Sandbox Story - Lessons in Leadership from ICO

mickey4golf

11 minutes ago

2 min read

The Illinois College of Optometry has for a couple decades held a Practice Opportunities Symposium. The 2026 event was coordinated by Dr. Alyssa Lancaster, Assistant Professor of Optometry and Practice Readiness Curriculum Coordinator at ICO. Under the leadership of Dr. Mark Colip, President, ICO continues to support students along their academic journey by bringing forth opportunities for experiences that bring them close to alumni who can bring them broader value.

In this episode, Sandbox Stories was afforded the opportunity to record the Lessons in Leadership sessions that were held with three incredibly successful ICO alums, including:

Dr. Rich Mangan works for Sun Pharmaceuticals and has held a number of leadership roles including in tertiary care management between optometry and ophthalmology.
Dr. Tessa Sokol owns Sokol Advanced EyeCare in Madison, WI, and has a history as a leader in state optometric association work and is a key opinion leader and public speaker for a number of eye care industry product vendors.
Dr. Pete Kehoe works in professional affairs for EyeMed after a longstanding career in practice ownership in Galesburg, IL, and leadership in the Vision Source doctor alliance.

Each Doctor speaks about leadership traits, the impact of mentors on their careers, and shares insights to students that can be applied to anyone in the eye care industry. The conversations cover a lot of ground and include three separate conversations with each featured guest, but also a final wrap-up session in which all three give input on the same question or prompt. They even give insight to their most memorable ICO faculty member!

The Stories within the Story:

0:30 Dr. Jens Intro

1:23 Illinois College of Optometry President Dr. Mark Colip, on the Practice Opportunities Symposium and Its Impact on Students

5:35 Lessons in Leadership with Rich Mangan, OD, FAAO

31:48 Lessons in Leadership with Tessa Sokol, OD

58:00 Lessons in Leadership with Peter Kehoe, OD, FAAO, FNAP

1:23:06 Lessons in Leadership Roundtable

Runtime: 1 hr 36 min

Check it out:

YouTube video podcast: https://youtu.be/ZNdbmZqloaM

Audio Podcast Apps: search for "Sandbox Stories" on your favorite podcast app including Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Downloadable Podcast (mp3): https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/2pc4c75hv483gra2/Sandbox_Story_-_ICO_Alums_on_Leadership_AUDIO8qijo.mp3