Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Sharpe, MD.
Matthew, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m originally from Columbus, Ohio, and I came home to go to Med School there. I thought I’d go into family practice like my grandfather who practiced in small town Ohio and died in 1974. During my surgery rotation, I fell in love with surgery. Eye surgery was the perfect fit for me. I had very thick glasses, hard contact lenses, eye infections and never imagined being able to see without them. After a few years in private practice, I joined a corporate practice doing thousands of laser vision procedures and gained a ton of experience right from the beginning of its approval in the late 90’s. After 13 years with them I had the courage to start my own practice doing what I feel is a more personal, extremely high-quality laser vision correction. I feel uniquely qualified in that I’ve got a wealth of experience, but now can spend more time with patients, making sure that our communication is superior. Patients need and deserve attention and time to make sure that we both know what they expect and what laser vision correction can accomplish for them. It’s an unbelievable procedure. I often wonder what my grandfather would have thought.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Although I practiced in a corporate environment and learned a lot, practicing medicine and running a business are very different challenges. I like them both and have a lot to learn in both. I think we’ve made mostly good decisions that have allowed us to carefully expand. And we have a service that changes lives for the better. It’s a great privilege to do this fir people.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
SharpeVision is a small tightly knit company that delivers the gift of clear uncorrected vision with extremely high-tech lasers. I am very proud of the team that helps us achieve this. My friend and former technician, attorney and our CEO Cory Salter works tirelessly to navigate through agreements with vendors, marketing companies, HR, and a million other things. My wife Amanda is our creative director. Everything you see from our website to interiors; coffee mugs and flowers is her vision for our brand. She is our “secret weapon”. Rosena Maharaj is our operations director and keeps everything running beneath the surface and is excellent at her job.
We are different on all levels. The patient experience from the phone call to the final crisp clear uncorrected vision is designed to be the best. And we’re small enough and privately owned so we can improve and adapt very quickly. Our objective results are better, but so is everything leading up to that. I feel extremely privileged and take tremendous pride in being able to do what I do. And we all work harder than we ever imagined to make it that way for our patients.
What were you like growing up?
Haha! I was a little nerdy boy. Thick glasses and spaces between my teeth made me self-conscious. But I found school easy and was very persistent when I wanted something. I knew from about age 7 that I wanted to be like my grandfather, a small town doctor in College Corner Indiana. I did all the usual suburban things: baseball in the summer, football in the fall, fought with my two brothers. I was above average in everything, but not the best at anything. I wanted to see the world, and went to France as a 12-year-old. I went back for junior year of college and have been back many times since. I often get really in to something and then move on. I played piano pretty well in college, but can’t play a note now. Tennis, motorcycling, investing, swimming in high school, waterskiing and snow skiing are all things that I love and yet don’t do as much as I’d like. But the best thing in the world is being a dad and husband. My parents and brothers and their families get together one week a year at a lake house and strengthen those bonds, and there’s nothing quite like that. I am very fortunate and grateful.
Pricing:
- Grand opening: $2998 for both eyes (after the $1500 discount)
- $200/eye for our lifetime commitment: no charge for enhancements ever.
Contact Info:
- Address: 145 W North Ave.
Chicago, IL 60610 - Website: Sharpe-vision.com
- Phone: 312-701-2020
- Email: drsharpe@sharpe-vision.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/sharpevision_modernlasik
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharpeVisionLasikEyeCare/?pnref=about.overview
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sharpevision-modern-lasik-Chicago
Image Credit:
Lou Lombardo
Colt McCoy
Lamar Neagle
Chris Henderson
Aaron Kovar
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
