Meet Our Team

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.

Darcey joined Elite as a Patient Care Coordinator in August of 2024 after relocating to Norwalk from Eastern Iowa to be closer to family. With her past experience of working at an optometry office and then working in her family’s business, exceptional customer service and understanding customer and patient needs has always been an integral part of her career. Darcey enjoys the day to day interaction with patients and is eager to learn all she can about the optometry business at Elite Eye Care. In her spare time, you can find her reading a book, taking a walk or enjoying a bike ride on one of Des Moines great trails. She also enjoys traveling and spending time with her family, which includes her husband, Mark, 4 kids, 5 grandkids and a 14 year old Shih-poo named Shiloh.

Dawn became part of the Elite family in 2024. She is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in the medical billing industry.

Outside of her professional life, Dawn is a passionate advocate for family and enjoys spending quality time with her loved ones. She is also an avid cook, delighting in preparing meals for her family and friends. Dawn finds relaxation and joy in her hobbies, including crafting and gardening, where her creativity and attention to detail shine through. Whether she’s designing a new craft project or cultivating her garden, she brings the same level of care and dedication that she applies in her professional endeavors.

Destinae really enjoys taking care of people. After 10 years in the dental industry, she joins the Elite Eye Care team with a real passion for people. Destinae is organized, energetic, and loves to help out wherever she can. When not in the office she’s with family and friends, getting together over a good meal. She has a big family and friend group, so there is always something or someone to celebrate. Destinae is most proud of her 3 year old son CJ, who loves his mama very much! Destinae’s interests include houseplants, traveling, fashion, as well as eating and shopping locally. She can recommend a great place to eat or shop just about anywhere.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

Coming soon!

Coming soon!

Jenny may be new to optometry, but she’s no stranger to taking great care of people. With a strong background in customer service, she loves chatting with patients and making sure they feel comfortable and cared for. Outside the office, Jenny is all about good times and great company—whether she’s camping with her fiancé Chuck and their pup Chief, cheering on the Chiefs or the Cardinals, catching live music, or hanging out with friends and family.

Adrianna has been working in optical since 2021, and her favorite part of being an optician is learning new things about eye care! She loves helping kids pick out their first pair of glasses and guiding them on how to care for their glasses. When she is not at work, Adrianna enjoy
going to the gym, drawing, and spending time with her Morkie, Thea. 

Coming soon!

Brice began work at Elite Eye Care in 2019. He has a specialized background of product design and art. He now works as a clinical optician with a particular affinity for fixing and adjusting frames, frame styling, and scribing. 

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.

Haley started at Elite in August of 2024. She has recently moved back to Iowa from Utah. She has been in optical since August of 2020. Haley loves that optical always has something new to learn. But her favorite part about working in optical is that everyday is new and different. There is always new and exciting challenges to overcome and new people to meet.

When Haley isn’t working she loves playing games with friends and family. She also enjoys painting from time to time as well. 

Coming soon!

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.

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.

Coming soon!

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.

With 2 years of experience in the optical industry, Nejla brings a passion for helping others see the world more clearly. After moving to the United States 3 years ago, she dedicated herself  to building a career that combines her technical skills with exceptional customer service. Nejla is committed to providing personalized care and attention to detail to ensure every patient receives the best possible vision correction. Outside of work, Nejla enjoys spending quality time with her husband and family. Her goal is to make a positive impact in the community, one pair of glasses at a time. 

My name is Nicole, I have been in the Optical field for about 2 years and I love the fact that I learn something new everyday. In my free time I love to watch my friends and family race dirt track and ride SXS in the Dunes and climb rocks in the quarries. My main goal at Elite Eye Care is to help as many people as possible and give them the best experience that I can.

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.

Jackson graduated from the University of Iowa in the Spring of 2024 and then moved back to West Des Moines, where he grew up. While he is new to the vision world, his fascination with eyes combined with a passion to help others led him to Elite.

When not at the clinic, Jackson enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, Sydney, and their cat, Melon. He also enjoys outdoor activities such as golfing, and biking!

Bio coming soon!

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!

Samantha has been working in optometry since 2019. She started as an optometric technician for her hometown clinic in Iowa Falls. She moved to the Des Moines area in 2021 and has been working at Elite since! She started working as a vision therapist in 2023 and got her COVT certification in 2025. Her favorite part about working as a vision therapist is getting to know her patients, especially the littles. Outside of work you can find Samantha baking, reading, going on walks and spending time with her family and friends. 

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?

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!

This is my first time working in eye care/health care. I have 4 kids, ranging 4 to 16. I enjoy spending time with my family and cooking outside of work. I am happy and excited to learn and to be a part of the Elite Team