Kathy Vu, OD, recalls how difficult it was for herself and her husband Kelvin Ngo, DMD, to find a work-life balance as employees of corporate companies when their family was growing. The challenge motivated them to take matters into their own hands. In 2012, they started brainstorming how to have more flexibility with their two young sons.
In their personal lives, they found it challenging to plan for doctor appointments for themselves and their children without making many trips to different parts of town. This is where the idea of a “one-stop shop” came into fruition. They decided to build a business where they could offer patients a multitude of health care services under one roof. Dr. Vu and Dr. Ngo opened Eye Love Smiles Eye and Dental Care in Glendale, Arizona, in 2014. They’ll celebrate their 10th anniversary milestone this fall.
GETTING STARTED
Dr. Vu says that the most difficult part was finding the right space, particularly because there are so many dentists already in town. They originally intended to lease a space but her parents, successful business owners, encouraged them to look for an opportunity to own. Dr. Vu and Dr. Ngo ultimately purchased a space in a condo in a medical plaza that had been sitting empty since the 2008 recession after 1.5 years of searching.
A local architect helped them divide up the 2,800 square feet into their two areas for optometry and dentistry. There’s one large check-in desk but beyond that point, each doctor has their own LLC and dedicated staff. Dr. Vu has one pretest room and two exam lanes, as well as an optical and lab room for edging. Her husband has five bays and a lab.
The feel of the space is modern with clean lines and a color scheme that incorporates grays, blues and whites. After seeing many spaces with their realtor, their vision was as a health care facility the space is inviting, updated and clean.
It was not easy in the early days as a cold start, Dr. Vu says. Both doctors continued to fill in at other locations for a few years. At the advice of other peers, both doctors made the switch to focusing their own practice full time. This meant that patient care was condensed as much as possible with down time used for marketing and networking.
BUILDING A STRONG PATIENT BASE
Dr. Vu’s patient base is primarily fairly young and healthy. She’s found that specializing in two areas that she enjoys has helped grow the business and gain referrals: myopia control and dry eye. “The profession really serves us well, and I love that we have specialties that we can delve into. It’s what drives us and keeps us going,” she says.
She started exploring myopia control when their first two children were experiencing a rapid progression in their own myopia. Having her own children in myopia control has made it much easier to have the conversation with parents. In the desert of Phoenix, dry eye is a perfect match and is even more prevalent now. In the early days of building a dry eye practice the office offered punctal plugs, Zest procedure, a variety of drops and supplements for dry eyes. This past fall, to help provide better care for patients and their dry eye disease process, she brought in meibography to aid in diagnosing and patient education, intense pulsed light and radio frequency therapies.
Many of her patients are also patients of her husband’s. In fact, they try to schedule the services for families in both practices on the same day.
Dr. Vu and Dr. Ngo now have four children, and they never have to worry about taking time off for their children’s music concerts, the school art walk, their children’s sports events or doctor’s appointments. Dr. Vu works full time now with four full days Monday through Thursday and a half day on Friday. They alternate their late hours so one parent is always available.
They look forward to celebrating their first decade in business in October with a patient appreciation night.
