Dr Jayson Stone

A graduate from Deakin’s Bachelor of Vision Science/Master of Optometry in 2017, Jayson’s path into optometry wasn’t as clear as 20:20 vision. He took the long way around but it was worth the extra miles: Jayson’s experiences helped shape him into a practitioner who mixes optometry, art and old-fashioned conversation. Here’s what makes him – and his practice – unique.

Taking the scenic route

Jayson grew up in Perth, on the west coast of Australia. At nine years old, Jayson had an experience with an optometrist that he labelled ‘extraordinary’, which inspired him to chase optometry as a career. ‘He was kind and caring,’ Jayson recalls. ‘Easy to understand as a child. Encouraging and confident in his ability to help me.’

But inspiration is only as good as your career counsellor’s guidance, and despite good grades Jayson was advised to look at other options. His family had modelled a philosophy that ‘if you weren’t studying, you were working’, so – feeling the pinch to keep moving – Jayson followed a friend into university.

Originally completing a qualification in nursing, Jayson returned to university to study architecture because he ‘loved design, form and structure.’ To support himself, he worked as a part-time optometry dispenser, fitting glasses.

It was an echo of his teenage career dream to become an optometrist. But he found the experience jarring in comparison.

‘Working at a chain wasn’t as much about helping people,’ Jayson explained. ‘They were incredibly focused on their store and individual KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).’

A decade and a half later, Jayson can vividly recall his lightbulb moment, when he realised he had to take control of his future in optometry.

To set the scene:  It was shortly before the end of the financial year. The store was obsessively tracking its sales and teetering on the brink of reaching its annual target. Cue a conversation between Jayson and his manager about selling transition lenses to a patient in their eighties.

‘My manager was insistent that I needed to sell her transition lenses, but she just needed basic reading glasses. It was an ethical question, with a pretty clear answer,’ Jayson recalls. ‘I didn’t [sell her transition lenses] and got reprimanded, and that was the moment I chose to move into independent practice.’

After eight years working as a dispenser in Perth, Jayson and his partner Kye made the long, hot trip across the Nullarbor to Melbourne.

Tie-free optometry that’s B Corp, not corporate

As he acclimatised to Australia’s southeast, Jayson studied the Bachelor of Vision Science/Master of Optometry at Deakin’s Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus. It is a fond memory: highlights included the cutting-edge facilities, the first set of clinical tools he purchased (‘which I still have out the back of my practice!’) and undertaking a subject that covered the business of optometry.

With a full qualification under his belt, Jayson established Seekers Optical, his business venture built from his catalogue of experiences. Seekers blend the patient-first focus of a nurse with the stylistic flair of an architect and cutting-edge optical practices.

‘As a kid, I would go to the doctor, and they were your mum's, dad’s, grandpa’s doctor. And you’d sit down to cover topics like, “I heard your aunt got married.” And only then would you get to the diagnosis. That has been removed from the GP experience and in optometry too.’

For Jayson and his team, it is a conscious choice to not compete with multinational businesses. ‘We use excellent products, we don’t rush our consultations, we get to know our patients. If we need to start by talking about the weather for 20 minutes, we will. Some of our patients are over 80; it’s about making people feel comfortable.’

Seekers Optical is the only B Corp Certified optometry clinic in the world. Jayson’s team rewrote their business constitution to prioritise ethical, sustainable practice over finance – something they put into practice every day.

‘It’s a demonstration to our community of optometrists that there is more they can do to be ethical and sustainable in their day-to-day practice. And it’s also a formal certification for my patients, that proves that we are operating in a way that we are being held accountable for.’

Like a great pair of glasses, Seekers is providing an extraordinary vision.