{ staff }

Garry Hapton

Garry has been the proud owner of the Brass Monocle for over 30 years. He has accumulated a number of frames over the years and likes a wide variety of frame colors, including clear, grey and clear-grey. What you may not know about Garry is that he is a passionate stamp collector. His evenings and weekends are spent mostly flying his model airplanes. He has only crashed one, but he doesn’t like to talk about it.

Sharon Hapton

As the founder of Soup Sisters, Sharon is familiar with vegetables and broth - but that's not to be confused with feather boas and brothels. She is the only person that we know of who still crochets doilies. She has made lampshades, pot holders and tablemats, not to mention the decorative one that hangs above the TV. Oh, and 1960's? We got your message. You are not getting the doilies back.

Brian Jensen

Brian has been an optician at the Brass Monocle since the dawn of time. He has dispensed eyewear to the likes of Shakespeare, Santa Claus and Benjamin Franklin. Far from being old, Brian enjoys weight lifting and competitive speed walking in his spare time. He has been Calgary’s #1 Hot Dog Eating Contest winner five years in a row.

Carla Talbot

If you hear squeaking, don’t worry - it‘s not a mouse, but our cheerful optician Carla. As Carla spends a lot of quality time with her clients selecting frames, she has developed an uncanny talent for acquiring the personal information of her clients, including all the names of their children and pets, as well as their first-grade teachers and current Facebook status. We don’t know how she does it, but her clients love the attention to detail. Seriously, she’s like David Blaine with that stuff.

Michal Ofer

She’s the one with the accent. Some of the other staff have tried to adopt her posh way of speaking, but so far they’ve only mastered how to say ‘yes’ with a South African accent. (Read: ‘yiss’) Generally, they end up sounding like Mary Poppins instead. Michal is a phenomenal arm-wrestler and has won many a bar fight this way. When beefy, Jersey Shore-esque competitors cannot be found, Michal has been known to wrestle gators instead. Challenge her... if you dare.

Natalie Stuber

We can’t make fun of Natalie. She makes the glasses. If we make fun of her, she’ll mess up the glasses. You see?

Tabitha Currie

Coming from a proud Scottish family, Tabitha prefers to wear kilts and sporrans when not dressed for work. She has won several caber toss competitions and has an entire room filled with her winning cabers. Needless to say, she does not allow open flames in her home. When it comes to shoes, Tabitha is the modern-day Imelda Marcos. Michael Kors has Tabitha to thank upon his retirement, as she has personally funded his entire 401(k).

Van Nham-Chuang

Van appears quiet and unassuming, but believe it or not, she is a former member of the Asian mafia and has a four-car garage to house her Harley Davidson collection. She also has her interior design certification, which means she can tell you which frame would match your new ottoman. In her spare time, Van plays recreational ping-pong and likes to knit Christmas sweaters. Now we all have one. Thanks Van! They’re really...warm.

Morgan ‘Freeman’ Stano

Morgan is new to these parts o’town. She hails from Pincher Creek and maintains that she is ‘not a city girl’. So if you’re at Brass Monocle and need directions, don’t ask Morgan. However, she can tell you where to get the best designer jeans in Calgary. Who knew it was important to wear Seven jeans under your chaps? Morgan, apparently. If you are trying to pick her out of the Brass Monocle staff, just look for the one with an orange aviator frame. And yes, they are real glasses. And yes, she gets asked that question a lot.

Lisa Ribecco

Lisa goes by many names at the Brass Monocle: Elizabeth, Lizzie, Lisa, Lizzie-Lick-a-Lot, and Mommy. The last one is only when her kids are visiting the store, though. Lisa is a talented dancer and has participated in many dance-offs. Her favorite moves include the shopping cart, running man and the sprinkler. We suspect she gets her practice from spending countless hours challenging the neighborhood kids at Dance Dance Revolution. Lisa is also very good at difficult frame repairs and adjustments. While she may not always charge you an arm and a leg to fix your frames, may we just add that she loves Toffee Nut lattes from Starbucks, and chocolate covered pretzels from Purdy’s? Just throwing it out there.

Amanda Ciofani

Don't let her pint-sized stature fool you: this little blondie can unleash the fury like a baby bearded dragon if she doesn't get her lunch on time. When not taking care of her Mini-Me daughter, Amanda enjoys wearing Halloween vampire teeth and eating candy fangs with watching Vampire Diaries. Just don't ask her to count while wearing them.

Vida Ugrenovic

Having recently returned from maternity leave, Vida is glad to spend a few hours somewhere that doesn't involve diaper explosions. She is the only optician at the Brass Monocle who can sell you a frame in both French and English. (Lisa tries, but she can only say 'oui' and 'impossible!') This skill is handy when it comes to pronouncing some of our more challenging designer names: Bruno Chaussignand, Hervé Domar and especially Face á Face. We're very grateful for what Vida brings to the table. Gracías Vida!

Edward White

Our newest recruit may be soft-spoken, but the man knows how to handle a gun. Luckily, he hunts game and not hipsters, so he doesn't bring it to work. We tried to convince him to put his skills to the test on Survivor and split his winnings with us, but he said the island humidity will wreck his hair. Can't argue with that, really.

Katrina ‘Karate Kid’ Lee

Katrina is our resident ninja. She is known to sneak up on many of the other opticians at the Brass Monocle and scare the living daylights out of them. It is a sacred gift. When not practicing her karate moves, Katrina enjoys dancing to Justin Beiber songs, and is his true #1 fan.To show her deep commitment to Justin, she has also adopted his signature haircut. She owns one of the life-sized Justin Beiber cardboard cut-outs from Shoppers Drug Mart. But don’t tell this to the people who work there. They are still looking for it.