When Saanich News catches up with Trina Mendria, she's just returned from Milan, where she attended one of the biggest optical shows in the world.
As the business owner and licensed optician at ArtSEE Eyewear, she was there to scope out the latest in eyeglass wear.
"There's a lot of cool micro-trends going on that will appeal to different people," she says. "Like, I think we'll start seeing more rimless glasses again, like we saw in the 2000s."
From when she first set out to open her eyewear store 26 years ago, Mendria had a vision. One focus – pun intended – was the fashion side. "I wanted to find stuff that was different from the mainstream offering," she said, recalling that she would often ask herself why all glasses were "the same."
The other focus was a business model based on relationships: "One that felt just really authentic and connected," she said. Mendria continues that mission today, primarily working with small, family-owned type of frame manufacturers.
"These frames are not mass produced ... You're meeting with the designers and there's actual human beings behind it," she said.
It's a passion that all started in 1991 when she worked part time for an optometrist. Mendria soon became a licensed optician, focusing on fitting and dispensing eyeglasses and contact lenses. Opening her own business was a natural progression that drew on her inclination and strength for problem-solving. "I'm creative in that I love to find solutions," she said.
With the slogan "Anything but Ordinary", she opened her first ArtSEE location in Saanich's Broadmead Village Shopping Centre in 1998, followed by an Oak Bay location in 2007.
When she first opened her store at the age of 23, she recalls that time being the most challenging, needing to get over the hurdles of securing financing and building trust with customers.
If she could go back in time, she'd give her younger self this advice: "I would say be bolder and stand up for yourself right from the beginning," Mendria said.
Twenty-six years later, Mendria now has a strong sense of what builds a successful business, and when asked what advice she has for other business owners, she emphasized the importance of knowing your why.
"Have a clear plan and know your story, know why you're doing it. I love Simon Sinek's 'Start with Why' cause if you can dig down more layers on that, you can get clearer and clearer, and the more specific you can be in your actions and your plans."
Mendria is still passionate about curating the collections and working with new designers.
And, she still loves the feeling that a funky pair of glasses can give herself and her customers. She confesses she owns 7-10 pairs and more sunglasses herself.
"I love to have different pairs for different vibes and feelings. Sometimes you want to wear something that's really distinctive and it's the thing that people stop you [for] on the street."
