With over 40 years in the Optical business, Mrs. Drake is an approved speaker for ABO and NCLE as well as an advanced course approved speaker and lectures both locally and nationally. She is also an approved speaker for Paraoptometrics and is approved for JCAHPO. She is also approved as a COPE speaker. She was president and owner of ALL ABOUT EYES VISION CENTER in Griffin, Georgia for over 19 years. She is a licensed optician in Georgia, advanced certified by both the American Board of Opticianry and the National Contact Lens Examiners and also has received her Masters in Ophthalmic Optics Certification by the ABO and Masters in Contact Lens Technology from the National Contact Lens Examiners. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Opticianry. She is a past President for the National Academy of Opticianry. She is a past commissioner of the Commission on Opticianry Accreditation of which she served as Vice Chair. She is a Past President of the Opticians Association of Georgia as well as the SouthEastern Opticians Conference. She is a 1995 graduate of the OAA Refractometry program. Mrs. Drake was selected the Optician of the year for Georgia in 1992, and was honored with the prestigious Beverly Myers Achievement award by the National Academy of Opticianry in 1996. She was honored in 1997 as the outstanding optician in the Southeast, receiving the Galen B. Kilburn award. She received the annual Eric Muth award in 2000 for outstanding achievement in technical writing and the pursuit of excellence in ophthalmic optics. She was honored as being one of the 50 most influential women in Optical in 2004 by Vision Monday. She received the Dan Gosnell award by the SouthEastern Opticians Conference for outstanding optician in 2005. She received the Joseph Bruneni Memorial Education Achievement award from the NAO in 2009. She was inducted into the Opticians Association Hall of Fame in 2017. She was the recipient of the first ever Optician of the South by the Southeastern Council of Optometry. She co-authored the COA Evaluators’ Workshop. She has authored numerous articles for various publications as well. She co-authored the Advanced Opticians Tutorial which was commissioned by the American Board of Opticianry and was updated in 2021 as well as courses for the National Academy of Opticianry. She co-authored the Basic Opticians Tutorial for the National Academy of Opticianry which was updated in 2019. She authored “Beginning Your Life as a Contact Lens Technician” which is a review book for the NCLE, now in its second edition. She co-authored the update of the Ophthalmic Career Progression Program (a home study program) for the National Academy of Opticianry, which was completed in 2015 and most recently updated in 2021. She most recently authored a question/answer/explanation study guide for Contact Lenses titled “Contact Lens Review Book”. She regularly guest lectures for high schools, colleges and universities in her area. She is also active in her local community with local charities.