Eye on the Industry – Episode 7: Mindset, Marketing, and Coaching: A New Growth Model for Independent Optometry

Friday, January 2 2026 | 08 h 43 min | Eye on the Industry Podcast

Independent optometry is at a pivotal moment. While marketing remains essential, many practice owners are discovering that their biggest challenges extend well beyond patient acquisition. Leadership, people management, operational systems, long-term planning, and burnout are increasingly shaping the future of independent practices.

That reality anchors the latest episode of Eye on the Industry, where hosts Isabelle Tremblay and Christine Zeggil sit down with Kevin Wilhelm, co-founder and CEO of Marketing4ECPs and the new owner of Cleinman Performance Partners. The conversation explores why sustainable growth now requires more than tactics, and why mindset, coaching, and operational discipline are becoming critical tools for eye care professionals.

Wilhelm explains that the decision to acquire Cleinman Performance Partners was driven by years of close collaboration with practice owners. While Marketing4ECPs was originally engaged to support marketing and growth, client conversations increasingly shifted toward deeper business concerns. Staffing challenges, leadership fatigue, unclear financial performance, and uncertainty about long-term direction were often top of mind.

Marketing, Wilhelm notes, can bring patients through the door, but it cannot fix broken systems, unclear roles, or exhausted owners. Left unaddressed, those issues ultimately cap growth, regardless of how effective marketing efforts may be. The acquisition was a strategic move to help practices address performance holistically.

Cleinman Performance Partners has long been respected for its work in benchmarking and practice consulting. Wilhelm’s longstanding relationship with founder Al Cleinman, grounded in shared values and mutual respect, created a natural alignment. Rather than reinventing the model, the goal was to preserve Cleinman’s legacy while expanding its reach and integrating it with modern marketing insight.

At the centre of this integration is the Cleinman Operating System, a structured framework designed to help owners step back and gain clarity. Practices begin by defining where they want to be in three, five, or ten years. From there, the focus shifts to aligning people in the right roles, identifying obstacles to growth, and connecting leadership, accountability, and marketing into a sustainable operating model.

Wilhelm outlines four core service pillars now available to independent practices: strategic consulting with ongoing accountability, peer-to-peer wisdom groups that reduce owner isolation, strategic HR services supporting people management and compliance, and M&A and succession planning that guides owners through transitions from start to finish.

Burnout emerges as a central theme throughout the discussion. Many owners find themselves working in the practice all day and on the practice at night. Wilhelm argues that with the right systems and support, owners can regain control, reduce dependency on themselves, and create options, whether that means scaling, transitioning ownership, or simply restoring balance.

The episode balances strategic insight with warmth and real-world perspective, reminding listeners that practice growth is ultimately about people, sustainability, and thoughtful leadership.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Eye on the Industry to hear Kevin Wilhelm’s perspective on where independent optometry is heading and how practice owners can position themselves for long-term success.