Directors and Leadership Team
Amanda Nicholas
Chief Operations Officer
Amanda graduated Northwest Missouri State University in 2010 with a double major in Business Management and Business Marketing. Directly after graduating, she began her career in the optometry world. In the twelve years in the industry, Amanda has worked as a technician, insurance specialist, optician and practice administrator. In 2017, Amanda became an optometric consultant where she traveled throughout the US and Canada helping optometrists create their best patient experience, office efficiency, team culture and overall financial security.
In 2020, Amanda was fortunate enough to find a home with Elite Eye Care. Since starting she has implemented and contributed to multiple foundational guidelines that align and represent the Elite patient experience and overall office operations and efficiencies. She strongly believes in our mission, which is to provide optimal eye health care and services to our patients, while committed to taking care of our team and community.
Amanda enjoys spending her free time with her husband, Trever, and their daughter, Palmer. They love their annual Colorado hiking/UTV trips, watching football (Go Chiefs!) and enjoying a day in the sun with their dogs, Cooper and Chewie.
Hide BioAshley Eichhorn
Director of Human Resources
Ashley is our Director of Human Resources and is present at our Ankeny, Norwalk and Waukee locations. Ashley has her Masters in Arts of Teaching and completed her undergrad at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD. Ashley resides with her husband, Matt and her two children, Easton and Emree in Urbandale. Ashley has a unique background beginning as a teacher in the public school system for 14 years. She was a business owner in the fashion industry and has experience with Human Resources in the childcare industry as well. Ashley has a “passion for people” and cares about what makes them individuals. She loves being part of the Elite Eye Care team and growing alongside her colleagues.
Hide BioSara Mohr, COVT
Director of Vision Therapy
Sara is our Director of Vision Therapy and has been in the optometry industry for over 9 years. She joined the Elite Eye Care team in 2016 and became a Certified Optometric Vision Therapist in 2020. With Vision Therapy, Sara’s passion is working with patients that suffer from a traumatic brain injury, strabismus, amblyopia, and visual discomfort.
She enjoys motivating and encouraging her patients to achieve their goals, making connections with her patients, creating a positive and safe environment for successful learning, and transforming patients’ lives through vision therapy and overcoming obstacles while building confidence. She enjoys working one-on-one with her patients and teaching them the skills they need to grow and take ownership of their own success.
When not at Elite Eye Care, Sara loves to spend time with her husband, Justin, and son, Callahan, and always looks forward to booking the next family vacation. She loves to binge true crime documentaries, keep up on the latest Bachelor/Bachelorette season, and always up for a good board game.
Hide BioAdison Keller
Director of Patient Communications
Adison joined Elite Eye Care in the fall of 2019 shortly after relocating from Salt Lake City, Utah. She has worked in the medical field for 11 years, 6 of those being in the contact lens and optometry industry. She has a passion for quality communication between patients and staff and is so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful community. In her free time, she loves heading back to her home state for some snowboarding or hiking.
Hide BioJennifer Magnee, ABOC
Optical Manager
Jennifer joined Elite Eye Care as an Optician in 2017, and has been the Optical lead since December of 2021. She is a Certified Optician by the American Board of Opticianry. Jennifer’s experience and friendly personality will help guide you to have an Elite experience while choosing that perfect new pair of glasses. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband, Charles, and spending time with her grandchildren, Riley, Dax, Joe and Maddix.
Hide BioAshley Unternahrer
Technician Lead
Ashley joined the Elite Eye Care team in 2022. As a former patient, she always remembered the friendly smiles she would see throughout her visit. She now loves working with patients and learning new things each and every day as a technician. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her 3 dogs, hiking, and watching movies.
Hide BioMiranda Proctor
Norwalk Team Lead
I was born and raised in central Iowa but I have called Norwalk home since 2018. I first joined the field of optical care back in 2006. Not long after Elite Eye Care first opened its doors, I joined the Elite team in 2014. Over the years I have dabbled in every aspect of the office; front desk, technician and clinical optician. Following the birth of my second son, I took some time away from eye care to prioritize family before returning back to Elite in 2022. My journey is a testament to my dedication to family and passion for delivering exceptional eye care to my community. I enjoy getting to know the families of patients over the years. When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my husband, three children, and two Siberian Huskies.
show lessCalli Smith
Ankeny Team Lead
Calli joined the Elite Eye Care family in 2021 and has been working in the optometry field, as an optician and technician, since 2016. She enjoys working with patients to help them find the best lenses and frame style to suit their personality and needs. She grew up in Minnesota and moved to the Des Moines area in 2010. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family, crafting, watching movies, and gardening.
Hide BioPatient Care Coordinators
Christine
Waukee
Christine first joined Elite Eye Care in 2014 as our “Director of First Impressions.” She served patients at our front desk until 2018, when she took an early retirement. Christine missed her EEC family so much that she returned part-time in 2020. She now serves patients behind the scenes in our Operations Department. Christine enjoys helping our patients schedule appointments, locate and verify insurance and support her teammates in any way needed.
Hide BioHayley
Waukee
Hayley joined Elite Eye Care in February of 2023. Throughout her time here Hayley has enjoyed working with the patients, building relationships, and making connections with the patients and coworkers. Being on the operations team allows her to connect with many people, which is what she loves the most about working at Elite Eye Care. In her free time Hayley loves playing with her energetic Australian Shepherd, reading a good book, or spending time with friends.
Hide BioLorena
Waukee
Lorena recently joined Elite Eye Care in the summer of 2023. She is from Chicago, Illinois and was raised in Michoacán, Mexico when she was little before settling down in Iowa. She has a passion for helping people, especially when there is a language barrier and she can help bridge that. Lorena is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Communications. When she is not at Elite Eye Care she enjoys working on her podcast, watching true crime documentaries, and traveling.
Hide BioVictoria
Waukee
Victoria joined Elite in August of 2023. She came to Elite Eye Care because she loves working with people and she wanted to put her previous Customer Service skills to use and be able to interact more with patients. Victoria loves being at Elite because of the teamwork everyone uses with each other daily and loves how much Elite does for the surrounding community.
In her free time, Victoria enjoys taking walks, putting puzzles together, and spending time with her family, especially her nieces and nephew.
Felicia
Waukee
Felicia has been in eye care since spring of 2014. She has been trained as a technician, an optician and is now one of the smiling faces of the front desk. Felicia loves to be able to use her cross trained knowledge to be able to answer questions right when people walk in and loves to be able to put a smile on people’s faces. She loves working for EEC and loves the way EEC cares about not only their patients but their employees as well. In her free time, Felicia enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 children, drinking coffee, and perusing the aisles of Target.
Hide BioMaya
Waukee
Maya joined Elite Eye Care in July of this year. Though she does not have prior experience in the optical industry, Maya loves working with people and has experience in the customer service industry, which has helped tremendously when it comes to being able to help at the front desk and being able to bring great service to our patients. Maya loves being at Elite because she loves the teamwork that is executed and she loves how everyone helps each other out. During her freetime, Maya likes to read, go on runs, and practice the piano.
Hide BioEmily
Waukee
Sheri
Ankeny
Sheri was welcomed recently to the Elite Eye Care family in August. She is new into the vision world as a career; but not new to glasses. She has proudly displayed Eyewear since the young age of five. Customer service excellence is number one on her agenda. She adores working with clients and creating a positive experience. She was born and raised in Iowa and a proud alumni of ISU. She is an animal advocate and mama to three furry kids. Outside of work she is a Theater geek and loves playing board games and watching movies with her son Q and husband Chris.
Hide BioMindy
Ankeny
Mindy became an employee of Elite Eyecare in September of 2023. In the past she worked in an optical lab with customer service needs for several years and gained a basic knowledge in eyecare. Mindy has always enjoyed the eyecare world, and Elite Eye Care has been a wonderful place to continue her love of eyecare and customer service needs with the added bonus of amazing Doctors and staff!
Mindy grew up in a small town in Southwest Iowa and raised two daughters. She is now enjoying being a grandma and has two grankids! In other downtime, Mindy enjoys loving her wild doggie Buddha, which is half boston terrier and half french bulldog. He keeps her on her toes.
Mindy enjoys reading a good book and also loves to go skating as this is an old school tradition for her.
Hide BioClinical Opticians
Erin, ABOC
Waukee
Erin has been a part of the Elite Eye Care family since 2011. She has been recognized by the American Board of Opticianry as a certified optician since 2013. She has served on the board of the Opticians Association of Iowa since 2016 and was recently elected President.
One of Erin’s favorite things about working at Elite is helping families year after year. Some of the kids she started helping in 2011 are now adults. While this makes her feel old, she loves being able to see them grow each year. When she isn’t working, Erin loves spending time with her husband and three children, crocheting, and watching nerdy TV shows.
Hide BioBrynn
Waukee
Brynn has been in Eye Care since Fall of 2019, she joined Elite Eye care in August of 2020. She specializes in helping our doctors in the exam rooms to ensure the best knowledge in our Optical department with styling in frames and getting her patients the best lenses. Her favorite part about her job at Elite Eye Care is creating the relationship with her patients and getting them out of their comfort zone with the multiple frame options. When she is not at Elite Eye Care, Brynn enjoys reading and spending time with her cat Bella, also you will find her every weekend at a Des Moines Buccaneers hockey game, Go Bucs!
Hide BioJaclyn
Waukee
Jaclyn joined the Elite Eye Care team in January of 2024 with two years of optical experience. Working closely with our doctors and helping our patients find the right eyecare solution for them is her favorite part of the job. When she is not at work, she loves to read a good book, watch a good movie with her friends, and spend time outdoors hiking or enjoying the sun.
show lessMica
Waukee
Mica joined Elite Eye Care in February 2023. Mica has been in optical since 2019 and became ABO Certified in 2021. Mica comes to the Elite Eye Care team with tons of knowledge in frame styling and adjusting. Mica specializes in helping out with our Doctors in the exam room to best be able to help her patient’s understand their prescription and what lenses they need for their glasses, she is great at listening and understanding each of her patient’s needs and wants.
In her free time, she spends time with her son going to parks, movies, and building a variety of Legos.
Hide BioTaylor
Waukee
Taylor has been in the optical world since 2020. She started with sales and now is a Clinical Optician here at Elite since 2023. Taylor is a team player who adds positivity in the workplace. Her favorite thing to do in the office is helping people choose new frames and sunglasses.
show lessJazmine, ABOC
Waukee
Jazmine has been in the optical industry since 2019 and started with Elite in September of 2023. While she has lived in Iowa her whole life, she was briefly living in Indiana during the earlier years of the pandemic. Meeting new people and making connections with patients is her favorite part of the job. When she’s not at work, she loves watching any Gordon Ramsey show with her cats, playing video games, and making/eating delicious food with her husband, Chris.
show lessKaitlin
Waukee
Kaitlin has been in Optical since 2023 and joined the Elite Eye Care team in March of 2024. Kaitlin loves spending time with her family (especially her siblings, nieces and nephews) playing outdoor games as well as video games. She also loves spending time with her fur babies (1 dog and 3 cats!). Kaitlin loves spending special holidays and birthdays at Hu Hot, her favorite restaurant.
Kaitlin loves coming to work because the environment Elite Eye Care has created for patients and employees is stronger than anywhere she has ever been.
Hide BioAlicia
Waukee and Norwalk
Alicia joined Elite Eye Care in 2022 as a Clinical Optician and has worked as a Optician since 2021. She specializes in helping our doctors in the exam rooms to ensure the best knowledge in our Optical department, frame styling, educating patients on lenses, and creating relationships with our patients.
When she isn’t working, she enjoys being outdoors, spending time with her daughter, traveling and cooking. She also loves going back to her hometown in Colorado, and visiting her friends and family.
show lessLori
Ankeny
Michal, ABOC
Ankeny
Hello! Just in case you are wondering, my name is pronounced Michelle. After joining in March 2023, I am very happy and proud to be a member of the Elite Eye Care Clinical Optician team! I have been in the optical field for 35 years and have enjoyed my experiences in about every avenue of it– ranging from optical testing, training, technical, repairs, fashion frames and lens consultant, to contact lens guru. I think I am best known for my smile and patience with a dash of humor mixed in. Obviously I love my work, not just by the many years I’ve done it, but by the friends I’ve made along the way. Such a great feeling to see those smiles on their faces both coming in and leaving our office door satisfied and happy.
When I’m not at work, my husband of 36 years, Britt and I love to travel and plan to do more in the future. We have two beautiful daughters Channing and Taylor, who are both married with two son-in-law‘s I adore! I am an avid concert and Broadway show attender, and overall music and movie buff. College football is my game, and GO BIG RED is my yell you’ll hear in the Fall! Any and all remaining time I may have left in a day or night is spent with our “lil fluff” Bijou. She’s our one year old Havaton pup, who holds my heart in her paws.
Ron, ABOC
Ankeny
Ron has been an ABO Certified Optician since 1987, starting in the optical industry in 1983.
A lot has changed in this industry over this amount of time, and he has truly enjoyed watching new frame and lens products evolve.
When he is not working, he enjoys spending as much time as possible with his wife Cindy, their 4 children, 2 daughter-in-laws, 1 son-in law, 2 grand children, plus their extended families!
They have a true zoo of fur critters at home. 1 dog, 4 cats and an aquarium filled with freshwater fish.
Thanks to Cindy, he is very fortunate to be able to say that they own and drive his dream car. A 1970 Mercury Cougar XR7!
In the cold winter months, he enjoys building jigsaw puzzles and racing slot cars on the slot car table he built in their basement.
Ron prefers warmer weather, being outside working in the yard, going for walks, cruising in their car, or simply sitting on the deck with family and friends.
He enjoy listening to almost any type of music, especially classic rock.
show lessVision Therapists
Courtney, COVT
Waukee
Courtney joined Elite Eye Care as a Vision Therapist in August of 2019 and received her Certified Optometric Vision Therapist Certification (COVT) in April of 2022. At the start of therapy Courtney’s patients make goals for what they want to achieve through vision therapy and watching them reach those goals is the most rewarding part of being a Vision Therapist. When not at Elite, Courtney spends time with her family, Dude and Orbit (the cats), Ace (the dog) and her Boyfriend Cody while grilling and cruising in the mustang.
Hide BioTina
Waukee
Tina is our vision therapy technician. She has been part of the Elite Eye Care family since 2021. Tina and her family are longtime patients of Elite Eye Care, with both of her daughters graduating the EEC vision therapy program. Having seen first hand the benefits of vision therapy through her children, Tina wanted to learn more about functional vision and how vision therapy improves how a person processes and interprets visual information.
Tina believes the best part about working in vision therapy is the personal connections she makes with the patients she works with, and getting to celebrate as they develop and reach their visual goals.
In her free time, Tina enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading a suspenseful novel, and shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. Can you really have too many?
Hide BioSamantha
Waukee
I grew up in a small town called Iowa Falls. I am very close with my family and love spending time with my niece and nephew. In my free time I like to read, paint/draw, watch movies and bake!
I worked as an optometric technician at my hometown Vision Clinic for 2 years and moved to Des Moines in August 2021. I have worked for Elite Eye Care since! Working with children and making connections with families is my favorite part of our clinic. Getting to spend time with kids and truly changing people’s lives is very important to me and Elite.
Hide BioRylie
Waukee
Rylie was new to the world of Vision Therapy but has an extensive work history of behavior analysis. Working with people to help them in any way is her biggest joy. She loves seeing people improve in whatever area they’re trying to grow in. Whenever she is not working, you can find her enjoying the outdoors. She could garden and read all day every day!
Hide BioOptometric Technicians
Crystal
Waukee
Z
Waukee
Z has been a technician at Elite Eye Care since 2022. The things they enjoy most about working at Elite are the positive work environment and the opportunity to learn. When Z isn’t at work they can be found picking up a new hobby such as crochet, DJing, or puppet making just to name a few. Z never thought this was the field they would end up in but very happy that their life led them here to Elite.
Hide BioNatalie
Waukee
Natalie started at Elite in 2023. She has been working in the field since 2021 as an Optometric Technician, and absolutely loves what she does! Natalie is passionate about patient care, learning new things about optometry, and bonding with her teammates while she is at Elite. When she is off the clock, you can find her baking, at concerts, or spending time with her husband Connor. Together they frequently visit Colorado, and love to travel as much as they can.
Hide BioKatie
Waukee
Katie has been with Elite Eye Care since August of 2023. Katie and her partner, Mayron have two kids, Micah (age 6) and Lilah (age 4) who are the lights of their life. She enjoys outdoor activities including playing sand volleyball, being around the pool in the summertime and spending time with her family. Katie has a passion for baking for her family and close friends and spending time with her amazing companion, Maxine, an 11-year-old Newfoundland dog. Katie enjoys being around people and making them happy in any way she can. She strives to connect with patients and make their experience at Elite fun and comfortable.
Hide BioGunner
Waukee
Gunner started at Elite in August of 2023. He came to our office new to the optometry world, but has truly blossomed into a hardworking passionate technician on our team. Gunner is multi-talented and is a technician in both the Primary Care and Vision Therapy departments.
When Gunner is out of the office, you can find him out on the town with friends, or working at his family establishment. He also enjoys maintaining a healthy lifestyle by getting a good pump in at the gym.
Hide BioHeidi
Waukee
Heidi, originally from Illinois, has worked in the optical industry for over 3 years. She is certified as a paraoptometric technician and joined the Elite Eye Care team in January of 2024. When not at work, you might find her out in the woods on a hike. She also enjoys road trips, reading, songwriting, and digital art. Her pride and joy is her quirky pet: an orange cat named Bunny who acts like a fox.
Hide BioGinni
Ankeny and Waukee
Greetings! My name is Virginia (Ginni) Breidinger. I grew up on a farm, in a small town in northern Iowa (Spencer) and moved to Ankeny in 2019. Since I grew up on a farm, I enjoy spending time outdoors, and going four-wheeling to explore. I am an animal lover and adore hanging out with all of the farm animals when I am home. I also frequently spend time helping my dad (boss man) on the farm.
Family and friends are a significant part of my happiness! I love trying new restaurants, going to the family lake house, and watching sports with them. I bleed black and gold (LETS GO HAWKS) and cheer loudly and proudly for the KC Chiefs!
Hide BioHaley
Ankeny and Waukee
Haley joined the Elite Eye Care family in 2022 and has been working in the optometry field, as an optician and technician, since 2021. Haley enjoys interacting with and helping patients with their vision needs. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her friends and family at the Downtown Farmers Market or tailgating at Jack Trice. Go Cyclones!!!!
Hide BioAmy, CPOT
Norwalk
Hello there!! My name is Amy Rodgers. I am the Lead Technician at Elite and I am a Certified Paraoptometric Technician. I joined our amazing team in February 2016 and have been in eyecare for 12 years. My favorite part at Elite Eye Care is all our patients. I love getting to know them and their interests so that we can help them with all vision and their healthcare needs.
I love spending my spare time with my family and my grandchildren. Let’s be honest…my favorite role is being Nana. We love being outdoors and spending our time together.
Hide BioAllie
Ankeny
Allie originally joined the Elite team in January of 2021 and after taking a couple years off to spend with her youngest son she returned to the Ankeny offices in February of 2024. Her favorite parts of working at Elite are the culture, the people, and that every day you can learn something new. When she isn’t working, her favorite things are hanging out with her two sons, reading, spending time outside, and being active, whether its lifting or taking a walk with the kids and dogs!
Hide Bio