#303 How A Canadian Optometrist Builds Clinics And Community

Sapreet sits down with Dr. Sunny Singh to talk about how a childhood vision challenge grew into a career in optometry and a multi-city clinic expansion. We also dig into the real work behind entrepreneurship, why giving back matters, and how cultural representation shapes confidence for the next generation.

• How early eye health struggles shaped Sunny’s path into optometry
• What it takes to run an optometry clinic beyond patient care
• Expanding practices across Calgary and Edmonton while managing growth
• Building Harmani and why the team believes in Alberta real estate
• Delayed gratification, reinvestment, and paying your staff first
• Choosing passion that lasts, with optometry as the anchor
• Giving back through time, support, and community sponsorship
• Cultural pride, representation, and why the signed jersey mattered

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Book an appointment with Dr. Singh at Optical Warehouse Edmonton West, 8628 175 St NW, Edmonton, AB T5T 0M7, Across from West Edmonton Mall
Telephone: 587-400-7299

IG: @theuniversalradio

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:11

You're tuned in to the Universal Radio Network, and in today's episode, we are sitting down with Dr. Sunny Singh, optometrist, co-founder, and entrepreneur. So let's talk to Sunny Singh. Welcome to the Universal Radio Network. This is Sapreed, and as you know, we love turning the spotlight in South Asians and our community right here in our city. Joining me today is Dr. Sunny Singh. Hey Sunny, welcome.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Thank you. Thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

No, absolutely. So Sunny is not just a doctor, he's an optometrist, an entrepreneur, a co-founder, very, very talented, and a lot of giving back to the community here in our city.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

So, Sunny, let's actually begin by talking

The Childhood Vision Story

SPEAKER_01 1:05

about sort of like your work experience, your career. As I mentioned, optometrist, you studied at U of A, you studied in Boston, and now you're have a practice not just in Calgary, in Edmonton, and you're expanding. So, what got you into wanting to become an optometrist?

SPEAKER_00 1:21

So, with optometry, that that was an easy one because uh I was around an optometrist pretty much my whole life. I had uh I pretty much failed kindergarten, you could say. They didn't put me back in grade one. I had to redo it because I couldn't see anything. So they took me to the optometrist and I had a minus six prescription right off the bat. So I couldn't see anything, and then I got glasses, so that's kind of where it started. I think that was the genesis of it. Um, and then I was around optometrists my whole life. I was just getting worse and worse prescriptions, and um after university I thought, you know, let's uh maybe head in that direction.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Wow, so you know at a young age, yeah, yeah, I think it wasn't one of those things where our parents are like, hey, become a doctor, and you're like, okay, I'm gonna go become an optometrist.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

There's still a little bit of that too. Yeah, I mean engineer, lawyer, all that.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Yeah, of course. Yeah, we I think we all yeah, I think we've all been through that. And not just that, I like I mentioned, you have your practice in Calgary, you have one in Edmonton, you're expanding in

From Training To Running Clinics

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Edmonton. Could you tell us more about this as well?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Uh yeah, sure. So I moved to Calgary about three years ago. Uh, saw an opportunity there. So me and my wife picked up and uh left uh down there and uh um you know so learned to practice from the business side of things. Obviously, there's a medical side, making sure that people's eyes are healthy, uh, but the business side is a little bit tougher. It's the admin, staffing, you know, building the practice, marketing, all that, right? Ties in. And uh it was tough, tough three years, but it was a lot of learning. So after you know, this three-year mark, I decided to expand into Edmonton uh because my roots are here. And um, we just opened one uh a couple months ago next to West Edmonton Mall, and we're opening one more in Northside and one more coming south side.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

That's amazing. Congratulations. Yeah, you know, something you mentioned is actually so key because a lot of our medical professionals, whether they're chiropractors, dentists, I think a lot of them don't realize when they open their own clinic that how much work it actually is to become a business owner alongside being a practitioner as well, right? It's a lot of work, like you mentioned, a lot of grit. And now we also have social media, which is a big thing where you're sort of running two businesses parallel.

Expanding From Calgary To Edmonton

SPEAKER_01 3:25

But for you, it's not just that, you're also co-founder of Harmony, and Harmony has been expanding across the city. Whether you go to Windermere, Glen Riding, Castle Downs, you see the signs. So, how are you balancing such a diverse like work portfolio here?

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Yeah, it's tough. It's not easy. You gotta put the work in. It's not like you have Saturday, Sunday off, it's every day. Um, sacrifices, you know, not spending time with a wife, you know, and the family. Um, you know, that that ties in as well. Um, for me, to be honest with you, I was quite a lazy kid growing up. So I think for me, it's I have to put the work in now, right? So I I spent a lot of time just relaxing when I was uh younger. Uh I was the youngest of three siblings, so yeah, I was more spoiled, I would say. Um so now it's more time to you know put the pedal to the metal kind of thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

No, that's awesome. Now, Harmony has been doing a lot of work, as I mentioned, across Edmonton. Uh, let's talk about this as well. Like, we're seeing harmony deep southwest, we're seeing it in the north side, we're seeing it across, and it's a really cool concept what you've brought into the Edmonton market. So, what was the inspiration behind Harmony?

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Harmony started um

Balancing Optometry With Harmony

SPEAKER_00 4:31

with my brother and I, um, you know, expanding into Edmonton, Calgary, BC now as well. Uh, we believe in Alberta markets, right? The economy's strong here. Uh, we believe in real estate. We've always been a real estate company or our family. Um, and yeah, we're just pushing uh pushing it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yeah, and for background information, Amric developments is also part of the family chain. It's under the same umbrella, which we also know the impact of Amric developments across the city is substantial. So just seeing like the expansions, but also just not property development, as we mentioned, you're also doing something very unique and different as well and expanding into Edmonton. Yeah, so that's really cool to see how much trust and faith you have in the Alberta market. Yeah, yeah, true, like true Albertan. Are we an Oilers fan?

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Oiler, you have to be.

Why Harmony Bets On Alberta

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Yeah, I was gonna say, because you told me your time split between Calgary, so I was a little bit worried. I'm like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Euler's always got a lot of flack in uh Calgary. All my patients are like, Oh, you moved from Edmonton, like, oh, good job. Like you made a better decision. I was like, Yeah, maybe, but I'm still an Oilers fan.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yeah, I the Edmonton Eulers scene is pretty strong. Yeah, I think it's Trolley Five. We're like, yeah, yeah, all the Oilers fans are always at Trolley Five. Yeah, it's always a good time there.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

We yeah, we go there all during playoffs and all that and try to represent uh Edmonton down there. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

No, that's cool. So, as an entrepreneur, as a co-founder, as an optometrist, as a doctor, what are some like learning lessons you

Oilers Fandom And Calgary Life

SPEAKER_01 5:56

learned while becoming an entrepreneur or while building your business that you like to share with anyone who's either considering or just starting off in the process of starting their own business?

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Yeah, that's a great question, especially for the youth nowadays. Um, I think delayed gratification, like you gotta put the work in. Don't be lazy, put the work in, it'll come. No matter what you do, if you put you know, put your head down and actually grind, um, you'll you'll get something, you'll you'll you'll achieve success eventually, right? So it just takes time. I I want when I was younger too, you know, you work,

Delayed Gratification And The Grind

SPEAKER_00 6:28

you get a paycheck, you can work, get a paycheck, it's right away, right? But when you run a business, that does not happen. You gotta put the money back in, uh, you gotta make sacrifices, you gotta make sure your staff are paid before you are ever paid. Uh, you know, that's really important for me. So uh yeah, it's just you get you gotta wait for it, but you gotta work hard.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Absolutely, that's very true. And thank you for sharing that. I think that's something where like a lot of young people, I don't want to say they miss it, but it's like it's not as apparent as you would think. And I think social media does glorify things for us now as well, right? Yeah, you don't realize the grit, the dedication that goes behind becoming and building a business.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Everything is nowadays is just so fast, and the youth are seeing that, which makes it tough because they think it's fast. It's not.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

It's very true. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

I I would never I wouldn't even say I'm successful at all or at this point, you know, whatsoever, but just just because we just gotta keep grinding, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

No, absolutely. Now, I guess one question I do have, Sunny, is like between optometry, between property development, between being an entrepreneur, we often hear the phrase of like this is where my passion is. For you, where would you say like the passion lies between these two sectors?

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yeah, so I mean optometry is always gonna be the passion for me. Um, I would never you know lose that business or walk away from that business. When I see patience, that's kind of my time off, I would say. I always tell people this because with real estate, it's all

Passion For Patients Versus Real Estate

SPEAKER_00 7:52

the time emails, everything. Uh running the business, you know, it's it keeps you busy. But when I have the time with patients, that's my time off, I would say. And it's nice to know talking to them, uh, learning about them and their families, and I enjoy that the most. Real estate I got into more recently, so it's something new, so it's something fun, right? I it it excites me. So it's a little bit of both, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

I love that because yeah, a lot of times people like, oh, like one feeds my soul, but one like feeds my pocket. But knowing that your passion lies in both, that's that's very special. Yeah. Now, one other thing that we definitely need to talk about, and it's something that I have noticed over the years, is whether it's harmony, whether it's some redevelopments, is how much work you are doing to give back to the community. When I say community, I don't just mean the South Asian community. I mean Edmonton, I mean Alberta.

Giving Back Through Seva And Support

SPEAKER_01 8:38

There is very few events I go to where I do not see sponsorship, I do not see um support from these companies. So, alongside growing a business and growing it to the level that it's been going, why is it so important that you're also making sure that you're growing the community at the same time and giving back?

SPEAKER_00 8:57

No, that's another great question. Uh Americ Developments, the namesake is uh my grandfather. So he was always giving back to the community, maybe not money, but it was support or you know, time, right? So that started with us at a young age. My parents give back to the community at a young age. Again, again, when they moved here, didn't have anything, newcomers would come, they would still help them. So it's not just always about money, it's about time and effort as well. So um, yeah, it's always been in us. So when people ask us that question, I just don't even think of it. I'm like, yeah, you should be giving back, pay it for it always.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Do you think it's like part of the South Asian culture as well, the Punjabi culture of like Seva, and like how are we constantly thinking about how do we give our former Seva, whether that's time, whether that's monetary? Do you think that's sort of just like embedded in you at a young age as well?

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Uh you guys know, like in the South Asian community, it's also always about giving back. We help each other a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Is there any organization or initiative that you would say you were like the most proud of being a part of?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Um,

Pride Projects Like Sikh Studies

SPEAKER_00 9:56

just one. Yeah, I mean the six studies in University of Calgary, that's a big one. Um, they're integrated in the as a program in the faculty of arts versus just being a course. Um, so that that's huge. It's gonna be there forever, right? So that that's a big one. Um, I mean there's a few others, but that that one uh sticks out.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yeah, and I'm not surprised because obviously there's that South Asian element, the cultural element to this. And we recently just saw uh something come up where in May we had the Jit Assange here in Edmonton. We, as in like turn, actually had the opportunity to work with Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation to get the one and only signed jersey. And I remember when the silent auction opened, Amrique Developments was like on it. Like it was not even just like one bid, they were outbidding until they got the jersey. Right. So let's talk about this.

The Diljit Jersey And Representation

SPEAKER_01 10:43

Like, why was it so important and meaningful that that jersey went home with all of you?

SPEAKER_00 10:49

So my niece is a big Del Jeet fan, so that was the one reason for sure. Uh, but just what he's done for our culture, it's huge. Um, I hate talking negative, but there's all you know, the last couple years our culture has had a bad kind of name, I would say. Like, you know, stuff to say that. Uh, I don't want to get into specifics, but he's changed the game, he's moved the dial. His uh morning dance on TikTok, he's on Jimmy Fallon, sold out arenas across Canada, North America. That's huge. He's he's bringing our culture forward and the Punjabis and Indians, you know, he's putting us back on the map, let's say.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

I will agree. I mean, that great the representation he's brought and just like the tension to like the South Asian Punjabi culture, even the way where he uses these mainstream platforms to talk about things such as Kamagata Maru and Jimmy Fallon, or he just did his book what's in my bag recently, and he's talking about like what a salai is, what a turban is like that's really amazing that he's using these platforms not just for himself but also to push the culture forward.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Yeah, the morning dance, like I said on TikTok, he's uh you know, there's a go there doing it himself, which is nice to see, it makes you proud, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, so that jersey was something very meaningful. A lot of people have asked us where it went, who got it in Edmonton. So we really wanted to put a face forward and let everyone know that hey, it's in great hands.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Yeah, no, it's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

So your niece is like a Dolji fan, and I that which is amazing because like we're inspiring them at such a young age, right? And like I think you might be able to relate to this because I've also grown up in Edmonton. Growing up, there wasn't that much representation. No, so we didn't have like pe such things to look up to. Of like, I don't think growing up, I would have ever imagined seeing a sold-out Punjabi concert at Roger's place, right? So that generation, it's not just like what we are able to like showcase, but it's also how are we keeping them connected? Yeah, so something like this where it's like she's able to say that, hey, I have the jersey at home, that's something that means so much beyond the surface.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

At that age, like you said, like uh like we we probably uh felt this together uh when I was growing up too. I try to keep an arms distance from our culture. I don't know why, like it just something happened, like a couple years, like maybe elementary. Um, but now you're like we're so proud to be Punjabi and you know Indian, like we love it.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

It's true, yeah. Yeah, and I always think about that too. Of like growing up in Edmonton, there was a phase I think most of us went through where we weren't related to the culture almost in denial. Yeah, I had that phase too. I remember I was in high school and I was like, I don't know how to speak Punjabi when I knew how to speak Punjabi. It was it was just a different time, it was a different phase. But now when I see the representation, I mean K days were doing South Asian performances in the city, and like there's so much other things.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

It's like halftime shows, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:30

The Edmonton Others are doing South Asian nights or Riverhawks are it's so amazing for like the newer generation to be in the settings, be proud, yeah, to look at people, to be in these settings and be like, I look like the person who's performing in front of me. Yeah, yes, amazing. Well, we want to say thank you for everything

Community Impact And Closing

SPEAKER_01 13:50

you've done for the community, even with the Edmonton Otters Community Foundation, all their proceeds. Um, $7,000 is what the highest bid, which was Amric development, went to every kid deserves a shot, which around about 26 children go to hockey camp with that, right with that jersey, with how much you put. So that's a huge impact. Yeah, and we appreciate the work you've done over the years, and we look forward to seeing the success of Harmony, Amric, and your new practice that's opening up in Edmonton as well.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Yeah, for sure. Thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Thank you for tuning in to Turn It Up. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Stay connected with us on socials at the Universal Radio, and remember to follow us and stream us wherever you get your podcasts.