khamis 35:57

hmm.

Fred H. Cho 35:57

the

Dr Melissa Barnett 35:58

Yeah,

Fred H. Cho 35:58

as well, just about reframing. Okay. Now at this stage in your career with everything you've lived through and everything you teach, what does work happiness mean to you now?

Dr Melissa Barnett 36:09

work. Happiness to me means giving back. And how can I give back? How can I help others? And that's where the coaching really comes in. So my goal is really to give all the knowledge, make it easier for all of you. Like here you go. I've had a wonderful career. I have been so fortunate to be able to travel the world and meet the most amazing people and help so many people, but right now it's having the most impact and helping the most people in the greatest way possible.

Fred H. Cho 36:52

That's

Dr Melissa Barnett 36:53

Yeah.

Fred H. Cho 36:53

a beautiful message too. And I

Riyad Khamis 36:56

Yeah.

Fred H. Cho 36:56

looking at, I was listening to another person, share about what work habits really means. And they had something similar where they said, in the beginning of your career, you're so busy with your personal achievements, right? You wanna establish yourself. But then were sharing that at some point. they got to so much achievement, they started giving back and sharing, making more impact for other people, and that's how they really found the next level of satisfaction in the work that they do. I,

Dr Melissa Barnett 37:29

Yes.

Riyad Khamis 37:30

I can see, but one of the things I know even just in this short conversation that's been impressive to me is I can see you're living your words as well as you leave for Nicaragua in probably a few

Dr Melissa Barnett 37:41

Yes.

Riyad Khamis 37:41

to kind of go. Serve and help help people along with the coaching. So I think that's really oppressive is just and very motivating as well that you're definitely living what you're saying as well, which is something that I think we all are, are, can strive towards as well. I'd love to just end by just asking you how, if people, how do they find you, how they reach out to you, what's the best way to get in touch and yeah, and, and just how to get, get kind of that guide as well. The scleral lens guide.

Dr Melissa Barnett 38:06

Sure. First of all, thank you to both of you. This was such a pleasure. Being on the podcast and getting to know both of you a little bit better as well. So to find me to look for Alpine Blue Coaching, it's on all the social. So LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Alpine Blue Coaching. Do Info is the website and for the Clinical Guide for Scleral Lens success, it's on scleral success. So feel free to reach out with any questions. I would love to continue the conversation. And again, thank you both. Thank you so much.

Riyad Khamis 38:43

Amazing. Yeah, we'll put those in the show notes as well. And yeah, thank you for coming on and we'd love to have you on again. I know there's a lot more other stuff we could kind of

Dr Melissa Barnett 38:51

Oh, I would love that. Let's do it.

Riyad Khamis 38:53

so we

Dr Melissa Barnett 38:53

I'm gonna make it happen.

Riyad Khamis 38:55

All right.

Fred H. Cho 38:56

Thank you.