In the late 1990s, Jarrod and Stacey Jones married and moved to Houston, Texas where they each attended separate professional schools for dentistry and optometry. They were twelve hours away from their family and friends in Kansas, so they began writing an annual “newsletter” detailing their lives as newlyweds. The newsletter was and is still known as the “EyeTooth Annual Newsletter”. Their shared email address has always been known as the “itooth” address. When they began thinking of a name for their new shared business, numerous people suggested or asked if it would be called EyeTooth. They had branded themselves without even knowing it! After trying to come up with MANY alternative names, and hoping to find something different, they landed on the (almost same) name EyeSMILE. They both felt that it maintained their old “brand” while also telling the world who they are and what they do together in business. As Dr. Jarrod says, “I work on smiles, not a tooth!”
This joint venture has been something they dreamed about since those early days in school. After much contemplation and prayer, they knew that they needed to make a change in 2017. Within days of making the decision to leave their practices, they discovered an old gas station in downtown Hays that could accommodate both the dental and optometry practices. The idea of being part of the downtown Hays community, while also bringing a piece of history back to life, was inspiring to both doctors. Rethinking a beautiful, historic building from 1932 was definitely a labor of love.
Both Jarrod and Stacey joke that while many people take a nice vacation to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, they decided to open a new business together instead!