For over 20 years, Gothika has designed and manufactured specialty Halloween contact lenses. Gothika is America’s No. 1 brand for specialty contact lenses and is one of only a handful of companies to sell contact lense products with FDA clearance.

The man behind Gothika is Scott Smiledge-Ferragamo, an exciting entrepreneur who became in Internet Millionaire in 2009. We decided to catch up with Scott Smiledge-Ferragamo to learn more about owning the no. 1 brand for specialty contact lenses

This is what he had to say.

1. First of all, please introduce yourself.My name is Scott Smiledge-Ferragamo and I am the director of Gothika brand contact lenses and LensScript prescription verification. I’ve been in the Halloween and special FX industry for over 27 years and in medical device compliance for over 12 years.
2. You are the founder of Gothika, why did you start the company?Gothika was founded by my good friend John Patterson. John created Orion Vision Group a company that creates custom contact lenses and from that, Gothika was born. Sadly, John unexpectedly passed away a few years back. Control of the business was given to LensServ Optical ( I was the CEO ) and in 2020 control of the business came directly to me. Although Orion still maintains ownership in conjunction with John’s family.
3. You have been manufacturing specialty Halloween contact lenses for over 20 years, how has your product changed over the years?Contact lens technology has changed a lot over the past 20 years. Although Gothika was one of the first brands to seal the design inside the lenses so it doesn’t come in contact with the eye. We have worked to perfect that system over the years making our lenses vibrant and comfortable. Colors and designs that don’t fade over time like cheaper lenses do.
4. You are now the no. 1 brand for specialty contact lenses and one of only a few companies to sell contact lense products with FDA clearance, what do you put your success down to?Quality really is key here. Making sure your lenses have valid FDA paperwork and that they are manufactured with customer comfort over profit. Cheap lenses are everywhere but they aren’t comfortable or manufactured with questionable techniques. Gothika is the Cadillac of Halloween contact lenses.
5. As well as supplying custom-made Halloween contact lenses, you also supply corrective lenses in various strengths,Gothika is the only theatrical lens company that makes contact lenses in .25 steps. So you can get your exact prescription. Our custom lenses offer a wide selection of strengths from -20.00 through +20.00
6. Why do you believe people come to your company to purchase their contact lenses rather than go to the competition?Quality and value is key. Our reputation in the haunt and cosplay industry is unblemished. Also, we are located right in Marietta, Ga. Most competitors are selling cheap illegal lenses from overseas and are shipping from the UK or Canada.
7. Your contact lenses have become very popular with actors all over the world, how does it make you feel knowing that some of the biggest names in the entertainment world are wearing your product?We love working with all our clients! But I get what you are saying. It is a rush to see your product on your favorite shows. I can remember the first show years ago that I geeked out when I saw it. CSI. They did a vampire episode and used our red vampire lenses. We even have the Gothika logo in the background in one scene. Definitely a thrill!
8. What is your biggest selling product at the present moment?Zombies are still hot! The White Out Zombie Lenses are the king of the hill at the moment. Second is the Angelic Blue Lenses with the cool jagged limbal ring.
9. 45 million people wear contact lenses in the USA while 164 million wear glasses, what would you say the benefits of wearing contact lenses compared to glasses?Aside from vanity I would say comfort. With a good quality lens you don’t feel them on your eye at all. Where you feel glasses on your face all day. My first week wearing contact lenses made me feel so free.
10. Can you see a time when more people will wear contact lenses compared to glasses?I think as the technology progresses glasses will become obsolete for a massive chunk of the population. Who would have thought 20 years ago that we would have lenses you can leave in for 30 days and sleep with them in. Or high tech lenses that can communicate with your smart phone. Eye glass technology hasn’t been very innovative over the past 20 years.
11. In 2009 you became an internet millionaire, what do you put your success down to?There is a big misconception about becoming an instant millionaire. Unless you win the lottery it really doesn’t happen. There is no magic bullet. No shortcuts or hidden secrets. It’s all about unrelenting dedication to your business. Never giving up. Never stop innovating. The more you fail, the clearer your path becomes.
12. 90% of starts up fails within ten years, why is that figure so high?They give up. Maybe a lack of critical thinking skills or ambition. They try it for a few months, and it doesn’t get traction. So, they think it will never work and give up on it. Maybe it’s just a bad idea. But I’ve seen some really stupid products out there make money. It’s all about being dedicated and passionate about your plan.
13. You are a success story, so with so much success behind you, what motives you in the morning?Any leader is only as good as his/her team. And the Gothika team is amazing! For any of our customers that order from us they already know the hard work the customer experience team puts in place. The Gothika staff continues to inspire and motivate me with nothing short of brilliance every single day! That and coffee…. Lots of coffee.
14. What future goals do you have, is there anything you have not achieved that you want to achieve?That’s a pretty big list. In 2021 I would like to expand our charitable contributions to DAVA ( Da Nang Association For Victims of Agent Orange ). A remnant of the Vietnam war that still affects children across Vietnam. A defoliant called dioxin was sprayed during the war later to be found to cause birth defects and other illnesses. We started working with them 5 years ago to directly help families in need. I’m very passionate about that.

Gothika has a large selection of hand-painted lenses that are made specifically for each order. The lenses are popular with individuals from actors to Halloween aficionados. Whether you want a unique pair of contact lenses for a special occasion or prescription lenses that change your appearance, Gothika has just what you are looking for.

Customers can find a wide range of contact lenses and styles on Gothika’s official website.

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Contact details

Company: Gothika

Email: wendy@gothika.com

https://gothika.com/

There are currently more than 450,000 people incarcerated for nonviolent offences. Second chances are important, and the criminal justice system should promote second chances for individuals who are convicted of a nonviolent crime. However, the criminal justice system does not spend enough time or resources in helping those who have been incarcerated become a productive member of society.

For individuals who have been incarcerated, gaining a second chance to become productive members of our communities can be a challenging affair. The odds are stacked against those with a criminal record, from gaining accommodation, to gaining a job and excelling in our community. One organisation that is determined to help nonviolent offences gain a second chance is Clean Slate Milwaukee.

Clean Slate Milwaukee works with non-violent offenders to put their lives back together. The organization helps non-violent offenders get a second chance through criminal record expungement. By performing this service, it enables people to get their lives back through a second chance.
We decided to speak to the organisation and learn more about them. This is what they had to say.

1. First of all, please introduce yourself?
My name is Shanyeill McCloud and I’m the founder of Clean Slate Milwaukee and Clean Slate Wisconsin. I’m a survivor of domestic violence and the only way I was able to survive was by fighting back. But fighting back landed me with my first and only conviction. A conviction that cost me everything ( my career, my home, and almost children. So when I learned about impingement in 2007 I became possessed with the idea of getting my life back. I started Clean Slate in 2012, and became a non-profit organization called second Chance Staffing in 2014.

2. Can you explain what Second Chance Staffing Services was launched? Launched 2013 Incorporated as a non-profit in 2014.

3. You provide a Re-entry Resources Hub that helps directly impacted men and women connect to career opportunities as an effort to reduce joblessness and homelessness, crime, and recidivism in the city of Milwaukee. How much success have you had? CleanSlate has been very successful and changing the way expungement is done in the city of Milwaukee and now the state of Wisconsin. Clean Slate was the first expungement service inside of the department of workforce development and the W-2 office as a welfare to work program. It is now apart of job/ career resource fairs and we were the first to provide criminal record expungement services to the homeless community at an event called the homeless connect where we were able to help 34 people get their records expunged and connect 212 people with employment and other self-sustaining resources.

4. So, what type of people does your organization help? We help people that are diligently seeking employment housing and opportunity to improve themselves through higher education but are restricted because of their password even though it may be nonviolent and decades ago.

5. Do you believe that those people who did not manage to get an education at school are more likely to turn to crime? Yes, it’s not always the case but when a person is held back in school, they don’t always feel involved or included and sometimes result to bad behavior especially if they’re in a toxic environment.

6. What is the answer to make sure that everyone receives the same level of education, and the same chances in life? That’s pretty open-ended, but my first suggestion will be to allow people to compete based off of skills talent and experience and not be disqualified because of an unfortunate mistake that resulted into having a criminal record. There’s drugs on college campuses but everyone is not arrested and certainly everyone is in sentenced the same there is many areas and where racism exist and colleges and Universities are definitely some of them.

7. Some people say, getting a good education is like a lottery, it all depends on where you live, would you agree with that? Yes, I wouldn’t say the lottery though because this will actually take hard work on a person’s behalf but the discrimination should never be there to stop them.

8. How hard is it to get someone who has a criminal record matched up with an employer? Without Second Chance Staffing Services I would imagine it’s quite difficult because those two demographics of people don’t normally be in the same circles. So second Chance Staffing and clean slate Milwaukee are connectors. Introducing companies that need workers to hard workers looking for companies to work for and provide for their families.

9. You are the only Staffing organization in the state of Wisconsin that has an in-house criminal record expungement service to help remove the barriers to employment, housing, education, volunteering, etc. Why was it important to you to offer that service? Because workforce development in its entirety is more than just about a person landing the job. It’s about the overall stability and the ability to maintain that position in order to have an impact. So for example you can give a person a job but if they’re homeless the chances of them retaining that job is very slim. Also, when it’s time to move up to management and advancing in the companies it’s important to have a clean record or you’re spending a lifetime at the bottom because of the glass ceilings that exist.

10. What can be done to convince more employers that those people who have made a mistake in their life deserve a second chance? Wisconsin has work opportunity tax credits (WOTC) that employers can take advantage of for hiring ex-felons, veterans, and individuals receiving government assistance. It’s an incentive to hire formerly incarcerated people and people that have been out of the workforce for some time. It’s a perfect way to grow your company while providing opportunities and decreasing poverty violence in their communities.

11. What would you say to someone who has made a mistake in their life and thinks that no one will ever give them a second chance? I’d have to say it would really depend on the industry that you’re looking to work in because the truth is some industries such as the trucking or automotive industries don’t care about records but in industries such as education healthcare or child care is where your criminal record will come into play.

12. You are doing your part in helping people gain a second chance, but what more can the politicians do to help? Every year for the last 6 years the GOP has stalled and not allowed our bill to come to the floor even though we have overwhelming support from the business community the state representative passing 95 to 0 and it gets to the Republican caucus and die every year.

13. It is obvious to me, that if people are given a second chance, then there would be less crime, more people in work, and less broken families, so what can be done to get that message out there to the people in power? I’m hoping to do this through this action by sending a press release out to the world to let them know what’s going on here in Wisconsin and how they are holding up hundreds of thousands of people getting a second chance because they want to play politics and serve their own interests meanwhile they’re all constituents are suffering as well.

14. If you could have a meeting with Joe Biden, what would you say to him, to convince him more should be done to help people who have struggled in life? One of the last things Barack Obama did when leaving office is established a clean slate initiative. It was a 25-day expungement project that updated the expungement, voting rights, and collateral consequences of the disenfranchise. I will ask Lie biden to fund those programs to make sure that they are operating in full capacity. Making sure that we continue Barack Obama’s vision to remove the collateral consequences of criminal convictions and making sure that people that want to work have the same opportunity to work as everyone else.

Since 2012, Clean Slate Milwaukee has worked with clients to expunge over 2,200 records. It has helped over 1,189 former felons find work and assisted over 250 people get back into education to pursue a productive future. Clean Slate Milwaukee removes the barriers to success. It puts individuals, families, and communities on the path to a productive future.

For more information on Clean Slate Milwaukee or to see how it can help you, please visit https://cleanslatemke.org/.
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