The Southern Council of Optometrists recently honored Dr. Tiffany McElroy with the 2022 Young Optometrist of the South Award. What does this honor mean to her?

“I hope that young women know they can dream big and that all young optometrists, male or female, know the importance of being involved in organized optometry,” she says. “Our profession is a legislated profession, and we often take for granted how far our scope of practice has come since the beginning.”

Dr. McElroy has several other honors to her name: The Mississippi Business Journal’s “top 40 under 40” recognition this year, two Helen St. Clair Young Optometrist of the Year honors, and more.

Here, Dr. McElroy talks community, charisma, and finding calm.

Your most distinctive characteristic?

I do a good job of blending charisma and empathy.

Best activity to find calm?

This is going to sound crazy, but I’d have to say I am most calm when traveling with my husband and our two small children.

Most rewarding professional accomplishment?

Serving as legislative grassroots chairwoman during the Mississippi Optometric Scope of Practice Expansion Initiative. Seeing the bill signed into law made all those long nights worth it.

Pivot during the turbulent times of the Covid-19?

Covid made me more grateful to live and practice in a small town. During lockdown, I received a lot of personal calls from friends and neighbors needing emergency eye care. Moments like these brought me even closer to my community and made me realize the importance of my job.

The song playing in the soundtrack to your life?

Since we have a 1- and a 5-year-old, it is currently anything from the “Encanto” soundtrack.

Most memorable experience as an optometrist?

Learning that my grandmother has malignant glaucoma and figuring out a treatment plan. In my decade of practice, hers is still the only case that I have encountered.

Your eyecare hero?

Dr. Nicole Monroe—my mentor since my first day in private practice. She was the one who showed me that one doesn’t have to sacrifice motherhood for one’s career and vice versa.

Greatest advice to fellow O.D.s right now?

Live where you work and love where you live. Community is everything.