Our Story
Eddye first walked in in July of 2017, a glasses man through and through, the kind who'd return throughout the year simply to see what was new. From that first appointment, conversation came easily. He mentioned, almost in passing, that loyalty was something he gave freely to the people who took care of him.
For three years, he was a patient and nothing more. Then, one afternoon in June of 2020, he stopped in and shared a few things close to the heart, he'd recently lost his grandmother, recovered from COVID, and returned to Chicago for good. Until that moment, I hadn't realized he'd ever lived anywhere else; all those years, he'd been traveling for work, with Chicago as home base and a standing reason to visit.
A patient became a friend. A friend became something more. Two and a half years of marriage later, the same belief still sits at the center of everything we do, take care of people, and they become family.
That is the spirit Raise Your Glasses was built on. But to understand why care comes first here, you have to go back further still.
Meet Dr. Ami Patel Harris
I'm an only child, born in New Jersey and raised in Florida, but the heart of my work begins with my grandmother. She was born and raised in India, and one morning in her sixties, she woke up unable to see.
The village she lived in had no way of knowing what had happened. We brought her to the States for care, where we learned she had wet age-related macular degeneration. Her loss became my calling, and I've dedicated my career in her honor ever since.
That question, what happens to our sight, and why, led me to an internship at an optometry practice in Tampa, where I was studying as an undergraduate. The doctor there became my mentor, and in 2007 I graduated from the New England College of Optometry. On little more than instinct, I packed up everything I owned and moved to Chicago. I've been caring for this city's eyes ever since.
When I'm not looking after patients, I'm usually indulging a serious love of food — an unapologetic cheese lover with a weakness for anything that comes with bubbles. My husband and I love to travel, though at heart I'm a homebody. You'll most often find me with my girlfriends, my husband, and my dog, entertaining at home.
It's that same warmth, the pleasure of looking after the people you love, that we wanted to build a practice around.
Meet Eddye Harris
I grew up shaped by my family, not just by what they accomplished, but by what they loved. Their passions became part of who I am, and part of what you feel the moment you walk through our doors.
My grandfather's love of jazz and my uncles' gift for music taught me that an experience should move you. I never wanted eyewear shopping to feel like the sterile, predictable optical office you'd expect. Walking into RYG should feel like slipping into a hidden jazz speakeasy, a see-easy, warm and celebratory and alive. There's even a bar. You can quite literally raise your glasses here.
From my grandmother and sister, both in fashion, I learned how beauty and function live together. From an early age, my sister showed me the art of putting a look together, taking something beautiful and reimagining it into something more beautiful still. You can see that influence in the curated collection lining our walls: independent designer eyewear that looks more like art than glasses.
My years in the military taught me to love the beauty in cultures and styles far from my own, and my time in the medical field taught me the science behind sight. RYG is where those two worlds meet, a seductive blend of art and science, beauty and purpose.
The boy who once hated wearing glasses never imagined he'd find his joy here. But this is the season I didn't know I'd been working toward all along, and I'm proud to share it with you.
Come raise your expectations, and meet the standard, at Raise Your Glasses.