From Girl Friday to Office Manager, How One Asheville ECP Stays Sane

Jessika Arena The Eye Center, Asheville, NC

Eleven years into her optical industry tenure and Jessika Arena, office manager of The Eye Center in Asheville, NC, has solidly turned her “Girl Friday” job into a bonafide career. “I actually enjoy customer service issues,” she says. “I like the challenge of taking a negative and turning it into a positive.” But at the end of the day it’s their independence she loves the most. “My favorite thing about managing an optometric practice is that we are independent, we get to make (most) of our own rules, and our staff is like family.” Then there is her actual family, Izzy, the wonder pug, her 5-year-old daughter, Guinevere, and her husband, Michael. “He’s been my sounding board since I started in this industry. Sometimes I take his advice, sometimes I leave it, but he’s always there to listen.”