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Women who have initiated new product developments or special programs in the arena of marketing, technology or retail. They have spearheaded innovative business enterprises that are achieving marked success.
Ann Harrison
Director of Broadscale Marketing and CRM
1-800-CONTACTS, Inc.
Draper, Utah
CHOSEN BECAUSE...“Ann Harrison is leading the television, direct-to-consumer and in-store marketing behind the 1-800-CONTACTS’ alliance with Wal-Mart. This alliance will create the largest optical network in the industry to span across optical stores, call centers and the Internet. I hope you can comprehend the scale and complexity of what she is accomplishing on an alliance that will have a profound impact on the industry.”
Ann Harrison has been with 1-800-CONTACTS for the past eight years. Harrison worked as a marketing manager for four years before becoming the director of broadscale marketing including television, radio and print, and customer relationship management (CRM). Prior to joining 1-800-CONTACTS, she worked in the health benefits management industry as a health benefits consultant.
Her newest project, the integration of marketing for the new alliance between Wal-Mart and 1-800-CONTACTS, will bring contact lenses to more Americans at lower prices and more convenience. The combined marketing efforts being created by Harrison will drive awareness of the alliance and enable consumers to take advantage of these benefits.
Harrison’s favorite part of her job is listening to contact lens wearers--gaining understanding of their needs and wants in the contact lens purchasing process and in their lenses. She enjoys finding ways to simplify the process of getting contact lenses, which is why she’s so excited about the alliance between 1-800-CONTACTS and Wal-Mart.
Harrison was honored by VM in the “Influential Women” issue of 2006.
SHE SAYS...I’m inspired by the many women in the optical industry and in other industries who are creating change. I tell other women, ‘Go for it.’ The optical industry is a great place to be.”
Patty Perreira
Co-Founder and Designer
Barton Perreira
Venice, Calif.
CHOSEN BECAUSE...“In today’s market that is dominated by big corporations, Patty has designed an eyewear collection that was bought by all the major U.S. department stores and is also sold in only the top independent stores. It was an amazing feat to start her own company and design a line that has very quickly made such a big impact.”
Patty Perreira got her start in the optical industry in 1986 answering phones at a newly founded eyewear company called Oliver Peoples. Over subsequent years, she did a number of jobs in the growing company, eventually settling into a creative role where she did everything from marketing to design, all without formal training.
Along with Larry Leight, she’s worked on collections for Prada, Miu Miu and Vera Wang along with Oliver Peoples, as well as bringing Paul Smith Spectacles to market. She cites as some of her biggest mentors: Leight, who gave her the opportunity to design; Smith, who she calls a creative genius; and Kenny Swartz, another founder of Oliver Peoples and the person who taught her the more technical aspects of making frames.
In 2006, Perreira left Oliver Peoples. Later, along with Bill Barton, the former OP president, the two started luxury eyewear line, Barton Perreira. She said the greatest challenge to starting her own line was finding the confidence within herself.
She admits it was a huge step to believe she could do it without corporate backing but her perseverance, knowledge and keen sensibilities have garnered her line acclaim and respect, both within the industry and out.
SHE SAYS...“I think it is important to continue to look outside the industry and not have tunnel vision when it comes to looking at what you do. You need to keep an open mind, be patient and stick with it. People want things to happen so fast nowadays but it is better if they take their time to make sure things are done right.”
Gai Gherardi & Barbara McReynolds
Co-Owners/Co-Designers
l.a.Eyeworks
Los Angeles, Calif.
CHOSEN BECAUSE...“l.a.Eyeworks has been creating original, invigorating eyeglasses since 1979, designed by the company’s co-owners, Gai Gherardi and Barbara McReynolds. They have also redefined perceptions with explosive marketing concepts that meld trademark humor, ‘low-brow’ materials, politically-charged messages, and spiritual encouragements.”
Since 1979, l.a.Eyeworks’ iconoclastic glasses have changed the way people think about eyewear. Its designs are immediately recognizable for their modern strokes and bold color innovations, infiltrating the popular culture landscape in everything from art to movies, and all of the brand’s success can be traced back to founders and partners, Gai Gherardi (above, right) and Barbara McReynolds (above, left), who own and design the line.
Gherardi and McReynolds, who started their business because of their love of eyewear, are still to this day inspired by the idea of being able to put one of their designs on someone’s face and seeing it make a difference. They claim it is that spark that has continued to sustain and inspire them, while driving on their success. A level of success the duo has reached by not backing down and being open to what is going on around them. They believe that though success gives you power and it is what you do with that power and staying true to yourself that is the real challenge.
With three namesake retail stores in Southern California, l.a.Eyeworks frames are distributed to exclusive retailers and opticians worldwide. Despite the company’s success it is still privately owned and operated and fiercely proud of its independence.
THEY SAY...“Women need to recognize and connect with our intuition and act on it. We have to trust our intuition and not be afraid to follow it. Some of our best decisions have come from not going with the norm but believing in our intuition and the choices it has led us to. Those choices give us fearlessness. Women need to fear nothing and no one.”
Barbara Rhodes
Manager, Global Integrated Marketing
CIBA Vision Corporation
Duluth, Ga.
CHOSEN BECAUSE...“She developed and launched the FreshLook Color Studio, a revolutionary Internet-based technology that allows visitors to try on FreshLook Color contact lenses... Web site visitors have increased 125 percent over the launch period.”
Barbara Rhodes refers to the development and wildly successful launch of the FreshLook Color Studio as her second “baby” (she had a baby boy last year). The interactive, online tool, launched earlier this year, allows consumers to upload their photo to freshlookstudio.com and “try on” contact lenses in a range of colors. Rhodes refers to the studio as “a virtual solution offering consumers a way to experiment with color contact lenses. And once they have their photos they can get opinions from family and friends by posting it online or emailing it around.”
Another advantage of the studio: less chair time once consumers go to their eyecare practitioner and the simpler sell is something that CIBA is marketing to ECPs as part of their brand communication message.
Rhodes, who has been with CIBA Vision for two and a half years has more than 15 years of experience in the marketing and advertising world. Currently responsible for Web-based marketing for all of CIBA’s CL brands, Rhodes has spent most of her career in the industry handling healthcare clients at media companies. The best part of her job? “It’s nice to work on projects that do good things for people.”
As for the future, Rhodes is working on taking the FreshLook Color Studio experience to the next level and is in the process of rolling out the technology on a global level to more than 20 countries worldwide.
SHE SAYS... “I’m inspired by the possibilities life brings to us--what is new, what is on the horizon and how I can make it work for us in helping others. Personally, I believe in doing the best I can and being the best I can be in a continual search for a happy, fulfilled and balanced life.”
Terri Wilson
Vice President, Strategic Alliances and Sales Operations
VSP Vision Care
Rancho Cordova, Calif.
CHOSEN BECAUSE...“Terri leads numerous cutting-edge programs and Best in Class initiatives... through her efforts, she has masterfully enhanced VSP’s approach to exceptional client satisfaction.”
The hot new trend in managed vision care these days is maximizing the connection between eyecare and overall wellness--and VSP Vision Care’s Terri Wilson is definitely in the midst of this innovative movement.
After beginning her career at a Wisconsin HMO, Wilson has spent 11 years with VSP, initially working with the managed-vision giant’s provider network to implement programs related to the company’s panel of eyecare professionals; she also spent some time on the sales side.
About a year ago, Wilson added account management functions to her role; in January, she took on additional responsibilities working with third-party vendors and payers to develop patient data.
Today, her primary responsibility is in VSP’s expanding health care initiatives, helping the company demonstrate how private-practice independent ECPs help manage patients’ overall health. Wilson works to develop strategic partnerships with disease managers, data aggregators and health plans in an effort to identify and manage patients with chronic conditions--all part of an initiative that has helped bring optometrists further into the healthcare arena.
SHE SAYS...“In many cases, the connection between eye health and a person’s overall health is new to the people I talk with, so it’s exciting to share our story, and let them know the eyes are the window on wellness.”
Bette Zaret
Senior Vice President,
Global Marketing
Transitions Optical
Pinellas Park, Fla.
CHOSEN BECAUSE...“Bette Zaret is a true visionary, dedicated to elevating the importance of Healthy Sight through education, eyewear and eyecare for people around the world. Her passion has also sparked a revolution within the company that is spreading throughout the industry.”
Zaret has 30 years of international marketing experience with such companies as Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb and Disney. Since joining Transitions Optical in 2001, Zaret has established the Transitions Partners in Education Program, including the creation of the Transitions Healthy Sight Counseling program, a global initiative that aims to educate practitioners and patients on potential threats to good sight and healthy eyes; funding of clinical research in the area of quality of vision at major academic ophthalmology and optometric institutions; developing a wide range of continuing education vehicles for eyecare practicioners; supporting educational and scientific meetings in the U.S. and abroad; and spearheading relations with the World Council of Optometry (WCO) and American Optometric Association (AOA).
Zaret has also been very instrumental in the launch of the Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund, Transitions Optical’s global corporate giving initiative. She’s played a major role in Transitions’ new PGA sponsorship, the 2009 Transitions Championship for Healthy Sight. Zaret is responsible for all strategic marketing functions and for establishing and expanding the Transitions brand equity worldwide. Zaret also chairs the company’s Global Marketing Council.
She is an admitted idealist and optimist. “It’s like a mosaic, where far away is the big picture and closer up, all the tiny points fit together. You need a great team to contribute, expand that vision and get you there.”
Zaret has a B.A. cum laude from Syracuse University and an advanced executive degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Zaret was previously honored as one of VM’s Most Influential Women in Optical in 2005.
SHE SAYS...“Work hard, find balance, be honest and have integrity. I had to fight gender wars when I was moving up; but today, I am seeing a different world, there’s a real transformation and this industry is poised to really change people’s lives by helping them understand healthy sight.” ■
