Dr. Carly Rose: Burnout, Dry Eye, And An Optometrist’s Path To A Calmer Practice

Burnout sneaks in quietly, then rewrites the rules of your health, your leadership, and your life. That realization sent Dr. Carly Rose on a deep dive into stress, dry eye, and what a sustainable modern optometry career can look like. In this conversation, she shares the twists of her journey from ICO to residency, private practice ownership, med spa expansion, social media advocacy, and finally a hard reset after a surgery that forced her to slow down.

If you are a student, a new grad, or a seasoned owner, this is a roadmap for making your work both excellent and enjoyable.

From ICO to residency to ownership

Carly studied at ICO, completed a residency at the Cincinnati VA, and then pieced together a flexible early career. Weekend corporate work, VA care, and a day in her sister’s private practice gave her range and speed. Ownership followed. So did an obsession with ocular surface disease at a time when treatment choices were limited. She invested in imaging and in office procedures, built systems, and learned the legal and marketing realities of introducing aesthetics and dry eye services in Ohio.

Lesson: Follow the next right step. Build capability, then build capacity. Keep it ethical and compliant, and document everything.

Social media as a megaphone

Carly started posting in 2019 after hearing Gary Vaynerchuk encourage small businesses to tell their own stories. With almost no eye care voices on TikTok, she shared practical education and became a recognizable advocate for patients and the profession. Her rule is simple. Be honest, try products and services first, and only share what you truly believe in.

Thought: Authenticity scales trust. Patients and peers can hear the difference.

When dry eye leads to whole body conversations

Years of intense dry eye care revealed a pattern. Many patients carried chronic stress along with ocular surface disease. Nutrition, sleep, nervous system regulation, and environmental inputs were always in the background. That pushed Carly to study prevention, recovery, and the science of stress. It also reframed chairside education. Better lids and glands matter. So does a calmer life.

Takeaway: Dry eye often reflects systemic inflammation. Support the eye, and support the human attached to it.

The wake up call for Dr. Carly Rose

A hernia repair that Carly postponed for years finally forced six to eight weeks of downtime. Blood work showed early warning signs. The message was clear. Listen sooner. Protect your body and mind. Create a practice that is both effective and humane.

Two rules Carly now teaches

1. Get regulated before you act. If you feel angry, shaky, or flooded, do nothing. Breathe, walk, journal, or sit in silence until your nervous system is steady.

2. Make decisions from a regulated state, then follow through even when fear returns. If the plan says to part ways with a kind but misaligned team member, do it with compassion and clarity.

Practical tools for a calmer clinic

• Short daily practices: five to ten minutes of meditation, breathwork, or quiet time.

• Simpler schedules: fewer context switches, protected admin blocks, real lunch.

• Boundaries you can defend: clear patient communication windows, clear team escalation paths.

• Weekly recovery: sunlight, movement, hobbies, friends, and sleep priorities.

• Honest metrics: track schedule density, remake rates, staff overtime, personal energy, and stick to your red lines.

• Team culture: normalize micro breaks, teach basic regulation skills, celebrate small wins.

For the entrepreneur at heart

Business ownership and peace can coexist when you accept two truths. Nothing is fully in your control, and you still choose your response. Build systems. Choose values over velocity. Act from a calm center. You will pivot often. That is not failure. That is the work.

Final thought from Carly: This should be fun. If it is not fun, ask why. The obstacle usually points to the next right change. Follow Dr. Carly Rose on social via @doctorrosetalks