Meet Hassnain Safdar — The New Vice President of the College of Optometrists on Leadership, Independent Practice and the Future of Eye Car.
Why Independent Practice Gave Hassnain the Freedom to Build Something Meaningful
Hassnain could have taken the easy road. With his clinical credentials — IP optometrist, cataract and YAG laser specialist, hospital experience — he could have stayed comfortably inside the corporate or secondary care world. Plenty do. The pay is steady. The decisions are made for you. The risk is somebody else’s problem.
He chose the harder path instead.
Today he is Director of two independent practices in Leicester — Evington Eyecare and While Opticians, the latter established in 1868 and one of the oldest optical practices in the country. That is not just a business. That is a piece of British optical heritage. And he is carrying it forward with the kind of care, ambition and modern thinking the founders could never have imagined.
What I loved hearing from Hassnain is why independent practice still matters. It is the freedom to spend proper time with a patient. The freedom to invest in low vision technology that genuinely changes lives. The freedom to build a team culture rooted in service, not sales targets. The freedom to say no to the things that do not fit, and yes to the things that do.
“Independent practice gives you the space to deliver something truly personal and meaningful,” he says.
That is the line every aspiring practice owner needs to hear. Independent does not mean small. Independent means intentional.
AI, Smart Glasses and the Future of Eye Care — Why Optometrists Should Lean In, Not Pull Back
This is the part of the conversation where most professions get nervous. Not Hassnain.
We talk openly about AI in optometry, the rise of smart glasses, the rapid evolution of low vision technology, and what it all means for the way we deliver eye care over the next decade. And rather than treating it as a threat, Hassnain frames it as one of the biggest opportunities the profession has ever had.
“The future of eye care is not something to fear. It is something to understand.”
That mindset alone separates the practitioners who will thrive from the ones who will be left behind.
We discuss how AI is already supporting clinical decision-making, helping detect retinal disease earlier, freeing optometrists from admin so they can focus on patients. We talk about how smart glasses are quietly transforming the lives of partially sighted people — helping them read a menu, navigate a room, recognise a loved one’s face.
“If a partially sighted person can use smart glasses to understand a room, read a newspaper or call their mum, that is game-changing.”
The takeaway is simple. Technology will never replace the optometrist. But the optometrist who understands technology — and uses it to deliver more humanity, not less — will define the next era of eye care.
The profession needs more thinkers like Hassnain.
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Leadership, Long-Term Thinking and the Power of Quietly Stepping Forward.
This is the part of the conversation I keep coming back to.
Hassnain did not wake up one morning and decide to become Vice President of the College of Optometrists. There was no grand plan. No five-year strategy pinned to the wall. Just a steady, quiet pattern of showing up.
Local Optical Committee work. Council member for the East Midlands. Trustee. Committee meetings. Drafting COVID guidelines when the world was on fire. Mentoring pre-reg optometrists who needed someone in their corner. None of it was glamorous. Most of it went unseen. All of it mattered.
“You have got to be in the room if you want to shape the room.”
That single line captures something I think a lot of opticians, dispensing opticians and practice owners need to hear right now. Optical leadership is not reserved for the loudest voice or the biggest title. It is earned through long-term thinking, generosity of time, and the willingness to volunteer for the work nobody else wants to do.
What Hassnain shows us is that influence is built in small, consistent steps. You serve. You contribute. You show up. And over time, the profession starts to notice.
If you are early in your career in optometry — or even mid-career and wondering whether your voice still counts — listen carefully to this part of the episode. It might change the way you think about everything.
Why Visibility Matters — And How Social Media Helps Opticians Like Hassnain Be Heard
Here is something I want every optometrist, dispensing optician and practice owner to sit with for a minute.
The reason you are hearing Hassnain’s story right now is because he allowed it to be heard. He stepped into the room. He said yes to the podcast. He shared his thinking publicly. And in doing so, he became someone the profession can learn from, follow, and be inspired by.
That is the real power of visibility — and it is exactly why social media for opticians matters more than ever.
For years, our profession has quietly produced extraordinary people doing extraordinary work behind the scenes. Brilliant clinicians. Brave practice owners. Generous leaders. And almost none of them have been seen. Marketing has historically felt uncomfortable in optics, almost like it was beneath us. That mindset is costing the profession its best voices.
If you are running an independent practice, leading a team, building a niche in low vision, paediatric care or myopia management — the world needs to know. Patients need to find you. Younger optometrists need to see what is possible. Suppliers and partners need to understand what you stand for.
This is what we do every day at Loving Social Media. We help opticians, optometrists and optical practices build the kind of visibility that creates trust, attracts the right patients, and grows the right reputation.
Hassnain stepped into the room. So can you.
About Garry Kousoulou and The Optician Show
Garry Kousoulou FBDO is widely recognised as one of the leading global voices in social media, marketing and visibility for opticians, optometrists and optical practices. With over 36 years in the optical industry, Garry brings a rare combination — a fully qualified dispensing optician with deep clinical credibility, and a strategic marketing mind who has helped reshape how optical practices think about growth, branding and patient communication in the digital age.
He is the founder of Loving Social Media, the specialist digital marketing agency working with independent practices, optical groups and healthcare brands across the UK, Europe and beyond. Loving Social Media is trusted by some of the most respected names in optics for one reason — it is the only agency in the world built by an optician, for opticians, combining clinical insight with proven marketing strategy.
Garry is also the founder of ColourOn UK, the exclusive distributor of colour vision enhancement lenses across England, Ireland, Cyprus and Greece, and the host of The Optician Show — Optical Business & Marketing Podcast, the leading podcast for optical business owners, dispensing opticians and optometrists who want to grow with purpose.
A former ABDO board member, long-standing BNI Vision Enfield contributor, founder of the Enfield Business and Community Awards, judge at the Business Book Awards, and trusted advisor to optical leaders worldwide, Garry’s voice has become one of the most authoritative in the profession.
When opticians want clarity on social media for opticians, marketing for optical practices, brand-building, visibility, content strategy and how to be heard in a noisy market — they come to Garry Kousoulou.
The Optician Show exists to amplify the voices that are shaping the future of optics. Hassnain Safdar is exactly the kind of guest this podcast was built for.
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