Meet Our Developmental Optometrist and His Charleston Eye Care Team
Our Charleston eye care team is a group of compassionate and attentive individuals, dedicated to helping you on your journey to better vision and a better life. Dr. Jesse Willingham is an experienced developmental optometrist with a passion for helping those who haven’t found relief elsewhere. We care about our Lowcountry community and treat each individual like a friend and neighbor.
Jesse Willingham, OD, FOVDR
Optometric Physician
Dr. Willingham continues his commitment to lifelong learning as a Fellow with College of Optometrists in Vision Development, which is the national organization for developmental optometrists (sometimes called a binocular vision specialist, neuro-optometrist or behavioral optometrist). He is proud to make his home in South Carolina, where friendly faces and sweet tea abound, and is excited to explore every nook and cranny of Charleston culture, especially food, history, and music, with his wife Abbigail and their two schnauzers, Posey and Perry.
Dr. Willingham’s favorite hobbies are making music, building legos, riding bikes around his neighborhood, beekeeping, and trying new food!
His favorite patient memory happened in residency, when two parents brought in their little girl, who had just started first grade. The little girl was having trouble in school and was undergoing lots of testing because she wasn’t learning to read and was performing very poorly in school. When she was tested for glasses and began to read the letters on the chart with her new prescription, her mother cried, claiming she had assumed her daughter had just not been able to learn to read! Following up with the patient later, with the help of glasses and a program of vision therapy, she was well on the path to catching up and loving school!
“Dr. Jesse and his staff are phenomenal. Not only is the office beautiful and state of the art but the entire team is professional and thorough. I came to them after a car accident and they helped to get to the root cause of certain symptoms I’m experiencing. I’ve never had such an in-depth consult and I truly felt seen and taken care of. I’m excited to have better, stronger eyes, all thanks to Dr. Jesse and Brighter Outlook!”
Abbigail Willingham
Office Visionary
Abbigail’s hobbies include beekeeping, reading, painting, playing with her two schnauzers, and traveling. She has been to all 50 states (Alaska was the final one!) and 23 countries. She loves to explore anywhere, from her backyard to a different continent.
Caroline Duncan
Patient Care Coordinator
Caroline studied at both the College of Charleston and MUSC and has called Charleston home for over a decade. She has worked in private healthcare for the last 6 years and counting, utilizing her innate curiosity and a patient-centered approach to medical communications. She brings an experienced and conscientious eye to patient coordination at Brighter Outlook Vision.
Caroline is passionate about encouraging patients of all ages to find solutions and paths to wellness that meet their individual needs, and also coaches and consults. She is overjoyed to work alongside the Willinghams and their staff to engage as a compassionate contributor in our local healing community, and deeply enjoys supporting patients and their families on their journeys to an improved quality of life. To unwind, Caroline enjoys cooking, reading, film, and spending time with her dog and partner.
Hannah Shapiro
Vision Therapist
Hannah earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology with an emphasis in Neuroscience from Western Kentucky University. While there, she conducted research on sensory-perceptual systems, deepening her curiosity about how the brain processes visual information.
Her career has taken her through healthcare, nonprofits, and even outdoor recreation—all focused on helping others thrive. Joining Brighter Outlook Vision feels like a full-circle moment, bringing together her academic interests and passion for meaningful, people-centered work.
Outside the clinic, Hannah enjoys hiking, paddling, and exploring the outdoors. She’s driven by a desire to help others see more clearly—not just with their eyes, but in how they experience and engage with the world.
Cheryl Paradiso
Vision Therapist
Cheryl is a recent transplant to beautiful Charleston from the great state of New Jersey! After spending over a decade as a dental hygienist, she decided to move on up in the world from mouths to eyes.
Cheryl is the mother of three children and brings her maternal spirit to the office, caring for her teammates and patients with love and kindness.
Cayla Simmons
Optometric Assistant
Cayla brings a background in education and a passion for helping others feel comfortable and supported. With experience as a substitute teacher, she developed strong communication skills and a natural ability to connect with people from all walks of life.
She enjoys creating a welcoming environment and takes pride in making each patient’s experience as smooth and positive as possible. Cayla is especially drawn to work that allows her to make a meaningful difference in someone’s day.
Outside of the office, she enjoys designing custom press-on nails, shopping, and spending quality time with friends and family. Her creativity and eye for detail carry into everything she does, both personally and professionally.
Posey
Branch Manager
Perry
Pawssistant to the Branch Manager
Join our team!
Vision Therapy Assistant Position
Advocate for Academic, Functional, and Rehabilitation Success
Are you an energetic team player looking for a fulfilling opportunity that changes the lives of children, teens, and adults? Do you enjoy coaching and helping people improve their daily lives? If so, please consider joining our specialty optometric practice’s team!
We will provide specific training on-the-job. The position offers the opportunity for lifelong learning. A person with a background in teaching or education would be a perfect fit!
ABOUT THE POSITION
As a Vision Therapy Assistant, you will play an instrumental role in treating binocular vision dysfunctions for your patients via vision therapy alongside our developmental optometrist Dr. Jesse Willingham. To do this, you will be addressing each patient with a personalized approach. With this approach, each session is one-on-one (therapist-to-patient), conducted under doctor supervision. During treatment, you and our doctor will apply state-of-the-art technology and procedures, making treatment enjoyable and productive for your patients. You will learn how to use our approach that incorporates coordinated movement, balance, auditory processing, and cognitive abilities. Using this methodology will allow you to coach patients to develop their visual abilities and improve their daily living in the classroom, the workplace, and in sports.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
As a Vision Therapy Assistant, your responsibilities include:
- Providing energetic, warm, and caring interactions with patients and their families
- Adhering to and embodying the Brighter Outlook Vision patient service standards
- Maintaining a safe and secure workspace
- Keeping a clean and orderly office environment
- Assisting the doctor, administrative team, and fellow therapists to ensure efficiency and productivity
WHAT IS DEVELOPMENTAL OPTOMETRY?
Developmental optometry, behavioral optometry, or vision therapy, is a rehabilitative program, prescribed to treat developmental and/or neurologically induced dysfunctions of the visual system. The American Optometric Association defines vision development as a sequence of neurosensory and neuromuscular activities individually prescribed and monitored by a doctor to develop, rehabilitate, and enhance visual skills and processing. Vision development is for children, teens, and adults presenting with vision conditions such as convergence insufficiency, double vision, amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed eyes), post-concussion vision syndrome, or other vision and learning problems. We also provide vision treatment for developmentally delayed individuals or individuals on the autism spectrum, to improve their daily living and learning abilities.
QUALIFICATIONS
This is an entry-level position, no prior vision therapy training is necessary. We will train all of our Vision Therapy Assistant to meet our high level of treatment standards. Official certification as a Vision Therapist will become available after training.
We are looking for individuals who are willing to learn how to help or direct people of all ages; however, most of our patients are children and teens.
Strong candidates:
- Are devoted to continued education and interest in visual development
- Are able to build a one-on-one rapport with patients
- Have excellent people skills
- Possess a patient-focused mindset with a friendly and outgoing personality
- Are able to work in a team environment with oversight from doctors and teammates
- Have a basic knowledge of computer software (e.g. updating and maintaining tracking spreadsheets)
This is a part-time position, looking for candidates who have availability on Mondays through Thursdays from 1pm to 6:15pm. We are hoping for someone to begin 2-4 of those days. Starting pay will be $19 per hour.
Please email your resume to abbigail@brighteroutlookvision.com for consideration.
