Dr. Monica Miller’s journey in optometry began at NECO, where she graduated in 2020—at a moment when the world, healthcare, and the profession itself were navigating unprecedented uncertainty.

Graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic meant entering the profession at anything but an ordinary time. But the adaptability, resilience, and clinical foundation Monica developed at NECO helped shape what came next.

Since graduation, Monica has turned her passion for optometry into a growing career as both a clinician and entrepreneur. She founded City Eye Optometry, which has grown to four thriving locations across Massachusetts and Connecticut. Through City Eye, Monica has focused on building modern clinical practices, creating opportunities for optometrists and staff, and rethinking what a career in optometry can look like.

Along the way, she also recognized a challenge she kept seeing on both sides of the profession: talented optometry students and ODs were looking for the right opportunities, while practices were struggling to find people who truly fit their teams and culture.

That experience inspired her newest venture: Swink’d.

Swink’d is a new career-matching platform designed to bring a more modern, personal approach to finding opportunities in optometry. Think Indeed meets a dating app—but for your career. Students and ODs can create profiles, discover practices and opportunities, and swipe through potential matches. Employers, meanwhile, have an opportunity to showcase more than a traditional job posting—giving candidates a look at their practice, culture, team, and what working there is actually like.

The goal is simple: make finding the right career match easier, more personal, and a lot less intimidating.

Just six years after graduating from NECO during one of the most uncertain periods in modern healthcare, Monica’s journey has taken her from optometry student to practicing OD, multi-location business owner, and startup founder.

And in many ways, she’s still connected to where it all began: helping the next generation of optometrists find their place in the profession.