After finishing high school in LaGrange , Ga. Kye Lever graduated as a “yellow jacket” from Georgia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She then graduated from UAB as a Doctor of Optometry.

In 1997 she married Scott Mansfield. They met thru mutual friends and are now the parents of Lucy, 6, and McCollum, 5. The family resides in Inverness.

The best thing about being a parent she says is the unconditional love children have for you. (They don’t care if you have on make-up, your hair is wild or you haven’t brushed your teeth). Cat Arthur who weighs 25 pounds and dog Bella feel the same way.

Dr. Mansfield loves to relax in the tub with a glass of wine nearby. She also loves Bunko, is currently taking golf lessons and loves wine tasting parties. She describes herself as “kinda funky”…. perhaps not one’s idea of the typical optometrist. Lever always knew she wanted a health-related job and her dad actually helped her decide on optometry.

Perks of her job – not being on call, regular hours and interacting with the public. These are all good for a consistent family life. The worst parts of her job are the problems she cannot fix – eye diseases gone undetected. She is an advocate, of course, of regular, diligent eye care. She is bouncy, energetic, smiling and easy to talk with. She and her family attend Asbury Methodist Church.

Mansfield confesses to being a couch potato and loves to watch T.V. Her dream vacation would be to romantic Rome, Italy. She’s no artist, but enjoys several of the fine arts. Her pet peeve —- people texting or cell phoning during exams.

If she wasn’t an optometrist she would be a barista at Starbucks. I thought she was joking, but she is nuts about Starbucks coffee. The quote she gave me cracked me up — “A neat house has an uninteresting person living in it.”

You can meet this funky, interesting and extremely competent doctor at Vision First in Alabaster.