Optometry Becomes Family Affair for Local Father & Son
Dr. Scott Mann is a well-known optometrist and practices at Invision 2020 in Christiansburg and Salem. As a young boy, Dr. Mann stumbled upon the optometric industry after playing sports in middle and high school while being very nearsighted. He knew all too well the struggles of playing with blurry vision or having his glasses repeatedly destroyed. But at 13, he was lucky enough to get contact lenses, which greatly improved his time playing sports.
When he began thinking about what he wanted to do in life, he was drawn to a career in optometry after remembering what his family optometrist did for him. After realizing that optometrists are able to help people see better, keep their eyes healthy and earn a decent living, there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to pursue a career in the optometric field. Little did he know that this decision would lead him to meet his wife, Becky, another aspiring optometrist, at the University of Alabama – Birmingham (UAB).
His experience and passion for optometry came full circle when he played basketball as an undergraduate student at University of Lynchburg and later became the team eye doctor for Radford University for a variety of sports.
The experiences Dr. Mann has had so far as an optometrist have exceeded his expectations in so many ways. He feels a sense of satisfaction helping people keep their eyes healthy and also being able to have a reasonable work/life balance. As a Virginia Optometric Association trustee, he had the opportunity to develop friendships with some of the top leaders in the optometric industry in Virginia, some who are also top leaders in the country!
Despite being passionate about optometry, Drs. Scott and Becky Mann never pushed their children to pursue a career as an optometrist. Instead, they encouraged their children to follow their passion. But for Will Mann, optometry is in his blood. He knew he wanted to be an optometrist when he was 18 after going on a mission trip to Nicaragua. While there, Will was able to work with a small medical team, his parents included, helping small local villages with no access to medicine or glasses. It was an eye-opening experience. He was able to help perform hundreds of exams and distribute glasses to the locals. The joy of watching someone, particularly children, get their first pair of glasses and see 20/20 for the first time in years was beyond special.
Will was also influenced to pursue optometry by the medical technology that is coming out for the field. And lucky for Will, he will be attending UAB, his parent’s alma mater, in the fall, a college that is notoriously known for cutting edge medical technology. Even further, Will will live his first year at UAB on the same block as the house where Drs. Scott and Becky Mann met.
