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.
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Sara Mohr
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.
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Adison 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.
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Jennifer Magnee
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.
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Amy Rodgers
Optometric Technician Team Lead
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.
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Calli Smith
North 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.
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Pattie Miller
South Ankeny Office Lead
Pattie has been in optics since 2005 and been in management most of that time. I have been married to Scott for 34 years Her number one pleasure is creating memories with her three grandchildren. She enjoys watching all sports, cooking and reading. You can find her near or in water as weather permits. Last little tidbit for our readers, I DO NOT EVER WATCH MOVIES (I KNOW, RIGHT?).
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Christine Walter
Patient Care Coordinator
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.
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Erin Haas
Waukee Clinical Optician
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.
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Brynn Collins
Waukee Clinical Optician
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!
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Brielle Duffy
Waukee Clinical Optician
Hi, EEC fam! My name is Brielle ‘Brie’ Duffy. I’ve always enjoyed meeting and being personable with others. Additionally, I have many years of experience in sales so what could be better than combining the two. I love being able to educate and build relationships with our amazing patients! I started my optical journey in February 2022 – thanks, Dr. Bell! In April 2022, I became a member of the Opticians Association of Iowa Board. I strive to continue expanding my knowledge in the field, and to make positive changes in the optical world. Aside from being an optician, I enjoy being able to express my creative outlet with our community through our Facebook and Instagram platforms.
I’m a mother of three boys, and two fur babies. Outside of work my family and I enjoy playing board games, finding new places to explore, traveling, and cooking.
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Lisa Jennings
Waukee Clinical Optician
I joined Elite Eyecare in July of this year as a Cinical Optician. Although I’m new to this practice I have five and a half years experience as an optician. Frame styling, educating patients on lenses, and creating relationships are how I bring the Elite experience to our patients.
I’m engaged and have two boys, and two grandchildren. In my spare time I enjoy reading, hiking, traveling, and spending time with my family.
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Courtney Ubben
Waukee Vision Therapist
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.
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Taylor Moellenbeck
Waukee Vision Therapist
Hi. My name Taylor Moellenbeck and I have been a part of the Elite Eye Care family for four years as a vision therapist and became a certified vision therapist in 2021. I feel very fortunate to be able to work one on one to help patients work towards their goals of improving their quality of life while simultaneously getting to know them and their families along the way. It’s a pleasure to work amongst a team of truly caring individuals and doctors who lead by example, provide mentorship and give back to the community. I enjoy being outdoors, exercising, cooking and laughing and making memories with family and friends.
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Maddy Blackman
Waukee Vision Therapist
Maddy joined the Elite Eye Care family in 2021. She has a passion for working with kids and has done it her whole life. Her favorite part about being a Vision therapist is creating that relationship between therapist and patient. She also loves watching her patients grow and achieve their goals in and out of therapy. When she is not at Elite she enjoys working on her small business and hanging out with her husband and fur babies.
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Ally Church
Waukee Vision Therapist
Ally is Omaha native who graduated with a bachelor degree in psychology from Northwest Missouri State University. She moved to Iowa in 2021, but is still Husker fan, for better or for worse. Ally has worked in optometry for 7 years. Her favorite part about being a vision therapist is building a relationship with her patients and their families, laughing with them and celebrating with them. In her free time she likes to cheer on the Kansas City Chiefs, watch Husker volleyball, love on her cat Penny, and spend time with her friends and family.
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Tina Tessier
Waukee Vision Therapy Technician
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?
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Samantha Cooper
Waukee Optometric Technician
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.
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Ashley Unternahrer
Waukee Optometric Technician
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.
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Chelsea Sheeder
Waukee Optometric Technician
Hello! Chelsea joined the EEC team in 2022. She has been in the medical field since 2018, and is enrolled in the nursing program at DMACC. She enjoys coming to work and always finding something new to learn about as this is her first experience with optometry. She loves getting to help those in need and seeing everyone’s smiles. In her free time she enjoys kayaking, camping and exploring the outdoors with her dogs and fiancé.
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Yazmin Adams
Waukee Optometric Technician
Yazmin is a technician at Elite Eye Care. She has been a part of the team since April of 2022. Her favorite part about working at Elite is the supportive work environment. Outside of work Yazmin is a photographer and editorial/fashion sessions are her favorite. In her free time she enjoys hiking, watching movies, and daydreaming about living somewhere warmer.
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Felicia Carpenter
Waukee Receptionist
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.
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Allyson McGuire
Waukee Receptionist
Allyson has had quite a bit of customer service experience over the past 4 years. This is beneficial to Elite eye Care because she is one of our receptionists and is very welcoming to everyone who enters the building with a smile on her face. One thing Allyson enjoys about working at Elite Eye Care is knowing how satisfied each patient leaves after being seen by our doctors that have such knowledge and passion! Even if they are here for just a quick appointment or even seeing an optician, every patient that leaves is always leaving with a smile, expressing how great the service they received was! In her free time Allyson enjoys getting into a good TV show or going on nature walks with friends & family.
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Erin Hundertmark
North Ankeny Clinical Optician
Erin grew up in a suburb outside of Minneapolis and moved to Iowa in the summer of 2016. She has been serving as an optician/technician since 2020 and has loved every minute of it. She strives to have every patient leave feeling welcomed and excited about their experience and new glasses. In her free time she enjoys spending time outdoors fishing, hiking, and exploring new areas with her family and friends.
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Alex Jennings
North Ankeny Clinical Optician

Ginni Breidinger
Ankeny Optometric Technician
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!
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