Anna Anderson’s Homecoming Brings ‘Fresh Look’ to Smith & Smith Optometry

Over a decade ago, McKenzie middle schooler Anna Anderson made a bold declaration to Dr. Mark Smith during an eye exam: “I want to be an eye doctor, and I’m going to work with you one day.”

In October 2024, her foresight came to fruition as Dr. Anna Anderson joined Smith & Smith Optometry.

Anderson would return to the clinic just before her graduation from McKenzie High School in 2015 to job shadow Dr. Smith, an experience that would reaffirm her earlier plans.

She told The Banner, “I got to follow patients from start-to-finish at first just to see what everybody does, what is important about everyone’s job. And then I got to see a couple of patients whose lives have been changed by Dr. Mark. One was a child who got her first pair of glasses, and just like you see in videos, her face lights up. ‘Oh, Mom, I can see what color your eyes are!’ It really makes a difference.

“But then I also got to see a patient whose eyesight wasn’t saved, but their life was. They found a tumor, and it may not have been caught if they hadn’t come to the eye doctor. That was such a powerful message to me.

“The world’s too beautiful a place for us to not have our vision. You want to see your children and grandchildren’s faces. You want to be able to see the beautiful young lady or young man that they become. And so I wanted to be a part of making that happen. And that’s how it started.”

Anderson graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin and then Southern College of Optometry in Memphis.

She was in communication with Mark, but it wasn’t apparent yet when Dr. Thomas Smith (Mark’s father) would retire and make room for Anna.

So the new doctor went another route, joining a three-clinic group in Paris, Dover and Camden, “to make sure I got some on-the-job experience, didn’t get rusty, and that I was worth my salt.”

She spoke about her time in that first job setting. “The other place did teach me a lot of things. It taught me a little bit more about the doctor I wanted to be and what works for me and what doesn’t. And now I get to implement those things a little bit better over here.

“Another factor for me to come home was that, in my previous job, I didn’t feel like I got to know the community very well. And I didn’t get to see follow-ups. I wanted to spend longer with my patients. I didn’t feel like I was on the same page, and I knew I would be here. When you’re a young O.D., it’s scary to switch jobs. But I had all the faith in the world that I would be taken care of, because I know Dr. Mark, I know this staff, and I know this place. And I knew that I would thrive here, and I truly have.”

Dr. Mark told The Banner, “When Dr. Tom retired [in May 2023], it all fell on me being the sole doctor here. I’m only one guy, and it became hard to try to fit all of these patients in and still be able to do the best job we can possibly do and treat them like we had been for years. So that meant a lot of people had to wait. Adding Anna has really helped patients have another opportunity to get in to see an eye care provider much faster without having to wait for me or other doctors to have openings.

“We’re excited to have Anna come back home to McKenzie and practice optometry in the community she grew up in. It’s exciting for me with Dr. Tom retiring after having a good partnership with him throughout the years and now having a little bit of a void there. It’s really been exciting to have somebody to bounce diagnoses and treatment plans off of. A fresh look on eyes has given me a fresh look too.”

He continued, “She’s coming into a situation where there are patients who have been waiting patiently to be seen at a clinic that they’ve come to for years. She has the ability to have a schedule that’s not necessarily overbooked where she can get to know people and take care, and at the same time she’s able to continue to grow.”

Anderson added, “It’s been great for me just because I have somebody to bounce ideas off of that I’m comfortable with that is seasoned and has ideas for me and wants to talk about what I think about things and is open about learning things with me.”

Smith jumped in, “It has reinvigorated my enjoyment for my job. I love my job. I loved working with Dad, and I love being by myself. But having her come back has really renewed my love for the job. I come to work everyday now even more excited now that I have another partner here.

“When Dr. Howard [Smith, Mark’s grandfather] started this business, when Dr. Tom joined the business, and when I joined the business, it was ‘treat everybody as if they were a family member’ and Anna and I are on the same page on that. That’s why I felt like it was immediately such a good fit. We knew that she was going to treat people the same way that would make my grandad happy, that would make Dr. Tom happy. That’s something that’s important.”

Anderson said, “I was definitely excited to move back to the community that I grew up in, to be able to give back in any way. I want to take care of everybody like I would want to be treated, how I would want my family to be treated. That’s my drive for this, I want everybody to be able to see the world as best they can.”

The two optometrists and their patients aren’t the only ones excited.

“My family is very excited to have me home. I’m very excited to be back with my family and friends,” Anderson said. “And the community is fantastic here. They’re so supportive.”

Smith and Anderson have both received countless messages from patients and from members of the community expressing their pride and excitement that one of McKenzie’s own has returned to share and cultivate her talents right here at home.