Tonyatta Hairston

by Brian Johnson
Photo by Renee Reedy
May 17, 2006

"The great thing is that I get to help people medically, but then I take them out of that examination room and have the opportunity to glamorize them, to help them find a whole new look," Tonyatta Hairston says. Hairston, 31, is an optometrist who has just opened a new office in Fondren, at 3139 N. State Street.

Hairston, who hails from Jackson, has been practicing optometry for close to five years, but this is the first time she has had an office of her own. Relaxing in one of her stylish, plush chairs while Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," plays in the background, it is easy to forget where you are, and that's precisely the point, according to Hairston. "I didn't want this to feel like just another doctor's office," Hairston says.

She took inspiration for designing the office from a recent trip to New York City, where she studied the boutiques and shops of Soho. That fashion sense is evident in every detail of the new office, though it is not the least bit cold or intimidating. "To me," Hairston says, "Fondren was the best place to put an office like this, because it fits in so well with what other people here have already done."

Whatever inspiration she may take from Soho, Hairston is one of Jackson's own. She was born and raised in North Jackson and graduated from Callaway High School, going on to get her bachelor's degree from Tougaloo College. Her medical training took her to the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis and an internship in Boston, which was her first time out of the South. "It was weird," she admits. "They played with my accent, and I played with theirs back."

There was never any question that Hairston would return to Jackson. She has wanted to be an optometrist since she was 6, and despite her desire to make her office stand out from the rest, her greatest passion is to care for her patients' eyes. In fact, just before our interview, she saw a patient with an emergency, even though it was Sunday afternoon.

Hairston worries about how many people take their eyes for granted. "These two eyes are your gateway to the whole world. Why would you risk that?" she asks.

Yet, many people take very poor care of their eyes, especially people who wear contacts. They do not clean them enough, or they do so with dirty hands, or they leave their contacts in overnight even though many lenses are not designed for overnight wear.

For now, Hairston is reveling in her new office and looking forward to the ribbon cutting on May 25 and the Grand Opening on May 27, though she is already taking patients. "I just can't wait to get to work," she says.

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