Sept. 16, 2020
Keplr Vision announced the promotion of Sarah Throne to senior vice-president of business operations and Shondra Pistone to vice-president of operations.
Following several positions with marketing agencies in New York City and the Quad Cities area, Throne joined the company in 2016 as marketing manager, creating the marketing strategies, design, and promotions for all All About Eyes clinics. As the company portfolio grew under the Visionary Eye Partners name, Throne’s position was elevated to marketing director, where she built a proprietary optician training web portal. Shortly thereafter she was promoted to vice-president of corporate services and assumed oversight of the Marketing, Business and Digital Services, Retail Planning and Procurement and Revenue Cycle Management departments.
As Keplr Vision experienced rapid expansion across the U.S. in less than two years, Throne successfully scaled a central distribution center which once supported 22 clinics to one that currently supports over 160.
“Very rarely is an organization lucky enough to have someone like Sarah on its leadership team. The only thing more impressive than Sarah’s character and tremendous commitment to Keplr is the consistently excellent results she produces day in and day out,” said Nick Williams, Keplr Vision chief executive officer.
Throne received her bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications from American InterContinental University in Atlanta, GA, and her master’s degree in Advertising Design from Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. She resides with her husband in Bloomington, Ill.
Pistone joined the Visionary Eye Partners team in 2018 as district manager. She was quickly promoted to regional director, with oversight of a field operations team supporting 38 clinics. As the company became Keplr Vision, Pistone rose to the challenge of managing both a growing field operations team as well as an expansive nationwide portfolio of medically focused optometry clinics.
Before joining Keplr Vision, Pistone gained extensive strategic operational leadership experience in the healthcare industry, managing business transformation and process improvement as senior business strategy and integration manager, mergers and acquisitions, at American Optical Service & Exela Hearing Services, and then as Regional Director of Operations, Specialty Oncology/Hematology at DaVita Healthcare Partners.
“I joined Keplr Vision because I saw a company with a strong moral compass and endless opportunities for success,” Pistone said. “I am proud to say that this organization has lived up to all of its promises.”
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Pistone has her bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Troy University in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and holds LEAN Six Sigma Yellow and Green belts. She lives with her family in Florida.
In the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, both Throne and Pistone worked tirelessly, providing leadership across the organization and overseeing initiatives that helped bring clinics back after all were shuttered for at least two weeks.
“The recent months have been filled with monumental challenges requiring real-time, complex decision making on a scale that no one could have ever predicted. These two individuals stepped up and worked tirelessly to help us weather the storm and ensure the safety of our patients and team members,” said Adam Rosengren, Keplr Vision chief operating officer. “It is a privilege to have them as teammates and fellow leaders!”
With over 160 practices across 29 states, Keplr Vision “brings together private practice optometrists who focus on pushing the practice of optometry forward. Through a collaborative partnership, Keplr offers OD partners robust business support services and supply chain management, allowing doctors to focus on their practice and their patients while retaining their legacy.”
For more information about partnering with Keplr Vision, contact: Claude Labeeuw, chief growth officer, at 415-381-5845