Annie Tran, OD, has practiced optometry in nearly every setting, from private practice and corporate-affiliated to medical settings and hospital clinic administration. When she opened Omni Optometry in Fullerton, California, in September 2025, she brought lessons from each of those experiences together to build a practice that reflects the way she wanted to care for patients.
FINDING HER WAY
Dr. Tran grew up in southern California and earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Irvine, before attending the Southern California College of Optometry, now part of Marshall B. Ketchum University. Early in her career, she worked in a private practice and always thought she would one day open her own.
“Looking back, I didn’t know what opening a practice entailed,” Dr. Tran says. “All I knew was that it was the goal.”
She later accepted a role in a corporate setting, something she thought she would never do. In hindsight, Dr. Tran says it became one of the most valuable experiences of her career. Over seven years, she gained significant insight into the business side of optometry, earned several promotions and eventually became one of the company’s regional director for California.
But the demanding schedule—including long nights, early mornings and travel—became more difficult with a growing family.
After the birth of her daughter, Dr. Tran stepped away from that role and returned to patient care as an associate in several private practices. She later joined an MD/OD practice, where she saw a wide range of ocular disease cases and focused on patient care. Dr. Tran continued working part time while growing her family and later spent eight years in a hospital setting overseeing the optometry department. While the experience was valuable, she realized how much she missed the relationships that develop in private practice.
Dr. Tran says she was finally ready to build a practice that combined what she had learned along the way.
A SPACE TO CALL HER OWN
Unable to find an established practice for sale in Orange County, Dr. Tran pivoted. “We knew that if we wanted to build a space that was truly ours, we had to start cold,” she says.
Dr. Tran eventually found a Supercuts going out of business in Fullerton. The space sits next to a busy dental office and a karate studio that brings steady traffic from families with children.
She hired a team to demolish the interior, including walls, flooring and the drop ceiling. She chose a lighter palette to keep the space bright. The exposed ceiling is sprayed white, and the floors are light wood luxury vinyl plank that is both modern and durable. The front desk features quartz on the top and side, bringing in a stone element to balance the wood tones.
In the optical, Dr. Tran chose frame shelving from IKEA. Ample lighting was especially important to her, so the team installed lighting both under and above the shelves. During her own home renovation, Dr. Tran realized she loved how lighted mirrors complemented her skin, so she added them to the optical area. The east-facing windows bring in natural morning light.
The reception area includes a patterned rug from Wayfair and cozy seating from Ikea. Plants add greenery throughout the office, though most arrived as gifts. They include a money tree from family members, orchids from her mother and service reps and a bird’s nest fern from her husband.
“My staff jokes that the plants here must be ‘filled with love,’ because my plants usually die,” Dr. Tran says with a laugh.
Toward the back of the office, patients have access to a beverage station with coffee, water, juice and snacks. Dr. Tran wanted the space to feel welcoming for families, since many of her patients include parents and young children. Shelves above the beverage station display retail items such as artificial tears, cleaning cloths and cases, along with photos of the staff.
A BOLD FOCAL POINT
One of the most noticeable features of the office came from a last-minute design decision. When budget overruns caused her to abandon her decorate drop ceiling above the front desk, the team chose to create a blue feature wall. Early in the morning the contractor was to buy the paint, Dr. Tran asked to switch the blue to black.
The black feature wall now showcases the practice logo and serves as a focal point when patients enter the office. “Painting that wall black was one of my favorite decisions,” Dr. Tran says. “It pops so beautifully.”
The practice also features one pretest room and space for two exam lanes, with one currently outfitted. The practice also includes an office and an on-site finishing lab with an Essilor Delta 200 Lens Edger.
As a new member of Vision Source, Dr. Tran leaned into vendor deals. The practice features an Optos retinal fundus camera, a MYAH Optical Biometer and Corneal Topographer, an autorefractor and autophoropter.
Looking back, Dr. Tran says the project came together thanks to learning what did (and didn’t) work while working for others, plus support from many of her people.
“From start to finish, everyone has been great,” she says. “From my husband and family to our contractors, design team and consultants. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
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