Losing an Eye and Building Eyehesive Community with Shelby Perry

Shelby Perry lost her right eye in a snowboarding accident in 2021 and turned that life-changing chapter into a worldwide mission called Eyehesive — creating adhesive eye patches, the One Eye retreat, and now a vision supplement. She shares what it was like to build a global community while protecting her vision at all costs. [1:27] Childhood Cancer Awareness Month & introducing Shelby Perry [2:17] Welcome — catching up after years of social media connection [3:05] Shelby's snowboarding accident [5:50] Emergency care, surgeries, and the road to eye removal [6:02] the moment EyeHesive was born [6:12] Zaakirah's story: retinoblastoma, losing an eye at 9 months old, childhood cancer awareness [7:57] Adjusting to life with one eye [9:36] Surrendering to healing: rest, asking for help, relearning to drive, strengthening the seeing eye [10:53] Breaking the stigma [11:27] Navigating cruelty and ableism online — finding your people and ignoring the rest [12:14] Saving nice comments as armor against the rude ones [13:09] In-person community: the One Eye Era retreat, retinoblastoma events, and conferences [15:28] EyeHesive sponsoring the Retinoblastoma One World conference [16:18] Zaakirah's experience at the Hawaii conference — becoming a Know the Glow ambassador, speaking at a caregiver workshop in West Africa [17:36] "Find your tribe" — why niche conferences matter [17:52] Building what you need — "I couldn't find what I wanted, so I created it" [18:50] First products: Eye Connect virtual conference and One Eye Gang merch [19:37] The adhesive eye patch idea — couldn't find a sleek, black patch anywhere [20:26] Four years from idea to market — the importance of not giving up [21:20] Zaakirah reviews the eye patches — travel-friendly, secure, discreet [22:54] "Things that are worth it are gonna take a while" [23:53] Vision Defense — a supplement for eye health, blue light protection, and night vision [25:46] Personal story: how her boyfriend's lifelong dry, red eyes made the mission even more personal [26:54] Bringing eye care to the forefront — "Get your eyes checked" [27:24] "Less screen, more intentional screen time" [28:12] The Vision Stack — daily habits for eye health and overall wellbeing [29:11] Protecting your vision at all costs — physical vision AND the vision for your life [29:46] Bringing visionaries together — first in-person vision event coming to San Diego [30:42] Where to find Shelby and EyeHesive [32:26] "Go one more day" — Shelby's closing message on perseverance and self-doubt [33:25] "Keep fighting for your vision and your dreams" Connect with Shelby Perry: Website: eyehesive.com Instagram: @Eyehesive TikTok: @Eyehesive YouTube: Eyehesive Email: customercare@eyehesive.com Vision Defense: linked in the Eyehesive Instagram bio Products & Events Mentioned: Adhesive eye patches (black & tan, holiday collection) Vision Defense eye supplement One Eye Era Retreat Eye Connect Virtual Conference Retinoblastoma One World Conference Organizations Mentioned: Know the Glow — knowtheglow.org