Family – Carrot Lasik and Eye Center: A Continuous Growing Family Supporting People E4
This is a show that we have been wanting to do for a while now. We love highlighting the secret companies that have a great company culture. The companies that are doing amazing things that might not be the companies that people think of as having a great culture- these companies are our favorite to showcase to the community.
Have you ever had a doctor give you their personal number so that you can reach out after a procedure? Well then you have not been to Carrot Eye Center to have your eyes taken care of.
Dr. Hammond and Dr. Herion do amazing things when it comes to LASIK, Cataract surgery, and more. What sets them apart from other practices that focus on these same areas is the attention they provide to their patients and their staff. The people come first. Yes, they work on eyes, but the eyes are attached to a person, and that person is what comes first.
They had the chance to talk about the practice, how it all started, the focus on the staff, the focus on the patients, and the ups and downs through COVID-19 over the past year. Even through it all they are now continuing to grow their “family” at the practice.
These exceptional values lead the way for the Carrot team: 
- See the future
- Have fun
- Collaborate and educate
- Do the right thing
- Be authentically human
- Be exceptional
This conversation was a very fun and honest conversation. These two amazing doctors, veterans, and ophthalmologists are changing the world of eye care and what culture looks like in a growing eye care practice. This is an episode from everyone to listen in and hear how to bring amazing culture to the center of your company and why it is important to focus on your people first.
At Carrot LASIK & Eye Center, we believe in personalized medicine. We’re a practice owned and operated by doctors who really care about you, and most importantly, we approach each patient as a completely unique case. “One size fits all” solutions don’t belong in eye care, and we believe that you deserve better than that.
Our doctors want to know about your life, your interests, and your hobbies so that any eyecare recommendations we make support and improve your unique lifestyle.
Dr. Michael Herion, M.D. is a Lt. Col. in the United States Air Force Reserve, representative of the desire to serve that motivated his choice to go into the eld of eye medicine. During his service time, he received an Air Force Commendation Medal for his service in The Global War on Terror.
Dr. Herion attended Arizona State University for undergraduate studies before getting his doctorate from Saint George’s University School of Medicine. His residency in ophthalmology took place at Saint Louis University before he completed a retina fellowship with The Retina Group Ltd.
Dr. Herion enjoys spending time outside, including skiing and scuba diving. On fall Saturdays, Dr. Herion can be found in the stands of Arizona State Sun Devils football games.
A refractive and cataract surgery specialist, Dr. Matthew Hammond, M.D. attended Utah State University for his undergraduate degree and George Washington University for medical school. His internship, as well as his residency in ophthalmology, took place at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C.
Like Dr. Herion, Dr. Hammond also comes from a military background, serving nine years on active duty as an Ophthalmologist. He served during the Global War on Terror and feels like the greatest honor of his career will be the time he had taken care of America’s nest. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and the Humanitarian award for his relief work after Hurricane Katrina
and served as Chief of Ophthalmology and Director of Warfighter Refractive Surgery at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
If there’s one thing that Dr. Hammond strives to demonstrate to the patients who come to Carrot LASIK & Eye Center for their eye care, it’s that he and his team go the extra mile to ensure that patients get the results they want, rather than just what’s expected.
Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn and follow Carrot Eye Center on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Culture Crush
Culture Crush is officially relaunched! We are thankful to Debra Caron who launched and hosted the show originally. Culture Crush is back with a new host but the same focus- highlighting what makes a great company culture and how it affects the overall success of a company.
Culture is not just a tag word to be thrown around. It is not something you throw in job descriptions to draw people to applying for jobs within a company.
According to Marcus Buckingham and Ashely Goodall in their book Nine Lies About Work, “Culture is the tenants of how we behave. It’s like a family creed. This is how we operate and treat each other in the family.”
On this long form podcast we will highlight companies local to Arizona and beyond that are crushing it with great culture!
We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company.
About the Host
Kindra Maples is your new host taking the lead on the relaunch of Culture Crush! She is spartan racer, past animal trainer, previous magician’s assistant, and has a weakness for Oreo cookie shakes. Her journey working with people actually started working with animals as a teenager (don’t worry we won’t go that far back for her bio).
She worked for over 15 years in the zoo industry working with animals and the public. Her passion of working with animals shifted into working with people in education, operations and leadership roles. From there her passion of leadership and helping people develop has continued to grow.
Then came the opportunity for relaunching the Culture Crush Podcast and she jumped on it. Leadership, growth, and strong company cultures are all areas that Kindra is interested in diving into further.
Shout Outs
We want to thank a few people for their behind the scenes effort in helping this relaunch to come to life. James Johnson with Tailored Penguin Media Company LLC.– It is a small, but powerful video production company with a goal to deliver the very best by articulating the vision of your brand in a visually creative way. Gordon Murray with Flash PhotoVideo, LLC. -Flash Gordon has been photographing since high school and evolving since then with new products that will equip, encourage, engage, and enable. Renee Blundon with Renee Blundon Design – She is not only one of the best free divers (that’s not how she helped with the podcast) but she is great with graphics design and taking the direction for the vision that you have while also adding creative ideas to bring to your vision to life.
These are just a few of the folks that supported the relaunch of the podcast. If you would like to be part of the Culture Crush team or would like to support underwriting the show- please reach out: culturecrushpodcast@gmail.com
