It was always the goal of Talia Mishkin, OD, to open her own practice. She’d grown up watching her father manage a multi-location MD/OD eye care practice.
“I wanted something small to call my own,” she says. “But I also wanted to prioritize work/life balance into my business plan.”
GETTING STARTED
Dr. Mishkin spent time behind the scenes learning the business side of her dad’s practice after graduating from Salus University Pennsylvania College of Optometry. Then she got married, had a child and put her dreams of ownership on the shelf for when she “felt more ready.”
Soon after moving to the area, her husband opened two separate businesses in Bridgewater, New Jersey. “I thought, ‘I definitely can’t do it now. We won’t have time for anything else.’” But she soon realized he was working less—not more—once policies, procedures and employees were in place. Coincidentally, the office sitting between his two businesses in the newly built retail strip—a laundromat and a bagel shop—sat vacant.
Dr. Mishkin decided to scoop up the vacant space before someone else did. She leased the 1,900-square-foot location and got to work right away. “We designed the whole space ourselves,” Dr. Mishkin says. “My husband has an engineering and project management background, so we sketched the layout, sent it to the architect and built it from the ground up.”
From the beginning, the aurora borealis was a guiding theme. The couple had traveled to Iceland and fallen in love with the aesthetic—light wood, cozy textures and a connection to nature. “I wanted it to feel spa-like; not like a doctor’s office,” she says. “I didn’t want stereotypical waiting room chairs or white walls. I wanted it to look like a home.”
The couple hadn’t settled on a name by the time they needed to fill out LLC paperwork, so her husband jotted down “Aurora Eyecare.” Their cat, Rori, was also named after the nightly light display, so the practice name stuck.
NORDIC INSPIRATION
Aurora Eyecare currently operates one fully equipped exam lane and will add a second soon. A dedicated dry eye spa room is complete with a spa lounge chair and Optilight device. On top of comprehensive exams, Dr. Mishkin offers myopia management, scleral lens fittings and orthokeratology.
She also saved on equipment pricing through Vision Source deals and looks forward to passing some of those savings along to her patients. “I don’t have to charge an arm and a leg to get a return on my investments,” she says. “It allows me to provide my patients with more for less.”
The flooring is a wood-look glue down vinyl plank by Shaw, and the paint color—Foggy Morning by Benjamin Moore—adds a neutral warmth with a soft pink hue. Plants gifted by family and friends add life to the space, and brassy gold accents add an old-money feel. Hunter green also makes an appearance throughout the practice in an accent wall, cabinetry and drop-ceiling.
A 10-foot-long custom front desk built into the floor and topped with green-flecked quartz serves as the space’s focal point. It’s become Dr. Mishkin’s favorite place to sit. “I’ve had patients comment that they appreciate that the doctor isn’t hiding in the back somewhere,” she says.
TYING IT TOGETHER
Local craftsmen the couple had worked with on previous projects custom built the optical displays. “I looked at thousands of pictures of optical spaces before designing this one,” Dr. Mishkin says. “I knew exactly what I wanted.” Tile that looks like wood creates a backdrop for the contact lens training area and matches the tile on the face of the front desk.
A black-and-white photograph of the Aurora hangs in her office. After the Endurance disaster, Shackleton returned to Antarctica aboard the Aurora to save the remaining men of his expedition,. It was a gift from her parents, who share her love of Arctic adventures. Dr. Mishkin also plans on printing a number of photos she has taken of the aurora borealis and hanging them around the office in the near future.
Having her husband’s businesses next door has come in handy for both foot traffic and their partnership. “We’re married, parenting partners and now working together. It’s brought our relationship to a whole new level.”
As a busy wife and mom, Dr. Mishkin makes sure to build breaks into her schedule. “I make it a point to prioritize mental health and family time. I make my schedule work for me.” She also understands that the doctor’s office isn’t everyone’s favorite place to be. “I can be a nervous patient myself, so I always identify with those people. I wanted to create a space that would feel more like home.”
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