Barbara Folgo, vice president of Strand Optical Co. in Cranston, was named among the 50 Most Influential Women in Optical for 2006 by VisionMonday magazine, for “taking charge and thriving when there were few women in this business.” Folgo has been a registered optician in Rhode Island since 1974, passing the exam on her first try, after a three-year apprenticeship.
PBN: What sparked an interest in opticianry? What has held your interest?
FOLGO: I was invited to join the family business by my late father-in-law and my husband in January of 1971, 6 months after we were married, and they trained me. … The new technology and advances have kept me interested in opticianry my entire career.
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PBN: VisionMonday reported in its July 17 “Women of Distinction” issue that women are now in the majority at nearly every American optometry school. How are women making a leadership difference?
FOLGO: By taking on those exact roles offered only to men when I began 35 years ago. I held a position on the State Advisory Board for 12 years, and I served as secretary to RIARDO (the Rhode Island Association of Registered Dispensing Opticians) for 14 years, during which time Rhode Island passed the most strict laws governing opticians of any state in the country.
PBN: You were instrumental in upgrading the education and apprenticeship program while on the R.I. Advisory Board of Opticianry. How did these changes benefit the program?
FOLGO: We revised the state by-laws to upgrade the apprenticeship program, making it more specific and structured. One of the changes … dictated how many hours an apprentice needed to spend learning each phase of opticianry. [The changes] were made so that an apprentice would be better prepared to take the state board at the conclusion of the program … because the apprentice was now guided by a registered preceptor who had specific guidelines.
PBN: What changes do you see?
FOLGO: In this age of mass merchandising, over-the-counter reading glasses and Lasik surgery, there will always be the need for the personalized service and knowledge of an independent optician. n
