Starting a business is never easy.
Starting one after spending more than three decades building a successful career in a single industry may be even harder.
For most people, 32 years of experience becomes a comfortable place to stay. The routines are familiar. The responsibilities are understood. The path forward is predictable.
For Misty Gilder, (my beloved daughter-in-law) it became the foundation for something new.
Recently, Misty launched MRG Consulting, LLC, a consulting firm dedicated to helping independent optometric practices improve profitability, operational performance, and long-term practice value.
While the business may be new, the expertise behind it is anything but.
Over the past 32 years, Misty has worked her way through virtually every position inside an optometric practice. From Front Desk and Optometric Technician to Optician, Practice Manager, District Manager, and Multi-Site Operations Leader, she has seen firsthand what makes practices thrive—and what holds them back.
That experience provided something no textbook, seminar, or certification can teach.
Perspective.
She understands the daily challenges faced by practice owners because she has lived them. She understands the pressures of managing staff, maximizing schedules, improving patient experiences, controlling costs, and increasing profitability because she has spent decades doing exactly that.
Perhaps most importantly, she has helped practices achieve measurable results.
Throughout her career, Misty has successfully led multiple locations, implemented operational improvements, developed leadership teams, increased practice value, and helped organizations achieve significant revenue growth through disciplined execution and accountability.
Those experiences eventually led to a simple realization.
Many independent practice owners face the same challenges.
They often know opportunities exist within their business but lack the time, resources, or outside perspective needed to identify them. Some are looking to increase profitability. Others want to improve operations, strengthen their teams, prepare for succession, or increase the value of their practice before a future sale.
The knowledge to help them exists.
The question became whether Misty was willing to take the leap and build a business around sharing it.
That decision required something many entrepreneurs understand well.
Courage.
Launching a new venture means stepping away from certainty and embracing the unknown. It means believing your experience has value beyond your current role. It means investing in yourself and trusting that the years spent learning, growing, and leading have prepared you for the next chapter.
MRG Consulting is the result of that belief.
The company’s mission is straightforward: help independent optometric practices uncover hidden opportunities, improve operational performance, strengthen profitability, and build greater long-term value.
For Misty, the business is not simply about consulting.
It’s about helping practice owners achieve the same kinds of improvements she has spent her career creating.
After 32 years of helping practices succeed, she has decided to build something of her own.
And sometimes, the biggest opportunity is the one you create yourself.
We’re very proud to be assisting Misty in her new career. Please check out our work at https://mrgconsulting.llc