Helen has been a successful business manager in healthcare sales in Europe and the UK for over 21 years. She is a licensed optician since 2012 and has operated a completely mobile business Secure Vision since 2018 on Vancouver Island. Helen is passionate about preserving the Optical Profession through enabling diversity and choices for all.
“I FEEL EMPOWERED” SAYS IOA’S INTERNATIONAL OPTICIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER HELEN WHITAKER
Helen Whitaker is the winner of the IOA SILMO International Optician of the Year. In this feature, she speaks to Janet Murphy about her year since her win.
Helen, you had just arrived in Vancouver to spend time with your daughter Beth when you were notified that you had won the International Optician of the Year 2021 Award. What were those first moments like, for you, and your daughters?
Oh my goodness! I had just stepped off the small coastal plane to Vancouver to meet my daughter Beth who was waiting for me outside the terminal. It was 10 am on a beautiful sunny day when Elaine called from the IOA event in Paris, to inform me that not only had I won, but I was the first ever woman to do so. It was incredible ! I couldn’t quite believe it and quickly put her on speaker phone for my daughter to listen. Beth loves her Mum but this blew her mind! We immediately called my other daughter Jade and had a very emotional conversation about empowerment. I became a single mum when they were 7 and 8 and raised them to be strong independent people. Our family song is “I am Woman hear me ROAR” by Helen Reddy and we were all singing it on the phone between the laughter and tears. Of course it was at that very moment that they deviously persuaded me to bring them to Paris this year to the IOA.
How has winning the International Optician of the Year 2021 Award affected you and your clients at Secure Vision Mobile Optical?
I was back to work that Monday morning, and it was with some trepidation and humility that I began to inform my client base. It is important to me to share my success with my clients, by acknowledging the privilege that comes with receiving this distinction, for without clients I would have nothing to be recognized for. Winning the International Optician of the Year award has provided my company Secure Vision Mobile Optical (SVMO) with fabulous marketing opportunities. Referrals and recommendations continue to pour in as more and more clients are recognizing that SVMO is a unique business, offering them great personalized service. Thanks to this incredible honor their belief in me is validated. I have to say, I feel a definite responsibility to continue to provide exemplary service as a result of this recognition and honour.
You began Secure Vision Mobile Optical Academy with the vision to share your successful career methods with others in the hopes their futures will be affected positively. How has having the International Optician of the Year 2021 Award supported you in this venture?
My purpose with SVMOA is to inspire and empower fellow eye care professionals, and encourage the desire we all have, to not only serve our clients better, but to create a profitable business model that provides our best possible work and life balance. I strongly believe the IOA award validated my honesty and genuinity as I feel empowered to reach out to the optical community to engage the support and services of other caring, dedicated professionals. All have openly recognised my desire to motivate, educate and share my knowledge and experiences. The SVMOA program is now packed with expert support from across the globe! From every province in Canada to the Southern States of the USA, Australia and more recently Dubai! I was also invited to be included in the MyVision Show, a Digital Showcase for Eye Care Professionals. These devoted Optical Professionals have not hesitated to give back, each with the attitude that even small differences in people’s mindsets encourage positive change. The real diamond in life is that feeling you get when you know your actions have helped others succeed. The Optical Group of Canada actually provided 8 bursaries to the first students on the Canadian entry program, allowing students to take full advantage of the education without financial worry for this I want to say a big THANK YOU to Ruth Priebe.
Helen, you are a gracious humanitarian who has invested time, talent and energy to many charities that are near and dear to many hearts. Canadian Council of the Blind, Jaspers Dive, Divers with special needs, the list is endless. Not all are local, could you describe what winning the International Optician of the Year 2021 Award has meant to Little Ray Of Hope School, in Africa?
Ah my heart is there. This school is top of the list for my charitable endeavours. Being the recipient of the honorable IOA award has emboldened me to create more awareness on social media, to openly discuss the challenges this school faces on a daily basis,the horrors and the joys, and, yes, to ask for support! The Little Ray of Hope in Kwanagware is in one of the biggest slums in Kenya. I was recently interviewed by Anne Marie Quenneville of IMED Pharma regarding my journey as an Optician, educator and IOA award winner. Her podcast link is Keeping It Real with AMQ. My interview will be broadcast soon. I was also deeply grateful that she also presented me with the opportunity to discuss the school and advise how anyone can help. To my extreme delight, IMED Pharma immediately sponsored a child’s education, food and clothing for a year. This kind of visible and audible action on social media is outstanding, and clearly demonstrates true leadership. Thank you to Anne Marie Quenneville and Med Pharma.
My final question, how excited are you to attend SILMO 2022 in September, to be presented with this prestigious award and what does it mean to your family, especially your daughters?
I cannot sit still! Oh my goodness, I am so excited and incredibly grateful for this honor as are my daughters and family. My dear husband Bart is dog sitting, garden sitting and manning the fort as I travel across the world with my significant people, people who inspire me every day. I will be combining our trip to Paris with a mum and daughter’s visit to the Southeast of France, an adventure I never thought possible in my lifetime. Receiving International Optician of the Year is a perfect opportunity to create memories, share my career recognition, and inspire all other Eye Care Professionals to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. I realize a lot of the time it doesn’t have to be big, impressive actions as small differences truly can mean the world to one person.
“Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of, who do the things no one can imagine.”― Alan Turing
Topic: IOA Award
Source: https://www.ioassn.org/news/i-feel-empowered-says-ioas-international-optician-of-the-year-award-winner-helen-whitaker/
