Noh Filter (Fridays with Ada Noh, OD)

Another Castle to Build

Professional decisions can be hard—especially when you’ve poured years of your life into building something from the ground up. I built my dream castle (practice), brick by brick. I slogged through the long days, the uncertainty, the growing pains, and all the moments that no one sees behind the scenes. And then, I made the incredibly difficult decision to sell it. I thought the hard part was over. Instead, I found myself facing an entirely different question: What next? I spent a lot of time trying to avoid the inevitable, but eventually realized that maybe I wasn’t meant to walk away from what I had built—I was meant to build again. So here I am, opening another cold-start, dry eye specialty practice from the ground up. Another blank canvas. Another set of bricks. And, apparently, another castle to build.

See You at Academy

Academy is right around the corner, and I’m looking forward to being in Anaheim this year. Conferences are always a good opportunity to catch up with people I only get to see a few times a year, but they’ve also become one of my favorite places to meet doctors I’ve only interacted with online.

Over the past year especially, I’ve had more conversations with ODs who are interested in getting deeper into dry eye, building an ocular surface specialty within their existing practice, or taking the leap into practice ownership. These are conversations I genuinely enjoy having, probably because it wasn’t that long ago that I was the one asking many of the same questions.

I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I’m happy to share what has worked for me, what hasn’t, what I would do differently, and some of the things I wish I knew before opening Dry Eye Center of Arizona. If you want to talk about equipment, testing, treatment protocols, cash-pay services, referrals, opening a practice, or just dry eye in general, I’m always up for the conversation.

So, if you’re going to be at Academy and would like to meet up, reach out. Send me an email, message me on social media, or just come say hi if you see me walking around the exhibit hall. We can grab a coffee, find somewhere to sit for a few minutes, and talk shop.

One of the best parts of these meetings is getting to know the people behind the names we see online all year. If you’re going to be in Anaheim, I’d love to meet you.

Have a great weekend.

Ada Noh, OD

Andrew Zagelbaum, OD