Where did you attend optometry school? Do you have any school advice/study tips?

• Southern California College of Optometry. Class of 2003. Live a balanced life that involves school, family and physical/mental health. Make time for daily exercise and network with people outside of school.

Which one thing that you learned in optometry school do you use the most in your daily practice?

• The art of listening. In a class that Dr. Dobies taught, he taught us the importance of listening to patients. Usually, within the first 30 seconds of a patient encounter, I already know how to handle the patient and how to tailor the exam for that patient based on their personality and what they share with me verbally and with non verbal cues.

Did you do a residency? If yes, what area and would you recommend it to others?

• No. Never considered it as my primary focus has always been to get into running a business as soon as I can. Even if I wanted to, I did not have the grades to be accepted most likely!

Where do you practice now? Pros & cons? How did you end up there/make the choice to be there?

• Rowland Heights, CA Dr. Endicott and Dr. Nelson started the practice in 1976. They called me in 2005 asking if I was interested to take over as they were considering retirement. I worked at the practice as an associate for about 6 years before I took over. At 72 years old, Dr. Nelson still works for me as a part time associate. It has become more of an Asian area over the last few decades, but I do not market myself to the Asian population despite the fact I am Asian. We have done well seeing a diverse group of patients from all across Southern California with different marketing strategies and an existing patient based of local school district, government and city employees. I am located near 4 counties (LA, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino).

Do you have a specific patient demographic that dominates your area and if so, how have you adapted your practice to serve them better?

• We have loyal term local patients who have been coming to see Dr. Endicott and Dr. Nelson since 1976. Many of the patients are school district, government and city employees. Because we are located near the City of Industry, many factory and warehouse workers who live far away come see me for their eye care during their lunch breaks. I also see many professional athletes, musicians and celebrities. With the advent of Yelp and Instagram, we regularly see new patients who look us up on social media.

Do you own your own practice? How did you join/open it? How long have you been there?

• Dr. Endicott and Dr. Nelson started the practice in 1976. They called me in 2005 asking if I was interested to take over as they were considering retirement. At the time, I was working at my childhood Optometrist's practice in Covina and considering partnering with him. Ultimately, I decided to leave the Covina practice and start at Dr. Endicott and Dr. Nelson's practice as an associate for about 6 years before I bought their practice. At 72 years old, Dr. Nelson still works for me as a part time associate. When I bought the doctors out, the purchase included both their Rowland Heights and La Puente practices. After a little over one year of owning both practices, I sold the La Puente practice to an SCCO schoolmate friend of mine.

What was your most valuable resource when getting involved in your initial private practice setting?

• Having loyal, trustworthy and hard working opticians that came with me from other practices made the transition smooth to take over and much less stressful.

What outside services do you use to help manage/elevate your practice (patient recall services, social media, buy-in groups, CPA, financial advisor, lawyer, etc.)?

• It is important to have a trustworthy and great CPA/accountant. My wife is a C.M.A. and a college professor in accounting. She does not come to the practice and has nothing to do with the operations of the business. However, she does assist with payroll and payroll taxes. We have a Facebook and Instagram business account (@dralexcorbin) that is fairly active and we interact with patients and potential patients.

Do you have more than one location? What factors went into that decision? How soon after your first location was open did you open your subsequent locations?

• When I bought the doctors out, the purchase included both their Rowland Heights and La Puente practices. After a little over one year of owning both practices, I sold the La Puente practice to an SCCO schoolmate friend of mine. They also had a nursing home contract where we did Medicare exams on nursing home patients. I gave that contract at no charge to one of my classmates. By focusing on the one main location (Rowland Heights), I have been able to make good money, spend time with family, exercise... It opened the door to have time to check the LA Clippers over the last several years and work with more professional athletes and teams too. Quality over quantity.

What tips do you have for hiring/training staff and how do you motivate them?

• The qualities I see for staff and associate OD's: 1. Excellent communication skills, outgoing personality, responsible 2. Personality over experience in certain cases 3. As a boss, I can teach technical skills but cannot change someone's natural personality and drive 4. Willingness to learn
• I prefer to hire people who have worked in the service industry such as restaurants, hotels, bars, and retail sales.
• I build a team of staff where people have a role. I do not need 3 managers or friction will occur. People have defined roles and we work together as a team to achieve our goals.
• Here are a few events/activities we do as a team: sporting events, dinners, Spartan races, Disneyland, VIP experiences

What have you done to set yourself apart from other eye care professionals near you?

• (@dralexcorbin) I have built solid relationships with professional sports teams, pro athletes, sports agencies and trainers to have a pipeline of athletes and entertainers who trust us with their eyecare needs. This helps with the marketing of my practice and often draws new patients to me.

Please add any additional thoughts or advice for our members.​

• In owning a private practice, we believe that our patients are our friends- without them we would have no job, and without their friendship we would have no new patients. We believe that our employees are the heart of our practice. The qualities which they convey to our patients have an impact 100x greater than our office decor, our equipment, etc. In today's world of online purchases and those that ask for their Rx to take to Costco, there are still plenty of patients that value service and personal care more than just getting a "deal"....we want to provide our patients with quality SERVICE! Many patients are willing to pay for quality service and a good relationship with their doctor's office.
• As consumers, we can all get full eating a cheap McDonald's $2 burger and also eating a $100 Mastro's filet mignon. Patients can also see with a $7 Zenni optical set of glasses and also with a $500 pair of Guccis with blue blocker from my practice. I want the patient that wants the quality experience and is willing to pay for exceptional service. Don't deliver a product, deliver an experience. Despite the fact that many patients go cheap and buy from Costco, online and Zenni, there are plenty of patients that are willing to pay a premium to be treated well and get quality product and great service when they buy their glasses once a year.

If you have any further questions for Dr. Alex Corbin Liu, his email is: [email protected]