Diva of the week – Nathalie Findlater, O.D.

The featured Diva of the week is Dr. Nathalie Findlater.  Read the feature to learn how Nathalie’s motto helps her find the things that align with her personal growth, home life, and end goal for whatever season she’s in.

1. Tell us a little bit about you.

I was born in Miami Fl. Raised in Ft lauderale area. I am a University of Florida graduate with a BS in Engineering. I met my husband the first day of college and I never looked back. We have been married for almost 10 years now. We have 3 beautiful little girls, Camille (6) , Alexa (4) and Lena (2).

We love to travel and eat! That is one of my favorite things to do, try new foods in new places. I absolutely love trying new things. It’s one of my favorite traits. My motto is “you don’t know if you love it if you don’t try it”. I am determined to discover all the things I love in my jouney!

Below is a picture of my beautiful family, another thing I love!

2. What made you decide to become an Optometrist?

I enrolled in college as a pre- med major.  However, I later switched to engineering because my father told me that a BS in engineering would look good on my resume for medical school. By my 3rd year in college, I realized that medical school was not for me after all, so I made engeneering my career end goal.

To get more experience in the engeneering field, I did a semester internship at Johnson and Johnson. After that internship, I quickly realized engineering was not for me either! Being behind a desk working on multi-year projects was not where this extrovert was going to thrive. Soooooo, I decided to look back into the medical field for a different career option.

As fate would have it, just as I began to look for a new career, 3 of my friends were all applying to Optometry School. This could not be a coincidence, right? So, I decided to look into Optometry as a possible career choice. It’s funny to me how I never once thought of Optometry as a career; considering that I wore glasses since the 3rd grade.

To make sure I’d love this career, I shadowed a local OD for a summer. It was amazing! I fell in love with Optometry immediately.  As a profession, it offered me everything I wanted – the ability to care for people, the flexibility for work-life balance and the versatility in the type of work environments available. I had found my “thing” I love!

3. What Optometry school did you go to?

Nova Southeastern University School of Optometry

4. Where do you currently practice?

Commercial practice in Target Optical in Palm Coast

5. Do you offer any Specialty Services in your practice?

Currently I’m building a Myopia Control specialty.

6. Name 1 to 3 hurdles you personally faced in your career and how did you overcome them?

I love to discover new things and sometimes that can make it challenging to have a single focus. Over the years, I’ve learned that it’s ok to not have a clear passion in a particular area.

I’m good at things I pursue and I don’t hate a lot of things. I look at different avenues and see how it aligns with my personal growth, home life and my endgoal for whatever season I’m in. I do it as long as it works and when it no longer works, I move to something new.

You have to find what works for you!

7. If you could go back to when you were a student, what advice would you give yourself?

Don’t let having a baby in your last year of school intimidate you from starting a practice right away.  If there’s one thing I learned in my journey is that the right time is now. Whatever you want to do, don’t wait, start now! You can always adapt and adjust as you go.

How to Contact Dr. Findlater?

To contact Dr. Findlaer, email her at [email protected], or click on the social media icons below.

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